3rd Maharashtra GM R3-4: Nitish Belurkar emerges sole leader

by Shahid Ahmed - 22/04/2025

IM Nitish Belurkar won both of his games to emerge sole leader 4/4 at 3rd Maharashtra GM 2025. FM Aakash Sharadchandra Dalvi scored a fantastic win over GM Boris Savchenko to cross 2400 in the live ratings and become the latest International Master of India. Aakash later lost to Nitish in Round 4 in a wild game. Nitish and Aakash's coleader - GM Venkatesh M R drew with GM Manuel Petrosyan (ARM) to move to 3.5/4. Six players are trailing Nitish by a half point. They are - GM Sandipan Chanda, GM Tornike Sanikidze (GEO), IM Ayush Sharma, GM Deepan Chakkravarthy, Venkatesh and IM Mohammad Nubairshah Shaikh. Round 5 starts tomorrow at 3 p.m. IST. Photos: Shahid Ahmed

Aakash Sharadchandra Dalvi becomes India's latest International Master

IM Nitish Belurkar won four games in-a-row to gain sole lead

Aakash Sharadchandra Dalvi became the latest International Master

Round 3: Aakash Dalvi and Nitish Belurkar score huge upsets

Final moments: GM Sandipan Chanda - IM Padmini Rout | Video: ChessBase India

GM Sandipan Chanda had a well contested draw against IM Padmini Rout

Maksim - Ayush

Position after 40.Qc2

IM Ayush Sharma (2485) should have played 36...Rd8 and kept his d5-pawn defended. Anyway, he still had a good chance to win in the above position. White is threatening to take the f5-pawn, hence 40.Qc2. 40...Rf8 is what Black needed to play instead of the 40...Rh1+ where Black rushed things. 41.Bxh1 Qxh1+ 42.Ke2 IM Maksim Schekachikin (2370). Soon White got a winning opportunity. However, he also missed his chance and the game ended in a draw.

IM Ayush Sharma had an exciting battle against IM Maksim Schekachikin. It could have gone either player's way

Aakash - Savchenko: 1-0

GM Boris Savchenko (2459) was nice enough to not start the clock as his opponent was running late. After insisting on waiting, instead of starting the clock, arbiter did not pay heed to Savchenko's nice gesture and instead decided to start the clock as per the rules. FM Aakash Sharadchandra Dalvi (2366) arrived on the board with a mission to score a big win and he did manage to achieve that.

Position after 21.Rg1

Black misplaced his queen at h3 and got into deep trouble. 21...Qh3?? 22.Rg3 Qg5 23.Rxg7 0-0-0 24.Rxb7! What an excellent sacrifice. Black cannot take it, as he loses in all possible variations. Try to calculate them all. So, he went 24...Qxd1+ 25.Qxd1 Kxb7 although Black got two rooks for his queen, his king was far too exposed to prolong the inevitable. 26.Qb1+ Kc8 27.c5 Rd7 28.Bxc6 and White won the game in the next few moves.

Interview with India's latest IM - Aakash Sharadchandra Dalvi | Video: ChessBase India

FM Aakash Sharadchandra Dalvi scored a huge upset over GM Boris Savchenko

Nitish - Marat

Position after 14.Nc3

GM Marat Dzhumaev (UZB, 2352) made the big mistake of playing 14...cxd4?? IM Nitish Belurkar correctly spotted 15.Nxd5 d3+ 16.Nxb6 dxe2 17.Nxd7 exf1Q+ 18.Kxf1 Rfd8 19.Bc4+ Kh8 20.e6 Bf6 21.Ng5 Bxb2 22.Nf7+ Kg8 23.Nxd8 Nxd8 Black had no choice but to return the exchange 24.Re1 Nxe6 25.Rxe6 White eventually checkmated the black king.

IM Nitish Belurkar scored a hat-trick nicely to join the three-way lead

GM Venkatesh M R won smoothly against IM Harsh Suresh to score a hat-trick

Arnav Agrawal missed a great opportunity against IM Mohammad Nubairshah Shaikh

FM Daaevik Wadhwan had a well contested draw against the top seed - GM Abhijeet Gupta

Arnav - Manuel

Position after 56...d3

Can White save the game? The answer is yes. Try to find out how. Arnav Maheshwari (2305) blundered 57.Re8?? d2+ and Black won the game soon.

Arnav Maheshwari put up a very good fight against GM Manuel Petrosyan (ARM)

GM Evgeniy Podolchenko - Akshay Borgaonkar: 0.5-0.5

GM Alexei Fedorov - Aniruddh Potawad: 0-1

IM Sambit Panda - WGM Mary Ann Gomes: 0-1

IM Shahil Dey - Samyak Dharewa: 0-1

CM Chidvilash Sai Surapaneni - IM Subhayan Kundu: 0.5-0.5

GM Karen Grigoryan (ARM) - Siddhant Gawai: 0.5-0.5

FM Ojas Kulkarni - IM Goutham Krishna H: 0.5-0.5

FM Ram Aravind L N - IM Soham Kamotra: 0.5-0.5

FM Mahitosh Dey - IM Sathvik Adiga: 0.5-0.5

IM Srihari L - FM Aditya Varun Gampa: 0.5-0.5

FM John Veny Akkarakaran (pictured) - IM Vikramaditya Kulkarni: 1-0

IM Sanket Chakravarty - CM Dinesh Rajan M: 0.5-0.5

IM Nisha Mohota - WIM Sarayu Velpula: 0-1

Ceremonial first move of Round 3 on top board

Round 4: Nitish beats Aakash in a wild game

Aakash - Nitish

Position after 20...Rb8

In a post-game interview, IM Nitish Belurkar (2441) shared that he was anticipating the Nxe6 sacrifice for quite some time. However, just the moment he stopped expecting it, his opponent, IM Aakash Sharadchandra Dalvi (2366) went for it 21.Nxe6! fxe6 22.Rdd7 and then Black replied with his own sacrifice 22...Bxf3!? White needed to take it 23.gxf3 to maintain his upper hand. However, 23.Bxe6+?? Kh8 shifted the scale to Black. 24.gxf3 Bd8 and he went on to win the game comfortably.

Interview with the sole leader - IM Nitish Belurkar | Video: ChessBase India

The two-third of the leaders - IM Aakash Sharadchandra Dalvi and IM Nitish Belurkar had a fantastic battle fit for a top board clash

GM Manuel Petrosyan (ARM) had a quick 17-move draw against GM Venkatesh M R

The fastest draw of the tournament was between IM Maksim Schekachikhin and GM Levan Pantsulaia (GEO) lasting only 10 moves in 8 minutes

A pawn grab in the endgame cost IM N Krishna Teja dearly against GM Sandipan Chanda

Ayush - Gochelashvili

Position after 24...e5??

IM David Gochelashvili (2227) made a positional mistake 24...e5?? Try to think like IM Ayush Sharma (2485) and find out the correct continuation for White which he played in the game.

IM Ayush Sharma - IM David Gochelashvili: 1-0

Anirudhha - Tornike

Position after 44...Bf5

Despite being in driver's seat for the better part of the game, FM Anirudhha Potawad (2306) made an incorrect decision at a comlpex juncture 45.Nxf5?? Qxd2-+ and Black went on to win the game. Instead, 45.Rxd5 Bxe4 46.Rdd7! is how White could have ensured a half point.

FM Anirudhha Potawad could not find the way at a complex position

FM Aanjaneya Phatak had a promising position against GM Deepan Chakkravarthy, then there was a draw until he blundered in the opposite color bishop endgame

GM Abhijeet Gupta - Arnav Agrawal: 0.5-0.5

WIM Sarayu Velpula - GM Stany G A: 0.5-0.5

IM Harsh Suresh - FM Ajay Santhosh Parvathareddy: 0.5-0.5

WGM Mary Ann Gomes (pictured) - FM Harshad S: 0.5-0.5

IM Viani Antonio Dcunha - FM Suyog Wagh (pictured): 0.5-0.5

IM Subhayan Kundu - GM Manik Mikulas: 0.5-0.5

WIM Arpita Mukherjee - GM Marat Dzhumaev (UZB): 0.5-0.5

CM Harshit Ranjan Sahu - GM Karen Grigoryan (ARM): 1-0

IM Goutham Krishna H - Jval Saurin Patel: 0.5-0.5

IM Soham Kamotra - FM Jeet Shah: 0.5-0.5

Siddhant Gawai - GM Alexei Fedorov: 0.5-0.5

IM Hari Madhavan N B - FM Ram Aravind L N: 0.5-0.5

WGM Srija Seshadri - IM Sathvik Adiga: 0.5-0.5

For more Round 3 and 4 photos, please click at the respective links.

Replay Round 3-4 games

Round 4 results

Bo.		White	Typ	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Black	Typ	Rtg	Club/City
1	FM	Aakash Sharadchandra, Dalvi		2366	MH	3	0 - 1	3	IM	Nitish, Belurkar		2441	GA
2	GM	Petrosyan, Manuel		2544	ARM	2½	½ - ½	3	GM	Venkatesh, M.R.		2355	PSPB
3	IM	Schekachikhin, Maksim		2370	FIDE	2½	½ - ½	2½	GM	Pantsulaia, Levan		2532	GEO
4	IM	Krishna Teja, N		2321	AP	2½	0 - 1	2½	GM	Chanda, Sandipan		2485	WB
5	IM	Ayush, Sharma		2485	MP	2½	1 - 0	2½	IM	Gochelashvili, David		2227	RUS
6	IM	Padmini, Rout		2354	PSPB	2½	½ - ½	2½	IM	Neelash, Saha		2460	RSPB
7	FM	Potawad, Anirudhha		2306	MH	2½	0 - 1	2½	GM	Sanikidze, Tornike		2448	GEO
8		Phatak, Aanjaneya		2204	MH NG	2½	0 - 1	2½	GM	Deepan, Chakkravarthy J.		2394	RSPB
9	IM	Mohammad, Nubairshah Shaikh		2370	MH	2½	1 - 0	2½		Samyak, Dharewa		2209	WB
10	GM	Gupta, Abhijeet		2576	PSPB	2	½ - ½	2½		Arnav, Agrawal		2194	UP
11	GM	Savchenko, Boris		2459	RUS	2	½ - ½	2	FM	John, Veny Akkarakaran		2350	KL
12	WIM	Velpula, Sarayu		2302	TG	2	½ - ½	2	GM	Stany, G.A.		2454	KA
13	FM	Borgaonkar, Akshay		2418	MH	2	1 - 0	2	FM	Daaevik, Wadhawan		2311	DL
14	IM	Liyanage, Ranindu Dilshan		2398	SRI	2	0 - 1	2	GM	Podolchenko, Evgeniy		2307	BLR
15	IM	Utsab, Chatterjee		2299	WB	2	½ - ½	2	IM	Panda, Sambit		2391	OD
16	IM	Sammed Jaykumar, Shete		2391	MH	2	1 - 0	2	FM	Nagarkatte, Vedant		2296	MH
17	IM	Harsh, Suresh		2389	TN	2	½ - ½	2	FM	Ajay, Santhosh Parvathareddy		2295	UP
18	WGM	Gomes, Mary Ann		2284	PSPB	2	½ - ½	2	FM	Harshad, S		2388	TN
19	IM	Viani, Antonio Dcunha		2378	KA	2	0 - 1	2	FM	Wagh, Suyog		2289	MH
20	FM	Dhananjay, S		2250	CG	2	0 - 1	2	GM	Nguyen, Van Huy		2363	VIE

Details

Standings after Round 4

Rk.	SNo		Name	sex	Gr	FED	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB5
1	14	IM	Nitish, Belurkar			IND	2441	GA	4	7,5	9	9,00	4
2	6	GM	Chanda, Sandipan			IND	2485	WB	3,5	8	10	8,50	3
3	12	GM	Sanikidze, Tornike			GEO	2448	GEO	3,5	7,5	8,5	7,25	3
4	7	IM	Ayush, Sharma			IND	2485	MP	3,5	7,5	8,5	7,00	3
5	22	GM	Deepan, Chakkravarthy J.			IND	2394	RSPB	3,5	7	8,5	7,75	3
6	41	GM	Venkatesh, M.R.			IND	2355	PSPB	3,5	7	7,5	6,00	3
7	31	IM	Mohammad, Nubairshah Shaikh		PO1194_THAN_202	IND	2370	MH	3,5	6,5	7	5,50	3
8	100		Arnav, Agrawal			IND	2194	UP	3	8,5	10,5	7,50	2
9	3	GM	Petrosyan, Manuel			ARM	2544	ARM	3	8,5	10	6,75	2
10	55	GM	Podolchenko, Evgeniy			BLR	2307	BLR	3	8	9,5	6,50	2
11	34	FM	Aakash Sharadchandra, Dalvi		PO6790_THAN_202	IND	2366	MH	3	8	9	5,00	3
12	4	GM	Pantsulaia, Levan			GEO	2532	GEO	3	7,5	9	6,50	2
13	17	FM	Borgaonkar, Akshay		PO12612_PUNE_20	IND	2418	MH	3	7,5	9	6,25	2
14	32	IM	Schekachikhin, Maksim			FID	2370	FIDE	3	7,5	8,5	5,25	2
15	42	IM	Padmini, Rout	w		IND	2354	PSPB	3	7,5	8,5	5,25	2
16	8	IM	Neelash, Saha			IND	2460	RSPB	3	7	9	6,50	2
17	116	CM	Chidvilash, Sai Surapaneni			IND	2175	TG	3	7	9	6,50	2
18	65	FM	Wagh, Suyog		PO12246_AHME_20	IND	2289	MH	3	6,5	7,5	5,50	2
19	36	GM	Nguyen, Van Huy			VIE	2363	VIE	3	6,5	7,5	5,25	2
20	25	IM	Sammed Jaykumar, Shete		PO1107_KOLH_202	IND	2391	MH	3	6	7,5	5,50	3

Details

Round 5 pairings

Bo.		White	Typ	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Black	Typ	Rtg	Club/City
1	IM	Nitish, Belurkar		2441	GA	4		3½	GM	Chanda, Sandipan		2485	WB
2	GM	Venkatesh, M.R.		2355	PSPB	3½		3½	IM	Ayush, Sharma		2485	MP
3	GM	Sanikidze, Tornike		2448	GEO	3½		3½	IM	Mohammad, Nubairshah Shaikh		2370	MH
4	GM	Deepan, Chakkravarthy J.		2394	RSPB	3½		3	FM	Borgaonkar, Akshay		2418	MH
5	GM	Nguyen, Van Huy		2363	VIE	3		3	GM	Petrosyan, Manuel		2544	ARM
6	GM	Pantsulaia, Levan		2532	GEO	3		3	IM	Padmini, Rout		2354	PSPB
7	IM	Neelash, Saha		2460	RSPB	3		3	CM	Harshit, Ranjan Sahu		2140	OD
8	GM	Podolchenko, Evgeniy		2307	BLR	3		3	IM	Sammed Jaykumar, Shete		2391	MH
9	FM	Wagh, Suyog		2289	MH	3		3	IM	Schekachikhin, Maksim		2370	FIDE
10		Arnav, Agrawal		2194	UP	3		3	FM	Aakash Sharadchandra, Dalvi		2366	MH
11	CM	Chidvilash, Sai Surapaneni		2175	TG	3		2½	GM	Sengupta, Deep		2506	PSPB
12	IM	Sanket, Chakravarty		2317	WB	2½		2½	GM	Gupta, Abhijeet		2576	PSPB
13	FM	Krishnan, Ritvik		2316	MH	2½		2½	GM	Savchenko, Boris		2459	RUS
14	GM	Stany, G.A.		2454	KA	2½		2½	FM	Jinan, Jomon		2311	KL
15	FM	Potawad, Anirudhha		2306	MH	2½		2½	IM	Mayank, Chakraborty		2444	AS
16	IM	Panda, Sambit		2391	OD	2½		2½	WIM	Velpula, Sarayu		2302	TG
17		Jval, Saurin Patel		2298	GJ	2½		2½	IM	Harsh, Suresh		2389	TN
18	FM	Harshad, S		2388	TN	2½		2½	IM	Utsab, Chatterjee		2299	WB
19	FM	Ajay, Santhosh Parvathareddy		2295	UP	2½		2½	FM	Bharadia, Yash		2368	RJ
20	GM	Manik, Mikulas		2273	SVK	2½		2½	FM	Garv, Gaur		2366	HR

Details

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