Final Round Showdown: High-Stakes Battle for GM and IM Norms in Chennai

by Devansh Singh - 28/06/2026

IM Harshavardhan G B is just half a point away from becoming the 97th Grandmaster of India. Harshavardhan already has 2 GM Norms, and in this Chola Chess GM Norm Round Robin Tournament, his live rating went above 2500. A draw is enough for him to secure his final GM Norm. In the penultimate round, he defeated GM Alexei Fedorov with black pieces, and in the final round, he is facing GM Mihail Nikitenko with white pieces. Photos: Devansh Singh

Daakshin and Aarit need to win

In the IM Group, if Aarit Kapil and Daakshin Arun can score a win in their last round, they will score IM Norms. Aarit Kapil is facing Devindya Oshini Gunawardhana with white pieces, and Daakshin Arun is facing IM David Gochelashvili with black pieces. Everything depends on the last round, and we are going to witness some insane games in the final round.

IM Harshavardhan GB needs a half point for his final GM Norm

Daakshin needs to win against David Gochelashvili

FM Aarit Kapil needs to win against Devindya Oshini

GM Group

In the GM Group, there were 3 decisive results, but the most important was Harshavardhan G B defeating Alexei Fedorov with black pieces. Michal Krasenkow is back in the winning ways and won against Antoine Bournel. Ajay Santhosh Parvathareddy defeated GM Mihail Nikitenko. Anuj Shrivatri drew against Bala Chandra Prasad Dhulipalla, and Kushagra Mohan drew against Harsh Suresh.

Alexei Fedorov vs. Harshavardhan G B (0-1)

Mihail Nikitenko vs. Ajay Santhosh Parvathareddy (0-1)

Michal Krasenkow vs. Antoine Bournel (1-0)

Bala Chandra Prasad missed his chances against Anuj

Replay Round 8 Games

GM Round 8 Results

Bo.	No.	FED	Rtg		White	Result		Black	FED	Rtg	No.	PGN
1	10	IND	2432	IM	Dhulipalla, Bala Chandra Prasad	½ - ½	IM	Anuj, Shrivatri	IND	2483	9	PGN
2	1	IND	2456	IM	Kushagra, Mohan	½ - ½	IM	Harsh, Suresh	IND	2435	8	PGN
3	2	POL	2483	GM	Krasenkow, Michal	1 - 0	IM	Bournel, Antoine	FRA	2430	7	PGN
4	3	BLR	2388	GM	Fedorov, Alexei	0 - 1	IM	Harshavardhan, G B	IND	2493	6	PGN
5	4	BLR	2479	GM	Nikitenko, Mihail	0 - 1	IM	Ajay, Santhosh Parvathareddy	IND	2503	5	PGN

Details

Standings after 8 Rounds

Rk.		Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	GM	Krasenkow, Michal	POL	2483	6,5	0	21,5	6
2	IM	Harshavardhan, G B	IND	2493	6	0	22	4
3	IM	Harsh, Suresh	IND	2435	4,5	1	16,75	1
4	GM	Nikitenko, Mihail	BLR	2479	4,5	2	12,5	4
5	GM	Fedorov, Alexei	BLR	2388	4	1	14,75	2
6	IM	Ajay, Santhosh Parvathareddy	IND	2503	4	2	14	2
7	IM	Anuj, Shrivatri	IND	2483	3,5	0	11,75	1
8	IM	Dhulipalla, Bala Chandra Prasad	IND	2432	3	0	11	0
9	IM	Kushagra, Mohan	IND	2456	3	0	10	1
10	IM	Bournel, Antoine	FRA	2430	1	0	3,75	0

Details

GM Round 9 Pairings

Bo.	No.	FED	Rtg		White	Result		Black	FED	Rtg	No.	PGN
1	5	IND	2503	IM	Ajay, Santhosh Parvathareddy		IM	Dhulipalla, Bala Chandra Prasad	IND	2432	10
2	6	IND	2493	IM	Harshavardhan, G B		GM	Nikitenko, Mihail	BLR	2479	4
3	7	FRA	2430	IM	Bournel, Antoine		GM	Fedorov, Alexei	BLR	2388	3
4	8	IND	2435	IM	Harsh, Suresh		GM	Krasenkow, Michal	POL	2483	2
5	9	IND	2483	IM	Anuj, Shrivatri		IM	Kushagra, Mohan	IND	2456	1

Details

IM Group

The most shocking result of the round was FM Aarit Kapil losing to FM Madhesh Kumar S Aarit needed 1 point in the last 2 games, but now he has to win on demand to score a norm. Daakshin Arun drew against De Silva L M S T, and he also has to win the last game. Aleksej Aleksandrov is leading the field and scored another win over Arshpreet Singh. Madhvendra Pratap Sharma defeated Pranav K P.

Madhvendra Pratap Sharma won against Pranav K P

Madhesh defeated Aarit Kapil

Arshpreet Singh vs. Aleksej Aleksandrov (0-1)

Oshini defeated David Gochelashvili

Daakshin Arun drew against De Silva L M S T

Replay Round 8 Games

IM Round 8 Results

Bo.	No.	FED	Rtg		White	Result		Black	FED	Rtg	No.	PGN
1	10	SRI	2340	WIM	Gunawardhana, Devindya Oshini	1 - 0	IM	Gochelashvili, David	RUS	2275	9	PGN
2	1	IND	2308	FM	Daakshin, Arun	½ - ½	IM	De Silva, L M S T	SRI	2382	8	PGN
3	2	IND	2337	FM	Arshpreet, Singh	0 - 1	GM	Aleksandrov, Aleksej	BLR	2433	7	PGN
4	3	IND	2373	FM	Madhvendra, Pratap Sharma	1 - 0	FM	Pranav, K P	IND	2308	6	PGN
5	4	IND	2315	FM	Madhesh, Kumar S	1 - 0	FM	Aarit, Kapil	IND	2331	5	PGN

Details

Standings after 8 Rounds

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB4
1	7	GM	Aleksandrov, Aleksej	BLR	2433	BLR	6	0	22	5	4
2	5	FM	Aarit, Kapil	IND	2331	DEL	5	1	20	3	1
3	8	IM	De Silva, L M S T	SRI	2382	SRI	5	2	16,5	3	1
4	1	FM	Daakshin, Arun	IND	2308	TN	5	3	18,5	3	1
5	3	FM	Madhvendra, Pratap Sharma	IND	2373	MP	4,5	0	14,75	3	0
6	4	FM	Madhesh, Kumar S	IND	2315	PON	3,5	1	14,75	2	0
7	2	FM	Arshpreet, Singh	IND	2337	HAR	3,5	2	12	3	0
8	6	FM	Pranav, K P	IND	2308	TN	2,5	1	7,25	2	1
9	10	WIM	Gunawardhana, Devindya Oshini	SRI	2340	SRI	2,5	2	10,25	2	0
10	9	IM	Gochelashvili, David	RUS	2275	RUS	2,5	3	9,5	1	1

Details

IM Round 9 Pairings

Bo.	No.	FED	Rtg		White	Result		Black	FED	Rtg	No.	PGN
1	5	IND	2331	FM	Aarit, Kapil		WIM	Gunawardhana, Devindya Oshini	SRI	2340	10
2	6	IND	2308	FM	Pranav, K P		FM	Madhesh, Kumar S	IND	2315	4
3	7	BLR	2433	GM	Aleksandrov, Aleksej		FM	Madhvendra, Pratap Sharma	IND	2373	3
4	8	SRI	2382	IM	De Silva, L M S T		FM	Arshpreet, Singh	IND	2337	2
5	9	RUS	2275	IM	Gochelashvili, David		FM	Daakshin, Arun	IND	2308	1

Details

Photo Gallery: Here

Video Gallery

Interview with IA Vasanth B H

IM Harshavardhan G B vs GM Michal Krasenkow

Points Required for Norm

As per the regulations and rating average of the tournament, 6 points are required to score an IM norm, while 6.5 for a GM Norm.

Lineup

GM Norm (L to R): GM Mihail Nikitenko, GM Alexei Fedorov, IM G B Harshavardhan, IM Bala Chandra Prasad Dhulipalla, IM Antoine Bourne, IM Santhosh Parvathareddy Ajay, IM Kushagra Mohan, IM Shrivatri Anuj, IM Suresh Harsh, and GM Michal Krasenkow.

Participants of the GM Round Robin

IM Norm (L to R): GM Aleksej Aleksandrov, IM David Gochelashvili, IM L M S T De Silva, FM Kapil Aarit, FM Singh Arshpreet, FM Pratap Sharma Madhvendra, FM Kumar S Madhesh, FM Arun Daakshin, and FM K P Pranav. WIM Devindya Oshini Gunawardhana was on her flight and will catch up soon!