Grandmaster Lalit Babu MR and Madhesh Kumar S are the Champions of Aurionpro Mumbai International GM Open and Juniors Chess Tournament 2025

by Himank Ghosh - 22/07/2025

With a highly exciting finish, Grandmaster Lalit Babu MR and Madhesh Kumar S are the Champions of the Aurionpro International Grandmaster Chess Tournament and Aurionpro International Juniors Chess Tournament respectively. Both Madhesh and Lalit scored critical wins in the final round to become the Champion! Lalit took home a beautiful trophy and Rs. 4,00,000, while Madhesh won Rs. 2,00,000 and an equally impressive trophy! Check out all that happened in the final round and all the information of the closing ceremony in this report. Photos: Aditya Sur Roy, Himank Ghosh

Lalit Babu and Madhesh Kumar crowned Champions

The Aurionpro Mumbai International GM Open and Juniors Chess Tournament 2025 concluded with thrilling games. Players gave their all in the final round. Both the Open and Junior sections saw exciting games. It was no longer an option to play safe for the leaders as the title was on the line. In the end, Lalit Babu won the Open section with a trophy and Rs. 4,00,000 while Madhesh Kumar topped the Juniors section, winning the trophy and Rs. 2,00,000.

Open section

After the 8th round, Gharibyan Mamikon and Lalit Babu were leading the open section. Lalit Babu was already in excellent form. He was paired up against GM Pantsulaia Levan in the last round. The key moment in the game came after 20.Bxc6 Rxc6 21.Qe3 Bb3, when Black initiated active play.

A good opportunity for Black for some active play on the queenside.

Eventually, White’s position collapsed under pressure after 35.f3 Rxe3. 53. Qd4+ is a blunder by White as it allowed Black to play Qe2+ and forces White king into an exposed position.

53. Qd4+... a blunder

Black had full control of the position. He kept mounting pressure until White was forced to resign. With this win, Lalit Babu clinched the title in the open section.

"Read the board like a book" | Photo: Himank Ghosh/ Vivek Sohani

In the game against Neelotpal Das, Gharibyan Mamikon gained positional advantage in the middlegame. However, just when he seemed close to converting it into a win, he miscalculated with 41.Bb6?, overlooking the Qxf8.

White had an opportunity to capture Black's bishop directly, but he miscalculated.

This gave Neelotpal to regain activity and eventually hold the position. He somehow tried to but made a terrible blunder that cost him the game. After 76. Qc5, instead of exchanging queens, Black played Qe2.

It was crucial for Black to exchange the queens at this point.

This allowed White maneuver the queen and gain a winning position after 80. fxe4. There was no way for Black to stop the f-pawn from promotion and hence, he lost the position completely.

After a long grind, Gharibyan Mamikon won his game against Neelotpal Das. | Photo: Himank Ghosh/Vivek Sohani

Trophies waiting for their champions! | Photo: Himank Ghosh

Lalit Babu took the Champions trophy home...

... along with Rs. 4,00,000. | Photos: Aditya Sur Roy

Lalit Babu takes on Georgian GM Levan Pantsulaia for the title! | Aurionpro Mumbai GM Open 2025

Check out all Round 9 games

Final standings

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB5
1	5	GM	Lalit, Babu M R	IND	2499	AP	8	54,5	59	51,50	7
2	6	GM	Gharibyan, Mamikon	ARM	2472	ARM	8	54	58,5	51,00	7
3	12	GM	Nguyen, Duc Hoa	VIE	2378	VIE	7,5	52	57	45,50	7
4	7	GM	Savchenko, Boris	RUS	2456	RUS	7,5	50	53,5	42,00	7
5	10	GM	Deepan, Chakkravarthy J.	IND	2410	TN	7,5	47	52	43,00	6
6	2	GM	Petrosyan, Manuel	ARM	2541	ARM	7	52	56	41,50	5
7	11	IM	Davtyan, Arsen	ARM	2402	ARM	7	51,5	55	40,50	6
8	15	GM	Fedorov, Alexei	BLR	2370	BLR	7	50	54,5	39,50	7
9	19	GM	Nguyen, Van Huy	VIE	2337	VIE	7	49	53	39,25	5
10	16	IM	Budhidharma, Nayaka	INA	2369	INA	7	48	52,5	38,50	6
11	17	GM	Neelotpal, Das	IND	2361	WB	7	48	52	37,50	7
12	33		Avirat, Chauhan	IND	2168	MAH	7	39	43,5	34,00	5
13	1	GM	Pantsulaia, Levan	GEO	2551	GEO	6,5	52	57,5	39,00	5
14	4	GM	Nikitenko, Mihail	BLR	2520	BLR	6,5	50,5	55	38,00	6
15	14	GM	Aleksandrov, Aleksej	BLR	2370	BLR	6,5	50,5	53	34,25	6
16	3	GM	Paichadze, Luka	GEO	2529	GEO	6,5	50	54,5	38,00	6
17	21	IM	Gochelashvili, David	RUS	2303	RUS	6,5	48,5	52,5	35,25	6
18	35		Siddhanth, Poonja	IND	2167	KA	6,5	48	51,5	33,75	6
19	37		Yohan, Yadav Tarala	IND	2143	TG	6,5	47	51,5	35,00	5
20	32		Alekhya, Mukhopadhyay	IND	2192	WB	6,5	46,5	50	33,50	6

Chess results

Attack until the opponent crumbles! | Nikitenko vs Neelotpal. | Video: ChessBase India

Grandmaster vs 1817 Elo | Lalit Babu vs Ayaan Trikha. | Video: ChessBase India

13-year-old Madhesh Kumar beats GM Tornike Sanikidze | Video: ChessBase India

It is not a Fortress - not for a Grandmaster | Levan vs Shrayan | Video: ChessBase India

"I was getting cooked" says Vedant Panesar after his game against Aamuktha Guntaka | Video: ChessBase India

GM Mihail Nikitenko sacrifices his queen against Arnav Agrawal | Video: ChessBase India

Juniors section

Aansh Nerurkar and Madhesh Kumar were tied at the top in the Juniors section. In the last round, Aansh was paired against Advik Agrawal with black pieces in the last round. White successfully gained control out of the opening, but missed his winning advantage after 19. Bd6.

Thought White missed the advantage, he still retained a better position.

This was a crucial opportunity for Black to save the position but he made a blunder 20...Qf6 which immediately gave White the winning advantage again. White did not let go of the opportunity this time and kept on building pressure. It was after 38. Kf7 that Black completely lost the position by avoiding the queen exchange.

34. Qd4+ by White

This miscalculation led to 39. fxe4 fxe4 opening the f file for White. With both the rooks active, White attacked Black king full-fledged fledged and Black had no other option than to surrender.

Both Ansh and Advik needed to bring their A-game! | Photo: Himank Ghosh

The game between Madhesh Kumar and Vyom Malhotra was a long-fought battle. For much of the game, the position remained balanced, though White held a slight positional pull. However, a critical turning point came when Black played 42...g6, which further weakened his already passive setup.

His rook and bishop were restricted contrary to White's. Madhesh took full advantage of it by building up the pressure. He maintained control throughout and brilliantly converted his positional edge into a full point.

Madhesh converted the edge like a pro! | Photo: Himank Ghosh

Top 3 finishers in the Juniors section: 1st-Madhesh Kumar (Middle), 2nd-Advik Agrawal (Left) and 3rd-Ansh Nerurkar (Right). | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Check out all Round 9 games

Final standings

Rk.	SNo		Name	Typ	sex	FED	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB4	TB5	TB6	K	rtg+/-
1	2	CM	Madhesh, Kumar S			IND	2243	PY	8	51	55,5	48,25	0	7	2	40	48,4
2	3		Advik, Amit Agrawal	U10		IND	2218	MAH	7,5	49	53,5	44,50	0	6	3	40	23,2
3	1	FM	Aansh, Nandan Nerurkar			IND	2356	MAH-MUM	7	52	56,5	41,75	0	6	3	20	-11
4	5	CM	Madhvendra, Pratap Sharma			IND	2166	MP	7	49,5	53,5	38,50	0	7	3	40	22
5	12		Jagreet, Misra			IND	1971	DL	7	44,5	48,5	37,25	0	5	2	40	-6
6	11	CM	Vyom, Malhotra			IND	1975	HR	6,5	49	53	35,50	0	6	3	40	44
7	9		Badole, Shaunak			IND	2007	MAH	6,5	48	52	36,00	0	6	4	40	40,4
8	7	AIM	Aadik, Theophane Lenin			IND	2018	KL	6,5	47,5	52	35,75	0	5	4	40	21,2
9	8		Samuel, Stephen Noble S			IND	2008	AP	6,5	46,5	51	35,00	0	6	2	40	0,8
10	15		Nijesh, R			IND	1931	TN	6,5	46,5	50	33,50	0	5	3	40	29,6
11	16		Salunke, Siddhant			IND	1915	MAH	6,5	45	49,5	33,25	0	5	2	40	44,8
12	10	AIM	Adhiraj, Mitra			IND	1996	JH	6,5	44,5	48	30,75	0	6	4	40	40,8
13	49		Sravyasree, Bheemarasetty		w	IND	1747	AP	6	47	51,5	32,25	0	5	2	40	83,2
14	21		Mahir, Taneja			IND	1896	DL	6	47	50,5	31,00	0	4	2	40	32,8
15	4		Avirat, Chauhan			IND	2168	MAH	6	46,5	51	33,75	0	3	2	40	-76,8

Chess results

When the extra piece is completely useless | Vairaj vs Avirat | Video: ChessBase India

The legacy carries on🫡

Players received prizes from Maharashtra's chess legend, GM Pravin Thipsey. | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

The prize winners pose with their well-earned trophies. | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Sagar Shah interacting with a youngster from Haryana - Vyom Agrawal! | Photo: Himank Ghosh

The ever-enthusiastic Praful Zaveri addressed the players and their parents. | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

India's 3rd GM gives a Chess Crash Course to CEO who supports Chess! | Aurionpro CEO Ashish Rai

Check out all the photos on our dedicated Facebook album here.

Important links

Aurionpro Mumbai International GM+Junior Chess Tournament 2025: R1-3 Report

Aurionpro Mumbai International GM+Junior Chess Tournament 2025: R4-5 Report

Aurionpro Mumbai International GM+Junior Chess Tournament 2025: R6-7 Report

Aurionpro Mumbai International GM+Junior Chess Tournament 2025: R8 Report

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