Commonwealth 2025 R7: Daniel Howard Fernandez gains sole lead, Neelash Saha in pursuit

by Shahid Ahmed - 14/11/2025

GM Daniel Howard Fernandez (ENG) defeated GM Lalit Rohit to emerge sole leader at Commonwealth Chess Championship 2025 Open. Daniel is now at 6.5/7. IM Neelash Saha won against IM James Morris (AUS) to move to 6/7. He is the sole pursuer trailing the leader by a half point. James, GM Deep Sengupta, FM Arjun Adireddy and GM Deepan Chakkravarthy are at 5.5/7 each. Arjun got the better of GM Sayantan Das when the latter went wrong in the endgame. Deepan defeated India's latest GM Raahul V S. IM Nisha Mohota and WGM Nandhidhaa P V are at 5/7 each. Mrittika Mallick scored a victory over WGM Mary Ann Gomes, previous edition's Gold medalist in the Women. Round 8 starts tomorrow at 8:30 a.m. local time, 6 a.m. IST. Photo: Commonwealth Chess Championship 2025

Arjun Adireddy stuns Sayantan Das

Commonwealth Chess Championship 2025 is taking place at Corus KLCC Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia | Photo: Commonwealth Chess Championship 2025

Daniel - Lalit: 1-0

GM Daniel Howard Fernandez (ENG, 2501) stormed into a favorable rook and same color bishop endgame in under 20 moves against GM Lalit Rohit (2506). He had no trouble converting his advantage into a win.

GM Daniel Howard Fernandez (ENG) - GM Lalit Rohit: 1-0 | Photo: Commonwealth Chess Championship 2025

Neelash - James: 1-0

IM Neelash Saha (2466) surprised his opponent IM James Morris (AUS, 2416) with 1.a3. While he did not get anything significant out of the opening but one cannot negate the intangible psychological upperhand he gained. His opponent, eventually misplayed in the queen and minor piece endgame and Neelash went on to win the game.

IM Neelash Saha scored a crucial victory to stay in the fray | Photo: Commonwealth Chess Championship 2025

GM Deep Sengupta bounced back with a win over Lee Yun Rui (MAS), ending the latter's unbeaten streak | Photo: Commonwealth Chess Championship 2025

Arjun Adireddy - Sayantan

Position after 46.Re7

46...Nd5 47.Re8 Nf6 48.Re7 repeating was the best choice for Black. Instead, GM Sayantan Das (2424) blundered 46...Kf5?? 47.fxg5+- White got the decisive advantage. Black got one last opportunity to get back in the game. However, he missed it and IM-elect FM Arjun Adireddy (2288) went on to win the game.

FM Arjun Adireddy seized his opportunity in the endgame against GM Sayantan Das | Photo: Commonwealth Chess Championship 2025

WGM Nandhidhaa P V and... | Photo: Commonwealth Chess Championship 2025

...IM Nisha Mohota are the top female scorers at 5/7 each | Photo: Commonwealth Chess Championship 2025

WGM Mary Ann Gomes - Mrittika Mallick (pictured): 0-1 | Photo: Commonwealth Chess Championship 2025

Replay Round 7 Open games

Round 7 results in Open

Bo.		White	FED	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Black	FED	Rtg
1	GM	Fernandez Daniel Howard	ENG	2501	5½	1 - 0	5	GM	Lalit Babu M R	IND	2506
2	IM	Neelash Saha	IND	2466	5	1 - 0	5½	IM	Morris James	AUS	2416
3	AIM	A'qil A'lauddin Bin Abd Aziz	MAS	2003	4½	½ - ½	4½	GM	Vignesh N R	IND	2494
4	GM	Sengupta Deep	IND	2478	4½	1 - 0	4½	AIM	Lee Yun Rui	MAS	1834
5	IM	Raahul V S	IND	2437	4½	0 - 1	4½	GM	Deepan Chakkravarthy J.	IND	2410
6	FM	Adireddy Arjun	IND	2288	4½	1 - 0	4½	GM	Das Sayantan	IND	2424
7	GM	Mitrabha Guha	IND	2515	4	1 - 0	4	CM	Zulkipli Zaidan	MAS	2105
8	GM	Shyaam Nikhil P	IND	2423	4	1 - 0	4	WFM	Sanudula K M Dahamdi	SRI	2043
9	CM	Genivan A/L Genkeswaran	MAS	2035	4	0 - 1	4	IM	Liyanage Ranindu Dilshan	SRI	2393
10	FM	Goh Zi Han	SGP	2361	4	1 - 0	4		Tin Shan Wen	MAS	2021

Details

Standings after Round 7

Rk.	SNo		Name	sex	Gr	FED	RtgI	RtgN	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB4	TB5	K	rtg+/-
1	3	GM	Fernandez Daniel Howard			ENG	2501	0	6,5	0	6	28,5	24,5	2	10	15,1
2	6	IM	Neelash Saha			IND	2466	0	6	0	5	30	26	1	10	8,2
3	10	IM	Morris James			AUS	2416	0	5,5	0	5	31,5	27,5	3	10	12,2
4	5	GM	Sengupta Deep			IND	2478	0	5,5	0	5	29,5	25,5	2	10	1,4
5	15	FM	Adireddy Arjun		U20	IND	2288	0	5,5	0	5	27	23,5	2	10	12,7
6	11	GM	Deepan Chakkravarthy J.			IND	2410	0	5,5	0	4	26	23	2	10	10,5
7	12	IM	Liyanage Ranindu Dilshan			SRI	2393	0	5	0	5	28,5	25	4	10	-2,1
8	13	FM	Goh Zi Han		U20	SGP	2361	0	5	0	5	28	24	1	20	9,6
9	2	GM	Lalit Babu M R			IND	2506	0	5	0	4	30	26	2	10	-1,9
10	4	GM	Vignesh N R			IND	2494	0	5	0	4	29,5	25,5	2	10	-7

Details

Round 8 pairings

Bo.		White	FED	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Black	FED	Rtg
1	GM	Fernandez Daniel Howard	ENG	2501	6½		6	IM	Neelash Saha	IND	2466
2	GM	Deepan Chakkravarthy J.	IND	2410	5½		5½	GM	Sengupta Deep	IND	2478
3	IM	Morris James	AUS	2416	5½		5½	FM	Adireddy Arjun	IND	2288
4	IM	Liyanage Ranindu Dilshan	SRI	2393	5		5	GM	Mitrabha Guha	IND	2515
5	GM	Lalit Babu M R	IND	2506	5		5	GM	Shyaam Nikhil P	IND	2423
6	GM	Vignesh N R	IND	2494	5		5	IM	Mohota Nisha	IND	2136
7	WGM	Nandhidhaa P V	IND	2302	5		5	FM	Goh Zi Han	SGP	2361
8		Mrittika Mallick	IND	2036	4½		5	AIM	A'qil A'lauddin Bin Abd Aziz	MAS	2003
9	CM	Shen Ree Herng	MAS	2068	4½		4½	IM	Raahul V S	IND	2437
10	GM	Das Sayantan	IND	2424	4½		4½	CM	Weerathungalage W D Malisha Sasvidu	SRI	1965

Details

Links

Tournament Regulations

Malaysian Chess Federation

Commonwealth Chess Championship 2025

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