Tarun and Trisha Bags Top Spots in Basel Carnival Open 2025

IM Tarun and WIM Trisha Kanyamarala finished 1st and 2nd place, respectively at the Basel Carnival Open 2025. This tournament is a part of the Swiss Chess Tour. The tournament attracted almost 80 participants from 13 countries. The event took place at Landgasthof Riehen Hotel.

By Tarun

This was our first time playing in Switzerland, and it couldn’t have gone better! Trisha and I haven’t placed 2nd and 1st in the same open tournament in recent memory. In this article, I’ll share our journey from start to finish.

Day 1: Hectic Travel, smooth games

Travel from Portlaoise to Basel

We took a very early morning bus to Dublin Airport for our Ryanair flight directly to Basel-Mulhouse Airport (BSL) in France. Mulhouse and Basel are French and Swiss cities, respectively. We landed at 9 am.

Boarding Gate at Dublin Aiport
Aerial view of Mulhouse, France

We booked an apartment in St. Louis, and I’m not kidding, it looked just like the St. Louis in the USA—you know, the chess capital of America. We’ve never been to the US, but just looking at it, you could easily imagine a connection between the two cities. Since check-in wasn’t until 3 pm, we spent time at McDonald’s.

Mc Meal

Finally in our apartment, we collapsed into bed and enjoyed a solid three hours of sleep—our first since the night before. The first round of the tournament started at 7:30 pm.

Basel Carnival Open: Tournament Hall

The trip to the venue in Basel, Switzerland, took about an hour by bus and tram from St. Louis. The tournament itself was magnificent, with a distinctly vintage and elegant atmosphere.

The top 6 boards were played on the stage.

Round 1: Tarun vs Daniel Donauer

The game reached a critical juncture in the middlegame. Daniel’s misstep was failing to exchange a pair of knights. I capitalized on this, consolidating my position and gaining central space with my powerful bishops, which ultimately led to victory.

Photo: Jean Dominiqie Coqueraut/Swiss Chess Tour
Players in action

Day 2: Ignorance is a bliss

Round 2: Marc Jud vs Tarun

White was applying significant pressure down the g-file. Unable to improve my position, I offered a queen trade. The resulting endgame was clearly advantageous for me, a situation White should have avoided. He accepted the trade, however, and the win for Black became inevitable.

Round 3: Tarun vs Dorian Asllani

I’d played Dorian once before, at the 2022 World Junior Championships in Sardinia. In that game, too, I had the white pieces. I built a strong middlegame, ultimately winning a pawn. This was a pivotal moment, where perhaps “ignorance is bliss” applies. I went for Nxf5, which appeared to give White a two-pawn advantage, but it didn’t work out as planned. A more cautious move, like a4, might have preserved my edge. The game ended in a draw.

Day 3: Showdown

Waiting for our Tram at Schifflände stop

Round 4: Tarun vs Bastien Muller-Moingt

I was paired against a talented French Junior player. Interesting fact her mom is WIM and she represented France in the Olympiad. I was waiting for my opponent to trade queens and in a better circumstances. He made many endgame errors which gave my conversion quite easy.

Photo: Jean Dominiqie Coqueraut/Swiss Chess Tour

Isha and Trisha both were the sole leaders after the third round. In the penultimate round they were paired against each other. A match between Karnataka’s First WIM vs Ireland’s First

Isha – Trisha

Here’s an interesting fact: They played against each other for the first time nearly a decade ago!

Round 5: WIM Isha Sharma vs Tarun (Basel Carnival Champion – Decider)

Photo: Jean Dominiqie Coqueraut/Swiss Chess Tour

This was a crucial round for the entire tournament. I was a half-point down to Isha. She was on 4/4. In round 4 she won against Trisha. So this wasn’t going to be any easy. We got a complex middlegame position. Black has sacrificed for activity. I was happy to find this Bd3-Ne4-Ng3 idea. White’s plan is to control the weakend f5- and h5 squares. Later I managed to convert my material advantage to a win.

Basel Carnival Open: Closing Ceremony

The closing ceremony took place after the last game was over. I was thirlled to get a trophy. Nowadays it’s rare to get a trophy in chess tournaments. All the results from the tournament can be viewed on Chess-results: https://chess-results.com/tnr904131.aspx?lan=1&art=1&rd=5&flag=30

Podium Finishers (L to R): 2nd Trisha; 1st Tarun; 3rd Artem Gontsul
Final standings

Basel to Portlaoise

One last photo before saying goodbye to the memorable venue!

Long wait in Luton Airport

We had a 7-hour layover in Luton before heading to Dublin.

Trisha and I had a fantastic weekend! This marks my first tournament win of the year, and I’m excited to perform well in the upcoming competitions.

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