Rathanvel victorious at 22nd Chefchaouen Festival 2026
IM V S Rathanvel edged past four other players on tie-breaks to win 22nd Chefchaouen Festival 2026.
Rathanvel’s third rating tournament triumph of the year
The top seed of the tournament, IM V S Rathanvel was the sole leader at 6.5/8, heading into the last round. A dozen players including IM FT Muthaiah Al, IM Bala Chandra Prasad Dhulipalla and GM Deep Sengupta were trailing by a half point at 6/8 each. Rathanvel drew against IM Ismael Karim (MAR) to become the champion. Bala Chandra lost to GM David Larino Nieto (ESP) and the latter finished second. IM El Adani Mokhliss (MAR) defeated FM Nassim Zrikem (MAR) to claim third place. Deep and Muthaiah are the remaining two Indians to make a top ten finish. Deep scored 7/9 to be placed fourth, Muthaiah made 6.5/9 and he was adjudged sixth.
The total prize fund was MAR 120000. The top three prizes were MAR 20000, 16000 and 12000 each.
This is the second consecutive year where Indians dominated the festival by winning both Classical and Blitz Rating events. Last year, IM C R G Krishna won the Classical and GM Diptayan Ghosh clinched Blitz.
Champion – IM V S Rathanvel 7/9 | Photo: Chaouen presse / Assaoud
Deep – Rathanvel, Round 6
Position after 34.d4
IM V S Rathanvel (2489) fought back from a difficult position against the three-time Hastings Masters champion, the revered GM Deep Sengupta (2482). 34…Nxb3?? allowed White an opportunity to win the game with 35.Qg5+-. However, he missed it and blundered himself 35.Re3+?? Kd7-+ tables turned and now Black is winning. Rathanvel had no trouble converting his advantage into a win and get himself one step closer to winning the tournament.
IM V S Rathanvel in action | Photo: Beyond 64
IM V S Rathanvel scored an unbeaten 7/9, won the tournament on tie-breaks and increased his Elo rating by 8.7 points
Blitz: Muthaiah clear first, Rathanvel second
IM FT Muthaiah Al was the sole leader at 8.5/10, heading into the last round. IM V S Rathanvel and GM Fabien Libiszewski (FRA) were trailing by a half point at 8/10 each. Fabien drew against Muthaiah, the former finished third and the latter became the champion. GM David Larino Nieto (ESP) drew against Rathanvel and the latter claimed second place. IM Bala Chandra Prasad Dhulipalla is the only other Indian to make a top ten finish. He scored 8.5/11 to be placed fourth.
The top three prizes in Blitz were MAR 4000, 3000 and 2000 with a trophy each.
Champion in Blitz – IM FT Muthaiah Al 9/11 | Photo: Chaouen presse
Runner-up in Blitz – IM V S Rathanvel 8.5/11 | Photo: Chaouen presse
IM FT Muthaiah Al scored 9/11, finished a half point ahead of the field and gained 53.2 Elo rating points
4th IM Bala Chandra Prasad Dhulipalla 8.5/11 | Photo: Chaouen presse
Replay all available Classical games
Replay all available Blitz games
A total of 111 players including three GMs and nine IMs took part from eleven countries across the world. The seven-day nine-round Rating Open tournament was organized by Association Alwan Fania Chefchaouen at Maison des Jeunes in Chefchaouen, Morocco from 18th to 24th October 2026. The time control of the tournament was 90 minutes + 30 seconds increment.
A total of 102 players including two GMs and seven IMs took part from eight countries across the world. The one-day eleven-round Blitz Rating Open tournament was organized by Association Alwan Fania Chefchaouen at Maison des Jeunes in Chefchaouen, Morocco on 22nd October 2026. The time control of the tournament was 3 minutes + 2 seconds increment.
Links
Association Alwan Fannia d’Échecs – Chefchaouen: Official site, facebook and instagram
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