3rd Maharashtra GM R7: Half a dozen players catch up with Nitish at the top

by Shahid Ahmed - 25/04/2025

GM Manuel Petrosyan (ARM) handed the sole leader, IM Nitish Belurkar his first loss at 3rd Maharashtra GM 2025. In a semi-closed position, Nitish's king became vulnerable more than his opponent. GM Levan Pantsulaia (GEO) pulled a similar feat against IM Ayush Sharma. GM Deepan Chakkravarthy, GM Tornike Sanikidze (GEO), GM Boris Savchenko and IM Neelash Saha are the remaining four players who joined the leaders' group at 5.5/7. WGM Mary Ann Gomes, IM Padmini Rout and WIM Tejaswini G are at 4.5/7 each. Tejaswini drew with GM Alexei Fedorov. For the first time at this event, the top two boards will only feature foreigners in the eighth round. It starts tomorrow at 3 p.m. IST. Photos: Shahid Ahmed

Nitish and Ayush suffer their first loss

The sole leader, IM Nitish Belurkar suffered his first setback against GM Manuel Petrosyan (ARM). However, good news for him is, he is still in the lead. The only thing is, six more players are also at the same score. WGM Mary Ann Gomes, IM Padmini Rout and WIM Tejaswini G are playing really well. All three of them are at 4.5/7. Speaking of women, WGM Priyanka Nutakki suffered a huge heartbreak as she ran out of time against IM Hari Madhavan N B in a completely winning position. Her opponent was also stunned by this surprising outcome. After suffering three losses, she was on the verge of making a fantastic comeback by scoring a hat-trick and winning against her third IM opponent of the event.

GM Manuel Petrosyan (ARM) and five more have joined IM Nitish Belurkar in the lead

Nitish - Manuel

Position after 30...f5

IM Nitish Belurkar (2441) played 31.g5 allowing GM Manuel Petrosyan (ARM, 2544) to sacrifice his bishop Bxg5 32.fxg5 f4 33.Ng2 f3 34.Qb3 fxg2 35.Qf3+ Kg8 and Black went on to win the game in the next few moves.

GM Manuel Petrosyan (ARM) handed IM Nitish Belurkar his first loss of the event and joined the lead

Levan - Ayush

Position after 25.g4

GM Levan Pantsulaia (GEO, 2532) 25.g4 was an attempt to open up the g-file. 25...hxg4 26.Nxg4 Nxg4 27.Qxg4 Qd6 28.Bxg7 Bxg7 29.Bf1 double attack recovers the sacrificed bishop Qh6 30.Bxa6 Kh8 31.Qe2 Re6 32.Nxc5 Rb6 33.Nxd7 Rxd7 34.Rc5 threatening Rh5 and it's over.

GM Levan Pantsulaia (GEO) defeated IM Ayush Sharma to join the leaders' group

Akshay Borgaonkar had a hard fought draw against GM Deep Sengupta

Deepan - Sandipan

Position after 30.e6

GM Sandipan Chanda (2485) blundered 30...Rf6?? 31.Qe5+ fxg3 32.hxg3 Rc7 33.g4 h6 34.Rd7 Rxd7 35.exd7 Qb6 36.Be6 Qe7 37.Bf7 and it's a beautiful finish.

GM Deepan Chakkravarthy won a beautiful game against GM Sandipan Chanda

Neelash - Nubairshah

Position after 31.Bf3

IM Neelash Saha's (2460) rook is virtually trapped at b8. IM Mohammad Nubairshah (2370) freed up the rook 31...Be6? 32.Rh8 White gained a decisive advantage and went on to win the game.

IM Neelash Saha defeated IM Mohammad Nubairshah Shaikh to become one of the seven leaders 5.5/7

GM Tornike Sanikidze (GEO) outplayed FM Aakash Sharadchandra Dalvi to join the lead

GM Venkatesh M R - IM Utsab Chatterjee: 0.5-0.5

FM Vaibhav Jayant Raut - WGM Mary Ann Gomes: 0.5-0.5

GM Alexei Fedorov - WIM Tejaswini G: 0.5-0.5

FM Daaevik Wadhawan (pictured) - IM Soham Kamotra: 0.5-0.5

FM Anirudhha Potawad - IM Ranindu Liyanage Dilshan (SRI): 0.5-0.5

CM Chidvilash Sai Surapaneni - IM Viani Antonio Dcunha: 0.5-0.5

GM Marat Dzhumaev (UZB) - FM Ajay Santhosh Parvathareddy: 0.5-0.5

FM Ram Aravind L N (pictured) - IM N Krishna Teja: 1-0

Samyak Dharewa - GM Karen Grigoryan (ARM): 0.5-0.5

IM Mehar Chinna Reddy C H - GM P Karthikeyan: 1-0

WGM Priyanka Nutakki ran out of time in a completely winning position against IM Hari Madhavan N B

FM Vedant Nagarkatte - IM Sathvik Adiga: 0.5-0.5

GM Vitaly Teterev - FM Yash Bharadia: 0-1

For more Round 7 photos, please click here.

Replay Round 7 games

Round 7 results

Bo.		White	Typ	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Black	Typ	Rtg	Club/City
1	IM	Nitish, Belurkar		2441	GA	5½	0 - 1	4½	GM	Petrosyan, Manuel		2544	ARM
2	GM	Pantsulaia, Levan		2532	GEO	4½	1 - 0	5	IM	Ayush, Sharma		2485	MP
3	FM	Borgaonkar, Akshay		2418	MH	4½	½ - ½	4½	GM	Sengupta, Deep		2506	PSPB
4	GM	Deepan, Chakkravarthy J.		2394	RSPB	4½	1 - 0	4½	GM	Chanda, Sandipan		2485	WB
5	IM	Neelash, Saha		2460	RSPB	4½	1 - 0	4½	IM	Mohammad, Nubairshah Shaikh		2370	MH
6	GM	Savchenko, Boris		2459	RUS	4½	1 - 0	4½	GM	Podolchenko, Evgeniy		2307	BLR
7	GM	Sanikidze, Tornike		2448	GEO	4½	1 - 0	4½	FM	Aakash Sharadchandra, Dalvi		2366	MH
8	GM	Venkatesh, M.R.		2355	PSPB	4	½ - ½	4½	IM	Utsab, Chatterjee		2299	WB
9	FM	Wagh, Suyog		2289	MH	4	0 - 1	4	GM	Gupta, Abhijeet		2576	PSPB
10	GM	Manik, Mikulas		2273	SVK	4	1 - 0	4	IM	Mayank, Chakraborty		2444	AS
11	IM	Gochelashvili, David		2227	RUS	4	½ - ½	4	IM	Sammed Jaykumar, Shete		2391	MH
12	FM	Mahitosh, Dey		2226	OD	4	0 - 1	4	FM	Garv, Gaur		2366	HR
13	FM	Vaibhav, Jayant Raut		2327	MH	4	½ - ½	4	WGM	Gomes, Mary Ann		2284	PSPB
14		Madhesh, Kumar S		2183	PY	4	½ - ½	4		Jval, Saurin Patel		2298	GJ
15	GM	Fedorov, Alexei		2396	BLR	3½	½ - ½	4	WIM	Tejaswini, G		2272	TN
16	GM	Stany, G.A.		2454	KA	3½	1 - 0	3½	IM	Sanket, Chakravarty		2317	WB
17	FM	Daaevik, Wadhawan		2311	DL	3½	½ - ½	3½	IM	Soham, Kamotra		2422	JK
18	FM	Potawad, Anirudhha		2306	MH	3½	½ - ½	3½	IM	Liyanage, Ranindu Dilshan		2398	SRI
19	WIM	Velpula, Sarayu		2302	TG	3½	0 - 1	3½	IM	Harsh, Suresh		2389	TN
20	FM	Harshad, S		2388	TN	3½	1 - 0	3½	FM	Jinan, Jomon		2311	KL

Details

Standings after Round 7

Rk.	SNo		Name	sex	Gr	FED	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB5
1	14	IM	Nitish, Belurkar			IND	2441	GA	5,5	27,5	31	23,00	5
2	3	GM	Petrosyan, Manuel			ARM	2544	ARM	5,5	27	30	22,75	4
3	4	GM	Pantsulaia, Levan			GEO	2532	GEO	5,5	26,5	29	22,50	4
4	22	GM	Deepan, Chakkravarthy J.			IND	2394	RSPB	5,5	26	28	21,00	4
5	12	GM	Sanikidze, Tornike			GEO	2448	GEO	5,5	25,5	27	20,25	4
6	9	GM	Savchenko, Boris			RUS	2459	RUS	5,5	24,5	28	21,25	5
7	8	IM	Neelash, Saha			IND	2460	RSPB	5,5	24	27	21,00	4
8	7	IM	Ayush, Sharma			IND	2485	MP	5	28	31	20,50	4
9	17	FM	Borgaonkar, Akshay		PO12612_PUNE_20	IND	2418	MH	5	27,5	30	20,25	3
10	68	GM	Manik, Mikulas			SVK	2273	SVK	5	27	30	21,50	3
11	1	GM	Gupta, Abhijeet			IND	2576	PSPB	5	24	26,5	18,25	3
12	60	IM	Utsab, Chatterjee			IND	2299	WB	5	24	26	17,25	4
13	5	GM	Sengupta, Deep			IND	2506	PSPB	5	23,5	26	17,25	4
14	35	FM	Garv, Gaur			IND	2366	HR	5	23,5	25	18,50	3
15	55	GM	Podolchenko, Evgeniy			BLR	2307	BLR	4,5	30	33,5	20,00	3
16	34	FM	Aakash Sharadchandra, Dalvi		PO6790_THAN_202	IND	2366	MH	4,5	29	32	18,25	4
17	6	GM	Chanda, Sandipan			IND	2485	WB	4,5	27,5	31	17,75	4
18	31	IM	Mohammad, Nubairshah Shaikh		PO1194_THAN_202	IND	2370	MH	4,5	27,5	28,5	15,50	3
19	66	WGM	Gomes, Mary Ann	w		IND	2284	PSPB	4,5	26,5	28,5	17,00	2
20	41	GM	Venkatesh, M.R.			IND	2355	PSPB	4,5	26	27	14,50	3

Details

Round 8 pairings

Bo.		White	Typ	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Black	Typ	Rtg	Club/City
1	GM	Petrosyan, Manuel		2544	ARM	5½		5½	GM	Savchenko, Boris		2459	RUS
2	GM	Sanikidze, Tornike		2448	GEO	5½		5½	GM	Pantsulaia, Levan		2532	GEO
3	IM	Nitish, Belurkar		2441	GA	5½		5½	IM	Neelash, Saha		2460	RSPB
4	GM	Gupta, Abhijeet		2576	PSPB	5		5½	GM	Deepan, Chakkravarthy J.		2394	RSPB
5	GM	Sengupta, Deep		2506	PSPB	5		5	FM	Garv, Gaur		2366	HR
6	IM	Ayush, Sharma		2485	MP	5		5	GM	Manik, Mikulas		2273	SVK
7	IM	Utsab, Chatterjee		2299	WB	5		5	FM	Borgaonkar, Akshay		2418	MH
8	GM	Chanda, Sandipan		2485	WB	4½		4½	GM	Venkatesh, M.R.		2355	PSPB
9	IM	Padmini, Rout		2354	PSPB	4½		4½	GM	Stany, G.A.		2454	KA
10	IM	Sammed Jaykumar, Shete		2391	MH	4½		4½	FM	John, Veny Akkarakaran		2350	KL
11	IM	Harsh, Suresh		2389	TN	4½		4½	FM	Vaibhav, Jayant Raut		2327	MH
12	GM	Podolchenko, Evgeniy		2307	BLR	4½		4½	FM	Harshad, S		2388	TN
13	IM	Mohammad, Nubairshah Shaikh		2370	MH	4½		4½	FM	Ram, Aravind L N		2245	TN
14	WGM	Gomes, Mary Ann		2284	PSPB	4½		4½	IM	Schekachikhin, Maksim		2370	FIDE
15	WIM	Tejaswini, G		2272	TN	4½		4½	FM	Aakash Sharadchandra, Dalvi		2366	MH
16		Madhesh, Kumar S		2183	PY	4½		4½	IM	Shahil, Dey		2360	AS
17	IM	Soham, Kamotra		2422	JK	4		4½	IM	Gochelashvili, David		2227	RUS
18	IM	Mayank, Chakraborty		2444	AS	4		4	GM	Dzhumaev, Marat		2352	UZB
19	FM	Jai, Sankar Subramanian		2316	TN	4		4	IM	Mehar, Chinna Reddy C.H.		2418	RSPB
20	IM	Liyanage, Ranindu Dilshan		2398	SRI	4		4	FM	Wagh, Suyog		2289	MH

Details

Related news:

	3rd Maharashtra GM R6: Nitish and Ayush stay ahead of the pack @ 24/04/2025 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
	3rd Maharashtra GM R5: Nitish Belurkar conquers Sandipan Chanda, maintains his sole lead @ 24/04/2025 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
	3rd Maharashtra GM R3-4: Nitish Belurkar emerges sole leader @ 22/04/2025 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
	3rd Maharashtra GM R2: Ajay Santhosh Parvathareddy outplays Stany @ 21/04/2025 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
	3rd Maharashtra GM R1: Priyanshu, Samyak, Aanjaneya, Venkata, Priyanka and Ajay beat IMs @ 20/04/2025 by Shahid Ahmed (en)