Leon Emerges as Sole Leader

GM Leon Mendonca scored a huge win over GM Samvel Ter-Sahakyan on the 2nd board to gain the sole lead. Leon is currently on 4.5/5 points, and he will be facing GM Pranesh M. on the top board. Another big news of the day was FM Aarit Kapil defeating GM Shyaam Nikhil P. This win takes Aarit to 3 points, remaining unbeaten against all 5 Grandmasters he played.

Leon missed some chances out of the opening but then played a long 86-move, 5:30-hour game to beat Samvel

The star of the day: FM Aarit Kapil, who defeated GM Shyam Nikhil P.
We caught up with Aarit for a detailed interview after the game.

Important Results of Round 3

Board 1, GM Pranesh M. vs. GM Murali Karthikeyan (0.5-0.5)

Board 3, GM Iniyan Panneerselvam vs. GM S.L. Narayanan (0.5-0.5)

GM Aravindh Chithambaram was clearly winning against GM Alisher Suleymenov, but he messed up in the endgame, and it was heartbreaking for Aravindh to settle for a draw

Games in action

Always smiling FM Aarit Kapil before the start of round 5

FM Yohan Yadav Tarala defeated GM Dimitris Alexakis

FM Madhvendra Pratap Sharma defeated IM Apoorv Kamble

Editor's Note

A very exciting day with some amazing results. Leon was the last one in the tournament hall and when I asked him for an interview, he agreed even after 5:30 hours. Another impressive thing was Aarit Kapil's attitude and the way he is looking at the chess game. He does not care about results but just wants to play a good game

Interview with Leon

Solve Tactics from this tournament on Chessranga

Round 5 Recap

For the Day 5 recap, stay tuned and find it on ChessBase India's YouTube or right here in this place.

Round 5 Results

Bo.

White

Rtg

Pts.

Result

Pts.

Black

Rtg

1

GM

Pranesh, M

2674

3½

½ - ½

3½

GM

Karthikeyan, Murali

2647

2

GM

Mendonca, Leon Luke

2629

3½

1 - 0

3½

GM

Ter-Sahakyan, Samvel

2613

3

GM

Iniyan, Pa

2581

3

½ - ½

3½

GM

Narayanan, S L

2557

4

GM

Aravindh, Chithambaram Vr.

2677

3

½ - ½

3

GM

Suleymenov, Alisher

2502

5

GM

Mayank, Chakraborty

2511

3

½ - ½

3

GM

Harshavardhan, G B

2529

6

GM

Gharibyan, Mamikon

2481

3

½ - ½

3

GM

Ilamparthi A R,

2523

7

GM

Afanasiev, Nikita

2543

2½

1 - 0

3

GM

Paichadze, Luka

2471

8

GM

Nikitenko, Mihail

2416

2½

1 - 0

2½

GM

Aswath, S

2540

9

IM

Vaz Ethan,

2525

2½

0 - 1

2½

GM

Aleksandrov, Aleksej

2435

10

GM

Bernadskiy, Vitaliy

2517

2½

1 - 0

2½

IM

Vignesh, Advaith Vemula

2404

Details

Round 6 Preview

GM Leon Mendonca emerged as the sole leader after 5 rounds of play, and he will be facing GM Pranesh M. on the top board. On the second board, GM Karthikeyan Murali is facing GM S.L. Narayanan. In an exciting clash, FM Madhvendra Pratap Sharma is taking on GM Vitaliy Bernadskiy on the 9th board. FM Aarit Kapil will be facing his 6th GM in a row as he will be playing against Surya Shekhar Ganguly. The 6th round will start at 2 PM IST on 4th November 2026. Catch the live commentary on Chola Chess YT or RB Ramesh YT Channels.

Round 6 Pairings

Bo.

White

Rtg

Pts.

Result

Pts.

Black

Rtg

1

GM

Pranesh, M

2674

4

4½

GM

Mendonca, Leon Luke

2629

2

GM

Karthikeyan, Murali

2647

4

4

GM

Narayanan, S L

2557

3

GM

Aravindh, Chithambaram Vr.

2677

3½

3½

GM

Mayank, Chakraborty

2511

4

GM

Ter-Sahakyan, Samvel

2613

3½

3½

GM

Savchenko, Boris

2492

5

GM

Suleymenov, Alisher

2502

3½

3½

GM

Iniyan, Pa

2581

6

GM

Aleksandrov, Aleksej

2435

3½

3½

GM

Afanasiev, Nikita

2543

7

GM

Harshavardhan, G B

2529

3½

3½

GM

Gharibyan, Mamikon

2481

8

GM

Ilamparthi A R,

2523

3½

3½

GM

Nikitenko, Mihail

2416

9

FM

Madhvendra, Pratap Sharma

2389

3½

3½

GM

Bernadskiy, Vitaliy

2517

10

GM

Adhiban, B.

2574

3

3

IM

Ayush, Sharma

2440

Details

Live Stream

Check out the Round 5 live stream and commentary by GM R. B. Ramesh and Gaurav Bakliwal

Photos and Videos

PhotosVideosInterviews

Replay Round 5 Available Games

Venue: Welcomhotel by ITC

Photo Credit: Hotel Website

Tournament Hall | Photo: Devansh Singh
Check out the venue tour | Video: ChessBase India

Live Coverage

Games, Videos and Much More

Playing Schedule

Playing Field

34 Grandmasters, 3 Woman Grandmasters, 21 International Masters, 3 Woman International Masters, 22 FIDE Masters, 2 FIDE Masters, and 1 Candidate Master are taking part in this 9-Day 9-Round Classical FIDE Rating Chess Tournament. The time control is 90 Min /40 Move + 30 min/end + 30 sec per move, starting from move 1.

Important Links

Chola Chess: Official Site, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube

Regulations, Results and Standings, Tournament Details, Live Coverage