Himal Gusain dominates 3rd Knight Chess Academy Karunagapally Rating Open 2025

by Shahid Ahmed - 04/05/2025

India's highest rated IM - Himal Gusain scored an unbeaten 8.5/9 to win 3rd Knight Chess Academy Karunagapally Rating Open 2025. He finished a half point ahead of the rest. Ram S Krishnan scored sole 8/9 to secure second place. He also remained undefeated. Three players - Ajinraj, Abdallah M Nisthar and Dipesh Seeraj K S scored 7.5/9 each. They were placed third to fifth respectively according to tie-breaks. Himal's sole draw was against the eventual runner-up, Ram in the sixth round. The total prize fund was ₹400000. The top three prizes were ₹40000, ₹30000 and ₹20000 along with a trophy each. The five-day nine round rating tournament was organized by Knight Chess Academy Karunagapally at Fatima Mata National College in Kollam, Kerala from 10th to 14th April 2025. This is Himal's second rating tournament triumph of the year. Photos: Unnikrishnan P G / Knight Chess Academy Karunagapally

No tie-breaks needed for top two

Top seed, IM Himal Gusain and Ram S Krishnan were the coleaders 7.5/8, heading into the last round. Ajinraj, Sham R and Abdallah M Nisthar were trailing them by a half point at 7/8 each. Himal defeated Sham to become the champion. Ram drew with Abdallah to finish second. Ajinraj also drew his game against Devnath Bijesh to claim third place. Himal also went on to win Locarno Swiss Lake Open 2025 in Switzerland, less than a fortnight after this. It will be mentioned in detail in a separate report.

Champion - IM Himal Gusain 8.5/9 | Photo: Unnikrishnan P G / Knight Chess Academy Karunagapally

Runner-up - Ram S Krishnan 8/9 | Photo: Unnikrishnan P G / Knight Chess Academy Karunagapally

Second Runner-up - Ajinraj 7.5/9 | Photo: Unnikrishnan P G / Knight Chess Academy Karunagapally

IM Himal Gusain scored an unbeaten 8.5/10, finished a half point ahead of the rest and gained 2.2 Elo rating points

A total of 392 players including an IM took part from various parts of India. The five-day nine round rating tournament was organized by Knight Chess Academy Karunagapally at Fatima Mata National College in Kollam, Kerala from 10th to 14th April 2025. The time control of the event was 90 minutes + 30 seconds increment per move.

Final standings

Rk.	SNo		Name	Typ	sex	FED	Rtg	RtgI	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB5	Rp
1	1	IM	Gusain, Himal			IND	2526	2526	Chandigarh	8,5	51,5	56	52,00	8	2204
2	3		Ram, S. Krishnan			IND	2028	2028	Tamil Nadu	8	52	56,5	48,50	7	2164
3	39		Ajinraj,			IND	1739	1739	Kerala (Klm)	7,5	52,5	57,5	47,00	7	2042
4	5		Abdallah, M Nisthar			IND	1934	1934	Kerala (Klm)	7,5	51	56	45,75	6	1979
5	25		Dipesh, Seeraj K S			IND	1784	1784	Tamil Nadu	7,5	46	48	39,00	7	1859
6	2		Sham, R			IND	2126	2126	Tamil Nadu	7	54,5	58,5	44,00	6	2011
7	24		Pranav, Chandra Mohan			IND	1788	1788	Kerala	7	53,5	58	42,75	6	1975
8	11		Devnath, Bijesh	U15		IND	1886	1886	Kerala	7	51	54	40,50	5	1863
9	14		Unnikrishnan, M A			IND	1854	1854	Kerala	7	50,5	55	41,25	6	1878
10	40		Sooriya, B Y			IND	1739	1739	Tamil Nadu	7	49	52	37,00	6	1930
11	10		Kanishkaraj, V			IND	1903	1903	Tamil Nadu	7	48,5	52,5	38,50	7	1846
12	19		Akshay, A R			IND	1822	1822	Kerala	7	48,5	52,5	38,00	6	1886
13	21		Giridhar, A			IND	1809	1809	Kerala	7	48,5	50	37,75	5	1816
14	29		Anecx, Kanjiravila B C	U15		IND	1766	1766	Kerala	7	47,5	51,5	38,50	6	1852
15	7	AGM	Rutherford, S			IND	1924	1924	Tamil Nadu	7	47	51,5	38,50	6	1877
16	36		Sreehari, S			IND	1742	1742	Kerala	7	45,5	49,5	38,25	6	1824
17	30		Kesavan, G			IND	1766	1766	Tamil Nadu	7	45,5	48	35,25	6	1844
18	48		Alfred, Joe Johns	U15		IND	1702	1702	Kerala	7	44	46,5	34,00	6	1819
19	33	AIM	Muthukumar, Mukesh	U15		IND	1750	1750	Tamil Nadu	7	43,5	45	32,00	7	1822
20	28		Manikanda, Prabhu B V			IND	1770	1770	Tamil Nadu	6,5	52	56	37,50	5	1864
21	41		Devanarayanan, Kalliyath	U09		IND	1733	1733	Kerala	6,5	52	55	35,50	6	1945
22	6		Sreekumar, P.			IND	1926	1926	Kerala	6,5	51,5	55,5	38,25	5	1824
23	26		Ameya, A R	F15	w	IND	1782	1782	Kerala	6,5	49	51	34,25	5	1804
24	12		Lukesh, A			IND	1860	1860	Tamil Nadu	6,5	48	52,5	36,50	6	1778
25	15		Siva, Adithyan S	U15		IND	1853	1853	Tamil Nadu	6,5	46,5	52	36,75	6	1750
26	23		Ryan, Dominic	U15		IND	1790	1790	Kerala	6,5	46,5	50,5	33,50	5	1773
27	79		Jeevan, Maheswar			IND	1617	1617	Kerala	6,5	46,5	48,5	32,25	6	1838
28	34		Abhinav, M B	U15		IND	1747	1747	Kerala	6,5	46	50	32,25	6	1787
29	50		Akhil, Vijayakumar			IND	1701	1701	Kerala	6,5	45,5	48	32,25	6	1711
30	51		Aarav, Ajith	U15		IND	1697	1697	Kerala	6,5	45	48	32,75	5	1726
31	59		Kevin, Savio	U15		IND	1670	1670	Tamil Nadu	6,5	45	47,5	31,25	6	1775
32	31		Rejath, Renjith	U15		IND	1765	1765	Kerala	6,5	44,5	48,5	33,50	6	1756
33	32		Meiyappan, M	U15		IND	1754	1754	Tamil Nadu	6,5	44	48	34,50	5	1713
34	73	ACM	Tanmay, R	U12		IND	1629	1629	Maharashtra	6,5	44	48	32,75	5	1776
35	61		Jean, Mani Joseph T			IND	1658	1658	Kerala	6,5	43	47	32,25	6	1727
36	53		Satyaki, G Gokul	U15		IND	1687	1687	Kerala	6,5	42,5	46,5	31,50	6	1715
37	60		Shivnandan, S			IND	1660	1660	Kerala	6,5	42,5	45,5	29,50	6	1711
38	57		Neerad, P	U15		IND	1678	1678	Kerala	6,5	41,5	45	30,75	6	1726
39	134		Lenin, A G			IND	1500	1500	Tamil Nadu	6,5	39,5	43,5	29,00	6	1728
40	90		Janaki, S D	F12	w	IND	1575	1575	Kerala (Klm)	6	52	54	34,25	4	1801

Details

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