Can Levan Pantsulaia win KCA God’s Own Country’s 1st GM?

by R Anantharam - 07/05/2025

GM Levan Pantsulaia (GEO) made a quick draw against IM Semetei Tologon Tegin (KGZ) to maintain his sole lead at KCA's God's Own Country's 1st GM 2025. The Georgian GM is at 8/9, a half point ahead of GM Karen H Grigoryan (ARM), Semetei and IM Rajesh Vav. Rajesh endured a tough battle against GM Tornike Sanikidze (GEO). The IM seized his opportunity when his opponent went wrong in the endgame. Local lad, Ahaz E U drew with GM Laxman R R. FM Aakash G and Balkishan A suffered their second consecutive loss against GM Boris Savchenko and IM David Gochelashvili respectively. Levan needs a win in the final round as a draw might allow Karen to surpass him on tie-breaks if he manages to beat his compatriot, GM Manuel Petrosyan (ARM). Round 10 starts today at 9 a.m. IST. Photo: Shahid Ahmed

Karen, Semetei and Rajesh in the fray

Grandmaster Levan Pantsulaia (GEO) maintained his slender lead of half a point over his nearest rivals GM Karen H Grigoryan (ARM), IM Semetei Tologon Tegin (KGZ) and IM Rajesh Vav of South Central Railway at the end of the ninth round of the KCA’s 1st International Chess Festival – Category A Tournament, organised by Kottayam Chess Academy, today. After the formal draw with Semetei on the top board, Pantsulaia has conceded only two draws to score eight points.

IM Semetei Tologon Tegin (KGZ) made a 14-move quick draw against GM Levan Pantsulaia (GEO) | Photo: IA R Anantharam

Deepan - Grigoryan

Position after 34...Qxd5

GM Deepan Chakkravarthy (2394) sacrificed an exchange to gain an initiative on the kingside. In the above position, self-pinning the knight 35.Nfe4? turned out to be an incorrect decision. Instead, 35.Kh2 first and then Nfe4 in the next move would have been better. The difference is 35.Nfe4? immediately allows Rc8 Now White does not have enough time to play Qg6 threatening Ne6 as Rc2+ ends the game for White. GM Karen H Grigoryan (ARM, 2556) seized his advantage comfortably.

GM Deepan Chakkravarthy suffered a tough loss against GM Karen H Grigoryan (ARM) | Photo: IA R Anantharam

Rajesh - Tornike

Position after 45.Bc5

IM Rajesh Vav (2331) endured tough positions for the better part of the game against GM Tornike Sanikidze (GEO, 2448). The GM eventually blundered 45...Qxf4?? 46.e7!+- now the tables have completely turned 46...Nxe7 47.Qf7+ Kh8 48.Bxe7 Rxe7 49.Qxe7 and White converted his advantage into a win in another dozen moves.

IM Rajesh Vav endured tough positions to eventually seize his opportunity against GM Tornike Sanikidze (GEO) | Photo: IA R Anantharam

Manuel - Dinesh

Position after 35.Nxe6+!?

GM Manuel Petrosyan (ARM, 2554) made an interesting knight sacrifice for a couple of pawns 35.Nxe6+!? fxe6 36.Qxe6 The reason behind the sacrifice is, White does not get anything immediately. Black's bishop is virtually stuck at c8 and the knight cannot freely move. Eventually, the passed b-pawn paid dividends. White got the material back and captured another pawn on the kingside where he rolled down his newly created passed h-pawn to win the game.

Former National Blitz Champion, IM Dinesh K Sharma put up a very good fight against GM Manuel Petrosyan (ARM) | Photo: IA R Anantharam

Ahaz E U (pictured) - GM Laxman R R: 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Shahid Ahmed

Siddhanth Poonja (pictured) - GM Van Huy Nguyen (VIE): 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Shahid Ahmed

Abhishek T M (pictured) - GM Marat Dzhumaev (UZB): 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Shahid Ahmed

A momentary blind spot cost GM P Karthikeyan dearly against Jaidambareesh N R | Photo: IA R Anantharam

Grandmasters and International Masters set to enter the boat | Photo: IA R Anantharam

Is Semetei Tologon Tegin steering the boat? | Photo: IA R Anantharam

Now it is Anastasia Soboleva's turn to steer the boat | Photo: IA R Anantharam

You cannot escape from chess - even on the boat - Soboleva playing against Tolgon Tegin. Karen, Levan and others are watching the fun | Photo: IA R Anantharam

Like ChessBoxing, it is chess-boating in the backwaters of Kerala - IM Maksim Schekachikhin plays a game against Soboleva as GM Karen Movsziszian (ARM) spectates | Photo: IA R Anantharam

A total of 234 players including 16 GMs, 12 IMs and a WIM are taking part from 13 countries across the world. The eight-day ten round GM tournament is being organized by Kottayam Chess Academy from 30th April to 7th May 2025 at The Courtyard Banquet Hall Kanjikuzhi in Kottayam, Kerala. The time control of the event is 90 minutes + 30 seconds increment from move no.1.

Replay Round 9 games

Round 9 results

Bo.	No.		White	Typ	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Black	Typ	Rtg	Club/City	No.	PGN
1	12	IM	Tologon Tegin, Semetei		2358	KGZ	7	½ - ½	7½	GM	Pantsulaia, Levan		2532	GEO	3	PGN
2	9	GM	Deepan, Chakkravarthy J.		2394	ICF	6½	0 - 1	6½	GM	Grigoryan, Karen H.		2556	ARM	1	PGN
3	15	IM	Rajesh, V A V		2331	SCR	6½	1 - 0	6	GM	Sanikidze, Tornike		2448	GEO	5	PGN
4	2	GM	Petrosyan, Manuel		2544	ARM	6	1 - 0	6	IM	Sharma, Dinesh K.		2164	UP	25	PGN
5	4	GM	Savchenko, Boris		2459	RUS	6	1 - 0	6	FM	Aakash, G		2100	TN	30	PGN
6	6	IM	Mehar, Chinna Reddy C.H.		2418	SCR	6	½ - ½	6	IM	Sarwat, Walaa		2047	EGY	39	PGN
7	8	GM	Fedorov, Alexei		2396	BLR	6	1 - 0	6	FM	Ramakrishna, J.		2032	UBI	46	PGN
8	24		Ahaz, E U		2191	KER	6	½ - ½	6	GM	Laxman, R.R.		2290	ICF	19	PGN
9	26		Balkishan, A.		2134	KAR	6	0 - 1	6	IM	Gochelashvili, David		2227	RUS	22	PGN
10	37	FM	Matta, Vinay Kumar		2054	UBI	5½	0 - 1	5½	GM	Movsziszian, Karen		2417	ARM	7	PGN
11	40		Siddhanth, Poonja		2046	KAR	5½	½ - ½	5½	GM	Nguyen, Van Huy		2363	VIE	11	PGN
12	41		Abhishek, T M		2044	KER	5½	½ - ½	5½	GM	Dzhumaev, Marat		2352	UZB	13	PGN
13	16	FM	Sanz Wawer, Daniel		2316	ESP	5½	½ - ½	5½		Advik, Amit Agrawal		2007	MAH	51	PGN
14	45		Jaidambareesh, N R		2037	TN	5½	1 - 0	5½	GM	Karthikeyan, P.		2312	ICF	17	PGN
15	50	CM	Chinmay, Kowshik		2011	KAR	5½	0 - 1	5½	GM	Podolchenko, Evgeniy		2307	BLR	18	PGN

Details

Standings after Round 9

Rk.	SNo		Name	Typ	FED	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB4	TB5	Rp	n	w	we	w-we	K	rtg+/-
1	3	GM	Pantsulaia, Levan		GEO	2532	GEO	8	50	54,5	0	47,00	7	2502	9	8	7,36	0,64	10	6,4
2	1	GM	Grigoryan, Karen H.		ARM	2556	ARM	7,5	52,5	56	0	44,50	7	2493	9	7,5	7,18	0,32	10	3,2
3	12	IM	Tologon Tegin, Semetei		KGZ	2358	KGZ	7,5	47,5	51,5	0	43,00	7	2324	9	7,5	6,71	0,79	10	7,9
4	15	IM	Rajesh, V A V		IND	2331	SCR	7,5	45	49	0	38,50	7	2362	9	7,5	6,35	1,15	10	11,5
5	22	IM	Gochelashvili, David		RUS	2227	RUS	7	48	53	0	41,00	5	2322	8	6	4,86	1,14	10	11,4
6	4	GM	Savchenko, Boris		RUS	2459	RUS	7	46	49,5	0	37,25	6	2293	9	7	7,56	-0,56	10	-5,6
7	2	GM	Petrosyan, Manuel		ARM	2544	ARM	7	44,5	49	0	37,75	6	2261	9	7	7,97	-0,97	10	-9,7
8	8	GM	Fedorov, Alexei		BLR	2396	BLR	7	43,5	47,5	0	36,25	5	2212	9	7	7,77	-0,77	10	-7,7
9	24		Ahaz, E U		IND	2191	KER	6,5	47	51,5	0	35,50	5	2265	9	6,5	5,27	1,23	40	49,2
10	9	GM	Deepan, Chakkravarthy J.		IND	2394	ICF	6,5	46	50	0	34,25	5	2283	9	6,5	6,80	-0,30	10	-3
11	6	IM	Mehar, Chinna Reddy C.H.		IND	2418	SCR	6,5	45,5	48,5	0	34,25	6	2157	9	6,5	7,97	-1,47	10	-14,7
12	55		Sharnarthi, Shlok		IND	1991	MAH	6,5	44	48	0	31,75	6	2116	9	6,5	5,10	1,40	40	56
13	7	GM	Movsziszian, Karen		ARM	2417	ARM	6,5	43,5	48	0	33,25	5	2164	9	6,5	8,05	-1,55	10	-15,5
14	18	GM	Podolchenko, Evgeniy		BLR	2307	BLR	6,5	43,5	47	0	31,75	5	2207	9	6,5	6,80	-0,30	10	-3
15	36		Karan, J P		IND	2067	KER	6,5	42	46	0	33,50	5	2056	9	6,5	6,50	0,00	20	0,0

Details

Round 10 pairings

Bo.	No.		White	Typ	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Black	Typ	Rtg	Club/City	No.
1	3	GM	Pantsulaia, Levan		2532	GEO	8		7½	IM	Rajesh, V A V		2331	SCR	15
2	1	GM	Grigoryan, Karen H.		2556	ARM	7½		7	GM	Petrosyan, Manuel		2544	ARM	2
3	8	GM	Fedorov, Alexei		2396	BLR	7		7½	IM	Tologon Tegin, Semetei		2358	KGZ	12
4	22	IM	Gochelashvili, David		2227	RUS	7		7	GM	Savchenko, Boris		2459	RUS	4
5	36		Karan, J P		2067	KER	6½		6½	IM	Mehar, Chinna Reddy C.H.		2418	SCR	6
6	7	GM	Movsziszian, Karen		2417	ARM	6½		6½		Jaidambareesh, N R		2037	TN	45
7	24		Ahaz, E U		2191	KER	6½		6½	GM	Deepan, Chakkravarthy J.		2394	ICF	9
8	39	IM	Sarwat, Walaa		2047	EGY	6½		6½	GM	Podolchenko, Evgeniy		2307	BLR	18
9	19	GM	Laxman, R.R.		2290	ICF	6½		6½		Sharnarthi, Shlok		1991	MAH	55
10	5	GM	Sanikidze, Tornike		2448	GEO	6		6	AIM	Arul, Prakash N		2075	TN	34
11	46	FM	Ramakrishna, J.		2032	UBI	6		6	IM	Schekachikhin, Maksim		2370	FIDE	10
12	11	GM	Nguyen, Van Huy		2363	VIE	6		6		Abhishek, T M		2044	KER	41
13	13	GM	Dzhumaev, Marat		2352	UZB	6		6		Siddhanth, Poonja		2046	KAR	40
14	43		Jyotshnav, Talukdar		2040	ODI	6		6	IM	Nitin, S.		2331	TN	14
15	58		Swayham, P Das		1968	GUJ	6		6	FM	Sanz Wawer, Daniel		2316	ESP	16

Details

About the Author

Prof. Rathinam Anantharam is an A-grade international arbiter. Member of FIDE Arbiters’ Commission, Chairman of Titles Commission in All India Chess Federation, Vice President of Tamil Nadu State Chess Association, Chief Arbiter for six world championships, many Asian, International and National Championships. Nominated as one of the top seven arbiters in the world for the past hundred years by FIDE.

The report was edited by Shahid Ahmed