GM Rohit Lalith Babu wins National Chess Rapid title

Ahmedabad: Grandmaster Rohit Lalith Babu clinched the National Rapid Championship title at the Gujarat State Co.op. Bank Ltd. (A.C Hall) today. Lalith defeated GM Swapnil Dhopade of Indian Railways in the final round while GM Aravindh Chidambaram edged out IM Dinesh Sharma on top board.

After a tough and nail-biting final round, Aravindh and Lalith tied for the first place with 9.5/11 points respectively. While Lalith emerged as the champion with a better tie-break score, Aravindh secured the second place. Both players exhibited a brilliant show of the game, keeping opponents on their toes with speed and powerful moves.

In the four-day event, around 164 players representing all states and affiliated sports departments participated. The event was organized by the Gujarat State Chess Association.

Final Ranking after 11 Rounds

Rk.	SNo		Name	sex	FED	RtgI	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB4	TB5	n	w	we	w-we	K	rtg+/-
1	1	GM	Lalith Babu M R		IND	2535	PSPB	9,5	1,0	77,0	81,5	69,75	9	11	9,5	8,39	1,11	20	22,2
2	14	GM	Aravindh Chithambaram Vr.		IND	2353	TN	9,5	0,0	76,0	81,5	68,25	9	11	9,5	6,19	3,31	20	66,2
3	13	IM	Sharma Dinesh K.		IND	2357	LIC	8,5	0,0	75,0	80,0	60,50	8	11	8,5	7,45	1,05	20	21,0
4	37	IM	Harsha Bharathakoti		IND	2084	TEL	8,5	0,0	68,0	72,0	52,75	7	11	8,5	4,57	3,93	20	78,6
5	5	GM	Laxman R.R.		IND	2447	Rlys	8,0	0,0	75,0	81,0	56,00	7	11	8	7,46	0,54	20	10,8
6	10	IM	Das Arghyadip		IND	2389	WB	8,0	0,0	72,0	77,5	55,00	5	11	8	8,81	-0,81	20	-16,2
7	11	IM	Karthikeyan P.		IND	2387	Rlys	8,0	0,0	72,0	77,5	54,75	7	11	8	7,86	0,14	20	2,8
8	3	GM	Thejkumar M. S.		IND	2463	Rlys	8,0	0,0	70,0	76,0	52,75	7	11	8	9,52	-1,52	20	-30,4
9	20	FM	Sadhwani Raunak		IND	2308	MAH	8,0	0,0	70,0	75,0	50,75	7	11	8	6,87	1,13	20	22,6
10	17	IM	Mohammad Nubairshah Shaikh		IND	2336	MAH	8,0	0,0	69,0	74,5	52,25	7	11	8	7,33	0,67	20	13,4