Srijit Paul wins Saturday Club Youth Rapid Rating 2019

by Shahid Ahmed - 12/06/2019

Srijit Paul wins Saturday Club Youth Rapid Rating 2019 by scoring 8.0/9. FM Mitrabha Guha also finished at the same score. However, due to a better tie-break score, Srijit Paul edged ahead and clinched the title and Mitrabha had to settle for first runner-up position. Arya Bhakta scored 7.5/9 and finished at third place. However, due to his phenomenal performance, he won the 'Most Promising Player' - President's Award. The award was adjudged by the arbiters of the tournament. Total ₹150000 Prize fund was distributed among 65 Prize winners. The tournament was jointly organized by Saturday Club and Alekhine Chess Club, sponsored by Ollypop in association with association with The Telegraph. Arjuna Awardee GM Surya Sekhar Ganguly was the Chief Guest in the Prize Distribution Ceremony. Photo: Shahid Ahmed

Srijit wins his first tournament of 2019

Champion Srijit Paul receives ₹35000 cash, beautiful trophy and certificate from GM Surya Sekhar Ganguly and President of Saturday Club Jagpal Singh

Srijit suffered only one loss in the tournament against Arya Bhakta who won the 'Most Promising Player' award

Here is an interview with Srijit Paul after he won the tournament:

Srijit talks about how lucky he was, his toughest opponent and more | Video: Shahid Ahmed

Runner-up - FM Mitrabha Guha also scored 8.0/9 and he received ₹25000 cash and a certificate | Photo: Shahid Ahmed

Second runner-up - Arya Bhakta finished at 7.5/9 and he got ₹17000 cash. He also won 'Most Promising Player' Award | Photo: Shahid Ahmed

Arya started with 7.0/7, suffered an unfortunate loss in the penultimate round and halted his dream run

Here is an interview conducted with Arya Bhakta at the conclusion of the tournament:

Arya played absolutely fantastic in the tournament. To get a glimpse of his performance, he sent us a couple of his games from the tournament, annotated by himself. But first let us take a look at some interesting moments:

Srijit Paul - Arya Bhakta, Round 7

White just played 22.a4. What should Black do here?

White's last move 24.Qe2 overlooked Black's brilliant plan. Can you find it?

White played 25.Bg1 completely missing Black's winning idea. How?

White's move 36.c4 is a simple way of playing hope chess, but Black is completely dominating here. Find out the best continuation for Black.

Now generally no one wants to share their game where they lost, because everyone feels vulnerable, they do not want to expose their weakness. However with Arya Bhakta, it is not the same. He played good, had a completely winning position, but due to a series of blunders he lost the crucial penultimate round.

Final moments of the game between Arya Bhakta and Subhayan Kundu in the penultimate round | Video: Shahid Ahmed

Let's see some key moments and missed opportunities:

Arya Bhakta - Subhayan Kundu, Round 8

White's Rook wants to go somewhere after 31...Qc6. But the obvious move is not what you should look for.

After 33...Bxe7, White wants to play Qxg6 but cannot. However White needs to defend the Knight at f6. What is the best way to achieve that?

Black went for 35...Rd4 with a serious threat which White can counter with his own. Find out how

It seems to be all over, but White has one last trick up his sleeve after 38...Qd7. What is the second wind for White here?

Photo Gallery:

Top seed GM Diptayan Ghosh had a hard time making comeback as he was out of action for a few months because of his college studies | Photo: Shahid Ahmed

All glittering beautiful trophies | Photo: Shahid Ahmed

The well-lit, fantastic tournament hall | Photo: Shahid Ahmed

One last handshake at the beginning of final round | Photo: Shahid Ahmed

Prize Distribution Ceremony photos:

4th - CM Aronyak Ghosh 7.5/9, won ₹12000 cash and a certificate | Photo: Shahid Ahmed

5th - Subhayan Kundu 7.5/9, bagged home ₹8000 cash and a certificate | Photo: Shahid Ahmed

6th - Utsab Chatterjee 7.5/9, received ₹6000 cash and a certificate | Photo: Shahid Ahmed

7th - Ayush Jha 7.0/9, won ₹5000 cash and a certificate | Photo: Shahid Ahmed

8th - Arpan Das Jr. 7.0/9, collected ₹4000 cash and a certificate | Photo: Shahid Ahmed

9th - Soumyajit Das Jr. 7.0/9, won ₹3000 cash and a certificate | Photo: Shahid Ahmed

10th - Debankan Dhara 7.0/9, got ₹2500 cash and a certificate | Photo: Shahid Ahmed

For more Prize Distribution Ceremony photos, click here.

Video Gallery:

Highlights of Day 1 | Video: Shahid Ahmed

"It is better to be ready for the unknown" - GM Surya Sekhar Ganguly | Video: Shahid Ahmed

8-year old kid blunders in Knight vs. Bishop endgame | Video: Shahid Ahmed

An interesting Rook-Knight ending takes an unexpected turn | Video: Shahid Ahmed

Rook vs. Queen ending ends up in a draw | Video: Shahid Ahmed

Why it is important to learn double rook endgames | Video: Shahid Ahmed

Srijit Paul got lucky as his opponent blundered in the final round | Video: Shahid Ahmed

CM Aronyak Ghosh made the well timed psychological exchange sacrifice in the final round | Video: Shahid Ahmed

Final Standings

Rk.	SNo		Name	Typ	sex	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB4	TB5
1	6		Srijit Paul			IND	1947	8,0	0,0	52,0	56,5	49,00	8
2	4	FM	Mitrabha Guha			IND	2039	8,0	0,0	51,5	55,5	48,25	7
3	18		Arya Bhakta	U14		IND	1519	7,5	0,0	54,5	56,5	43,25	7
4	2	CM	Aronyak Ghosh	U16		IND	2055	7,5	0,0	54,0	58,0	47,00	7
5	8		Subhayan Kundu			IND	1845	7,5	0,0	52,0	54,5	43,25	7
6	15		Utsab Chatterjee	U16		IND	1611	7,5	0,0	50,0	52,5	41,25	7
7	17		Ayush Jha	U14		IND	1557	7,0	0,0	52,0	56,5	41,50	6
8	11		Arpan Das (Jr)	U16		IND	1703	7,0	0,0	51,5	55,5	40,50	7
9	30		Soumyajit Das (Jr)	U16		IND	1322	7,0	0,0	51,5	53,5	38,00	7
10	3		Debankan Dhara			IND	2040	7,0	0,0	51,0	55,0	40,00	7
11	5	FM	Rajdeep Sarkar			IND	1997	7,0	0,0	49,0	54,0	39,00	7
12	19		Rounak Pathak			IND	1513	7,0	0,0	49,0	54,0	38,50	7
13	14		Praloy Sahoo	U16		IND	1624	7,0	0,0	49,0	52,0	37,00	7
14	9		Sarbojit Paul			IND	1783	7,0	0,0	48,0	52,0	39,25	6
15	10		Ganguly Ritabroto			IND	1763	7,0	0,0	46,5	50,5	37,50	7
16	1	GM	Ghosh Diptayan			IND	2521	6,5	0,0	52,5	56,0	37,25	6
17	7		Anustoop Biswas			IND	1877	6,5	0,0	49,5	54,0	36,00	6
18	16		Rajarshi Dutta			IND	1609	6,5	0,0	48,0	52,5	35,50	6
19	12		Saptorshi Gupta			IND	1688	6,5	0,0	48,0	49,5	32,50	6
20	13		Satya Sekhar Mitra			IND	1646	6,5	0,0	46,0	50,5	35,00	6
21	23		Pratyay Chowdhury	U14		IND	1420	6,0	0,0	49,5	54,5	32,50	6
	26		Sourath Biswas	U14		IND	1379	6,0	0,0	49,5	54,5	32,50	6
23	20		Swarnava Biswas	U16		IND	1472	6,0	0,0	48,0	52,5	33,00	5
24	21		Shouvik Kar			IND	1450	6,0	0,0	47,5	52,0	31,00	6
25	43		Mrittika Mallick	F12	w	IND	1166	6,0	0,0	47,5	51,5	28,25	5

Complete Standings

The tournament was jointly organized by Saturday Club and Alekhine Chess Club on 1st and 2nd June 2019, sponsored by Ollypop in association with The Telegraph. This was for the very first time a rapid rating tournament was organized at Saturday Club. Organizers made sure that there was zero walk over in the first round. Total 221 players participated from various districts across the state of West Bengal in this two-day rapid rating youth tournament.

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