Aswath S Wins Serbia Open 2026 Just After Becoming India's 98th Grandmaster
Aswath S scored an unbeaten 7.5/9 points in a super-strong field to win the Serbia Open 2026 (Masters). Aswath made his final GM Norm in the Pune Round Robin event, where he won the last game on demand. Here in Serbia, Aswath defeated GM Mitrabha Guha in an important clash of the penultimate round. He gained a half-point lead going into the final round and drew against Ethan Vaz, who also recently became India's 96th Grandmaster. Matfey Yurasov and Ethan Vaz finished in 2nd and 3rd places, respectively. Photos: Serbia Chess Federation
A Crucial Win in the Penultimate Round
In the 8th round, it was a clash between co-leaders of the tournament: Aswath S and Mitrabha Guha; both were on 6/7 points, and this was the deciding game for the championship. Playing with the white side, Aswath trapped Mitrabha's Queen to win the game and gain the sole lead going into the last round, which helped him win the tournament.
The Deciding Game
Aswath S vs. Mitrabha Guha
In a clearly better position, Aswath made a mistake and played 29.c4. Here black could have captured on e5 and held the position, but Mitrabha recaptured on c4. Which allowed 30.Rg3 followed by a beautiful Queen Trap. Can you find it??
White to play and win
Check out the full game below
A total of 239 players, including 16 GMs and 21 IMs, took part in this event. The average rating of this event was 2196, and the average age of participants was just 22, making it a super strong event. The tournament was organised by the Serbia Chess Federation in Belgrade, Serbia, from 13th July to 22nd July 2026.
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Final Ranking after 9 Rounds
Rk. | SNo |
| Name | sex | FED | Rtg | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | TB4 | TB5 | TB6 | n | w | we | w-we | K | rtg+/- | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 7 | IM | 2517 | 7,5 | 0 | 50 | 53,5 | 43,25 | 6 | 0 | 9 | 7,5 | 5,95 | 1,55 | 10 | 15,5 | ||||
2 | 23 | FM | 2407 | 7,5 | 0 | 49 | 53 | 42,5 | 6 | 0 | 9 | 7,5 | 4,51 | 2,99 | 10 | 29,9 | ||||
3 | 3 | IM | 2529 | 7 | 0 | 51 | 55 | 41 | 5 | 0 | 9 | 7 | 6,23 | 0,77 | 10 | 7,7 | ||||
4 | 5 | GM | 2525 | 7 | 0 | 50,5 | 54,5 | 40 | 6 | 0 | 9 | 7 | 6,44 | 0,56 | 10 | 5,6 | ||||
5 | 10 | IM | 2501 | 7 | 0 | 50 | 55 | 40,75 | 6 | 0 | 9 | 7 | 6,11 | 0,89 | 10 | 8,9 | ||||
6 | 22 | IM | 2408 | 7 | 0 | 48,5 | 52,5 | 38,5 | 6 | 0 | 9 | 7 | 4,97 | 2,03 | 10 | 20,3 | ||||
7 | 19 | IM | 2416 | 7 | 0 | 45 | 49 | 37,5 | 5 | 0 | 9 | 7 | 5,60 | 1,40 | 10 | 14 | ||||
8 | 31 | IM | 2382 | 7 | 0 | 36,5 | 39 | 32,5 | 6 | 0 | 9 | 7 | 6,75 | 0,25 | 10 | 2,5 | ||||
9 | 2 | GM | 2588 | 6,5 | 0 | 48,5 | 51 | 34,25 | 5 | 0 | 9 | 6,5 | 6,91 | -0,41 | 10 | -4,1 | ||||
10 | 12 | GM | 2478 | 6,5 | 0 | 46 | 50 | 34,25 | 4 | 0 | 9 | 6,5 | 6,16 | 0,34 | 10 | 3,4 |
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