Raahul VS wins 7th Shaastra Rapid Rating 2026

by R Anantharam - 26/04/2026

Raahul VS of Tamil Nadu, who recently achieved the GM title by winning the ASEAN Chess Championship, won the 7th Shaastra Rapid Rating Tournament 2026, organized by the Shaastra, a techno entertainment festival of the Indian Institute of Technology Chennai. Seven GMs and eight IMs took part in the star-studded event this year, and grandmasters won the top 3 positions. Raahul was half a point ahead of the others, with eight points. The total prize fund for the tournament was five lakhs rupees. Six players tied for the second to seventh places, and GM Vignesh NR had the best tiebreak score among them. Photos: Prof. Rathinam Anantharam

Initiative of IIT Madras

The Shaastra Chess tournament has become a regular fixture on Chennai's chess calendar, with many grandmasters and international masters participating. Intensely curious and driven to explore, the student community of IIT Madras values rigorous analytical thinking, ingenuity, hands-on problem solving, and big new ideas. All these features are the characteristics of a good chess player, too.

Grandmaster Raahul V S of Tamil Nadu won the title at the 7th Shaastra Rapid rating tournament

GM Vignesh won the runner-up spot

Second-seeded GM Srihari LR was declared the second runner up

M Harsh Suresh’s win over IM Muthaiah AL helped him to achieve fourth place

5. Grandmaster LR Srihari won against former Tamil Nadu champion M Kunal in the ninth round. Irrespective of the loss, Kunal got fifth place

IM Dhulipalla Balachandra Prasad won against Nivedita CV of TN to grab the sixth place

GM Harikrishnan - GM Shyaam Nikhil P 1 – 0. The result favoured Hari to win the seventh rank

Top-seeded GM Harikrishnan AR was toppled by GM Vignesh NR in the eighth round

GM Shyaam Nikhil signed a peace treaty with his friend and foe, M Kunal

Raahul defeated the hitherto leader Vignesh in the final round to win the title and a cash prize of sixty thousand rupees

LR Srihari - S Rutherford 1 – 0

Indian Institute of Technology, Madras is amidst a forest, with a rich flora and fauna. Varieties of deer, a large number of monkeys, and chirpy birds are a common site in the campus. Because of these animals, the speed limit inside the campus is just 20 KM per hour.

Indian Institute of Technology, Madras is amidst a forest, with a rich flora and fauna in the campus

Monkeys and peacocks are very common in IIT Madras

Deers in the campus

Prize List

Final Ranking after 9 Rounds

Rk.	SNo		Name	Typ	sex	Gr	FED	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	12	GM	Raahul V S	S16		2620CHE2026	IND	2254	TN	8	49	54	48,5
2	4	GM	Vignesh N R	S16		67782CHE2025	IND	2362	TN	7,5	55	59,5	47,75
3	2	GM	Srihari L R	S16		9590CGL2025	IND	2383	TN	7,5	54	58,5	47,25
4	5	IM	Harsh Suresh	S16		3720CHE2025	IND	2342	TN	7,5	53,5	58	46,75
5	13	FM	Kunal M.	S16		8874TRY2025	IND	2227	TN	7,5	53	57	47
6	3	IM	Dhulipalla Bala Chandra Prasad	S16			IND	2380	AP	7,5	49,5	54	43,75
7	1	GM	Harikrishnan.A.Ra	S16		2373CHE2025	IND	2388	TN	7,5	49,5	54	43,25
8	45	WFM	Nivedita V C	F16	w	2390CHE2025	IND	1915	TN	7	49,5	53,5	40
9	22	CM	Sarveshwaran V	S16		3913CBE2025	IND	2146	TN	7	47	51	37
10	19	IM	Mohamed Anees M	S16		43491KGI2025	IND	2164	TN	7	46,5	50	36,5
11	23		Sham R	S16		4872CHE2025	IND	2142	TN	7	44	48	37
12	14	FM	Aakash G	U16		3873CBE2025	IND	2224	TN	7	43,5	47	37
13	6	GM	Shyaam Nikhil P	S16		2862CHE2025	IND	2338	TN	6,5	52	56	37,25
14	20	IM	Saravana Krishnan P.	S16		1834CGL2025	IND	2158	TN	6,5	50,5	55,5	38,5
15	7	IM	Muthaiah Al	S16		7927TLR2025	IND	2320	TN	6,5	50,5	55	36,75

Details

About the Author

Prof. Rathinam Anantharam is an A-grade international arbiter. Member of the FIDE Arbiters’ Commission, Chairman of the Titles Commission in the All India Chess Federation, Vice President of the Tamil Nadu State Chess Association, Chief Arbiter for six world championships, many Asian, International, and National Championships.

Devansh Singh edited the report

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Raahul VS wins 7th Shaastra Rapid Rating 2026

Initiative of IIT Madras

Final Ranking after 9 Rounds

About the Author