Gokula Vishnu R from Tamil Nadu claimed victory at the 11th BBCF International FIDE-Rated Open Chess Tournament in Chennai, scoring an unbeaten 8 out of 9 points. The event, organized by the Brains Behind Chess Foundation, featured 314 players from India and several countries abroad. FM Vinoth Kumar M and Rejath Renjith tied for second place with 7.5 points each.
The 11th BBCF International FIDE-Rated Open Chess Tournament took place from February 4 to 8 at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Chennai. This five-day classical event offered a prize fund of ₹7,00,001 and attracted participants from Canada, Egypt, USA, South Korea, and Norway, alongside players from across India.
Gokula Vishnu R secured first place with 7 wins and 2 draws, remaining unbeaten throughout the nine rounds. His performance boosted his FIDE rating by 43.8 points to 2019, marking his first rated tournament win of the year and crossing the 2000 Elo threshold.
A tie for second occurred between FM Vinoth Kumar M and Rejath Renjith, both on 7.5 points. Vinoth Kumar M took second due to a superior tiebreak score, while Rejath Renjith finished third.
In a post-tournament interview, Gokula Vishnu expressed surprise at his success: "I never thought that I would win this event. Even in the last round, I was not sure, but winning this tournament is very special for me." He highlighted round 6 against Vinoth Kumar as particularly tough, where he held a draw after navigating a middlegame advantage, and round 8 against Kishan Kumar, where a blunder by his opponent sealed the win. Gokula learned "to handle a difficult position with patience" from the event.
The tournament's final rankings confirmed Gokula's lead, with Vinoth Kumar M's tiebreak at 47.25 points securing his position.
