Mani Bharathy dominates Visalakshi - Arunachalam 9th SCS Rating Open 2025
Mani Bharathy scored an unbeaten 7.5/8 to win Visalakshi - Arunachalam 9th SCS Rating Open 2025. He finished a full point ahead of the rest. Eight players scored 6.5/8 each. Out of them, CM R Shadhursshaan and FM P Maheshwaran were placed second and third respectively according to tie-breaks. The total prize fund of the tournament was ₹450000. The top three prizes were ₹70000, ₹50000 and ₹35000 along with a trophy each. The four-day eight round Rating Open tournament was organized by Sivakasi Chess Sparklers and Mepco Schlenk Engineering College from 19th to 22nd June 2025 at Mepco Schlenk Engineering College in Sivakasi, Tamil Nadu. This is Mani's first rating tournament triumph of the year. Photo: IA R Anantharam
Mani's first rating tournament triumph of the year
15th seeded Mani Bharathy of Coimbatore won the Visalakshi Arunachalam 9th SCS FIDE Rated Open Chess Tournament, organised by Sivakasi Chess Sparklers held at Mepco Schlenk Engineering College, Sivakasi from 19th to 22nd June 2025. After recording seven consecutive wins, he conceded a draw to Boggarapu Kritan of Scotland in the eighth and final round to score 7.5 points. He collected a purse of ₹70000 for his efforts.
Eight players tied for the second place with a tally of 6.5 points and former National Schools Under-15 champion CM R Shadhursshaan of Aruppukottai, a town near Sivakasi had the best tie break among them to be declared as runner-up.
Former Tamil Nadu Junior champion FM Maheswaran P of Sivakasi had the second best tie break to secure the second runner-up spot.
While Shadhursshaan received ₹50000, Maheswaran increased his bank balance by ₹35000.
FM Ayushh Ravikumar of Chennai drew with B Selvamurugan of Thoothukudi to be declared fourth. The latter finished ninth.
Top seed P Vijay Shreeram of Chennai lost to the eventual runner-up Shadhursshaan and also drew with Krishna of Karnataka, pushing him to fifth place.
28th seeded KS Naveen of Chennai won against eleventh seeded KG Hiren also of Chennai in the final round to attain the sixth rank.
International master BT Murali Krishnan of Railways could muster only the seventh place by beating 13-year-old Jagajit Sinha of Assam in the final round.
Boggarapu Kritan of Scotland drew with the champion Mani Bharathy in the eighth and final round and achieved the eighth rank.
Though G Nigash of Salem jointly led the field with Mani Bharathy at the end of the fifth round, two consecutive losses in the sixth and seventh rounds put him out of contention.
A total of 273 players from Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Odisha, Pondicherry, Rajasthan and Telangana, in addition to players from the USA and Scotland participated in the four days eight round event.
Dr. S. Arivazhagan, Principal, Mepco Schlenk Engineering College inaugurated the tournament
V Vijayaraghavan, Vice President, Tamil Nadu State Chess Association and Professor Thanikachalam of Mepco SCE distributed the prizes on the final day.
While the players were seriously fighting on the board, the parents and accompanying persons were totally engaged with nine tournaments for themselves.
The principal and management were keen on providing free hostel accommodation with cot and bed and quality food at a very nominal cost. Non-veg. food was served daily.
Final standings
| Rk. | SNo | Name | Typ | sex | Gr | FED | RtgI | Club/City | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | TB4 | TB5 | TB6 | n | w | we | w-we | K | rtg+/- | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 15 | AGM | Mani, Bharathy | 4014CBE2025 | IND | 1937 | TN | 7,5 | 38 | 42 | 38,75 | 0 | 7 | 4 | 8 | 7,5 | 5,28 | 2,22 | 20 | 44,4 | ||
| 2 | 10 | CM | Shadhursshaan, R | 9230VNR2025 | IND | 2006 | TN-V | 6,5 | 41,5 | 46 | 37,00 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 8 | 6,5 | 5,53 | 0,97 | 40 | 38,8 | ||
| 3 | 9 | FM | Maheswaran, P. | 53173VNR2025 | IND | 2010 | TN-V | 6,5 | 39,5 | 44 | 35,00 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 8 | 6,5 | 5,89 | 0,61 | 20 | 12,2 | ||
| 4 | 7 | FM | Ayushh, Ravikumar | 2397CHE2025 | IND | 2020 | TN | 6,5 | 39 | 42,5 | 34,00 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 8 | 6,5 | 5,87 | 0,63 | 20 | 12,6 | ||
| 5 | 1 | Vijay, Shreeram P | 2888CHE2025 | IND | 2112 | TN | 6,5 | 38 | 41,5 | 32,25 | 0 | 6 | 4 | 8 | 6,5 | 6,55 | -0,05 | 20 | -1 | |||
| 6 | 28 | Naveen, K S | 25824CHE2025 | IND | 1873 | TN | 6,5 | 37,5 | 41 | 31,50 | 0 | 6 | 4 | 8 | 6,5 | 4,63 | 1,87 | 20 | 37,4 | |||
| 7 | 2 | IM | Murali, Krishnan B T | NA | IND | 2082 | RLy | 6,5 | 36,5 | 41 | 32,75 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 8 | 6,5 | 6,67 | -0,17 | 10 | -1,7 | ||
| 8 | 4 | Boggarapu, Kritan | NA | SCO | 2035 | SCO | 6,5 | 36 | 40 | 31,75 | 0 | 6 | 4 | 8 | 6,5 | 6,58 | -0,08 | 40 | -3,2 | |||
| 9 | 8 | Selvamurugan, B | 9685TUT2025 | IND | 2017 | TN | 6,5 | 35 | 38 | 30,25 | 0 | 6 | 4 | 8 | 6,5 | 6,12 | 0,38 | 20 | 7,6 | |||
| 10 | 6 | Yashwant, B | U15 | 5556MDU2025 | IND | 2022 | TN | 6 | 41,5 | 45,5 | 31,75 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 8 | 6 | 5,92 | 0,08 | 40 | 3,2 | ||
| 11 | 12 | Nigash, G | 4416ERO2025 | IND | 1994 | TN | 6 | 38 | 42 | 28,50 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 8 | 6 | 6,14 | -0,14 | 40 | -5,6 | |||
| 12 | 13 | Majhi, Fakir | NA | IND | 1949 | OR | 6 | 38 | 41,5 | 30,25 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 8 | 6 | 5,93 | 0,07 | 20 | 1,4 | |||
| 13 | 27 | Jagajit, Sinha | U15 | NA | IND | 1878 | AS | 6 | 38 | 41,5 | 29,75 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 8 | 6 | 5,55 | 0,45 | 40 | 18 | ||
| 14 | 17 | Gokul, G | U15 | 9019VPM2025 | IND | 1922 | TN | 6 | 37,5 | 41,5 | 29,75 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 8 | 6 | 5,81 | 0,19 | 40 | 7,6 | ||
| 15 | 5 | AIM | Arul, Prakash N | 5543MDU2025 | IND | 2032 | TN | 6 | 37,5 | 41 | 29,50 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 6 | 6,56 | -0,56 | 40 | -22,4 | ||
| 16 | 38 | Mithiran, A | U15 | 6574SLM2025 | IND | 1808 | TN | 6 | 37,5 | 41 | 29,00 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 8 | 6 | 3,57 | 2,43 | 40 | 97,2 | ||
| 17 | 19 | Divesh, G | 24363CHE2025 | IND | 1912 | TN | 6 | 36,5 | 40,5 | 28,50 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 8 | 6 | 5,92 | 0,08 | 40 | 3,2 | |||
| 18 | 22 | Raaghav, Kabil M | 52008TNV2025 | IND | 1900 | TN | 6 | 36 | 39 | 28,50 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 6 | 5,82 | 0,18 | 40 | 7,2 | |||
| 19 | 24 | Kishore, Prajith | U15 | 1302CBE2025 | IND | 1886 | TN | 6 | 35,5 | 39,5 | 28,75 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 8 | 6 | 5,98 | 0,02 | 40 | 0,8 | ||
| 20 | 52 | AIM | Ethan, V Johnson | 49941CBE2025 | IND | 1730 | TN | 6 | 35 | 38 | 27,00 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 5 | 3,32 | 1,68 | 20 | 33,6 | ||
| 21 | 44 | Nikhil, T L | 7743TPR2025 | IND | 1771 | TN | 6 | 35 | 37,5 | 26,00 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 8 | 6 | 4,71 | 1,29 | 40 | 51,6 | |||
| 22 | 20 | Sathya, Giri V | 5167KKI2025 | IND | 1909 | TN | 6 | 33 | 37 | 28,00 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 6 | 6,15 | -0,15 | 20 | -3 | |||
| 23 | 100 | Manoj, Reddy Maram | NA | IND | 1597 | TEL | 6 | 32 | 34,5 | 23,50 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 7 | 5 | 2,67 | 2,33 | 20 | 46,6 | |||
| 24 | 11 | Hiren, K G | 2739CHE2025 | IND | 2001 | TN | 5,5 | 40,5 | 44,5 | 29,00 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 8 | 5,5 | 5,96 | -0,46 | 20 | -9,2 | |||
| 25 | 18 | Prawin, K | 5800CBE2025 | IND | 1915 | TN | 5,5 | 40,5 | 44,5 | 28,25 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 8 | 5,5 | 4,82 | 0,68 | 20 | 13,6 |
About the Author
Prof. Rathinam Anantharam is an A-grade international arbiter. Member of FIDE Arbiters’ Commission, Chairman of Titles Commission in All India Chess Federation, Vice President of Tamil Nadu State Chess Association, Chief Arbiter for six world championships, many Asian, International and National Championships. Nominated as one of the top seven arbiters in the world for the past hundred years by FIDE.
The report was edited by Shahid Ahmed
