CRG Krishna wins 2nd Aspiring Minds Open Rapid FIDE Rating 2026
International Master CRG Krishna scored an unbeaten 8/9 points to win the 2nd Aspiring Minds Open International Rapid FIDE Rating Chess Tournament 2026. It was a 6-way tie for first place, as six players scored 8/9 points, but a better tie-break score helped CRG Krishna to secure the title. Sri Sai Baswanth P, Dhulipalla Bala Chandra Prasad, Jain Kashish Manoj, Dhruva Thota, and Nidhish Shyamal finished in second to sixth place, respectively. The tournament took place on 14th & 15th February 2025 at Saroor Nagar Indoor Stadium, Hyderabad, by Aspiring Minds Chess Academy, with a total prize money of ₹4,00,000, and top 3 prizes of ₹60,000, ₹40,000, and ₹25,000 along with trophies. Photos: FT IM Ravi Teja S
CRG Krishna's first title of the year
Winning this event is special for CRG Krishna as this is his first tournament title of 2026. Starting on the 3rd rank, Krishna played some good games and scored an important victory against IM Anuj Shrivatri, who is in red-hot form this year and already won 4 rapid rating events in under 2 months.
Interview with IM CRG Krishna
Devansh Singh: How does it feel to win this tournament?
CRG Krishna: Feels very special because it is organized by my best friend Ravi Teja S. Winning a tournament always feels good and this was special because this was the 1st title for me this year.
Devansh Singh: Which match was the toughest for you and why?
CRG Krishna: Round 8 with fellow IM Anuj Shivatri was a very crucial win. He is a very strong player and I have been following his journey for quite sometime now, very promising youngster, beating him in the penultimate round in a very tense battle felt good.
Devansh Singh: What is one lesson/take this tournament taught you?
CRG Krishna: "Play to your strength". Even though some setups/openings feel dubious and given bad by modern engines, if you feel it suits your style, you have to go to those lines, because only you know how well you can handle those positions.
Devansh Singh: How was the overall experience of playing at this event
CRG Krishna: It is always good to play at home city though you encounter some pressure to do well. The organizers (my friends Ravi,Anusha and Madanasri,Madhu Kiran) gave it their all to make the tournament run in a smooth way. Kudos to them. We are planning something big soon, will be back with updates
Check out this interesting position with the analysis by Krishna CRG
Anuj Shrivatri vs CRG Krishna, Round 8: (0-1)
A total of 580 participants all over India participated in the event, including 9 international Masters, 3 Fide Masters, along many more titled players. A player from Kenya and 3 players from the USA also took part in the event. The time control of this two-day tournament was 25 minutes + 10 seconds increment from move 1.
Photo Gallery: Here
The Team
Final Ranking after 9 Rounds
Rk. | SNo | Name | Typ | sex | Gr | FED | Rtg | Bdld | Club/City | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | TB4 | TB5 | TB6 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 3 | IM | 2268 | Ap | 8 | 56 | 62 | 54 | 0 | 7 | 4 | ||||||
2 | 16 | 1998 | Ap | 8 | 55,5 | 60,5 | 52,5 | 0 | 7 | 5 | |||||||
3 | 1 | IM | 2383 | Ap | 8 | 54 | 58,5 | 51,25 | 0 | 7 | 4 | ||||||
4 | 4 | IM | 2249 | Mh | 8 | 54 | 58,5 | 51 | 0 | 7 | 5 | ||||||
5 | 18 | FM | 1991 | Tg | 8 | 51,5 | 55,5 | 47,5 | 0 | 7 | 4 | ||||||
6 | 35 | U12 | 1809 | Tg | 8 | 46 | 49 | 41 | 0 | 8 | 4 | ||||||
7 | 2 | IM | 2316 | Mp | 7,5 | 55 | 61 | 49,75 | 0 | 7 | 4 | ||||||
8 | 9 | IM | 2134 | Ap | 7,5 | 53,5 | 58,5 | 47,25 | 0 | 7 | 4 | ||||||
9 | 5 | IM | 2214 | Ap | 7,5 | 52,5 | 57,5 | 47 | 0 | 7 | 4 | ||||||
10 | 12 | FM | 2034 | Tg | 7,5 | 51 | 56 | 45,5 | 0 | 7 | 4 | ||||||
11 | 10 | FM | 2078 | Tg | 7 | 55,5 | 58,5 | 42,5 | 0 | 7 | 5 | ||||||
12 | 13 | IM | 2029 | Tg | 7 | 53 | 58 | 43,5 | 0 | 6 | 4 | ||||||
13 | 6 | IM | 2212 | LIC | 7 | 52,5 | 57,5 | 42,5 | 0 | 7 | 5 | ||||||
14 | 17 | 1997 | Ap | 7 | 51,5 | 56,5 | 41,5 | 0 | 7 | 4 | |||||||
15 | 11 | CM | 2048 | Gj | 7 | 51,5 | 55,5 | 41 | 0 | 6 | 4 |
Official webpage of the Organizer