Rapid Arjun raises bar

BANGALORE: Arjun Bharat of Bangalore set a state record for the most number of FIDE rating points gained in a single interval.The 12-year old student of The International School has beaten International Masters and FIDE Masters and drawn with several IMs and FMs enroute to getting a record 196 points catapulting him from a FIDE rating of 1960 to a new rating of 2156.Previously Arjun was the Under-9 state champion and had won the World Schools chess championship in 2008 earning him the title of Candidate Master.Spending a few weeks in summer playing four Grand Master level Chess Tournaments in Europe during the month of July, Candidate Master Arjun Bharat delivered a stunning performance in all the four events.Trained by GM Tejas Bakre, Arjun defeated some highly rated International Masters and Fide Masters in these events and held many other tough IMs to creditable draws and as a result, has gained a whopping 196 FIDE Rating points.In the GM tournament at Martigny, Switzerland, Arjun remained unbeaten after having played six international masters including one victory and five draws.He won several international prizes on the way.He won the below 2000 rating category at the GM tournament in Benasque in Spain and finished second in the below 2000 category at the very strong GM level tournament in Biel, Switzerland.He finished as the top junior at the tournament in Dresden, Germany outperforming rivals rated more than 300 points above him.The rating points gained by Arjun is the highest ever gained by any player in Karnataka in a single Rating Period of two months.On September 1, Arjun will see his FIDE Rating shoot up from 1960 to over 2150 making him one of the top players in the state.