Asian Individual 2025 R5: Karthikeyan Murali and Bardiya Daneshvar emerge coleaders

by Shahid Ahmed - 12/05/2025

GM Karthikeyan Murali defeated GM Aleksey Grebnev to maintain his lead at Asian Individual Men 2025. Grebnev went wrong in the middlegame when he lost a pawn and control of the position. GM Bardiya Daneshvar (IRI) won against GM Iniyan Pa who erred early in the game. Bardiya and Karthikeyan are the coleaders 4.5/5. They will inevitably clash in the sixth round. GM Pranesh M won comfortably against FM Imangali Akhilbay (KAZ) to move to 4/5. In the Women's event, IM Anastasia Bodnaruk was held to a draw by WCM Bat-Erdene Mungunzul (MGL). It allowed WGM Srija Seshadri to get back in the lead as she defeated WGM Xeniya Balabayeva (KAZ). Srija, Bodnaruk and Mungunzul are at 4.5/5 each. Round 6 starts today at 3 p.m. local time, 4:30 p.m. IST. Photos: Himank Ghosh

Women: Srija Seshadri back at the top

Three Women - WGM Srija Seshadri, World Rapid 2023 Women champion - IM Anastasia Bodnaruk and WCM Bat-Erdene Mungunzul (MGL) are the leaders 4.5/5. They are followed by seven players at 4/5 each. There are two Indians among them - IM Vantika Agrawal and Asian Continental Women 2022 champion - WGM Nandhidhaa P V.

GM Karthikeyan Murali won against GM Aleksey Grebnev to stay in the lead 4.5/5

Karthikeyan - Grebnev

Position after 19...c6

GM Aleksey Grebnev (2556) made the mistake of playing 19...c6? It cost him a pawn. 20.Qxg7+! Qxg7 21.Bxe6+ Qf7 22.Bxf7+ Kxf7 23.h5 and GM Karthikeyan Murali (2658) went on to use his extra pawn advantage into a win.

Bardiya - Iniyan

Position after 12...e4?

GM Iniyan Pa (2573) went wrong early in the game 12...e4? 13.Nxe4 Nxe4 14.cxd5 Nb4 15.a3 0-0 16.axb4 Qxb4 17.Ra4 White already got a substantial advantage apart from the extra pawn.

GM Bardiya Daneshvar (IRI) defeated GM Iniyan Pa to stay in the lead 4.5/5 | Photo: asianchess.com

GM Abhimanyu Puranik - IM Harshavardhan G B: 0.5-0.5

GM Pranesh M (pictured) defeated FM Imangali Akhilbay (KAZ) with ease

IM Srihari L R (pictured) - GM Pranav Anand: 0.5-0.5

GM Ngoc Truong Son Nguyen (VIE) - IM Ilamparthi A R: 0.5-0.5

Srija - Xeniya

Position after 25...Rae8?

WGM Xeniya Balabayeva (KAZ, 2311) should have traded the queen 25...Qxg5 26.hxg5 Rad8 to reduce the intensity of the attack. Instead, she opted for 25...Rae8? 26.Qg6+- Nf6 27.Rae1 e4 28.h5 Qf7 now it's too late 29.h6 Black cannot avoid material loss.

WGM Srija Seshadri defeated WGM Xeniya Balabayeva (KAZ) to get back in the lead

IM Savitha Shri B - IM Vantika Agrawal (pictured): 0-1

WCM Khishigbaatar Bayasgalan (MGL) - WGM Nandhidhaa P V (pictured): 0-1

For more Round 5 photos, please click here.

Replay Round 5 Open games

Replay Round 5 Women games

Round 5 Open results

Rd.	Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.
5	1	4	GM	Karthikeyan Murali	2658	3½	1 - 0	3½	GM	Grebnev Aleksey	2556	27
5	2	12	GM	Daneshvar Bardiya	2621	3½	1 - 0	3½	GM	Iniyan Pa	2573	19
5	3	1	GM	Nihal Sarin	2693	3	0 - 1	3	GM	Lobanov Sergei	2527	36
5	6	44		Huang Renjie	2491	3	½ - ½	3	GM	Mendonca Leon Luke	2630	9
5	7	10	GM	Puranik Abhimanyu	2624	3	½ - ½	3	IM	Harshavardhan G B	2441	72
5	9	18	GM	Pranesh M	2576	3	1 - 0	3	FM	Akhilbay Imangali	2346	111
5	10	55	GM	Prraneeth Vuppala	2474	3	0 - 1	3	GM	Zemlyanskii Ivan	2563	23
5	11	59	IM	Srihari L R	2468	3	½ - ½	3	GM	Pranav Anand	2555	28
5	15	6	GM	Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son	2632	2½	½ - ½	2½	IM	Ilamparthi A R	2469	58
5	17	52	IM	Agmanov Zhandos	2480	2½	½ - ½	2½	GM	Gupta Abhijeet	2577	17

Details

Standings after Round 5

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	12	GM	Daneshvar, Bardiya	IRI	2621	4,5	2550	13,5	15,5
2	4	GM	Karthikeyan, Murali	IND	2658	4,5	2529	13	15
3	74		Jiang, Haochen	CHN	2439	4	2559	12	12,5
4	115	FM	Yang, Zilong	CHN	2326	4	2529	13	15
5	36	GM	Lobanov, Sergei	FID	2527	4	2478	10,5	12
6	23	GM	Zemlyanskii, Ivan	FID	2563	4	2463	11,5	13,5
7	18	GM	Pranesh, M	IND	2576	4	2416	13	16
8	59	IM	Srihari, L R	IND	2468	3,5	2597	13	13,5
9	72	IM	Harshavardhan, G B	IND	2441	3,5	2568	12,5	13
10	27	GM	Grebnev, Aleksey	FID	2556	3,5	2553	13,5	16

Details

Round 6 pairings

Rd.	Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.
6	1	12	GM	Daneshvar Bardiya	2621	4½	4½	GM	Karthikeyan Murali	2658	4
6	2	36	GM	Lobanov Sergei	2527	4	4	GM	Pranesh M	2576	18
6	8	9	GM	Mendonca Leon Luke	2630	3½	3½	IM	Suyarov Mukhammadzokhid	2491	43
6	9	30	GM	Jumabayev Rinat	2551	3½	3½	GM	Puranik Abhimanyu	2624	10
6	11	19	GM	Iniyan Pa	2573	3½	3½		Huang Renjie	2491	44
6	13	72	IM	Harshavardhan G B	2441	3½	3½	GM	Karthik Venkataraman	2565	22
6	14	27	GM	Grebnev Aleksey	2556	3½	3½	IM	Srihari L R	2468	59
6	15	28	GM	Pranav Anand	2555	3½	3½	IM	Zverev Lev	2471	57
6	16	71		Meng Yihan	2443	3½	3	GM	Nihal Sarin	2693	1
6	18	58	IM	Ilamparthi A R	2469	3	3	GM	Idani Pouya	2630	8

Details

Round 5 Women results

5	2	38	WGM	Srija Seshadri	2226	3½	1 - 0	3½	WGM	Balabayeva Xeniya	2311	21
5	6	24	IM	Savitha Shri B	2298	3	0 - 1	3	IM	Vantika Agrawal	2377	7
5	7	8	IM	Tokhirjonova Gulrukhbegim	2369	3	1 - 0	3	WGM	Rakshitta Ravi	2324	19
5	8	28	WCM	Bayasgalan Khishigbaatar	2265	3	0 - 1	3	WGM	Nandhidhaa P V	2363	9
5	10	14	WIM	Khamdamova Afruza	2344	3	1 - 0	3	WFM	Arshiya Das	2174	46
5	11	34	WGM	Kurmangaliyeva Liya	2246	3	½ - ½	2½	IM	Padmini Rout	2359	11
5	16	69	WGM	Swati Ghate	2035	2½	1 - 0	2½	WGM	Priyanka Nutakki	2277	25
5	19	81		Ananya Raman	1904	2½	½ - ½	2	WIM	Sihite Chelsie Monica Ignesias	2239	35
5	22	55	WIM	Fronda Jan Jodilyn	2120	2	0 - 1	2	WGM	Gomes Mary Ann	2258	31
5	23	71		Arya G Mallar	2014	2	0 - 1	2	WFM	Kaliakhmet Elnaz	2258	33

Details

Standings after Round 5

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	38	WGM	Srija, Seshadri	IND	2226	4,5	2356	14	15,5
2	17	IM	Bodnaruk, Anastasia	FID	2332	4,5	2297	13	14,5
3	22	WCM	Mungunzul, Bat-Erdene	MGL	2302	4,5	2260	14,5	16,5
4	4	IM	Song, Yuxin	CHN	2397	4	2302	13	15,5
5	7	IM	Vantika, Agrawal	IND	2377	4	2258	12	14,5
6	3	GM	Girya, Olga	FID	2400	4	2236	11,5	13,5
7	14	WIM	Khamdamova, Afruza	UZB	2344	4	2224	13	15,5
8	8	IM	Tokhirjonova, Gulrukhbegim	UZB	2369	4	2216	10,5	12,5
9	10	IM	Batkhuyag, Munguntuul	MGL	2359	4	2206	10,5	11,5
10	9	WGM	Nandhidhaa, P V	IND	2363	4	2192	11,5	13,5

Details

Round 6 pairings

6	1	38	WGM	Srija Seshadri	2226	4½	4½	IM	Bodnaruk Anastasia	2332	17
6	4	7	IM	Vantika Agrawal	2377	4	4	WIM	Khamdamova Afruza	2344	14
6	5	9	WGM	Nandhidhaa P V	2363	4	4	IM	Tokhirjonova Gulrukhbegim	2369	8
6	9	15	WGM	Alinasab Mobina	2342	3½	3½	WGM	Swati Ghate	2035	69
6	12	11	IM	Padmini Rout	2359	3	3	WFM	Nurgaliyeva Zarina	2235	37
6	15	19	WGM	Rakshitta Ravi	2324	3	3	WFM	Mohammadi Melika	2205	42
6	16	82		Zhou Shumeng	1901	3	3	IM	Savitha Shri B	2298	24
6	18	30	WFM	Yakimova Mariya	2260	3	3		Ananya Raman	1904	81
6	19	31	WGM	Gomes Mary Ann	2258	3	3	WFM	Arshiya Das	2174	46
6	20	33	WFM	Kaliakhmet Elnaz	2258	3	3	IM	Mohota Nisha	2161	48

Details

Links

Tournament Regulations

Related news:

	Asian Individual 2025 R6: Srija Seshadri outwits Anastasia Bodnaruk, gains sole lead @ 13/05/2025 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
	Asian Individual 2025 R4: Iniyan and Karthikeyan in a four-way lead @ 11/05/2025 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
	Asian Individual 2025 R3: Srija Seshadri makes a perfect start @ 10/05/2025 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
	Asian Individual 2025 R2: Ilamparthi trounces Tabatabaei @ 09/05/2025 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
	Asian Individual 2025 R1: Paulo Bersamina holds Nihal Sarin to a draw @ 08/05/2025 by Shahid Ahmed (en)