chessbase india logo

6th Stepan Avagyan Memorial R7: Praggnanandhaa emerges sole leader, now World no.6

by Shahid Ahmed - 05/06/2025

R Praggnanandhaa defeated Aram Hakobyan (ARM) in Round 7 of 6th Stepan Avagyan Memorial. Aram went wrong in the double rook and minor piece endgame. While trying to save his pawns, he had to give up his knight. Praggnanandhaa converted his advantage into a full point comfortably. This win made him sole leader 5/7 and also World no.6 with a live rating of 2773.1. Aravindh Chithambaram had a well contested draw against Dmitrij Kollars (GER). Aravindh is now the lone pursuer at 4.5/7. Robert Hovhannisyan (ARM) scored the only other victory of the round against Benjamin Gledura (HUN). Round 8 starts today at 3 p.m. local time, 4:30 p.m. IST. Photo: Chess Academy of Armenia

Aravindh in the chase

R Praggnanandhaa defeated Aram Hakobyan (ARM) to become sole leader 5/7 | Photo: Chess Academy of Armenia

Aram - Praggnanandhaa: 0-1

R Praggnanandhaa (2767) played only one Classical rated game against Aram Hakobyan (ARM, 2620) nearly three years ago. He won that battle. In this round, Praggnanandhaa repeated the same result.

Position after 37...Rc8

White made a big mistake of retreating his knight 38.Ne1?? Bd4 39.Raxa3 Rxf2+ 40.Kh3 g5 41.Nf3 Rxc4 42.g4 Bc5 43.Kg3 Bxa3 44.Kxf2 Bc5+ 45.Kg3 Bd6+ 46.Kh3 f5 47.gxf5 g4+ and Black went on to win the game. 38.h4 or Rbb7 would have been fine for White.

R Praggnanandhaa is now World no.6 with a live rating of 2773.1 | Source: 2700chess.com

Dmitrij Kollars (GER) had a well contested draw against Aravindh Chithambaram | Photo: Chess Academy of Armenia

Samuel Sevian (USA) and Xiangyu Xu (CHN) drew their game in 11 moves | Photo: Chess Academy of Armenia

Nodirbek Yakubboev (UZB) - Jonas Buhl Bjerre (DEN): 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Chess Academy of Armenia

Robert Hovhannisyan (ARM) scored his first win of the event against Benjamin Gledura (HUN) | Photo: Chess Academy of Armenia

Serzh Sargsyan, President, Armenian Chess Federation visited the tournament during Round 7 | Photo: Chess Academy of Armenia

Replay Round 7 live stream

Replay Round 7 live commentary by IM Lilit Mkrtchian (ARM) and GM Harshit Raja | Video: ChessBase India

Time Control

90 minutes for the first 40 moves + 30 minutes for the rest of the game (with 30 seconds increment starting from move one).

Prizes

The total prize fund is 7450000 AMD (≈ US$ 19325). The top three prizes are 3100000 AMD (≈ US$ 8041), 1 850 000 AMD (≈ US$ 4799) and 1500000 (≈ US$ 3891).

Round 7 results

Bo.No.Rtg WhiteResultBlack RtgNo.
142694
GMSevian Samuel½ - ½GMXu Xiangyu
262310
252665
GMYakubboev Nodirbek½ - ½GMBjerre Jonas Buhl
26413
362625
GMKollars Dmitrij½ - ½GMAravindh Chithambaram Vr.
27492
472663
GMGledura Benjamin0 - 1GMHovhannisyan Robert
26351
582620
GMHakobyan Aram0 - 1GMPraggnanandhaa R
27589

Details

Standings after Round 7

Rk.SNo NameFEDRtgPts. TB1  TB2  TB3 
19
GMPraggnanandhaa RIND2758516,2540
22
GMAravindh Chithambaram Vr.IND27494,515,7530
36
GMKollars DmitrijGER2625413,0040
44
GMSevian SamuelUSA26943,512,2530
53
GMBjerre Jonas BuhlDEN26413,512,0030
68
GMHakobyan AramARM26203,511,0040
75
GMYakubboev NodirbekUZB2665310,0030
81
GMHovhannisyan RobertARM263539,7530
910
GMXu XiangyuCHN262339,5040
107
GMGledura BenjaminHUN266326,5040

Details

Round 8 pairings

Bo.No.Rtg WhiteResultBlack RtgNo.
1102623
GMXu XiangyuGMPraggnanandhaa R
27589
212635
GMHovhannisyan RobertGMHakobyan Aram
26208
322749
GMAravindh Chithambaram Vr.GMGledura Benjamin
26637
432641
GMBjerre Jonas BuhlGMKollars Dmitrij
26256
542694
GMSevian SamuelGMYakubboev Nodirbek
26655

Details

Schedule

Wednesday 28 May at 19:00 Opening Ceremony
Thursday 29 May at 15:00 Round 1
Friday 30 May at 15:00 Round 2
Saturday 31 May at 15:00 Round 3
Sunday 1 June at 15:00 Round 4
Monday 2 June at 15:00 Round 5
Tuesday 3 June at 15:00 Round 6
Wednesday 4 June at 15:00 Round 7
Thursday 5 June at 15:00 Round 8
Friday 6 June at 11:00 Round 9
Friday 6 June at 18:00 Closing Ceremony

Links

Official site

Tournament details


Related news:
Praggnanandhaa or Aravindh - Who will win 6th Stepan Avagyan Memorial?

@ 06/06/2025 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
6th Stepan Avagyan Memorial R6: Praggnanandhaa joins the lead with Aravindh

@ 04/06/2025 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
6th Stepan Avagyan Memorial R5: Aravindh maintains his sole lead, now World no.10

@ 03/06/2025 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
6th Stepan Avagyan Memorial R4: Aravindh beats Jonas, emerges sole leader

@ 02/06/2025 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
6th Stepan Avagyan Memorial R3: Aravindh outplays Xiangyu, crosses 2750 for the first time

@ 01/06/2025 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
6th Stepan Avagyan Memorial R2: Wins allure Praggnanandhaa and Xiangyu

@ 31/05/2025 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
6th Stepan Avagyan Memorial R1: Aravindh and Praggnanandhaa make a peaceful start

@ 30/05/2025 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
Praggnanandhaa and Aravindh Chithambaram set to battle at 6th Stepan Avagyan Memorial 2025

@ 29/05/2025 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
Karthik Venkataraman dominates Tsaghkadzor Open 2024

@ 20/10/2024 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
India wins Silver and Bronze at 23rd IPCA World Individual Championship 2024

@ 10/08/2024 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
Arjun Erigaisi dominates 5th Stepan Avagyan Memorial with a 2823 performance

@ 19/06/2024 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
Arjun Erigaisi convincingly clinches 5th Stepan Avagyan Memorial with a round to spare

@ 18/06/2024 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
5th Stepan Avagyan Memorial R7: Arjun Erigaisi stays ahead

@ 17/06/2024 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
5th Stepan Avagyan Memorial R6: Arjun Erigaisi hunts Bluebaum's king, increases his sole lead

@ 16/06/2024 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
5th Stepan Avagyan Memorial R5: Five draws

@ 15/06/2024 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
5th Stepan Avagyan Memorial R4: Arjun Erigaisi stays on top, Haik bounces back

@ 14/06/2024 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
5th Stepan Avagyan Memorial R3: Arjun Erigaisi maintains his sole lead

@ 13/06/2024 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
5th Stepan Avagyan Memorial R2: Arjun Erigaisi wins two in-a-row, now live rating 2777.2

@ 12/06/2024 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
5th Stepan Avagyan Memorial R1: Arjun Erigaisi starts with a win

@ 11/06/2024 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
Arjun Erigaisi will be the top seed at Stepan Avagyan Memorial 2024

@ 14/05/2024 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
Karen H Grigoryan wins 5th Yerevan Open 2023, Adhiban second and Abhimanyu Puranik third

@ 24/10/2023 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
Abhimanyu Puranik wins Tsaghkadzor Open 2023, Sasikiran third

@ 06/10/2023 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
Levon Aronian: The Armenian Lion

@ 10/10/2022 by Himank Ghosh (en)
Armenians rule 2nd Goa GM Open 2019

@ 30/06/2019 by Basil Sylvester Pinto (en)

Contact Us