Harshavardhan GB Strikes; Visiting GMs Dominate Round 3 at Chola Chess GM Round Robin

by Devansh Singh - 23/06/2026

IM Harshavardhan GB defeated IM Antoine Bournel to score his 1st win in the 3rd round of the Chola Chess GM Norm Round Robin Tournament. The game between co-leaders Ajay Santhosh Parvathareddy and Harsh Suresh ended in a draw. In the other 3 games, the visiting Grandmasters won against Indian IMs. It was an action-packed day in the IM section as there were 4 decisive results. The 4th round starts on 23rd June at 2 PM IST. Photos: Devansh Singh

Huge miss for Madhvendra and Kushagra

The 3rd day at the Chola Chess IM and GM Round Robin Tournament was filled with ups and downs. In the GM group, Kushagra Mohan held a clearly winning position against GM Alexei Fedorov, but then blundered and lost the game. Something similar happened in the IM group, where Madhvendra Pratap Sharma had a winning position against Daakshin Arun but he blundered and Daakshin found a nice sequence to win the game

FM Daakshin Arun scored his 2nd win of the tournament after winning against Madhvendra

Check out the final moments

GM Group

It was not the best day for Indian players in the GM section, as 3 Indian players lost to visiting Grandmasters in hard-fought battles. Ajay Santhosh and Harsh Suresh made an early draw, but the other 4 games were a treat to watch. Let's do a game-by-game breakdown.

Harshavardhan GB vs. Antoine Bournel

The game started with a French Defence, and it was a complex middlegame where Harshavardhan, with white pieces, was trying to put some pressure on Antoine, and eventually Antoine made a huge blunder and lost the game.

Black played 30...Kh8, which allowed 31.Bxf5! with a mating attack

Harshavardhan GB vs. Antoine Bournel (1-0)

The only player who is constantly coming into the Analysis room is Antoine, always with a smile on his face

IM Antoine Bournel (France)

Author's Experience

Antoine and Harshvardhan came into the analysis room and were discussing the game. I joined in and showed them some lines. Harshvardhan went as he was getting late, and then I had a long conversation with Antoine about his time in India and everything, but when I asked Antoine for an interview, he said very politely, "I am going to score some points, and then I will give the interview." It shows how cheerful Antoine is. Hoping to see him winning games soon!!

Michal Krasenkow vs. Bala Chandra Prasad Dhulipalla

The Game between Kransenkow and Bala Chandra Prasad was heading towards a draw in the rook endgame, where Bala Chandra Prasad blundered. Can you spot the best defence?

Black just played 42.Rg7 and it's the game losing move, can you find an active defence to hold the game?

Michal Krasenkow vs. Bala Chandra Prasad Dhulipalla (1-0)

Tournament Leader

Alexei Fedorov vs. Kushagra Mohan

Kushagra got a comfortable and winning position with 2 extra pawns out of the opening, Fedorov was playing on piece activity, and that helped him as Kushagra blundered and allowed a beautiful tactical sequence.

Position after 26.Ng4, White to play and win

Alexei Fedorov vs. Kushagra Mohan (1-0)

Mihail Nikitenko vs. Anuj Shrivatri

It was a very exciting and interesting game between Nikitenko and Anuj as Nikitenko sacrificed his queen for 3 minor pieces and eventually won the game as Anuj was under time pressure.

Mihail Nikitenko vs. Anuj Shrivatri (1-0)

Ajay Santhosh Parvathareddy vs. Harsh Suresh (0.5-0.5)

Games in action

Replay Round 3 Games

GM Round 3 Results

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

Details

GM Round 4 Pairings

Bo.	White	Result	Black
1	Dhulipalla, Bala Chandra Prasad		Bournel, Antoine
2	Harsh, Suresh		Harshavardhan, G B
3	Anuj, Shrivatri		Ajay, Santhosh Parvathareddy
4	Kushagra, Mohan		Nikitenko, Mihail
5	Krasenkow, Michal		Fedorov, Alexei

Details

Player of the day

The Player of the day will be selected by the Author based on the performance of the player in a particular round.

GM Michal Krasenkow is leading with 2.5/3 points, and in this round, he pulled off a great win against IM Bala Chandra Prasad

IM Group

After the peaceful 2nd round, the 3rd round gave us so many exciting battles and results. Arshpreet Singh scored another win of the tournament, and this time he defeated Devindya Oshini. Daakshin Arun survived a scare and made a huge comeback against Madhvendra Pratap Sharma. Pranav K P missed a tactical shot against Aleksandrov Aleksej and lost the game.

Madhvendra Pratap Sharma vs. Daakshin Arun

It was an opposite side castle game in Sicilian defence where Madhvendra got a clearly better position, but under time pressure, he crumbled, and Daakshin managed to trick him in a beautiful tactical sequence. Can you find the tactic?

Black to play and win

Madhvendra Pratap Sharma vs. Daakshin Arun (0-1)

Arshpreet is still in a joint lead after winning against Devindya Oshini

Madhesh Kumar lost to David Gochelashvili

Aarit Kapil vs. De Silva L M S T (0.5-0.5)

Pranav K P lost against Aleksej Aleksandrov

Games in action

Replay Round 3 Games

IM Round 3 Results

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

Details

IM Round 4 Pairings

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

Details

Photo Gallery: Here

Fairplay Check

Focused

Fun discussions before the round

Harshvardhan remains unbeaten with 2 draws and a solid win

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!