21st Delhi GM Open R7: Abhijeet Gupta emerges sole leader

by Shahid Ahmed - 12/06/2025

GM Abhijeet Gupta defeated GM Mamikon Gharibyan (ARM) to emerge sole leader at the conclusion of Round 7 at 21st Delhi GM Open 2025. Mamikon made a positional mistake in the middlegame and he did not get enough compensation for the lost pawn. It helped Abhijeet to win the game and take his score 6.5/7. The top seed, GM S L Narayanan made a 19-move draw against GM Boris Savchenko. IM Aronyak Ghosh, Viresh Sharnarthi and Advik Amit Agrawal defeated GM Duc Hoa Nguyen (VIE), GM Levan Pantsulaia (GEO) and GM Tornike Sanikidze (GEO). Narayanan, Aronyak and IM Neelash Saha are three Indians trailing the leader by a half point at 6/7 each among eight players. Round 8 starts today at 10 a.m. IST. Photos: Anmol Bhargav

Aronyak Ghosh, Viresh Sharnarthi and Advik Amit Agrawal beat GMs

9-year-old Advik Amit Agrawal defeated a Grandmaster for the first time in his career. He got the better of GM Tornike Sanikidze (GEO) who refused to repeat moves as he had a substantial advantage. 14-year-old Ahaz E U defeated IM Arsen Davtyan (ARM).

GM Abhijeet Gupta has emerged sole leader 6.5/7

Top seed of the tournament - GM S L Narayanan played a 19-move draw against GM Boris Savchenko

Abhijeet - Mamikon

Position after 23...Qf8

23...Qc5 24.b4 Qc7 is the better continuation for Black compared to what was played 23...Qe7? 24.Bxa6 Bxa6 25.Qxa6 exf4 26.Bf2 h6 27.Qxb6 Rxd1+ 28.Rxd1 White's passed pawn on the queenside earned him a material and he went on to win the game.

Final moments: GM Abhijeet Gupta - GM Mamikon Gharibyan (ARM) | Video: ChessBase India

Duc Hoa- Aronyak

Position after 9.b3?!

GM Duc Hoa Nguyen (VIE, 2378) made a dubious move 9.b3?! early in the opening. 9...Nh6 10.Nbd2 Ng4 11.Be2 Nxe3 12.fxe3 f6 13.0-0 a6 14.Kh1 0-0-0 15.b4 c4 16.Rae1 fxe5 17.e4 Bg6 soon White got his queen back in action but a misplacement increase IM Aronyak Ghosh's (2510) decisive advantage and he went on to win the game.

IM Aronyak Ghosh (pictured) defeated GM Duc Hoa Nguyen (VIE) to move to 6/7 | Photo: IA Vivek Sohani

IM Neelash Saha won his game after starting with 1...a6, to move to 6/7

Viresh - Levan

Position after 24.Be6

Viresh Sharnarthi (2236) got himself a substantial advantage after his opponent, GM Levan Pantsulaia (GEO, 2551) incorrectly defended the d6-pawn 20...Rad8? 21.Bg5 Rd7 22.f4 Nf7 23.e4 fxe4 24.Be6 and we reach the above position. The game continued 24...Nb8 25.hxg6 hxg6 26.Qc4 a6 27.Qxe4 Kf8 28.Qxg6 axb5 29.Bxf7 Rxe1+ 30.Rxe1 Rf7

Position after 30...Rxf7

Find out how White could have finished things in the next few moves. 31.Qxd6+? made White work alot to earn the victory.

Viresh Sharnarthi won a prolonged battle against GM Levan Pantsulaia (GEO)

Karthik - Aarav

Position after 29.Rc1??

GM Karthik Venkataraman (2550) made a huge mistake 29.Rc1?? Rxc1+ 30.Kxc1 a3? instead Qb4 would have maintained the advantage for Aarav Sinha (2255) and he probably could have won the game.

Aarav Sinha missed a great opportunity to win against the reigning National Champion - GM Karthik Venkataraman

Tornike - Advik

Position after 36.Bf1??

GM Tornike Sanikidze (GEO, 2425) could have accepted a draw by repeating moves. He had the upper hand, so he continued the game and landed himself in trouble when he went 36.Bf1?? His opponent, 9-year-old Advik Amit Agrawal (2218) seized his opportunity 36...Ne5 37.Rxc5?? Qb2 interesting option was Qxe3! 38.Bg2 Nd3 39.R1c4 Nxc5 40.Rxc5 Rxf2 41.Be4 Qe2 and Black won. This is the boy's first-ever win against a Grandmaster.

9-year-old Advik Amit Agrawal scored his first-ever win against a Grandmaster

Final moments: Alok Sinha - GM Deepan Chakkravarthy | Video: ChessBase India

Ahaz E U won an exciting battle against IM Arsen Davtyan (ARM)

For more Round 7 photos, click here.

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 7 games

Round 7 results

Bo.	No.		White	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Black	Rtg	Club/City	No.	PGN
1	15	GM	Savchenko, Boris	2456	RUS	5½	½ - ½	5½	GM	Narayanan S L,	2600	KL	1	PGN
2	7	GM	Paichadze, Luka	2529	GEO	5½	½ - ½	5½	GM	Petrosyan, Manuel	2541	ARM	5	PGN
3	6	GM	Gupta, Abhijeet	2538	RJ	5½	1 - 0	5½	GM	Gharibyan, Mamikon	2472	ARM	13	PGN
4	2	GM	Ghosh, Diptayan	2573	RSPB	5	½ - ½	5	GM	Aleksandrov, Aleksej	2370	BLR	26	PGN
5	8	GM	Sivuk, Vitaly	2522	SWE	5	1 - 0	5		Alekhya, Mukhopadhyay	2192	WB	54	PGN
6	10	GM	Nikitenko Mihail,	2520	BLR	5	1 - 0	5	GM	Fedorov, Alexei	2370	BLR	27	PGN
7	24	GM	Nguyen, Duc Hoa	2378	VIE	5	0 - 1	5	IM	Aronyak, Ghosh	2510	RSPB	11	PGN
8	12	GM	Samant Aditya S,	2498	MH	5	½ - ½	5	IM	Tologon Tegin, Semetei	2322	KGZ	35	PGN
9	76		Bivor, Adak	2099	WB	5	0 - 1	5	IM	Neelash, Saha	2456	RSPB	16	PGN
10	49		Sharnarthi, Viresh	2236	MH	4½	1 - 0	4½	GM	Pantsulaia Levan,	2551	GEO	3	PGN
11	4	GM	Karthik, Venkataraman	2550	AP	4½	½ - ½	4½	FM	Aarav, Sinha	2255	DL	46	PGN
12	14		Sriram, Adarsh Uppala	2460	TG	4½	1 - 0	4½		Gaikwad Manas,	2232	MH	50	PGN
13	18	GM	Sanikidze Tornike,	2425	GEO	4½	0 - 1	4½		Advik, Amit Agrawal	2218	MH	52	PGN
14	53		Alok, Sinha	2207	DL	4½	½ - ½	4½	GM	Deepan, Chakkravarthy J.	2410	TN	19	PGN
15	20	IM	Davtyan, Arsen	2402	ARM	4½	0 - 1	4½		Ahaz E U,	2178	KL	58	PGN

Details

Standings after Round 7

Rk.	SNo		Name	Typ	sex	Gr	FED	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB4	TB5	TB6	K	rtg+/-
1	6	GM	Gupta, Abhijeet				IND	2538	RJ	6,5	29	31,5	28,50	0	6	2	10	13,4
2	1	GM	Narayanan S L,				IND	2600	KL	6	33,5	36,5	30,25	0	5	3	10	5,7
3	10	GM	Nikitenko Mihail,				BLR	2520	BLR	6	31	35	29,00	0	6	3	10	4,9
4	5	GM	Petrosyan, Manuel				ARM	2541	ARM	6	29,5	32,5	26,50	0	5	2	10	6,7
5	7	GM	Paichadze, Luka				GEO	2529	GEO	6	29,5	32	26,50	0	5	2	10	4,7
6	15	GM	Savchenko, Boris				RUS	2456	RUS	6	29	32,5	26,50	0	5	3	10	8,8
7	11	IM	Aronyak, Ghosh				IND	2510	RSPB	6	29	32	27,00	0	5	3	10	0,7
8	8	GM	Sivuk, Vitaly				SWE	2522	SWE	6	28,5	32,5	27,25	0	5	1	10	0,8
9	16	IM	Neelash, Saha				IND	2456	RSPB	6	27	30,5	25,50	0	5	2	10	3,4
10	13	GM	Gharibyan, Mamikon				ARM	2472	ARM	5,5	33	37	27,75	0	5	2	10	4,1
11	2	GM	Ghosh, Diptayan				IND	2573	RSPB	5,5	31	34	25,50	0	4	2	10	-0,7
12	35	IM	Tologon Tegin, Semetei				KGZ	2322	KGZ	5,5	30	33,5	25,25	0	4	2	10	5,8
13	12	GM	Samant Aditya S,				IND	2498	MH	5,5	28,5	32	25,00	0	4	1	10	-5,8
14	26	GM	Aleksandrov, Aleksej				BLR	2370	BLR	5,5	28,5	31,5	23,75	0	4	1	10	6,7
15	40	IM	Saravana, Krishnan P.				IND	2272	TN	5,5	28	31	22,75	0	5	2	20	2,6

Details

Round 8 pairings

Bo.	No.		White	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Black	Rtg	Club/City	No.
1	5	GM	Petrosyan, Manuel	2541	ARM	6		6½	GM	Gupta, Abhijeet	2538	RJ	6
2	1	GM	Narayanan S L,	2600	KL	6		6	IM	Neelash, Saha	2456	RSPB	16
3	10	GM	Nikitenko Mihail,	2520	BLR	6		6	GM	Paichadze, Luka	2529	GEO	7
4	11	IM	Aronyak, Ghosh	2510	RSPB	6		6	GM	Sivuk, Vitaly	2522	SWE	8
5	2	GM	Ghosh, Diptayan	2573	RSPB	5½		6	GM	Savchenko, Boris	2456	RUS	15
6	12	GM	Samant Aditya S,	2498	MH	5½		5½	IM	Saravana, Krishnan P.	2272	TN	40
7	13	GM	Gharibyan, Mamikon	2472	ARM	5½		5½	IM	Abhishek Kelkar,	2170	MH	61
8	43	GM	Manik, Mikulas	2266	SVK	5½		5½		Sriram, Adarsh Uppala	2460	TG	14
9	49		Sharnarthi, Viresh	2236	MH	5½		5½	IM	Hari Madhavan N B,	2386	TN	22
10	52		Advik, Amit Agrawal	2218	MH	5½		5½	GM	Aleksandrov, Aleksej	2370	BLR	26
11	58		Ahaz E U,	2178	KL	5½		5½	GM	Nguyen Van Huy,	2337	VIE	34
12	35	IM	Tologon Tegin, Semetei	2322	KGZ	5½		5½		Arnav Agrawal,	2096	UP	77
13	37	IM	Nitin, S.	2312	TN	5½		5½		Soham Roy,	2034	WB	102
14	53		Alok, Sinha	2207	DL	5		5	GM	Karthik, Venkataraman	2550	AP	4
15	19	GM	Deepan, Chakkravarthy J.	2410	TN	5		5	CM	Harshit Ranjan Sahu,	2191	OR	55

Details

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