3rd Maharashtra GM R5: Nitish Belurkar conquers Sandipan Chanda, maintains his sole lead

IM Nitish Belurkar defeated GM Sandipan Chanda to maintain his sole lead at the conclusion of Round 5 at 3rd Maharashtra GM 2025. Compared to his last two wins, it was a contrasting victory for Nitish. IM Ayush Sharma got the better of GM Venkatesh M R. The teenager spotted a nice sequence of moves, eventually had two queens on the board and gave up one to have a safe win. Nine players are currently at 4/5. Among the Women, WGM Mary Ann Gomes and WIM Sarayu Velpula are at 3.5/5 each. They won against FM Raghav V and IM Sambit Panda respectively. Round 6 starts today at 3 p.m. IST. Photos: Shahid Ahmed