Harikrishnan dominates Velammal Republic Day Celebration Rapid Rating Open 2023

by Shahid Ahmed - 06/02/2023

Fourth seeded IM FT Harikrishnan A Ra scored an unbeaten 8.5/9 to win Velammal Republic Day Celebration Rapid Rating Open 2023. He finished a half point ahead of the field. IM Ajay Karthikeyan scored sole 8/9 to finish second. Three players - Ilamparthi A R, GM Laxman R R and GM Vishnu Prasanna scored 7.5/9 each. They were placed third, fourth and fifth respectively. The total prize fund of the Rapid event was ₹200000. The top three prizes were ₹30000, ₹20000 and ₹15000 each respectively. The one-day Rapid Rating tournament witnessed the participation of 267 players including 3 GMs and 5 IMs. It was organized by Rooks and Knights Academy of Chess.

Consistent Harikrishnan

IM FT Harikrishnan A Ra is consistently doing good since December 2022. He finished third at 7th Johor Open 2022 in Malaysia. Then he secured second place at 1st ENS Rapid Rating Open 2023. Five days later, he won this event. Three days later, he finished second at Republic Day Cup Rapid Rating Open which we will have in a separate report. He remained undefeated in the last three rapid rating events.

Champion - IM FT Harikrishnan A Ra 8.5/9

Runner-up - IM Ajay Karthikeyan 8/9

Second Runner-up - Ilamparthi A R 7.5/9

IM FT Harikrishnan A Ra's fantastic performance of 8.5/9 earned him 33 Elo rating points

A total of 267 players including 3 GMs and 5 IMs took part from various parts of India and one from Bangladesh, Mongolia and USA each. The nine-round Swiss league Rapid Rating tournament took place on 26th January 2023 at Velammal Main Campus, Chennai, Tamil Nadu. The event was organized by Rook and Knights Academy of Chess. The time control was 10 minutes + 5 seconds increment.

Final standings

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	4	IM	Harikrishnan.A.Ra	IND	2312	Tamil Nadu	8,5	54,5	59,5	56,00
2	3	IM	Ajay Karthikeyan	IND	2328	Tamil Nadu	8	54	59,5	51,00
3	6		Ilamparthi A R	IND	2296	Tamil Nadu	7,5	52	57	47,25
4	8	GM	Laxman R.R.	IND	2257	ICF	7,5	51,5	56	46,00
5	1	GM	Vishnu Prasanna. V	IND	2502	Tamil Nadu	7,5	51,5	55,5	45,75
6	7		Srihari L	IND	2263	Puducherry	7	54	58,5	43,00
7	15		Sai Vishwesh.C	IND	2109	Tamil Nadu	7	51,5	56	40,00
8	12		Kunal M.	IND	2151	Tamil Nadu	7	51,5	55,5	40,00
9	24		Mythireyan P	IND	1909	Tamil Nadu	7	51	56	41,00
10	11	IM	Avinash Ramesh	IND	2221	Tamil Nadu	7	50,5	53,5	35,00
11	10	FM	Ashwath R.	IND	2227	Tamil Nadu	7	50	55	41,25
12	35		Sunyuktha C M N	IND	1770	Tamil Nadu	7	49,5	54,5	39,00
13	17		Rohit S	IND	2081	Tamil Nadu	7	49,5	54	39,50
14	9	FM	Harsh Suresh	IND	2256	JAWAHAR VIDYALAYA, ASHOK NAGAR, CHE	7	49,5	53,5	39,75
15	42		Sham R	IND	1684	Tamil Nadu	7	40,5	43,5	32,00
16	25		Hemanth Raam	IND	1898	Tamil Nadu	6,5	52,5	57	37,25
17	13		Arjun C Krishnamachari	IND	2142	Tamil Nadu	6,5	49,5	53,5	37,00
18	2	GM	Arjun Kalyan	IND	2415	Tamil Nadu	6,5	49	53	36,75
19	47		Pranav K P	IND	1634	Tamil Nadu	6,5	49	53	34,75
20	18	AGM	Vignesh B	IND	2002	Tamil Nadu	6,5	48	52,5	35,25