21st Delhi GM Open R2-3: Karthik Venkataraman escapes jaws of defeat against Vyom Malhotra

by Shahid Ahmed - 09/06/2025

10-year-old CM Vyom Malhotra had a great opportunity to win against GM Karthik Venkataraman in Round 2 of 21st Delhi GM Open 2025. The talented kid missed his chance as his opponent, the reigning National Champion managed to turn things around and win the game. Rakesh Kumar Nayak held IM Neelash Saha to a draw. In Round 3, the top seed of the tournament, GM S L Narayanan made an incorrect retreat in a winning position. It created an opportunity for his opponent, Arnav Agrawal to force a draw. However, he could not find it and Narayanan won the game. A total of 29 players including five untitled players are currently at 3/3. Round 4 starts today at 10 a.m. IST. Photo: Uzbekistan Chess Federation

Narayanan stumbles and regains balance versus Arnav Agrawal

Vyom - Karthik, Round 2

Position after 32.e5

CM Vyom Malhotra (1975) found himself getting a huge advantage after his opponent, in an already difficult position. GM Karthik Venkataraman (2550) made a big positional mistake 32...Qe6?? 33.Qh4+- Ra8 34.Ne4 Qf5 35.Ng3 Qc2 36.Qf6 would have maintained the substantial advantage for White. Instead, 36.Re1?? lost the upper hand for White and Black eventually turned things around in his way.

CM Vyom Malhotra missed a great opportunity to win against the reigning National Champion - GM Karthik Venkataraman | Photo: Uzbekistan Chess Federation

Arnav - S L Narayanan, Round 3

Position after 28...R3d7??

In a winning position, GM S L Narayanan (2600) went wrong in a winning position 28...R3d7?? Instead, 28...Qc7 would have been the best way to defend the f7-pawn. Find out the best way Arnav Agrawal (2096) could have salvaged a half point after 28...R3d7.

Arnav Agrawal could have salvaged a draw against GM S L Narayanan in the final moments | Photo: Delhi Chess Association

IM Sriram Adarsh Uppala (2460) had an exciting draw against Shourya Paul (2022).

Shourya Paul played an exciting draw against IM Sriram Adarsh Uppala | Photo: Shahid Ahmed

Debayan - Savchenko

Position after 85...g4

Debayan Ray (2028) did the only thing he should not do in the above position 86.Rxh4?? Ra1-+ 87.hxg4 fxg4 88.g3+ Kf3 and GM Boris Savchenko (2456) won the game in the next few moves. The correct way for White was 86.hxg4 fxg4 87.g3+ hxg3 88.Kg2 Re2+ 89.Kg1 and White could have gotten a half point.

Sai Abhinav Kuchitbhotla had a relatively calm draw against GM Tornike Sanikidze (GEO)

A total of 419 players including 24 GMs, 20 IMs and two WIMs are taking part from 17 countries across the world. The eight-day ten round Rating Open tournament is being organized by Delhi Chess Association at Tivoli Gardens in New Delhi from 7th to 14th June 2025. The time control of the event was 90 minutes + 30 seconds increment per move.

Replay Round 2-3 games

Round 3 results

Bo.	No.		White	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Black	Rtg	No.	PGN
1	77		Arnav Agrawal,	2096	2	0 - 1	2	GM	Narayanan S L,	2600	1	PGN
2	2	GM	Ghosh, Diptayan	2573	2	1 - 0	2	WFM	Sneha, Halder	2088	78	PGN
3	4	GM	Karthik, Venkataraman	2550	2	1 - 0	2	WIM	Smirnova, Ekaterina	2086	80	PGN
4	81	AIM	Banik, Hrishikesh Kumar	2086	2	0 - 1	2	GM	Petrosyan, Manuel	2541	5	PGN
5	6	GM	Gupta, Abhijeet	2538	2	1 - 0	2		Arshpreet, Singh	2075	86	PGN
6	91	GM	Ziatdinov, Raset	2065	2	0 - 1	2	GM	Paichadze, Luka	2529	7	PGN
7	8	GM	Sivuk, Vitaly	2522	2	1 - 0	2		Pranay, Akula	2063	92	PGN
8	10	GM	Nikitenko Mihail,	2520	2	1 - 0	2	FM	Ramakrishna, J.	2036	100	PGN
9	99		Guru Prakash,	2049	2	0 - 1	2	IM	Aronyak, Ghosh	2510	11	PGN
10	102		Soham Roy,	2034	2	0 - 1	2	GM	Gharibyan, Mamikon	2472	13	PGN
11	14		Sriram, Adarsh Uppala	2460	2	½ - ½	2		Shourya Paul,	2022	104	PGN
12	103		Debayan, Ray	2028	2	0 - 1	2	GM	Savchenko, Boris	2456	15	PGN
13	18	GM	Sanikidze Tornike,	2425	2	½ - ½	2		Sai Abhinav Kuchibhotla,	2014	108	PGN
14	105	AIM	Aadik Theophane Lenin,	2018	2	0 - 1	2	GM	Deepan, Chakkravarthy J.	2410	19	PGN
15	20	IM	Davtyan, Arsen	2402	2	1 - 0	2	CM	Kavinda, Akila	2010	110	PGN

Details

Standings after Round 3

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	8	GM	Sivuk, Vitaly	SWE	2522	SWE	3	4	6	6,00
2	1	GM	Narayanan S L,	IND	2600	KL	3	4	5,5	5,50
3	23	IM	Agibileg, Uurtsaikh	MGL	2384	MGL	3	4	5,5	5,50
4	60	IM	Sharma, Dinesh K.	IND	2171	UP	3	4	5,5	5,50
5	4	GM	Karthik, Venkataraman	IND	2550	AICF Pending	3	4	5,5	5,50
6	13	GM	Gharibyan, Mamikon	ARM	2472	ARM	3	4	5	5,00
7	19	GM	Deepan, Chakkravarthy J.	IND	2410	TN	3	4	5	5,00
8	10	GM	Nikitenko Mihail,	BLR	2520	BLR	3	4	5	5,00
9	24	GM	Nguyen, Duc Hoa	VIE	2378	VIE	3	4	5	5,00
10	43	GM	Manik, Mikulas	SVK	2266	SVK	3	4	5	5,00
11	49		Sharnarthi, Viresh	IND	2236	MH	3	4	5	5,00
12	63	CM	Madhvendra Pratap Sharma,	IND	2166	MP	3	4	5	5,00
13	2	GM	Ghosh, Diptayan	IND	2573	RSPB	3	4	4	4,00
14	207		D. Ashraf, Subhani	IND	1882	AP	3	4	4	4,00
15	29	IM	Shahil Dey,	IND	2366	AS	3	3,5	5	5,00

Details

Round 4 pairings

Bo.	No.		White	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Black	Rtg	No.
1	1	GM	Narayanan S L,	2600	3		3	GM	Nguyen, Duc Hoa	2378	24
2	23	IM	Agibileg, Uurtsaikh	2384	3		3	GM	Ghosh, Diptayan	2573	2
3	26	GM	Aleksandrov, Aleksej	2370	3		3	GM	Karthik, Venkataraman	2550	4
4	5	GM	Petrosyan, Manuel	2541	3		3	IM	Manish Anto Cristiano F,	2365	30
5	29	IM	Shahil Dey,	2366	3		3	GM	Gupta, Abhijeet	2538	6
6	7	GM	Paichadze, Luka	2529	3		3	IM	Gochelashvili, David	2303	38
7	35	IM	Tologon Tegin, Semetei	2322	3		3	GM	Sivuk, Vitaly	2522	8
8	52		Advik, Amit Agrawal	2218	3		3	GM	Nikitenko Mihail,	2520	10
9	11	IM	Aronyak, Ghosh	2510	3		3	GM	Manik, Mikulas	2266	43
10	13	GM	Gharibyan, Mamikon	2472	3		3		Sharnarthi, Viresh	2236	49
11	15	GM	Savchenko, Boris	2456	3		3		Singh, S. Vikramjit	2185	57
12	19	GM	Deepan, Chakkravarthy J.	2410	3		3	CM	Madhvendra Pratap Sharma,	2166	63
13	60	IM	Sharma, Dinesh K.	2171	3		3	IM	Davtyan, Arsen	2402	20
14	21	IM	Harsh, Suresh	2392	3		3		Ram Vishal Parab,	2009	113
15	12	GM	Samant Aditya S,	2498	2½		3		D. Ashraf, Subhani	1882	207

Details

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