Festival Caissa Jan 23rd to 26th Organized by Sushrutha Reddy

 

Pic 1: Navaratna Blitz FIDE Rating Chess Tournament – Scored 4.5/9
Pic 2: Crown Rapid FIDE Rating Chess Tournament – Scored 5.5/9
Pic 3: Chalice Rapid FIDE Rating Chess Tournament – Scored 5/9
Pic 4: Scepter Rapid FIDE Rating Chess Tournament – Scored 5.5/9

Festival Caissa, organized by Sushrutha Reddy, was held in Bangalore from Jan 23rd to 26th.
The festival included one blitz tournament, three rapid tournaments, and one blitz marathon.

This was one of the strongest Rapid and Blitz FIDE events ever played in India. Many strong players participated, and the event was very well organized by Sushrutha Reddy and his team.
The tournament hall, time management, and overall arrangements were excellent.

Players should support and encourage organizers like this to conduct more strong events in the future. It will help in building a strong and high-quality chess community.
Thank you so much, Sushrutha Reddy, for this wonderful event.

For me, this was a mixed event. I played many good and crazy games, but I also made a few stupid and careless mistakes. If I had avoided those mistakes, I believe I could have scored one or more extra points in each tournament.

One special highlight was getting a chance to play against GM Narayanan S L. In my younger days, I played in the same tournaments as him, but never got the opportunity to face him. Now he is a 2700-rated player, and I rarely get chances to play against 2650+ GMs.

I played Black against him. Out of the opening, he got a slight advantage, mainly due to the bishop pair. After that, he didn’t give me a single chance to recover. He handled the game extremely precisely with the two bishops. I fought till the end, but there was no chance.
It was a long game, and since it was a rapid tournament with rounds starting quickly, I felt it was better not to disturb him for analysis. Still, it was a great learning experience.

Thanks to my friend Prasannaa S who called me to play this event—otherwise, I might have missed this experience.

I did not play the blitz marathon, as it went on until 3 AM, and I knew it wouldn’t work for me.

Overall, a memorable and enriching tournament experience