Sarbartho on beating a Grandmaster
10-year-old FM Sarbartho Mani began the 1st Chola Chess GM 2026 in Chennai with two wins, against IM Shahil Dey in round one and GM Dimitris Alexakis in round two. The latter was his first-ever classical win over a Grandmaster. He won with almost 1 hour 10 minutes left on his clock, while Alexakis had 30 seconds in the final moments. Sarbartho then lost to GM Samvel Ter-Sahakyan in round three and stands at 2/3. Devansh Singh from our team spoke with him after his second-round win.
Here is the transcript of the interview:
Devansh: Sarbartho, you are now on two out of two. Yesterday you won against IM Shahil Dey, and today you won against GM Dimitris Alexakis. How was your game, and how are you feeling right now after scoring two consecutive wins?
Sarbartho: I am feeling great after winning two consecutive games, because this is my first time beating a Grandmaster in classical chess. So it's quite special. My game was quite interesting. In the middlegame, he was fine, I think, but at last he played the move 33...h5, which was a big mistake, I think. Then I got 34.Rxe8+, and he couldn't take 34...Qxe8, which was important, because of 35.Rb8+ and his queen would go. So he had to take 34...Bxe8, and then I played 35.Qb3+ and managed to exchange the queens and win the pawn.
Devansh: This is your first win against a Grandmaster in classical chess. And you had almost 1 hour 10 minutes on your clock. We also played some games yesterday, and I noticed your calculation is super fast. Does that help you a lot?
Sarbartho: I think so.
Devansh: When you are calculating, don't you want to take more time, or are you just sure that even if you are calculating fast, you are going to calculate it correctly?
Sarbartho: Yeah, I think maybe I should spend a little bit more time. But yeah, moves where I don't think very deeply, I think it's fine.
Devansh: The end was pretty smooth. You won the exchange and then you got that pawn.
Sarbartho: No, but winning the exchange was not very easy, actually, because he had two bishops and he won two pawns. His b7 bishop was super strong. I think he was still better after I won the exchange. But then he made some mistakes.
Devansh: Yesterday you showed us a great game against Shahil. It was a game filled with tactics, too much about calculation, a complex game. Can you show us how you won today?
Sarbartho: I played 1.e4 c5, and here I went for 2.Be2, which was a big surprise for him. He was thinking for 10 minutes just to make the second move for Black, which was a bit surprising.
Devansh: So you prepared this for this particular game?
Sarbartho: Yes. He played 2...Nc6, the main line. After 3.f4 Nf6 4.d3 he went 4...g6. I had seen his games in the Rossolimo (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5), where he used to play g6, so I had an idea of how to play when Black plays g6. White's plan after 5.Nf3 Bg7 6. O-O O-O 7.Qe1 is very normal - always going for Qh4 and f5, followed by Bf6, Ng5, and then it's almost like mate. But if Black defends properly, it's just fine for him. So he played 7...d5 8.Nc3 Rb8 9.Qh4 dxe4 10.dxe4 Nd4 11.Bd1 b5 12.e5 b4, and here I had to play 13. Nb1 back. I was sure this was bad for me. 13. exf6 is possible, but it's not helping White: after 13...Nxf3+ 14.Bxf3 Bxf6, if the queen moves, then 15...Bxc3 and Black is just a pawn up. So I had to play 13.Nb1 back.
Devansh: What were you thinking at this point? Your pieces are pretty passive - the bishop is on c1, the other on d1.
Sarbartho: Yeah, I was thinking that I had to try for a draw, I think.
Devansh: And what was the time situation here, do you remember?
Sarbartho: I was better on time. I had more time than him. But yeah, it doesn't really matter. I think 13...Ne4 was a better choice for him - let's say I blunder with 14. Re1, then 14...Nf5 and Black is winning the queen, or at least a piece. He played 13...Nd5, which is also fine. 14. Nxd4 cxd4 15.Qf2, and at this point I am never the one trying.
After 17....Bb7, I could not find anything. If 18.exf6, then 18...Qxf6 or 18...Rxf6, just dominating - the f4-pawn is going, and how will I develop my knight and rook? 18. Bd2 does not make any sense either, because 18...Ne3 can come. It's just a very bad position. I found a little bit of counterplay with 18. Nd2. He played 18...fxe5 19.Nc4 Qc7 20. Nxe5 Nxf4 21.Bxf4 Rxf4, and here I had to play 22. Bd5+. Everything else would be losing for me. He took, 22...Bxd5 23.Qxf4, and now I won the exchange, but he has a lot of counterplay for it. After 23...Qxc2, I played 24.Qg3 - I was thinking 24. Qf2 for a long time, but after 24...Qxf2 25.Kxf2 Bh6, the bishop pair, the two extra pawns and the passed pawn are just too strong. He played 24...Re8 - maybe 24...Rf8 was more testing. I played 25.Nd3 a5 26. Rac1 Qa4. I think he should have played 26...Qd2 and accepted the draw.
Devansh: So you could have repeated here?
Sarbartho: Yeah, I think I would have repeated if he did. But he made his queen more passive here, and now I got my rook in also. He played 29...Qb5 30. Nxf6+ exf6 31. b3 a4, and here I had a trap which he fell for: 32.bxa4 Qxa4 33.Rb7. I was looking for a trap - if he plays some random move, I can take 34. Rxe8+, and then he has to take 34...Bxe8, because if 34...Qxe8, 35.Rb8+ and the queen is gone.
Now the queens are exchanged, and after 35...Qxb3 36.axb3 d3 37. Rxb4 - it's unstoppable.
Devansh: At this point it's clear that your b-pawn is just unstoppable.
Sarbartho: Yeah.
Devansh: A great game, Sarbartho. From a very passive position - bishop on c1 and d1, knight on b1, rook on a1 - suddenly you got your pieces into the game and eventually you got a great position. Even after getting the exchange, it was not so clear because of the bishop pair, but you managed to set up a good trap in the end with 33.Rb7, and he fell for it. I think the best move was 35.Qb3+, to trade the queens.
Sarbartho: Yeah, because after that he got no chance.
Devansh: Again, a great game - two out of two, and your first win against a Grandmaster. I hope we see you winning against more and more Grandmasters in the future. This is the breakthrough you got, because it's a big achievement to beat a Grandmaster in classical chess, and Dimitris is not an easy Grandmaster to beat. Congratulations on your win, and all the best for your next one.
Sarbartho: Yeah, thank you.
On Sunday in round three, Sarbartho faced another Grandmaster - Armenia's Samvel Ter-Sahakyan (2613) - and lost after a long fight. He goes into the fourth round with 2/3 score. Ter-Sahakyan, Karthikeyan Murali and Leon Mendonca share the lead on 3/3.
You can find the round 3 report here.
