KCA 1st GM R8: Levan Pantsulaia maintains his sole lead

by R Anantharam - 06/05/2025

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

Position after 12.b5

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.

GM Levan Pantsualaia (GEO) scored a comfortable win over Balkishan A to maintain his sole lead 7.5/8 | Photo: IA R Anantharam

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.

FM Aakash G's ambitious play did not work out against IM Semetei Tologon Tegin (KGZ) | Photo: IA R Anantharam

GM Karen H Grigoryan (ARM) bounced back with a victory over FM Daniel Sanz Wawer (ESP) | Photo: IA R Anantharam

Marat - Deepan

Position after 23...Rxb2!

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.

GM Marat Dzhumaev (UZB) - GM Deepan Chakkravarthy: 0-1 | Photo: IA R Anantharam

Van Huy - Rajesh

Position after 16.e5?

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.

IM Rajesh Vav defeated his first GM of the event - Van Huy Nguyen (VIE) | Photo: Shahid Ahmed

GM Karen Movsziszian (ARM) - Karan J P: 0.5-0.5 | Photo: IA R Anantharam

FM J Ramakrishna outplayed IM Nitin S | Photo: IA R Anantharam

GM P Karthikeyan - Siddhanth Poonja: 0.5-0.5 | Photo: IA R Anantharam

GM Manik Mikulas (SVK) - Shourya Paul: 0.5-0.5 | Photo: IA R Anantharam

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

Details

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

Details

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

Details

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