From 4.5-Hour Marathon to Sudden Queen Trap, Chola Chess IM and GM Norm Tournament Begins

by Devansh Singh - 21/06/2026

The Chola Chess GM and IM Norm Round Robin Tournament 2026 kicks off in Chennai, and the 1st round delivered exciting results. In the IM group, FM Arshpreet Singh defeated IM David Gochelashvili, FM Aarit Kapil won against FM Pranav KP, and Daakshin Arun trapped Devindya Oshini's queen to win the game. In the GM group, there were two decisive results where Michal Krasenkow defeated Anuj Shrivatri and Mihail Nikitenko defeated Antoine Bournel. Check out the player of the day at the end, 2nd round starts on 21st June at 2 PM IST. Photos: Devansh Singh

6 for IM, 6.5 for GM

For the players taking part in the International Master Norm Tournament, 6 points are needed to score an IM norm, while for the Grandmaster Norm Tournament, 6.5 points are needed. We talked with Arshpreet Singh after his long battle against David Gochelashvili, and he told us how important it is to secure the early victories in this type of tournament.

The Stage was set!!

Aruna Anand made the ceremonial move on board 1

Let the game begin!

GM Group

In the GM Group, there were 2 decisive results: Michal Krasenkow defeated Anuj Shrivatri, and Mihail Nikitenko defeated Antoine Bournel. The other 3 games ended in a draw. Bala Chandra Prasad Dhulipalla had a chance against Kushagra Mohan in the rook endgame, but under time pressure, he missed that. Harsh Suresh drew against Alexei Fedorov, and Ajay Santhosh Parvathareddy drew against Harshavardhan GB.

Michal Krasenkow vs. Anuj Shrivatri (1-0)

Mihail Nikitenko won against Antoine Bournel

Fedorov Alexei - Harsh Suresh (0.5-0.5)

Kushagra Mohan vs. Bala Chandra Prasad Dhulipalla

Kushagra just played 41.Kf4, can you find how black can make progress in this position?

Ajay Santosh Parvathareddy vs. Harshavardhan G B (0.5-0.5)

Ajay and Harshavardhan had a long analysis session after the game

Games in action

Replay Round 1 Games

GM Round 1 Results

Bo.	No.	FED	Rtg		White	Result		Black	FED	Rtg	No.	PGN
1	1	IND	2456	IM	Kushagra, Mohan	½ - ½	IM	Dhulipalla, Bala Chandra Prasad	IND	2432	10	PGN
2	2	POL	2483	GM	Krasenkow, Michal	1 - 0	IM	Anuj, Shrivatri	IND	2483	9	PGN
3	3	BLR	2388	GM	Fedorov, Alexei	½ - ½	IM	Harsh, Suresh	IND	2435	8	PGN
4	4	BLR	2479	GM	Nikitenko, Mihail	1 - 0	IM	Bournel, Antoine	FRA	2430	7	PGN
5	5	IND	2503	IM	Ajay, Santhosh Parvathareddy	½ - ½	IM	Harshavardhan, G B	IND	2493	6	PGN

Details

GM Round 2 Pairings

Bo.	No.	FED	Rtg		White	Result		Black	FED	Rtg	No.	PGN
1	10	IND	2432	IM	Dhulipalla, Bala Chandra Prasad		IM	Harshavardhan, G B	IND	2493	6
2	7	FRA	2430	IM	Bournel, Antoine		IM	Ajay, Santhosh Parvathareddy	IND	2503	5
3	8	IND	2435	IM	Harsh, Suresh		GM	Nikitenko, Mihail	BLR	2479	4
4	9	IND	2483	IM	Anuj, Shrivatri		GM	Fedorov, Alexei	BLR	2388	3
5	1	IND	2456	IM	Kushagra, Mohan		GM	Krasenkow, Michal	POL	2483	2

Details

IM Group

IM Group starts with a series of exciting results: FM Arshpreet Singh defeated IM David Gochelashvili, FM Aarit Kapil won against FM Pranav KP, and Daakshin Arun trapped Devindya Oshini's queen to win the game. Madhesh Kumar blundered in an equal position against Aleksej Aleksandrov and lost the game. The only game that ended in a draw was between Madhvendra Pratap Sharma and De Silva L M S T of Sri Lanka.

Aruna Anand made the ceremonial move on the board of Daakshin and Oshini

Daakshin Arun defeated Devindya Oshini after she trapped her own queen

White to play and trap the Queen!

Arshpreet Singh defeated IM David Gochelashvili

Check out the post-game analysis and interview with Arshpreet Singh.

FM Aarit Kapil vs. FM Pranav K P (1-0)

Madhesh Kumar lost against GM Aleksandrov Aleksej

Madhesh blundered in an equal position against Aleksej. Can you find why Qa8 is a huge mistake (Hint: Find the mating attack)

Madhvendra Pratap Sharma vs. De Silva L M S T (0.5-0.5)

Games in action!

Player of the day

The Player of the day will be selected by the Author based on the performance of the player in a particular round.

Arshpreet Singh's 4:30hr marathon to win against David and still manage to have a discussion with us for the next 30 minutes shows the love for the game!

Replay Round 1 Games

IM Round 1 Results

Bo.	No.	FED	Rtg		White	Result		Black	FED	Rtg	No.	PGN
1	1	IND	2308	FM	Daakshin, Arun	1 - 0	WIM	Gunawardhana, Devindya Oshini	SRI	2340	10	PGN
2	2	IND	2337	FM	Arshpreet, Singh	1 - 0	IM	Gochelashvili, David	RUS	2275	9	PGN
3	3	IND	2373	FM	Madhvendra, Pratap Sharma	½ - ½	IM	De Silva, L M S T	SRI	2382	8	PGN
4	4	IND	2315	FM	Madhesh, Kumar S	0 - 1	GM	Aleksandrov, Aleksej	BLR	2433	7	PGN
5	5	IND	2331	FM	Aarit, Kapil	1 - 0	FM	Pranav, K P	IND	2308	6	PGN

Details

IM Round 2 Pairings

Bo.	No.	FED	Rtg		White	Result		Black	FED	Rtg	No.	PGN
1	10	SRI	2340	WIM	Gunawardhana, Devindya Oshini		FM	Pranav, K P	IND	2308	6
2	7	BLR	2433	GM	Aleksandrov, Aleksej		FM	Aarit, Kapil	IND	2331	5
3	8	SRI	2382	IM	De Silva, L M S T		FM	Madhesh, Kumar S	IND	2315	4
4	9	RUS	2275	IM	Gochelashvili, David		FM	Madhvendra, Pratap Sharma	IND	2373	3
5	1	IND	2308	FM	Daakshin, Arun		FM	Arshpreet, Singh	IND	2337	2

Details

Photo Gallery: Here

IA Vasanth BH is the chief arbiter of the GM Group

IA Swapnil Bansod is the chief arbiter of the IM Group

The team behind making this event a huge success

Aruna Anand greeted before the start of the round

Lunch Done?

If not, then grab the snacks!

Aruna inaugurated the Chola Chess GM & IM Norm Tournament 2026 by making the first move

Points Required for Norm

As per the regulations and rating average of the tournament, 6 points are required to score an IM norm, while 6.5 for a GM Norm.

Lineup

GM Norm (L to R): GM Mihail Nikitenko, GM Alexei Fedorov, IM G B Harshavardhan, IM Bala Chandra Prasad Dhulipalla, IM Antoine Bourne, IM Santhosh Parvathareddy Ajay, IM Kushagra Mohan, IM Shrivatri Anuj, IM Suresh Harsh, and GM Michal Krasenkow.

Participants of the GM Round Robin

IM Norm (L to R): GM Aleksej Aleksandrov, IM David Gochelashvili, IM L M S T De Silva, FM Kapil Aarit, FM Singh Arshpreet, FM Pratap Sharma Madhvendra, FM Kumar S Madhesh, FM Arun Daakshin, and FM K P Pranav. WIM Devindya Oshini Gunawardhana was on her flight and will catch up soon!