Aravindh Chithambaram dominates MPL National Blitz Chess Championship 2023 with a perfect 11/11

by Shahid Ahmed - 28/02/2023

GM Aravindh Chithambaram (TN) just keeps creating record after record. He scored a perfect 11/11 to win MPL National Blitz Chess Championship 2023. Thus, he became the first person in Indian chess history to become National Rapid and Blitz champion for three consecutive editions* between 2019 and 2023. Of course his 11/11 first place finish record cannot be broken unless the total number of rounds increases in future editions which is highly unlikely. He also finished a staggering 2.5 points ahead of the field. IM Nubairshah Shaikh (MAH) and IM Avinash Ramesh (TN) scored 8.5/11 each to finish at second and third place respectively. Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

The Undisputed Hat-trick King of National Rapid and Blitz

Aravindh Chithambaram has shown that he is undoubtedly the strongest player to win National Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships 2023. If you are wondering why, the answer is, he is the only player to have won it three years in-a-row. No other player has won it twice, ever since it became an annual eventt from the year 2012. This was also the first time, two women finished in top ten. The reigning National Women and Asian Blitz Women champion, WGM Divya Deshmukh and former National and Asian Women's champion, IM Padmini Rout scored 8/11 and 7.5/11 to secure eighth and tenth place respectively. IM Bhakti Kulkarni remains the only woman to make a podium finish in 2019 at third place. Divya tied Bhakti's second best performance in 2014, finishing at eighth place.

Champion - GM Aravindh Chithambaram (TN) 8.5/11 | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

GM Aravindh Chithambaram wins National Blitz for the third consecutive edition | Video: ChessBase India

The tournament had a total prize fund of ₹250000. The top three prizes were ₹50000 + trophy, ₹40000 and ₹30000 each respectively.

Runner-up - IM Nubairshah Shaikh (MAH) 8.5/11 | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Apart from Aravindh, IM Nubairshah Shaikh (MAH) also showed consistency and secured second place in both Rapid and Blitz events with the exact same score.

Second Runner-up - IM Avinash Ramesh (TN) 8.5/11 | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Top 3 (L to R) - 2nd GM Mitrabha Guha (WB), 1st GM Aravindh Chithambaram (TN) and 2nd IM Nubairshah Shaikh (MAH) | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Aravindh Chithambaram scored a perfect 11/11, performed at 2975 and gained 17.6 Elo rating points

4th Srihari L (PUD) 8/11 | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Srihari L (PUD) is the only untitled player to make a top ten finish. He scored 8/11 to finish fourth. A last round loss against IM Avinash Ramesh (TN) denied him a podium finish.

5th FM Aradhya Garg (DEL) 8/11 | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

6th GM Mitrabha Guha (WB) 8/11 | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

7th GM Raja Rithvik R (TEL) 8/11 | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

8th WGM Divya Deshmukh (MAH) 8/11 | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

9th IM Ameya Audi (Goa) 8/11 | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

10th IM Padmini Rout (PSPB) 7.5/11 | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

IM Padmini Rout made an unbeaten start 7.5/9. Two consecutive losses in the last two rounds cost her dearly, nevertheless she had a great tournament.

11th GM Neelotpal Das (PSPB) 7.5/11 | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

12th Vignesh B (TN) 7.5/11 | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

13th CM Aaditya Dhingra (HAR) 7.5/11 | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

14th Mihir Shah (MAH) 7/11 | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

After Srihari L, Mihir Shah (MAH) is the only other untitled player to make a top 15 finish. Despite starting the tournament with a loss against a former National Rapid champion, GM Neelotpal Das (PSPB), he chained seven wins in-a-row including wins over former National Blitz champion - GM Sriram Jha (LIC), IM Sidhant Mohapatra, two eventual runner-ups - IM Nubairshah Shaikh and IM Avinash Ramesh. Considering the fact that he has played less than 40 tournnaments including non-rated events, this teenager is certainly a talent to watch out for.

*There were no National Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships in 2020 and 2021 due to Covid-19 pandemic.

For more photos, please click here.

A total of 111 players including 5 GMs, 11 IMs, 3 WGMs and a WIM are took part in this one-day eleven-round Swiss League Blittz Rating tournament. It was organized by Crown Trust from 27th February 2023 at The Kangra Fort, Jammu. The time control was 3 minutes + 2 seconds increment.

Round 11 results

Bo.	No.		Name	Gr	Typ	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Gr	Typ	Rtg	Club/City	No.
1	1	GM	Aravindh, Chithambaram Vr.			2578	Tamil Nadu	10	1 - 0	8	GM	Mitrabha, Guha			2520	West Bengal	2
2	15	IM	Avinash, Ramesh			2264	Tamil Nadu	7½	1 - 0	8		Srihari, L			2256	Puducherry	17
3	8	IM	Mohammad, Nubairshah Shaikh			2339	Maharashtra	7½	1 - 0	7½	GM	Neelotpal, Das			2327	West Bengal	9
4	12	IM	Audi, Ameya			2301	Goa	7	1 - 0	7½	IM	Padmini, Rout			2305	Petroleum Sports Promotion Board	11
5	16	IM	Sidhant, Mohapatra			2256	Railways	7	0 - 1	7	GM	Raja, Rithvik R			2411	Telangana	4
6	10	WGM	Divya, Deshmukh			2325	Maharashtra	7	1 - 0	7		Daksh, Goyal			1849	Delhi	45
7	14	FM	Aradhya, Garg			2278	Delhi	7	1 - 0	7		Shah, Mihir			1520	Maharashtra	68
8	3	IM	Ravi, Teja S.			2442	Andhra Pradesh	6½	½ - ½	6½	IM	Prraneeth, Vuppala			2345	Telangana	7
9	6	IM	Sharma, Dinesh K.			2346	Life Insuranace Corporation Of Indi	6½	½ - ½	6½	IM	Dhulipalla, Bala Chandra Prasad			2394	Andhra Pradesh	5
10	30	AGM	Vignesh, B			2058	Tamil Nadu	6½	1 - 0	6½	CM	Soham, Kamotra			2204	Jammu And Kashmir	21

Details

Final standings

Rk.	SNo		Name	Typ	sex	Gr	FED	RtgI	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB4	TB5
1	1	GM	Aravindh, Chithambaram Vr.				IND	2578	Tamil Nadu	11	75	79,5	79,50	0	11
2	8	IM	Mohammad, Nubairshah Shaikh				IND	2339	Maharashtra	8,5	72,5	78	57,00	0	8
3	15	IM	Avinash, Ramesh				IND	2264	Tamil Nadu	8,5	68	72,5	54,50	0	7
4	17		Srihari, L				IND	2256	Puducherry	8	76,5	81	53,00	0	8
5	14	FM	Aradhya, Garg				IND	2278	Delhi	8	72,5	77,5	51,25	0	7
6	2	GM	Mitrabha, Guha				IND	2520	West Bengal	8	71,5	76,5	51,00	0	8
7	4	GM	Raja, Rithvik R				IND	2411	Telangana	8	70	75,5	52,50	0	8
8	10	WGM	Divya, Deshmukh		w		IND	2325	Maharashtra	8	65,5	70	48,75	0	7
9	12	IM	Audi, Ameya				IND	2301	Goa	8	60,5	65,5	49,00	0	8
10	11	IM	Padmini, Rout		w		IND	2305	Petroleum Sports Promotion Board	7,5	79	83,5	52,75	0	6
11	9	GM	Neelotpal, Das				IND	2327	West Bengal	7,5	70,5	75,5	48,25	0	7
12	30	AGM	Vignesh, B				IND	2058	Tamil Nadu	7,5	67,5	71,5	45,25	0	7
13	32	CM	Aaditya, Dhingra				IND	2054	Haryana	7,5	63	67	39,00	0	7
14	68		Shah, Mihir				IND	1520	Maharashtra	7	77,5	81,5	47,50	0	7
15	3	IM	Ravi, Teja S.				IND	2442	Andhra Pradesh	7	75,5	80,5	46,25	0	6
16	6	IM	Sharma, Dinesh K.				IND	2346	Life Insuranace Corporation Of Indi	7	70,5	76	44,00	0	5
17	7	IM	Prraneeth, Vuppala				IND	2345	Telangana	7	67,5	73	43,50	0	6
18	18	GM	Sriram, Jha				IND	2237	Life Insuranace Corporation Of Indi	7	67	72	39,00	0	7
19	5	IM	Dhulipalla, Bala Chandra Prasad				IND	2394	Andhra Pradesh	7	66,5	71,5	42,50	0	5
20	45		Daksh, Goyal				IND	1849	Delhi	7	66	69	38,00	0	7
21	16	IM	Sidhant, Mohapatra				IND	2256	Railways	7	65,5	70,5	42,50	0	7
22	41	FM	Purushothaman, Thirumalai				IND	1979	Andhra Pradesh	7	65,5	70	38,50	0	7
23	44		Awadh, Chaitanya				IND	1870	Madhya Pradesh	7	63,5	68	39,50	0	7
24	40		Kumar, Gaurav				IND	1983	Bihar	7	63	67	37,00	0	7
25	64		Devansh, Singh				IND	1585	Madhya Pradesh	7	63	66,5	40,25	0	6

Details

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