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

by Shahid Ahmed - 24/04/2025

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

Ayush Sharma is the only pursuer

IM Nitish Belurkar maintains his sole lead by winning against GM Sandipan Chanda

Nitish - Sandipan: 1-0

The only time IM Nitish Belurkar (2441) faced GM Sandipan Chanda (2485) was almost 6.5 years ago. Nitish lost that battle. However, this time the result was different. The IM seized his opportunity when his opponent started to fishing for something more than the position offered.

Position after 27.Ra4!

26...h4?! allowed 27.Ra4! f6 further weakening Black's kingside 28.Rg4 Qf7 29.Bd4 h3 30.Qh4 White's position suddenly looks great Be6 31.Rg3 Rf8 32.gxh3 opening up the g-file so that White can create a battery of rooks which he did and went on to win the game.

Interview with IM Nitish Belurkar | Video: ChessBase India

IM Nitish Belurkar got the better of GM Sandipan Chanda

Venkatesh - Ayush

Position after 27...a4!

IM Ayush Sharma (2485) played a nice move 27...a4! if White takes the knight 28.fxe5 there is Nxb3 29.Rb1 Nxd2 30.Rxb6 Nc4. GM Venkatesh M R (2355) played 28.Kh2 Black still went 28...Nxb3 anyway 29.Rxb3 axb3 30.fxe5 dxe5 31.Ndf5 gxf5 32.Nxf5 Rd8 33.Qb2 Ra8 34.c4 Rxa1 35.Qxa1 b2 36.Qf1 b1Q 37.Nh6+ Qxh6 Black just gave up one of his queens to prevent any kind of Qxf7+ and counterplay, although it was harmless.

IM Ayush Sharma won a fantastic game against GM Venkatesh M R

GM Tornike Sanikidze (GEO) - IM Mohammad Nubairshah Shaikh: 0.5-0.5

GM Deepan Chakkravarthy - FM Akshay Borgaonkar: 0.5-0.5

Suyog - Schekachikin: 1-0

FM Suyog Wagh (2289) is a strong player and his strength is much more than his rating suggests. His opponent, IM Maksim Schekachikin (2370) threw a hissy fit after losing his game. Suyog being a calm gentleman, maintained his composure and did not let his opponent's poor sportsmanship rattle him.

Final moments: FM Suyog Wagh - IM Maksim Schekachikin | Video: ChessBase India

FM Suyog Wagh endured a tough position before he seized his opportunity against IM Maksim Schekachikin

IM Sanket Chakravarty - GM Abhijeet Gupta: 0.5-0.5

IM Sambit Panda - WIM Sarayu Velpula: 0-1

Jval Saurin Patel (pictured) - IM Harsh Suresh: 0.5-0.5

GM Manik Mikulas (SVK) - FM Garv Gaur: 0.5-0.5

FM Vaibhav Jayant Raut - WIM Arpita Mukherjee: 0.5-0.5

Samyak Dharewa - IM N Krishna Teja: 1-0

FM Apoorv Kamble (pictured) - IM Soham Kamotra: 0.5-0.5

GM Alexei Fedorov - FM Dhananjay S: 0.5-0.5

IM Sathvik Adiga - Siddhant Gawai: 0.5-0.5

FM Ram Aravind L N - IM Viani Antonio Dcunha: 0.5-0.5

FM Priyanshu Patil (pictured) - GM P Karthikeyan: 0.5-0.5

FM Aarav Sarbalia - IM Raahul V S: 1-0

WGM Priyanka Nutakki - IM Nisha Mohota: 1-0

Ceremonial first move of Round 5

For more Round 5 photos, please click here.

Replay Round 5 games

Round 5 results

Bo.		White	Typ	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Black	Typ	Rtg	Club/City
1	IM	Nitish, Belurkar		2441	GA	4	1 - 0	3½	GM	Chanda, Sandipan		2485	WB
2	GM	Venkatesh, M.R.		2355	PSPB	3½	0 - 1	3½	IM	Ayush, Sharma		2485	MP
3	GM	Sanikidze, Tornike		2448	GEO	3½	½ - ½	3½	IM	Mohammad, Nubairshah Shaikh		2370	MH
4	GM	Deepan, Chakkravarthy J.		2394	RSPB	3½	½ - ½	3	FM	Borgaonkar, Akshay		2418	MH
5	GM	Nguyen, Van Huy		2363	VIE	3	0 - 1	3	GM	Petrosyan, Manuel		2544	ARM
6	GM	Pantsulaia, Levan		2532	GEO	3	1 - 0	3	IM	Padmini, Rout		2354	PSPB
7	IM	Neelash, Saha		2460	RSPB	3	1 - 0	3	CM	Harshit, Ranjan Sahu		2140	OD
8	GM	Podolchenko, Evgeniy		2307	BLR	3	1 - 0	3	IM	Sammed Jaykumar, Shete		2391	MH
9	FM	Wagh, Suyog		2289	MH	3	1 - 0	3	IM	Schekachikhin, Maksim		2370	FIDE
10		Arnav, Agrawal		2194	UP	3	0 - 1	3	FM	Aakash Sharadchandra, Dalvi		2366	MH
11	CM	Chidvilash, Sai Surapaneni		2175	TG	3	0 - 1	2½	GM	Sengupta, Deep		2506	PSPB
12	IM	Sanket, Chakravarty		2317	WB	2½	½ - ½	2½	GM	Gupta, Abhijeet		2576	PSPB
13	FM	Krishnan, Ritvik		2316	MH	2½	0 - 1	2½	GM	Savchenko, Boris		2459	RUS
14	GM	Stany, G.A.		2454	KA	2½	1 - 0	2½	FM	Jinan, Jomon		2311	KL
15	FM	Potawad, Anirudhha		2306	MH	2½	0 - 1	2½	IM	Mayank, Chakraborty		2444	AS
16	IM	Panda, Sambit		2391	OD	2½	0 - 1	2½	WIM	Velpula, Sarayu		2302	TG
17		Jval, Saurin Patel		2298	GJ	2½	½ - ½	2½	IM	Harsh, Suresh		2389	TN
18	FM	Harshad, S		2388	TN	2½	0 - 1	2½	IM	Utsab, Chatterjee		2299	WB
19	FM	Ajay, Santhosh Parvathareddy		2295	UP	2½	½ - ½	2½	FM	Bharadia, Yash		2368	RJ
20	GM	Manik, Mikulas		2273	SVK	2½	½ - ½	2½	FM	Garv, Gaur		2366	HR

Details

Standings after Round 5

Rk.	SNo		Name	sex	Gr	FED	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB5
1	14	IM	Nitish, Belurkar			IND	2441	GA	5	14	16,5	16,50	5
2	7	IM	Ayush, Sharma			IND	2485	MP	4,5	12	14	12,50	4
3	3	GM	Petrosyan, Manuel			ARM	2544	ARM	4	13,5	16	12,25	3
4	55	GM	Podolchenko, Evgeniy			BLR	2307	BLR	4	13,5	16	12,25	3
5	34	FM	Aakash Sharadchandra, Dalvi		PO6790_THAN_202	IND	2366	MH	4	13,5	15,5	10,50	4
6	12	GM	Sanikidze, Tornike			GEO	2448	GEO	4	12,5	13,5	9,75	3
7	4	GM	Pantsulaia, Levan			GEO	2532	GEO	4	11,5	14	11,25	3
8	22	GM	Deepan, Chakkravarthy J.			IND	2394	RSPB	4	11,5	13,5	10,50	3
9	31	IM	Mohammad, Nubairshah Shaikh		PO1194_THAN_202	IND	2370	MH	4	11,5	12,5	9,00	3
10	8	IM	Neelash, Saha			IND	2460	RSPB	4	11	13	10,25	3
11	65	FM	Wagh, Suyog		PO12246_AHME_20	IND	2289	MH	4	10	11	9,00	3
12	17	FM	Borgaonkar, Akshay		PO12612_PUNE_20	IND	2418	MH	3,5	14,5	16	10,25	2
13	6	GM	Chanda, Sandipan			IND	2485	WB	3,5	14	16,5	10,00	3
14	88	IM	Gochelashvili, David			RUS	2227	RUS	3,5	13,5	15,5	9,25	3
15	43	GM	Dzhumaev, Marat			UZB	2352	UZB	3,5	13,5	15,5	9,00	3
16	41	GM	Venkatesh, M.R.			IND	2355	PSPB	3,5	13	13,5	7,00	3
17	10	GM	Stany, G.A.			IND	2454	KA	3,5	12,5	15	10,25	3
18	9	GM	Savchenko, Boris			RUS	2459	RUS	3,5	12,5	14,5	9,00	3
19	96		Samyak, Dharewa			IND	2209	WB	3,5	12	14,5	9,25	3
20	66	WGM	Gomes, Mary Ann	w		IND	2284	PSPB	3,5	11,5	11,5	7,00	2

Details

Round 6 pairings

Bo.		White	Typ	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Black	Typ	Rtg	Club/City
1	IM	Ayush, Sharma		2485	MP	4½		5	IM	Nitish, Belurkar		2441	GA
2	GM	Petrosyan, Manuel		2544	ARM	4		4	GM	Deepan, Chakkravarthy J.		2394	RSPB
3	IM	Mohammad, Nubairshah Shaikh		2370	MH	4		4	GM	Pantsulaia, Levan		2532	GEO
4	FM	Aakash Sharadchandra, Dalvi		2366	MH	4		4	IM	Neelash, Saha		2460	RSPB
5	GM	Podolchenko, Evgeniy		2307	BLR	4		4	GM	Sanikidze, Tornike		2448	GEO
6	GM	Savchenko, Boris		2459	RUS	3½		4	FM	Wagh, Suyog		2289	MH
7	GM	Sengupta, Deep		2506	PSPB	3½		3½	GM	Dzhumaev, Marat		2352	UZB
8	GM	Chanda, Sandipan		2485	WB	3½		3½	WIM	Velpula, Sarayu		2302	TG
9	IM	Utsab, Chatterjee		2299	WB	3½		3½	GM	Stany, G.A.		2454	KA
10	IM	Mayank, Chakraborty		2444	AS	3½		3½	IM	Gochelashvili, David		2227	RUS
11	FM	Borgaonkar, Akshay		2418	MH	3½		3½		Samyak, Dharewa		2209	WB
12	WGM	Gomes, Mary Ann		2284	PSPB	3½		3½	GM	Venkatesh, M.R.		2355	PSPB
13	GM	Gupta, Abhijeet		2576	PSPB	3		3	FM	Nagarkatte, Vedant		2296	MH
14	IM	Liyanage, Ranindu Dilshan		2398	SRI	3		3	FM	Daaevik, Wadhawan		2311	DL
15	IM	Hari, Madhavan N B		2393	TN	3		3	GM	Manik, Mikulas		2273	SVK
16	IM	Sammed Jaykumar, Shete		2391	MH	3		3	GM	Teterev, Vitaly		2266	BLR
17	IM	Harsh, Suresh		2389	TN	3		3	FM	Aarav, Sarbalia		2247	KA
18		Jval, Saurin Patel		2298	GJ	3		3	IM	Srihari, L		2377	PY
19	FM	Ajay, Santhosh Parvathareddy		2295	UP	3		3	IM	Schekachikhin, Maksim		2370	FIDE
20	FM	Bharadia, Yash		2368	RJ	3		3	FM	Mahitosh, Dey		2226	OD

Details

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