KCA 1st GM R4: Rajesh Vav makes a perfect start
WIM Diajeng Theresa Singgih (INA) defeated her second consecutive IM opponent at KCA's God's Own Country's 1st GM 2025. The Indonesian IM defeated IM Maksim Schekachikhin to maintain a perfect score 4/4. Four players are currently at 4/4. They are - top seed, GM Karen H Grigoryan (ARM), GM Levan Pantsulaia (GEO), IM Rajesh Vav and Theresa. Rajesh defeated Samarth Rajesh Ragavan comfortably. Ahaz E U missed a win against GM Tornike Sanikidze (GEO). IM Dinesh Kumar Sharma, Shrayan Majumder and Paras Dilip Bhoir had well contested draws against GM Deepan Chakkravarthy, GM Van Huy Nguyen (VIE) and GM Marat Dzhumaev (UZB) respectively. Round 5 starts today at 10 a.m. IST. Photo: Shahid Ahmed
Theresa shocks Maksim, wins against her second consecutive IM
Kerala youngster Ahaz E U held third seeded GM Tornike Sanikidze (GEO) to a draw in the fourth round of the KCA’s 1st International Chess Festival – Category A Tournament, organised by Kottayam Chess Academy. Four players – top seed GM Karen H Grigoryan (ARM), second seeded GM Levan Pantsulaia (GEO), WIM Diajeng Theresa Singgih (INA) and Indian IM Rajesh Vav share the lead with four points each.
Tornike - Ahaz
GM Tornike Sanikidze (GEO, 2441) misplaced his rook when he took the a4-pawn 30.Rxa4 hxg3+ 31.fxg3 e5 32.Ra7 Rxd4 33.Re1 e4 34.Qe3 Rd3 35.Qg5 Qc7 36.Ra5 Nh5 37.Qe5+ Qxe5 38.Rxe5 now f5 would have given Ahaz E U (2126) complete control. 38...Nxg3 39.Re7 Rxa3 40.Rxb7 Rd2 41.Rc7 Nf5 42.Kh1 Nh4? instead Raa2 would have finished the game in the next few moves.
Theresa - Maksim
26...Bd3 prompted WIM Diajeng Theresa Singgih (INA, 1989) to go for 27.Bxh6! IM Maksim Schekachikhin (2364) needed to retreat his bishop back to g6. However, 27...Be4? only gave White a substantial advantage 28.Nxe4 dxe4 29.Qxe4 Nb3 30.Rxc8 Rxc8 31.Rd1 Qc7 32.Be3 after a few moves White lost her advantage but Black misplayed once again to end up having a lost position.
Rajesh - Samarth
IM Rajesh Vav (2324) launched a devastating attack on the kingside 23.Nf5 Bh8 24.Ne7 Ng8 25.Nxg6 f6 26.Qf5 Kg7 27.Nf4 fxg5 28.Ne6+ and it's over.
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 4 games
Round 4 results
Standings after Round 4
| Rk. | SNo | Name | Typ | FED | Rtg | Club/City | Pts. | TB1 | Rp | n | w | we | w-we | K | rtg+/- | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | GM | Grigoryan, Karen H. | ARM | 2556 | ARM | 4 | 9,5 | 2813 | 4 | 4 | 3,60 | 0,40 | 10 | 4 | ||
| 2 | 3 | GM | Pantsulaia, Levan | GEO | 2532 | GEO | 4 | 9,5 | 2807 | 4 | 4 | 3,58 | 0,42 | 10 | 4,2 | ||
| 3 | 15 | IM | Rajesh, V A V | IND | 2331 | SCR | 4 | 8,5 | 2634 | 4 | 4 | 3,66 | 0,34 | 10 | 3,4 | ||
| 4 | 64 | WIM | Singgih, Diajeng Theresa | INA | 1931 | INA | 4 | 8 | 2793 | 4 | 4 | 1,85 | 2,15 | 20 | 43 | ||
| 5 | 22 | IM | Gochelashvili, David | RUS | 2227 | RUS | 3,5 | 11 | 2190 | 3 | 2,5 | 2,57 | -0,07 | 10 | -0,7 | ||
| 6 | 32 | Bhoir, Paras Dilip | IND | 2085 | MAH | 3,5 | 11 | 2223 | 4 | 3,5 | 2,79 | 0,71 | 40 | 28,4 | |||
| 7 | 9 | GM | Deepan, Chakkravarthy J. | IND | 2394 | ICF | 3,5 | 10,5 | 2299 | 4 | 3,5 | 3,54 | -0,04 | 10 | -0,4 | ||
| 8 | 11 | GM | Nguyen, Van Huy | VIE | 2363 | VIE | 3,5 | 10,5 | 2277 | 4 | 3,5 | 3,55 | -0,05 | 10 | -0,5 | ||
| 9 | 4 | GM | Savchenko, Boris | RUS | 2459 | RUS | 3,5 | 10 | 2286 | 4 | 3,5 | 3,67 | -0,17 | 10 | -1,7 | ||
| 10 | 5 | GM | Sanikidze, Tornike | GEO | 2448 | GEO | 3,5 | 10 | 2318 | 4 | 3,5 | 3,58 | -0,08 | 10 | -0,8 | ||
| 11 | 13 | GM | Dzhumaev, Marat | UZB | 2352 | UZB | 3,5 | 10 | 2264 | 4 | 3,5 | 3,56 | -0,06 | 10 | -0,6 | ||
| 12 | 24 | Ahaz, E U | IND | 2191 | KER | 3,5 | 10 | 2306 | 4 | 3,5 | 2,88 | 0,62 | 40 | 24,8 | |||
| 13 | 25 | IM | Sharma, Dinesh K. | IND | 2164 | UP | 3,5 | 10 | 2270 | 4 | 3,5 | 2,92 | 0,58 | 10 | 5,8 | ||
| 14 | 28 | Majumder, Shrayan | IND | 2110 | MAH | 3,5 | 10 | 2276 | 4 | 3,5 | 2,77 | 0,73 | 20 | 14,6 | |||
| 15 | 7 | GM | Movsziszian, Karen | ARM | 2417 | ARM | 3,5 | 9 | 2245 | 4 | 3,5 | 3,68 | -0,18 | 10 | -1,8 |
Round 5 pairings
| Bo. | No. | White | Typ | Rtg | Club/City | Pts. | Result | Pts. | Black | Typ | Rtg | Club/City | No. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 15 | IM | Rajesh, V A V | 2331 | SCR | 4 | 4 | GM | Grigoryan, Karen H. | 2556 | ARM | 1 | |||||
| 2 | 64 | WIM | Singgih, Diajeng Theresa | 1931 | INA | 4 | 4 | GM | Pantsulaia, Levan | 2532 | GEO | 3 | |||||
| 3 | 4 | GM | Savchenko, Boris | 2459 | RUS | 3½ | 3½ | Joseph, Tom | 1812 | KER | 115 | ||||||
| 4 | 22 | IM | Gochelashvili, David | 2227 | RUS | 3½ | 3½ | GM | Sanikidze, Tornike | 2448 | GEO | 5 | |||||
| 5 | 24 | Ahaz, E U | 2191 | KER | 3½ | 3½ | GM | Movsziszian, Karen | 2417 | ARM | 7 | ||||||
| 6 | 26 | Balkishan, A. | 2134 | KAR | 3½ | 3½ | GM | Deepan, Chakkravarthy J. | 2394 | ICF | 9 | ||||||
| 7 | 25 | IM | Sharma, Dinesh K. | 2164 | UP | 3½ | 3½ | GM | Nguyen, Van Huy | 2363 | VIE | 11 | |||||
| 8 | 28 | Majumder, Shrayan | 2110 | MAH | 3½ | 3½ | GM | Dzhumaev, Marat | 2352 | UZB | 13 | ||||||
| 9 | 30 | FM | Aakash, G | 2100 | TN | 3½ | 3½ | GM | Karthikeyan, P. | 2312 | ICF | 17 | |||||
| 10 | 32 | Bhoir, Paras Dilip | 2085 | MAH | 3½ | 3 | IM | Mehar, Chinna Reddy C.H. | 2418 | SCR | 6 | ||||||
| 11 | 2 | GM | Petrosyan, Manuel | 2544 | ARM | 3 | 3 | Advik, Amit Agrawal | 2007 | MAH | 51 | ||||||
| 12 | 8 | GM | Fedorov, Alexei | 2396 | BLR | 3 | 3 | Sree, Shaunak Chanda | 2001 | TEL | 52 | ||||||
| 13 | 10 | IM | Schekachikhin, Maksim | 2370 | FIDE | 3 | 3 | Sanjay, S Pillai | 1997 | KER | 54 | ||||||
| 14 | 12 | IM | Tologon Tegin, Semetei | 2358 | KGZ | 3 | 3 | Sharnarthi, Shlok | 1991 | MAH | 55 | ||||||
| 15 | 14 | IM | Nitin, S. | 2331 | TN | 3 | 3 | Afreed, T Khan | 1921 | AP | 67 |
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
