Kaustuv Kundu triumphs at 4th Bangalore Open 2022

by Shahid Ahmed - 20/04/2022

Kaustuv Kundu scored an unbeaten 8.0/9. He finished a half point ahead of the field to win 4th Bangalore Open Rating Chess Tournament 2022. Five players scored 7.5/9 - Ritviz Parab, IM Neelash Saha, IM Ratnakaran K, FM Ram Aravind L N and FM Senthil Maran. They were placed second to sixh according to the tie-breaks. Kaustuv won ₹50000 and trophy, Runner-up Ritviz received ₹40000 and Second Runner-up Neelash earned ₹30000 cash each as their respective prize. Total prize fund of the tournament was ₹600000. This is the second out of the four consecutive rating tournaments organized by Innovators Chess Academy at GEAR Innovative International School, Bangalore, Karnataka. Check out the analysis by the winner of this tournament, Kaustuv Kundu. Photo: Sushruta Reddy

Kaustuv's second victory of the year

The participation of 424 players including a GM and 8 IMs ensured no clear leader till the very last round of the tournament. Five players were at 7.0/8 heading into the last round. Kaustuv Kundu defeated IM Chakravarthi Reddy. IM Ratnakaran K and IM Rajesh Vav drew with FM Ram Aravind L N and IM Neelash Saha respectively in the final round. Thus Kaustuv became a clear winner 8.0/9 and five players ended at 7.5/9. 14-year-old Advait Ratnakar Vibhute scored 7.0/9 to finish 13th. He was the youngest player to make a top 15 finish.

Champion - Kaustuv Kundu 8.0/9 | Photo: Sushruta Reddy

Kaustuv scored 8.0/9 and gained 34.8 Elo rating points

We caught up with Kaustuv Kundu after he won this tournament to get his thoughts. Check out the interview where he analyzes one of his favorite games from the tournament:

Kaustuv Kundu wins the super strong 4th Bangalore Open 2022 | Video: ChessBase India

Kaustuv - Jeet, Round 5

Position after 18...Be7

White has a substantial advantage in the above position. Find out how can White make a breakthrough here.

Kaustuv - Chakravarthi, Round 9

Position after 23...d4

23...d4 is a mistake. White can liquidate into a winning major piece endgame. Find out how.

Runner-up - Ritviz Parab 7.5/9 | Photo: Sushruta Reddy

Second Runner-up - IM Neelash Saha 7.5/9 | Photo: Sushruta Reddy

4th IM Ratnakaran K 7.5/9 | Photo: Sushruta Reddy

5th FM Ram Aravind L N 7.5/9 | Photo: Sushruta Reddy

6th Senthil Maran K 7.5/9 | Photo: Sushruta Reddy

7th IM Rajesh Vav 7.0/9 | Photo: Sushruta Reddy

8th Bharat Kumar Reddy Potluri 7.0/9 | Photo: Sushruta Reddy

9th IM Chakravarthi Reddy M 7.0/9 | Photo: Sushruta Reddy

10th FM FI Sauravh Khherdekar 7.0/9 | Photo: Sushruta Reddy

The beautiful trophies which the prize winners won | Photo: Sushruta Reddy

Parents and accompanying persons at the prize distribution ceremony | Photo: Sushruta Reddy

The backbone of four consecutive strong and successful rating tournament tournaments at Bangalore - FI NA Sushruta Reddy

For more photos, please click here.

A total of 424 players including a GM, 8 IMs and a WIM participated from five countries across the world including India. The five-day nine-round Swiss league Rating tournament was organized by Innovators Chess Academy at GEAR Innovative International School from 10th to 14th April 2022. The time control of the tournament was 90 minutes + 30 seconds increment from move no.1.

Final Standings

Rk.	SNo		Name	Typ	sex	Gr	FED	RtgI	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB4	TB5
1	8		Kaustuv Kundu				IND	2306	Wb	8,0	53,0	57,5	50,25	0,0	7
2	5		Ritviz Parab				IND	2339	Ga	7,5	53,5	58,5	47,75	0,0	6
3	1	IM	Neelash Saha				IND	2444	Wb	7,5	53,5	58,5	47,25	0,0	6
4	6	IM	Ratnakaran K.				IND	2337	Kl	7,5	53,5	58,0	46,75	0,0	7
5	23	FM	Ram Aravind L N				IND	2108	Tn	7,5	49,0	53,0	42,75	0,0	7
6	18	FM	Senthil Maran K				IND	2191	Tn	7,5	49,0	51,5	40,75	0,0	6
7	3	IM	Rajesh V A V				IND	2376	Scr	7,0	55,0	60,0	45,50	0,0	5
8	10		Bharat Kumar Reddy Poluri				IND	2285	Tg	7,0	52,0	56,5	41,75	0,0	6
9	4	IM	Chakravarthi Reddy M				IND	2348	Tg	7,0	50,5	55,0	41,00	0,0	7
10	16	FM	Sauravh Khherdekar				IND	2248	Mh	7,0	49,0	53,5	40,50	0,0	6
11	13	IM	Palit Somak				IND	2273	Rspb	7,0	49,0	53,0	38,00	0,0	7
12	17	FM	Jeet Jain				IND	2244	Gj	7,0	48,5	52,5	37,00	0,0	7
13	82		Advait Ratnakar Vibhute	U16			IND	1532	Ka	7,0	48,5	50,0	35,00	0,0	7
14	7	IM	Abhishek Kelkar				IND	2320	Mh	7,0	48,0	52,0	38,75	0,0	5
15	25	FM	Dutta Joydeep				IND	2067	Wb	7,0	47,5	51,5	38,75	0,0	5
16	31		Dinesh Kumar Jaganathan				IND	1937	Tn	7,0	47,0	51,0	37,25	0,0	6
17	27		Nath Rupankar				IND	2023	Wb	7,0	46,5	51,0	37,25	0,0	6
18	22		Arpan Das				IND	2112	Wb	7,0	46,5	50,5	37,75	0,0	6
19	9	GM	Roy Chowdhury Saptarshi				IND	2287	Rspb	7,0	46,5	50,0	37,50	0,0	5
20	38		Gajanan Vijay Jayade				IND	1839	Mh	7,0	45,5	49,5	36,50	0,0	6
21	28	IM	Hegde Ravi Gopal	S60			IND	2018	Ka	7,0	45,0	49,0	37,25	0,0	5
22	24		Sudarshan Bhat				IND	2073	Ka	7,0	43,5	47,0	35,00	0,0	7
23	55		Apoorv Kamble	U14			IND	1679	Ka	7,0	42,0	46,5	34,50	0,0	7
24	12	FM	Sharan Rao				IND	2280	Ka	6,5	53,0	57,0	38,50	0,0	6
25	109		Ujjawal Bansal				IND	1442	Gj	6,5	48,0	51,5	34,75	0,0	5