Ramesh tops Dabaeva in Playoff to Capture Barber Title
By Bill Broich, IA, NTD
The Barber qualifier was held in conjunction with the Denker and Rockefeller qualifiers on February 10, 2024, at the Airport Holiday Inn in Des Moines, Iowa. Two newcomers to Iowa chess faced off in a playoff for the privilege to represent Iowa in the 2024 Tournament of Champions held in conjunction with the U.S. Open. Nehanraj Ramesh, a sixth grader from Ceder Rapids, Iowa defeated Arina Dabaeva of Cedar Falls, Iowa to claim the Barber title after winning a playoff. The playoff consisted of two G/15, delay 5 games. The two contestants played to a draw in the fourth and final round of the tournament. Please see the fourth-round game below the cross table.
Eighteen players competed in this year’s qualifier. Asim Shivapur, who has represented Iowa in the Barber Championship the last two years, finished seventh in this year’s qualifier. Congratulations to all who competed.
BARBER QUALIFIER
Pair | Player Name |Total|Round|Round|Round|Round|
Num | USCF ID / Rtg (Pre->Post) | Pts | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
1 | NEHANRAJ RAMESH |3.5 |W 8|W 13|W 6|D 2|
IA | 31163791 / R: 1923 ->1912 | |W |B |W |B |
| Q: 1718 ->1707 | | | | | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
2 | ARINA DABAEVA |3.5 |W 15|W 11|W 7|D 1|
IA | 31393447 / R: 1326 ->1367 | |W |B |W |W |
| Q: 1335 ->1366 | | | | | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
3 | RAKSHITH SEETHARAMAN |3.0 |W 10|L 6|W 8|W 11|
NE | 17314901 / R: 1655 ->1625 | |B |W |B |W |
| Q: 1417 ->1386 | | | | | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
4 | COLE VEEDER |3.0 |W 14|L 7|W 10|W 6|
IA | 30022342 / R: 1444 ->1417 | |W |B |W |B |
| Q: 1111 ->1103 | | | | | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
5 | KYROS YUEFAN WU |3.0 |L 11|W 12|W 14|W 7|
IA | 15429915 / R: 1340 ->1309 | |B |B |W |B |
| Q: 1185 ->1161 | | | | | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
6 | AARUD AJOYKUMAR |2.0 |W 16|W 3|L 1|L 4|
IA | 16233086 / R: 1139 ->1191 | |W |B |B |W |
| Q: 877 -> 944 | | | | | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
7 | SHIVAPUR ASIM |2.0 |W 17|W 4|L 2|L 5|
| 16349823 / R: 1031 ->1071 | |B |W |B |W |
| Q: 964 -> 986 | | | | | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
8 | VINCENT H WONG |2.0 |L 1|W 18|L 3|W 15|
IA | 16217546 / R: 1019 ->1027 | |B |W |W |B |
| Q: 1025 ->1038 | | | | | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
IA | 30445032 / R: 1029 -> 960 | |W |B |W |B |
| Q: 1016 -> 954 | | | | | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
10 | ARMAN GOLCHIN |2.0 |L 3|W 16|L 4|W 12|
IA | 17230615 / R: 874P11-> 886P15 | |W |B |B |W |
| Q: 787P15-> 804P19 | | | | | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
11 | ARNABH NATHAN SWAMY |2.0 |W 5|L 2|W 9|L 3|
IA | 30655388 / R: 670 -> 856 | |W |W |B |B |
| Q: 709 -> 880 | | | | | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
12 | AYAAN DESAI |2.0 |W 9|L 5|W 13|L 10|
IA | 16940898 / R: 363P21-> 588P25 | |B |W |W |B |
| Q: 425P21-> 626P25 | | | | | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
13 | LUCIUS CORIGLIONE |1.0 |W 18|L 1|L 12|U |
IA | 30163268 / R: 1232 ->1185 | |B |W |B | |
| Q: 891 -> 858 | | | | | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
14 | BLAIZE J OLSON |1.0 |L 4|W 17|L 5|L 9|
IA | 31333460 / R: 767P8 -> 746P12 | |B |W |B |W |
| Q: 650P8 -> 668P12 | | | | | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
15 | WILLIAM WEST |1.0 |L 2|L 9|W 16|L 8|
IA | 30673319 / R: 666 -> 667 | |B |W |B |W |
| Q: 845 -> 817 | | | | | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
16 | VESPER DRUVENGA |1.0 |L 6|L 10|L 15|X |
IA | 31615324 / R: 585P5 -> 526P8 | |B |W |W | |
| Q: 564P13-> 531P16 | | | | | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
17 | YASH SHINDE |1.0 |L 7|L 14|B |F |
IA | 30931060 / R: 387P9 -> 377P11 | |W |B | | |
| Q: 571P17-> 540P19 | | | | | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
18 | NASH WUNDER |0.5 |L 13|L 8|H |U |
IA | 30917802 / R: 612P19-> 604P21 | |W |B | | |
| Q: 731 -> 699 | | | | | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Event "2024 Iowa Barber Qualifier" Site "Airport Holiday Inn, Des Moines, Iowa" Date "2024.02.10" Round "4" White "Arina Dabaeva " Black "Nehanraj Ramesh " Result "1/2-1/2" Time Control "G/60; d5" White Elo "1325" Black Elo "1923"
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 Nf6 4. exd5 exd5 5. Ngf3 Bd6 6. Bd3 Bd7 (6... O-O 7.
O-O c5 8. dxc5 Bxc5 9. Nb3 Bd7 (9... Be7 10. Be3 Nc6 11. h3 b6 12. Nbd4 Nxd4 13.
Nxd4 Bc5 14. Qf3 Be6 15. Nf5 Bxf5 16. Bxf5 Bxe3 17. Qxe3 Re8 18. Qf3 Qd6 19.
Rfe1 Re5 20. Bd3 Rae8 21. Rxe5 Qxe5 22. c3 Ne4 23. Re1 Nd2 24. Qe3 Qxe3 25. Rxe3
Rxe3 26. fxe3 g6 27. Kf2 f5 28. Kg3 Kf7 29. Kf4 Kf6 30. h4 h6 31. g4 g5+ 32.
hxg5+ hxg5+ 33. Kg3 Ne4+ 34. Bxe4 fxe4 35. Kf2 b5 36. b4 Ke5 37. Ke2 Kd6 38. Kd2
Kc6 39. Kc2 a6) 10. Be3) 1/2-1/2
Chief TD Ben Bratz, Barber Qualifier Champion Nehanraj Ramesh, and Ramesh Muthaiyah, Nehanraj’s father. Photo by Bill Broich
