KCA 1st GM R8: Levan Pantsulaia maintains his sole lead
GM Levan Pantsulaia (GEO) is virtually unstoppable at KCA's God's Own Country's 1st GM 2025. He defeated Balkishan A without giving him any chance to comeback after the Georgian seized his opportunity. He maintained his sole lead 7.5/8. FM Aakash G's ambitious and unprincipled play against IM Semetei Tologon Tegin (KGZ) did not work out, resulting in the teenager's first loss of the event. Semetei is now the sole pursuer at 7/8. GM Karen H Grigoryan (ARM), GM Deepan Chakkravarthy and IM Rajesh Vav are at 6.5/8 each. Round 9 starts today at 10 a.m. IST. Photo: Shahid Ahmed
Semetei in pursuit, Deepan and Rajesh close behind
Grandmaster Levan Pantsulaia (GEO) continued his good run, halting the unbeaten run of Balkishan A of Karnataka in the eighth round of the KCA’s 1st International Chess Festival – Category A Tournament, organised by Kottayam Chess Academy. IM Semetei Tologon Tegin (KGZ) defeated FM Aakash G of Tamil Nadu to keep himself at a striking distance with seven points, half a point adrift of Pantsulaia. Top seed GM Karen H Grigoryan (ARM) bounced back from his seventh round loss to outwit FM Daniel Sanz Wawer (ESP).
Levan - Balkishan
GM Levan Pantsulaia (GEO, 2547) got a pleasant position out of the English opening against Balkishan A (2145). 11...Rb8? allowed 12.b5 axb5 13.axb5 Nd4 14.Nxd4 exd4 15.b6 g5 16.h4 Nd5 17.hxg5 hxg5 18.Rxh8+ Bxh8 19.bxc7 Nxc7 20.Ba5+- White comfortably converted his decisive advantage into a win.
FM Aakash G's (2114) ambitious and not-so-principled play landed him in a worse position early in the opening against IM Semetei Tologon Tegin (KGZ, 2313). The teenager could not recover for the rest of the game and went on to lose.
Marat - Deepan
GM Deepan Chakkravarthy (2411) made a nice rook sacrifice 23...Rxb2! 24.Kxb2 Qb4+ 25.Bb3 a4 26.Re3 Nxe3 27.Qxe3 Rb8 28.Nc4 Qxc4 29.Qa7+ Qc7 30.Qxa4+ Qc6 soon Black traded the queens and went into a favorable rook and minor piece endgame. He converted his extra pawn advantage into a win comfortably.
Van Huy - Rajesh
GM Van Huy Nguyen (VIE, 2337) initiated an incorrect chain exchange 16.e5? bxc3 17.exf6 Bxf6 18.Be3 cxb2-+ IM Rajesh Vav (2324) gained a decisive advantage. He converted his advantage into a win in another dozen moves.
A total of 234 players including 16 GMs, 12 IMs and a WIM are taking part from 13 countries across the world. The eight-day ten round GM tournament is being organized by Kottayam Chess Academy from 30th April to 7th May 2025 at The Courtyard Banquet Hall Kanjikuzhi in Kottayam, Kerala. The time control of the event is 90 minutes + 30 seconds increment from move no.1.
Replay Round 8 games
Round 8 results
| Bo. | No. | White | Typ | Rtg | Club/City | Pts. | Result | Pts. | Black | Typ | Rtg | Club/City | No. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | GM | Pantsulaia, Levan | 2532 | GEO | 6½ | 1 - 0 | 6 | Balkishan, A. | 2134 | KAR | 26 | |||||
| 2 | 30 | FM | Aakash, G | 2100 | TN | 6 | 0 - 1 | 6 | IM | Tologon Tegin, Semetei | 2358 | KGZ | 12 | ||||
| 3 | 1 | GM | Grigoryan, Karen H. | 2556 | ARM | 5½ | 1 - 0 | 5½ | FM | Sanz Wawer, Daniel | 2316 | ESP | 16 | ||||
| 4 | 13 | GM | Dzhumaev, Marat | 2352 | UZB | 5½ | 0 - 1 | 5½ | GM | Deepan, Chakkravarthy J. | 2394 | ICF | 9 | ||||
| 5 | 11 | GM | Nguyen, Van Huy | 2363 | VIE | 5½ | 0 - 1 | 5½ | IM | Rajesh, V A V | 2331 | SCR | 15 | ||||
| 6 | 18 | GM | Podolchenko, Evgeniy | 2307 | BLR | 5½ | 0 - 1 | 5 | GM | Savchenko, Boris | 2459 | RUS | 4 | ||||
| 7 | 28 | Majumder, Shrayan | 2110 | MAH | 5 | 0 - 1 | 5 | GM | Petrosyan, Manuel | 2544 | ARM | 2 | |||||
| 8 | 5 | GM | Sanikidze, Tornike | 2448 | GEO | 5 | 1 - 0 | 5 | Bhoir, Paras Dilip | 2085 | MAH | 32 | |||||
| 9 | 6 | IM | Mehar, Chinna Reddy C.H. | 2418 | SCR | 5 | 1 - 0 | 5 | AIM | Arul, Prakash N | 2075 | TN | 34 | ||||
| 10 | 7 | GM | Movsziszian, Karen | 2417 | ARM | 5 | ½ - ½ | 5 | Karan, J P | 2067 | KER | 36 | |||||
| 11 | 33 | FM | Kumar, Gaurav | 2079 | BIH | 5 | 0 - 1 | 5 | GM | Fedorov, Alexei | 2396 | BLR | 8 | ||||
| 12 | 39 | IM | Sarwat, Walaa | 2047 | EGY | 5 | 1 - 0 | 5 | IM | Schekachikhin, Maksim | 2370 | FIDE | 10 | ||||
| 13 | 46 | FM | Ramakrishna, J. | 2032 | UBI | 5 | 1 - 0 | 5 | IM | Nitin, S. | 2331 | TN | 14 | ||||
| 14 | 17 | GM | Karthikeyan, P. | 2312 | ICF | 5 | ½ - ½ | 5 | Siddhanth, Poonja | 2046 | KAR | 40 | |||||
| 15 | 19 | GM | Laxman, R.R. | 2290 | ICF | 5 | 1 - 0 | 5 | Jayanth, Suravarapu | 1948 | TEL | 60 |
Standings after Round 8
| Rk. | SNo | Name | Typ | FED | Rtg | Club/City | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | TB4 | TB5 | Rp | n | w | we | w-we | K | rtg+/- | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | GM | Pantsulaia, Levan | GEO | 2532 | GEO | 7,5 | 39 | 42,5 | 0 | 39,25 | 7 | 2569 | 8 | 7,5 | 6,63 | 0,87 | 10 | 8,7 | ||
| 2 | 12 | IM | Tologon Tegin, Semetei | KGZ | 2358 | KGZ | 7 | 36 | 40 | 0 | 36,00 | 7 | 2327 | 8 | 7 | 6,44 | 0,56 | 10 | 5,6 | ||
| 3 | 1 | GM | Grigoryan, Karen H. | ARM | 2556 | ARM | 6,5 | 40,5 | 44 | 0 | 33,25 | 6 | 2450 | 8 | 6,5 | 6,47 | 0,03 | 10 | 0,3 | ||
| 4 | 9 | GM | Deepan, Chakkravarthy J. | IND | 2394 | ICF | 6,5 | 36,5 | 39,5 | 0 | 31,25 | 5 | 2313 | 8 | 6,5 | 6,51 | -0,01 | 10 | -0,1 | ||
| 5 | 15 | IM | Rajesh, V A V | IND | 2331 | SCR | 6,5 | 36 | 39,5 | 0 | 30,25 | 6 | 2295 | 8 | 6,5 | 6,01 | 0,49 | 10 | 4,9 | ||
| 6 | 26 | Balkishan, A. | IND | 2134 | KAR | 6 | 40,5 | 43,5 | 0 | 30,50 | 5 | 2346 | 8 | 6 | 3,87 | 2,13 | 20 | 42,6 | |||
| 7 | 22 | IM | Gochelashvili, David | RUS | 2227 | RUS | 6 | 38 | 42 | 0 | 31,00 | 4 | 2286 | 7 | 5 | 4,23 | 0,77 | 10 | 7,7 | ||
| 8 | 5 | GM | Sanikidze, Tornike | GEO | 2448 | GEO | 6 | 36,5 | 40 | 0 | 28,00 | 5 | 2233 | 8 | 6 | 7,04 | -1,04 | 10 | -10,4 | ||
| 9 | 4 | GM | Savchenko, Boris | RUS | 2459 | RUS | 6 | 36,5 | 39,5 | 0 | 28,50 | 5 | 2263 | 8 | 6 | 6,66 | -0,66 | 10 | -6,6 | ||
| 10 | 30 | FM | Aakash, G | IND | 2100 | TN | 6 | 36 | 40 | 0 | 28,25 | 5 | 2280 | 8 | 6 | 4,08 | 1,92 | 20 | 38,4 | ||
| 11 | 6 | IM | Mehar, Chinna Reddy C.H. | IND | 2418 | SCR | 6 | 36 | 38,5 | 0 | 27,50 | 6 | 2177 | 8 | 6 | 7,07 | -1,07 | 10 | -10,7 | ||
| 12 | 2 | GM | Petrosyan, Manuel | ARM | 2544 | ARM | 6 | 35,5 | 39,5 | 0 | 29,00 | 5 | 2218 | 8 | 6 | 7,06 | -1,06 | 10 | -10,6 | ||
| 13 | 24 | Ahaz, E U | IND | 2191 | KER | 6 | 35,5 | 39 | 0 | 27,25 | 5 | 2269 | 8 | 6 | 4,91 | 1,09 | 40 | 43,6 | |||
| 14 | 25 | IM | Sharma, Dinesh K. | IND | 2164 | UP | 6 | 35 | 38,5 | 0 | 27,25 | 5 | 2233 | 8 | 6 | 4,99 | 1,01 | 10 | 10,1 | ||
| 15 | 8 | GM | Fedorov, Alexei | BLR | 2396 | BLR | 6 | 34,5 | 38,5 | 0 | 28,25 | 4 | 2181 | 8 | 6 | 6,87 | -0,87 | 10 | -8,7 |
Round 9 pairings
| Bo. | No. | White | Typ | Rtg | Club/City | Pts. | Result | Pts. | Black | Typ | Rtg | Club/City | No. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 12 | IM | Tologon Tegin, Semetei | 2358 | KGZ | 7 | 7½ | GM | Pantsulaia, Levan | 2532 | GEO | 3 | |||||
| 2 | 9 | GM | Deepan, Chakkravarthy J. | 2394 | ICF | 6½ | 6½ | GM | Grigoryan, Karen H. | 2556 | ARM | 1 | |||||
| 3 | 15 | IM | Rajesh, V A V | 2331 | SCR | 6½ | 6 | GM | Sanikidze, Tornike | 2448 | GEO | 5 | |||||
| 4 | 2 | GM | Petrosyan, Manuel | 2544 | ARM | 6 | 6 | IM | Sharma, Dinesh K. | 2164 | UP | 25 | |||||
| 5 | 4 | GM | Savchenko, Boris | 2459 | RUS | 6 | 6 | FM | Aakash, G | 2100 | TN | 30 | |||||
| 6 | 6 | IM | Mehar, Chinna Reddy C.H. | 2418 | SCR | 6 | 6 | IM | Sarwat, Walaa | 2047 | EGY | 39 | |||||
| 7 | 8 | GM | Fedorov, Alexei | 2396 | BLR | 6 | 6 | FM | Ramakrishna, J. | 2032 | UBI | 46 | |||||
| 8 | 24 | Ahaz, E U | 2191 | KER | 6 | 6 | GM | Laxman, R.R. | 2290 | ICF | 19 | ||||||
| 9 | 26 | Balkishan, A. | 2134 | KAR | 6 | 6 | IM | Gochelashvili, David | 2227 | RUS | 22 | ||||||
| 10 | 37 | FM | Matta, Vinay Kumar | 2054 | UBI | 5½ | 5½ | GM | Movsziszian, Karen | 2417 | ARM | 7 | |||||
| 11 | 40 | Siddhanth, Poonja | 2046 | KAR | 5½ | 5½ | GM | Nguyen, Van Huy | 2363 | VIE | 11 | ||||||
| 12 | 41 | Abhishek, T M | 2044 | KER | 5½ | 5½ | GM | Dzhumaev, Marat | 2352 | UZB | 13 | ||||||
| 13 | 16 | FM | Sanz Wawer, Daniel | 2316 | ESP | 5½ | 5½ | Advik, Amit Agrawal | 2007 | MAH | 51 | ||||||
| 14 | 45 | Jaidambareesh, N R | 2037 | TN | 5½ | 5½ | GM | Karthikeyan, P. | 2312 | ICF | 17 | ||||||
| 15 | 50 | CM | Chinmay, Kowshik | 2011 | KAR | 5½ | 5½ | GM | Podolchenko, Evgeniy | 2307 | BLR | 18 |
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
