Raj Aryan prevails at 2nd DNC Memorial Below 1700 Rating Tournament 2026

Raj Aryan and Raman R scored an unbeaten 8/9 each at 2nd DNC Memorial Below 1700 Rating Tournament 2026. Raj won the tournament on tie-breaks, Raman had to settle for second place. Seven players scored 7.5/9 each. Out of them, Ananth Sriram was adjudged third. The total prize fund was ₹500000. The top three prizes were ₹50000 + trophy, ₹40000 and ₹30000 each.

Raj’s first rating tournament triumph of his career

Yoganandan A was the sole leader 7.5/8, heading into the last round. Four players – Ananth Sriram, Jayant Chauhan, Raj Aryan and Raman R were trailing by a half point at 7/8 each. Jayant lost to Raj and the latter became the champion. Yoganandan suffered defeat versus Raman who finished second. Boopesh Kumar M drew against Ananth Sriram and the latter finished third.

Champion – Raj Aryan 8/9 | Photo: All Bihar Chess Association

Raj Aryan en route his seventh round win over Vignesh Murugan

Check out Raj’s final round win over Jayant Chauhan (1674) shared by Raj himself.

Raj Aryan scored an unbeaten 8/9, won the tournament on tie-breaks and gained 48.8 Elo rating points

A total of 489 players took part from various parts of the country. The three-day nine-round Below 1700 Rating tournament was organized by Vivekananda Chess Academy, Dharmapuri at Sri Vijay Vidyalaya College of Pharmacy in Dharmapuri, Tamil Nadu from 20th to 22nd February 2026. The time control of the tournament was 45 minutes + 30 seconds increment.

Final standings

Details