KCA 1st GM R2-3: Deekshitha Modipalli outplays Manuel Petrosyan
WCM Deekshitha Modipalli scored the biggest upset of the tournament when she defeated the second seeded, GM Manuel Petrosyan (ARM). The Armenian won the strong 3rd Maharashtra GM 2025 few days ago. So this win is certainly special for the 12-year-old girl. She made a sound pawn sacrifice on the tenth move and later on built a strong pawn mass in the center which helped her to win the game. Nameet Chavan swindled IM Mehar Chinna Reddy. FM Kumar Gaurav missed a great opportunity against GM Boris Savchenko in Round 3. WIM Diajeng Theresa Singgih (INA) seized her opportunity against IM Nitin S. Round 4 starts today at 10 a.m. IST. Photos: IA R Anantharam
Theresa beats Nitin
12-year-old Telangana girl - WCM Deekhsitha Modipalli had a dream game today by beating the second seeded Grandmaster Manuel Petrosyan (ARM) in the second round of the KCA’s 1st International Chess Festival – Category A Tournament, organised by Kottayam Chess Academy. Another higher seed to meet the disaster is the sixth seeded International Master Mehar Chinna Reddy of South Central Railway against Nameet Chavan of Maharashtra.
Round 2: Nameet swindles Mehar
Top seed, GM Karen H Grigoryan (ARM, 2556) won a nice game by sacrificing his queen against Afreed T Khan (1921).
Deekshitha - Manuel: 1-0
In the Nimzo Indian Defence by Petrosyan, Deekshitha who was ranked fifth in the National Under-13 Girls Championship in 2024, did not bother about 620 rating points difference and sacrificed a pawn on the tenth move.
Petrosyan could not defend properly and Deekshitha’s three central pawns made a heavy inroad into the enemy’s camp to post a win in 44 moves.
Nameet - Mehar
IM Mehar Chinna Reddy (2418) was in an absolutely winning position against Nameet Chavan (1901), rated more than 507 points below him. In the double rook and bishop ending, Mehar made a wrong rook capture, totally changing the scenario in favour of Nameet. Which rook is safe to capture for Black in the above position?
Seventh seeded GM Karen Movsziszian (ARM) was held to a draw by Krishay Jain of West Bengal.
A notable result in the second round is the draw made by Justin Joseph of Kottayam against the Egypt’s International Master, Walaa Sarwat.
Round 3: Savchenko escapes against Kumar
A few questionable decisions landed GM Boris Savchenko (2463) in deep trouble against FM Kumar Gaurav (2070).
White king is in a precarious situation after displacing and returning to its original position. 20...e3! is what Black needed 21.fxe3 Nxe3 22.Rxe3 Bxe3 23.Qxe3 Qh4+ 24.Kd2 Qxb4+ 25.Qc3 Qxc3+ 26.Kxc3 f4 ideally Black should win. However, the GM used his king quite well to escape with a draw.
Nitin - Theresa
IM Nitin S (2331) made a couple of mistakes in consecutive moves 37.Re1? Nxa4! 38.Qe4 Nc5-+ now the position completely turned into WIM Diajeng Theresa Singgih's (INA, 1989) favor.
Replay Round 2-3 games
Round 3 results
Standings after Round 3
| Rk. | SNo | Name | Typ | FED | Rtg | Club/City | Pts. | TB1 | Rp | n | w | we | w-we | K | rtg+/- | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 32 | Bhoir, Paras Dilip | IND | 2085 | MAH | 3 | 6 | 2531 | 3 | 3 | 2,61 | 0,39 | 40 | 15,6 | |||
| 2 | 155 | Ragavan, Samarth Rajesh | USA | 1736 | USA | 3 | 5,5 | 2853 | 3 | 3 | 0,42 | 2,58 | 40 | 103,2 | |||
| 3 | 11 | GM | Nguyen, Van Huy | VIE | 2363 | VIE | 3 | 5 | 2684 | 3 | 3 | 2,74 | 0,26 | 10 | 2,6 | ||
| 4 | 13 | GM | Dzhumaev, Marat | UZB | 2352 | UZB | 3 | 5 | 2675 | 3 | 3 | 2,74 | 0,26 | 10 | 2,6 | ||
| 5 | 15 | IM | Rajesh, V A V | IND | 2331 | SCR | 3 | 5 | 2667 | 3 | 3 | 2,74 | 0,26 | 10 | 2,6 | ||
| 6 | 20 | GM | Manik, Mikulas | SVK | 2273 | SVK | 3 | 5 | 2643 | 3 | 3 | 2,74 | 0,26 | 10 | 2,6 | ||
| 7 | 21 | GM | Teterev, Vitaly | BLR | 2266 | BLR | 3 | 5 | 2653 | 3 | 3 | 2,72 | 0,28 | 10 | 2,8 | ||
| 8 | 25 | IM | Sharma, Dinesh K. | IND | 2164 | UP | 3 | 5 | 2580 | 3 | 3 | 2,71 | 0,29 | 10 | 2,9 | ||
| 9 | 28 | Majumder, Shrayan | IND | 2110 | MAH | 3 | 5 | 2599 | 3 | 3 | 2,58 | 0,42 | 20 | 8,4 | |||
| 10 | 1 | GM | Grigoryan, Karen H. | ARM | 2556 | ARM | 3 | 4,5 | 2727 | 3 | 3 | 2,76 | 0,24 | 10 | 2,4 | ||
| 11 | 3 | GM | Pantsulaia, Levan | GEO | 2532 | GEO | 3 | 4,5 | 2720 | 3 | 3 | 2,76 | 0,24 | 10 | 2,4 | ||
| 12 | 5 | GM | Sanikidze, Tornike | GEO | 2448 | GEO | 3 | 4,5 | 2712 | 3 | 3 | 2,76 | 0,24 | 10 | 2,4 | ||
| 13 | 10 | IM | Schekachikhin, Maksim | FID | 2370 | FIDE | 3 | 4,5 | 2706 | 3 | 3 | 2,72 | 0,28 | 10 | 2,8 | ||
| 14 | 9 | GM | Deepan, Chakkravarthy J. | IND | 2394 | ICF | 3 | 4 | 2696 | 3 | 3 | 2,75 | 0,25 | 10 | 2,5 | ||
| 15 | 24 | Ahaz, E U | IND | 2191 | KER | 3 | 4 | 2611 | 3 | 3 | 2,70 | 0,30 | 40 | 12 |
Round 4 pairings
| Bo. | No. | White | Typ | Rtg | Club/City | Pts. | Result | Pts. | Black | Typ | Rtg | Club/City | No. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | GM | Grigoryan, Karen H. | 2556 | ARM | 3 | 3 | GM | Manik, Mikulas | 2273 | SVK | 20 | |||||
| 2 | 3 | GM | Pantsulaia, Levan | 2532 | GEO | 3 | 3 | GM | Teterev, Vitaly | 2266 | BLR | 21 | |||||
| 3 | 5 | GM | Sanikidze, Tornike | 2448 | GEO | 3 | 3 | Ahaz, E U | 2191 | KER | 24 | ||||||
| 4 | 9 | GM | Deepan, Chakkravarthy J. | 2394 | ICF | 3 | 3 | IM | Sharma, Dinesh K. | 2164 | UP | 25 | |||||
| 5 | 64 | WIM | Singgih, Diajeng Theresa | 1931 | INA | 3 | 3 | IM | Schekachikhin, Maksim | 2370 | FIDE | 10 | |||||
| 6 | 11 | GM | Nguyen, Van Huy | 2363 | VIE | 3 | 3 | Majumder, Shrayan | 2110 | MAH | 28 | ||||||
| 7 | 13 | GM | Dzhumaev, Marat | 2352 | UZB | 3 | 3 | Bhoir, Paras Dilip | 2085 | MAH | 32 | ||||||
| 8 | 15 | IM | Rajesh, V A V | 2331 | SCR | 3 | 3 | Ragavan, Samarth Rajesh | 1736 | USA | 155 | ||||||
| 9 | 50 | CM | Chinmay, Kowshik | 2011 | KAR | 2½ | 2½ | GM | Savchenko, Boris | 2459 | RUS | 4 | |||||
| 10 | 7 | GM | Movsziszian, Karen | 2417 | ARM | 2½ | 2½ | Samuel, Stephen Noble S | 1999 | AP | 53 | ||||||
| 11 | 17 | GM | Karthikeyan, P. | 2312 | ICF | 2½ | 2½ | Archisman, Patra | 1929 | WB | 65 | ||||||
| 12 | 52 | Sree, Shaunak Chanda | 2001 | TEL | 2½ | 2½ | GM | Podolchenko, Evgeniy | 2307 | BLR | 18 | ||||||
| 13 | 58 | Swayham, P Das | 1968 | GUJ | 2½ | 2½ | IM | Gochelashvili, David | 2227 | RUS | 22 | ||||||
| 14 | 23 | Arnav, Agrawal | 2194 | UP | 2½ | 2½ | Safal, Fazil | 1893 | KER | 77 | |||||||
| 15 | 66 | WCM | Modipalli, Deekshitha | 1924 | TEL | 2½ | 2½ | Balkishan, A. | 2134 | KAR | 26 |
About the Author
Prof. Rathinam Anantharam is an A-grade international arbiter. Member of FIDE Arbiters’ Commission, Chairman of Titles Commission in All India Chess Federation, Vice President of Tamil Nadu State Chess Association, Chief Arbiter for six world championships, many Asian, International and National Championships. Nominated as one of the top seven arbiters in the world for the past hundred years by FIDE.
The report was edited by Shahid Ahmed
