Pranav makes a great start
GM Pranav Venkatesh has made a great start 2.5/3. GM Ruslan Ponomariov (UKR) and IM Sarasadat Khademalsharieh (ESP) are close behind at 2/3 each. They are followed by WGM Nadya Toncheva (BUL) at 50% score 1.5/3. The tournament is organized by Universidad de Salamanca at Centro Internacional del Español - Edificio Banco de España (Salamanca), the 'Cradle of Modern Chess' in Salamanca, Spain.
Round 1: Pranav - Sara: 1-0
The reigning World Junior 2025 champion, GM Pranav Venkatesh (2563) started the event with a IM Sarasadat Khademalsharieh (ESP, 2359).
Round 2: Sabrina - Pranav: 0.5-0.5
In the second round, IM Sabrina Vega Gutierrez (ESP, 2225) and GM Pranav Venkatesh (2563) had a well contested draw.
Round 3: Pranav - Ponomariov: 1-0
This is quite possibly the very first Rapid Rating game between GM Pranav Venkatesh (2563) and GM Ruslan Ponomariov (UKR, 2635).
Black needed to play 38...Qe6 to maintain a firm grip of the position. 38...Bd3? allowed White to get back in the game 39.e6 Qxe6 40.Qd1! Qf6 41.Qxg4+ Bg6 42.Nf3 White eventually won the game when his opponent blundered in a balanced rook and minor piece endgame.
Replay live stream
Format
The tournament will be held in a six-player double round-robin format. The time control will be 30 minutes + 5 seconds increment and it will be rapid rating event.
Schedule
Round 1-3 will be played on 22nd October at 4 p.m., 5:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. local time, 7:30 p.m., 9 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. IST. On Thursday 23rd October, there will be only one game. Round 4 will take place at 12:30 p.m. local time, 4 p.m. IST. Round 5-7 will take place on 25th October at 4 p.m., 5:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. local time, 7:30 p.m., 9 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. IST. Round 8-10 will be held on 26th October at 4 p.m., 5:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. local time, 7:30 p.m., 9 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. IST.
Replay Round 1-3 games
Round 1-3 results
| Bo. | No. | Rtg | White | Result | Black | Rtg | No. | PGN | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 2635 | GM | Ponomariov, Ruslan | 1 - 0 | GM | Granda Zuniga, Julio E | 2624 | 6 | PGN | |
| 2 | 2 | 2332 | WGM | Toncheva, Nadya | ½ - ½ | IM | Vega Gutierrez, Sabrina | 2362 | 5 | PGN | |
| 3 | 3 | 2641 | GM | Pranav, V | 1 - 0 | IM | Khademalsharieh, Sarasadat | 2444 | 4 | PGN | |
| Round 2 on 2025/10/22 at 17:30 | |||||||||||
| Bo. | No. | Rtg | White | Result | Black | Rtg | No. | PGN | |||
| 1 | 6 | 2624 | GM | Granda Zuniga, Julio E | 0 - 1 | IM | Khademalsharieh, Sarasadat | 2444 | 4 | PGN | |
| 2 | 5 | 2362 | IM | Vega Gutierrez, Sabrina | ½ - ½ | GM | Pranav, V | 2641 | 3 | PGN | |
| 3 | 1 | 2635 | GM | Ponomariov, Ruslan | 1 - 0 | WGM | Toncheva, Nadya | 2332 | 2 | PGN | |
| Round 3 on 2025/10/22 at 19:00 | |||||||||||
| Bo. | No. | Rtg | White | Result | Black | Rtg | No. | PGN | |||
| 1 | 2 | 2332 | WGM | Toncheva, Nadya | 1 - 0 | GM | Granda Zuniga, Julio E | 2624 | 6 | PGN | |
| 2 | 3 | 2641 | GM | Pranav, V | 1 - 0 | GM | Ponomariov, Ruslan | 2635 | 1 | PGN | |
| 3 | 4 | 2444 | IM | Khademalsharieh, Sarasadat | 1 - 0 | IM | Vega Gutierrez, Sabrina | 2362 | 5 | PGN | |
Standings after Round 3
| Rk. | SNo | Name | FED | Rtg | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | GM | Pranav, V | IND | 2641 | 2,5 | 0 | 2 | 4,50 |
| 2 | 1 | GM | Ponomariov, Ruslan | UKR | 2635 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1,50 |
| 3 | 4 | IM | Khademalsharieh, Sarasadat | ESP | 2444 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1,00 |
| 4 | 2 | WGM | Toncheva, Nadya | BUL | 2332 | 1,5 | 0 | 1 | 0,50 |
| 5 | 5 | IM | Vega Gutierrez, Sabrina | ESP | 2362 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2,00 |
| 6 | 6 | GM | Granda Zuniga, Julio E | PER | 2624 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0,00 |
Round 4 pairings
| Bo. | No. | Rtg | White | Result | Black | Rtg | No. | PGN | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 | 2624 | GM | Granda Zuniga, Julio E | IM | Vega Gutierrez, Sabrina | 2362 | 5 | ||
| 2 | 1 | 2635 | GM | Ponomariov, Ruslan | IM | Khademalsharieh, Sarasadat | 2444 | 4 | ||
| 3 | 2 | 2332 | WGM | Toncheva, Nadya | GM | Pranav, V | 2641 | 3 |
Links
Salamanca Chess: Official site, fb page, twitter and instagram
Festival Internacional de Ajedrez Salamanca: twitter and instagram
