PANAJI
IM Nitish Belurkar from Goa emerged as the champion of the 24th RCC International FIDE-rated Rapid Chess Tournament held in Mangalore.
The tournament featured a strong field of 593 players from six countries. Nitish remained undefeated throughout, scoring an impressive 8.5 points out of 9. He secured key victories against notable players such as IM Murali Krishnan B T, AIM Advaith Babu, Rahul V S, and Nitin Babu, and drew his final round game with IM Sanket Chakravarti to clinch the title outright.
In addition to his rapid success, Nitish also performed well in the Blitz category, scoring 11 points out of 13 and finishing in third place.
Other Goan players also had strong showings. Mandar Lad scored 7.5 points in the Rapid event, finishing 13th, and excelled in Blitz with 10.5 points, securing 5th place. Datta Kambli and Rishikesh Parab each scored 7 points in the Rapid section, placing 19th and 26th respectively. Rishikesh also impressed in Blitz with 10 points, earning 11th place and gaining a significant 114 rating points. Anish Naik finished 37th in the Rapid section with 6.5 points.
