Yash, Krishanter and Vedant win a ticket to Global Chess League Finals!
From 15th of June 2023, an amazing series of tournaments started taking place across 5 different cities of India. In the eve of the Tech Mahindra Global Chess League 2023 being held in Dubai, Tech Mahindra decided to do a partnership with Phoenix Malls! Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Pune, Lucknow and Indore - these were the 5 different cities in which chess tournaments were held at their respective Phoenix Malls. Along with completely free entry and attractive prizes for the top 5 players in each of the events, the best part was: 3 of the winners will win a ticket to Dubai, getting the privilege of watching the Global Chess League Finals live! After the Blitz tournament and an online round-robin event, 3 players have won an all-expenses paid trip to Dubai for the Global Chess League Finals: Yash Bharadia, Krishnater Kushager, and Vedant Panesar. Read all about the events in the article below.
The race to Dubai for Global Chess League Finals!
There were a total of 5 tournaments held, and the first Blitz tournament kicked off at the Phoenix Marketcity Mall, where our beloved ChessBase India Chess Club sessions also take place every saturday. In each mall, 2 days of tournaments would take place! The idea was that the tournament would have no entry fee, there will be exciting prizes for the top 5 spots in each tournament, and the winners from each event will play a round-robin event on lichess! Finally, the top 3 finishers there will win an all-expenses paid trip to Dubai, getting to watch the Global Chess League Finals live from the venue!
Phoenix Marketcity, Mumbai, 15th and 16th June 2023
There was a huge turnout on Day 1, when the event was announced only a day prior to the first tournament! GM Abhijit Kunte was present at the Mall as one of the Chief Guests, who's also the manager of Balan Alaskan Knights in the Global Chess League.
Vedant Panesar is one of strongest players from Mumbai, and he won the Day 1 Blitz tournament! The time control was 3 minutes+2 seconds, and 8 rounds of blitz chess took place in a swiss format. Bhavesh Karnik and Mihir Shah finished 2nd and 3rd respectively, scoring 7/8 and 6/8 points.
Final standings after 8 rounds
| Rk. | Nº.Inic. | Name | FED | EloI | Pts. | Exp1 | desp2 | Desp3 | Desp4 | after5 | ||
| 1 | 1 | FM | Panesar, Vedant | IND | 2347 | 7,5 | 36 | 40 | 37,25 | 0 | 7 | |
| 2 | 15 | Karnik, Bhavesh | IND | 1575 | 7 | 34,5 | 37 | 31,50 | 0 | 7 | ||
| 3 | 13 | Shah, Mihir | IND | 1640 | 6,5 | 33 | 36 | 27,75 | 0 | 6 | ||
| 4 | 2 | IM | Krishnater, Kushager | IND | 2306 | 6 | 39,5 | 43 | 29,50 | 0 | 6 | |
| 5 | 12 | Rachit, H Gurnani | IND | 1645 | 6 | 39,5 | 42,5 | 29,50 | 0 | 6 |
On Day 2, it was IM Krishnater Kushager who won the tournament with 7.5/8 points! Aniruddha Potawad finished 2nd with 6.5/8, and Ram Vishal Parab also scored 6.5/8 to finish 3rd on tiebreaks.
Final Ranking after 8 Rounds
| Rk. | SNo | Name | FED | RtgI | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | TB4 | TB5 | |
| 1 | 1 | IM | Kushager, Krishnater | IND | 2306 | 7,5 | 38 | 41 | 38,00 | 0 | 7 |
| 2 | 3 | Potawad, Anirudhha | IND | 1942 | 6,5 | 40 | 43,5 | 33,00 | 0 | 6 | |
| 3 | 11 | Ram, Vishal Parab | IND | 1591 | 6,5 | 36 | 38 | 29,50 | 0 | 6 | |
| 4 | 5 | Nameet, Chavan | IND | 1748 | 6 | 40,5 | 44,5 | 30,50 | 0 | 6 | |
| 5 | 9 | Ketan, Patil | IND | 1654 | 6 | 39,5 | 42,5 | 29,00 | 0 | 5 |
For more photos from the event, click here.
Phoenix Palladium Mall, Ahmedabad - 16th and 17th June 2023
A total of 54 players took part in the Day 1 event! The Joint secretary of Gujarat State Chess Association, Ankit Dalal was the tournament director.
Ujjwal Bansal (1722) won the tournament with 7/8 points! Kartavya Anadkat finished 2nd with the same score due to lower tiebreaks, and Jval Saurin Patel stood 3rd scoring 6/8.
Final Ranking after 8 Rounds
| Rk. | SNo | Name | FED | Rtg | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | |
| 1 | 7 | Ujjawal, Bansal | IND | 1722 | 7 | 40 | 43 | 37,00 | |
| 2 | 1 | Anadkat, Kartavya | IND | 2130 | 7 | 39 | 42,5 | 35,50 | |
| 3 | 5 | Jval, Saurin Patel | IND | 1748 | 6 | 40 | 43,5 | 28,00 | |
| 4 | 8 | Makwana, Devam | IND | 1599 | 6 | 38,5 | 40 | 26,50 | |
| 5 | 4 | Shaikh, Sohil | IND | 1787 | 6 | 36 | 40 | 27,00 |
On the 2nd day, it was the tournament 2nd seed Kartavya Anadkat who clinched the winners trophy. Kartavya scored a fantastic 8/8 to secure first place, Vansh Adalja stood 2nd with 7/8, and Nilesh Gupta finished 3rd with 7/8.
Final Ranking after 8 Rounds
| Rk. | SNo | Name | FED | Rtg | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | |
| 1 | 2 | Anadkat, Kartavya | IND | 2033 | 8 | 38 | 40 | 40,00 | |
| 2 | 14 | Adalja, Vanssh A | IND | 1460 | 7 | 36 | 39,5 | 33,50 | |
| 3 | 48 | Gupta, Nilesh | IND | 0 | 7 | 35,5 | 38,5 | 32,50 | |
| 4 | 5 | Jval, Saurin Patel | IND | 1748 | 6 | 45 | 48 | 33,00 | |
| 5 | 8 | Makwana, Devam | IND | 1599 | 6 | 40 | 42,5 | 27,00 |
Phoenix Marketcity Mall, Pune - 19th and 20th June 2023
FM Kashish Jain won Day 1 of the Tech Mahindra Global Chess League Blitz tournament at Phoenix Marketcity, Pune. Kashish Jain (2375) defeated Akshay Borgaonkar (1991) to finish first with 7/8 points.
| Rk. | SNo | Name | FED | Rtg | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | |
| 1 | 1 | FM | Kashish, Jain | IND | 2375 | 7 | 39,5 | 43 | 37,00 |
| 2 | 5 | CM | Borgaonkar, Akshay | IND | 1991 | 7 | 38 | 41 | 34,50 |
| 3 | 11 | Shlok, Sharnarthi | IND | 1715 | 6,5 | 39 | 39,5 | 29,25 | |
| 4 | 15 | Aaryan, Singla | IND | 1564 | 6,5 | 35 | 38,5 | 29,25 | |
| 5 | 3 | Gaurav, Bakliwal | IND | 2085 | 6,5 | 33,5 | 36 | 29,00 |
In the 2nd tournament, it was once again FM Kashish Jain who stood first, scoring 7/8 points. Shlok Sharnarthi tied on the first spot with Rahul, also scoring 7/8. Rahul Verma scored 7/8 to finish 3rd (Shlok had the better tiebreaks). Thus, the 2nd person to qualify for the online tournament was Shlok Sharnarthi!
Final Ranking after 8 Rounds
| Rk. | SNo | Name | FED | Rtg | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | |
| 1 | 1 | FM | Kashish, Jain | IND | 2375 | 7 | 39 | 42,5 | 35,50 |
| 2 | 11 | Shlok, Sharnarthi | IND | 1715 | 7 | 37,5 | 41 | 34,50 | |
| 3 | 7 | Rahul, Varma | IND | 1796 | 7 | 33,5 | 35,5 | 29,50 | |
| 4 | 17 | Nishant, Abhijeet Jawalkar | IND | 1610 | 6,5 | 37,5 | 40 | 30,25 | |
| 5 | 5 | CM | Borgaonkar, Akshay | IND | 1991 | 6,5 | 36,5 | 39 | 30,50 |
Phoenix Pallasio Mall, Lucknow - 20th and 21st June 2023
The Day 1 Blitz tournament was won by Shreyas Singh (1526), scoring 7.5/8. Anchal Rastogi and Sanyam Srivastava stood 2nd and 3rd respectively, both scoring 7/8 points. IA AK Raizada was the chief arbiter of the tournament.
Final Ranking after 8 Rounds
| Rk. | SNo | Name | FED | Rtg | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | |
| 1 | 16 | Shreyash, Singh | IND | 1526 | 7,5 | 37,5 | 41 | 39,75 | |
| 2 | 5 | Anchal, Rastogi | IND | 1770 | 7 | 37 | 40 | 34,00 | |
| 3 | 14 | Sanyam, Srivastava | IND | 1551 | 7 | 35,5 | 37 | 27,00 | |
| 4 | 2 | Ajay, Santhosh Parvathareddy | IND | 2043 | 6,5 | 38 | 41,5 | 35,75 | |
| 5 | 4 | Pawan, Batham | IND | 1972 | 6,5 | 32,5 | 35 | 25,25 |
On the 2nd day, Ajay Santosh Parvathareddy (2043) won the blitz tournament scoring 7/8 points. Sparsh Yadav and Rajesh Kumar Sharma scored 7/8 as well, but were placed 2nd and 3rd respectively according to tiebreaks.
Final Ranking after 8 Rounds
| Rk. | SNo | Name | FED | Rtg | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | |
| 1 | 2 | Ajay, Santhosh Parvathareddy | IND | 2043 | 7 | 39 | 42,5 | 35,00 | |
| 2 | 14 | Sparsh, Yadav | IND | 1597 | 7 | 36,5 | 39 | 30,50 | |
| 3 | 13 | Rajesh, Kumar Sharma | IND | 1639 | 7 | 33 | 36 | 34,50 | |
| 4 | 15 | Ravi Shankar, | IND | 1578 | 7 | 31,5 | 35 | 31,00 | |
| 5 | 3 | Arif, Ali | IND | 2039 | 6,5 | 36,5 | 40 | 29,50 |
Phoenix Citadel Mall, Indore - 21st and 22nd June 2023
The Day 1 Blitz tournament was won by talented junior player Arun Kataria (1851) with 7/8 points. Aishwin Daniel and Ojasva Singh scored 6.5/8, and were placed 2nd and 3rd respectively according to the tiebreaks. The Head of Hindi ChessBase India, FI Niklesh Jain was the Chief Arbiter of the tournament.
Final Ranking after 8 Rounds
| Rk. | SNo | Name | FED | Rtg | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | |
| 1 | 5 | Arun, Kataria | IND | 1851 | 8 | 38 | 41,5 | 41,50 | |
| 2 | 3 | Aishwin, Daniel | IND | 1979 | 6,5 | 41 | 45 | 34,00 | |
| 3 | 1 | FM | Singh, Ojasva | IND | 2183 | 6,5 | 36,5 | 38 | 29,00 |
| 4 | 6 | AFM | Choubey, Saurabh | IND | 1835 | 6 | 40,5 | 42 | 27,75 |
| 5 | 2 | Bharadia, Yash | IND | 2092 | 6 | 39,5 | 43,5 | 29,50 |
On the 2nd day, it was Yash Bharadia who won the tournament with an impressive 8/8! Kamad Mishra and Ojaswa Singh were placed 2nd and 3rd respectively according to tiebreaks, scoring 6.5/8 each.
Final Ranking after 8 Rounds
| Rk. | SNo | Name | FED | RtgI | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | TB4 | TB5 | |
| 1 | 2 | Yash, Bharadia | IND | 2092 | 8 | 39,5 | 43,5 | 43,50 | 0 | 8 | |
| 2 | 18 | Kamad, Mishra | IND | 1541 | 6,5 | 39 | 41 | 29,75 | 0 | 6 | |
| 3 | 1 | FM | Ojasva, Singh | IND | 2183 | 6,5 | 38 | 41,5 | 30,75 | 0 | 6 |
| 4 | 11 | Prakhar, Bajaj | IND | 1693 | 6,5 | 37,5 | 41 | 31,25 | 0 | 6 | |
| 5 | 3 | Aishwin, Daniel | IND | 1979 | 6 | 42 | 45 | 30,50 | 0 | 6 |
The lichess Grand Finale
Now that 10 players were selected as winners from 5 different cities across India, it was time to pick the final 3 people who will make it to Dubai, and watch the Global Chess League Finals live from the venue. Now, due to visa limitations and travel issues, 4 players could not take part in the tournament. 6 of the champions fought it out in a Round-robin format in lichess, with camera surveillance and strict anti-cheating rules.
After 5 rounds of play with a time control of 5 minutes + 3 second increment per move, it was Yash Bharadiya who emerged victorious with a score of 3.5/5 points! IM Krishnater Kushager and FM Kashish Jain also scored 3.5/5 points, and were placed 2nd and 3rd according to tiebreaks. So, these are the 3 players who have won a ticket to watch the Global Chess League Finals , which will take place today!
Lichess Grand Finale games
After a dramatic final day at the qualifiers, The two teams which will be competing tomorrow for the finals are Triveni Continental Kings and upGrad Mumba Masters. Who are you rooting for? The finals kick off today from 7:15 PM IST. Tune in for the live broadcast on Jiocinema!
