Samith Reddy convincingly clinches 1st Varas Chess Festival Below 1800 Rating Tournament 2024

by Shahid Ahmed - 18/11/2024

Top seed Samith Reddy I scored an unbeaten 8/9 to win 1st Varas Chess Festival Below 1800 Rating Tournament 2024. He finished a half point ahead of the rest. Aravinda B R and Tanish Sahay scored 8/9 each. They secured second and third place respectively according to tie-breaks. The total prize fund of the festival was ₹1500000, for Below 1800 it was ₹600000. The top three prizes were ₹75000, ₹50000 and ₹40000 along with a trophy each. The three-day Below 1800 rating tournament was organized by Varas Chess Academy at GP Birla Centre, Birla Science Center Complex in Hyderabad, Telangana from 2nd to 4th October 2024. This was Samith's first tournament triumph of the year. Photo: Varas Chess Academy

Teenagers reign supreme on the podium

The top seed, Samith Reddy I and Ehaan Shaikh were the coleaders 7.5/8, going into the final round. Samith defeated Ehaan to become the champion. Aravinda B R and Tanish Sahay scored wins over Aritrya Pal and Nagasri Saikanth respectively to secure second and third place. 10-year-old Sanikommu Jaideep Reddy scored an impressive 7.5/9 to finish eighth. He is the youngest top ten finisher of the event.

Top 3 (L to R): 2nd Aravinda B R 8/9, 1st Samith Reddy 8.5/9 and 3rd Tanish Sahay 8/9 | Photo: Varas Chess Academy

Samith Reddy I scored an unbeaten 8.5/9, finished a half point ahead of the field and gained 81.6 Elo rating points

Mr. Shiva Sena Reddy, Chairman, Sports Authority of Telangana, made the inaugural first move | Photo: Varas Chess Academy

Organizers and Arbiters team | Photo: Varas Chess Academy

Thanks to V Raghav Srivathsav, Founder and Chief Coach of Varas Chess Academy, for sharing the photographs and information about the tournament.

A total of 435 players took part from various parts of the country and two from USA in this three-day nine round Below 1800 Rating tournament. It was organized by Varas Chess Academy at GP Birla Centre, Birla Science Center Complex in Hyderabad, Telangana from 2nd to 4th November 2024. The time control of the event was 30 minutes + 30 seconds increment per move.

Final standings

Rk.	SNo		Name	Typ	sex	FED	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB5
1	1		Samith, Reddy I			IND	1799	Kar	8,5	53,5	57,5	53,75	8
2	41		Aravinda, B R			IND	1655	Kar	8	49,5	54	45,50	8
3	121		Tanish, Sahay			IND	1518	TEL	8	42,5	45	41,00	8
4	22		Ayush, Yadav	U15		IND	1699	TEL	7,5	53,5	57,5	45,75	6
5	16	AIM	Mohammed, Shamil A			IND	1716	TN	7,5	50,5	54	44,50	6
6	37		Ehaan, Shaikh	U15		IND	1667	TEL	7,5	50	53,5	42,50	7
7	13		Raghunandan,			IND	1725	TN	7,5	49,5	53,5	42,25	7
8	39		Sanikommu, Jaideep Reddy	U11		IND	1661	TEL	7,5	45,5	50	40,75	6
9	30		Ravi, Palsule			IND	1679	MP	7	53,5	58,5	42,00	7
10	4		Aritrya, Pal			IND	1768	WB	7	53	58	43,00	7
11	20		Nagasri, Saikanth			IND	1704	AP	7	51,5	56,5	42,00	7
12	2	AGM	Mani, Bharathy			IND	1789	TN	7	50,5	55,5	41,50	6
13	15		Nihal, N Shetty			IND	1722	Kar	7	50	54,5	42,00	7
14	17		Kabnurakar, Sharvari		w	IND	1711	Mah	7	49,5	54	40,25	5
15	71	AIM	Pratham, Nayyar	U13		IND	1595	Har	7	49	53	39,25	6
16	40		Aole, Sangharsh			IND	1657	Mah	7	48,5	53	38,50	7
17	5		Aaditya, Ranjan Sahu	U13		IND	1748	Kar	7	46	50	38,00	6
18	18		Krishna, Kumar			IND	1707	Jhar	7	45,5	49	37,50	7
19	51		Shravan, Ambaru	U13		IND	1635	TEL	7	45	48,5	37,00	6
20	27		Sai, Kiran G V			IND	1688	TN	7	44	48,5	35,00	7
21	34		Durga, Karthika Lellapalli	F15	w	IND	1670	TEL	7	42,5	45,5	34,00	7
22	11		Nishanth, Dsouza			IND	1727	Kar	7	42	45,5	34,00	7
23	45		Durga, Prasad K			IND	1645	AP	7	38	41	32,50	7
24	14		Apurv, Shekhar Desmukh			IND	1724	Mah	6,5	52,5	57	37,25	6
25	8		Viswajith, Sai B	U15		IND	1743	TEL	6,5	48,5	53,5	36,50	6