Harshavardhan G B Clinches GM Title; Daakshin Arun Secures 2nd IM Norm at Chola Chess

by Devansh Singh - 01/07/2026

After long games, decisive results, and 2 Norms, the dust has settled at the Chola Chess Academy. The initiative that started with a hope of giving opportunities to our young talents has finally paid off. After the successful conclusion of the Chola Chess 2nd GM Norm and 1st IM Norm Round Robin Tournament, India got its 97th Grandmaster, as Harshavardhan G B scored his final GM Norm. Daakshin Arun scored his 2nd IM norm and is just 1 norm away from becoming an International Master. GM Michal Krasenkow and GM Aleksej Aleksandrov won the GM and IM tournaments, respectively. Photos: Devansh Singh

Harshavardhan's incredible run

After sitting on 3 points from the first 5 rounds, Harshavardhan needed an intense 3.5 points from his final 4 games, and in the last 3 games, he had to play against 3 visiting GMs. In the 6th round, he defeated Kushagra Mohan, and now the biggest challenge arrived in front of him: Michal Krasenkow, who was leading the event and crushing everyone with 5.5/6 points.

One of the most important games of the tournament, and Harshavardhan won it

Then he defeated GM Alexei Fedorov with black pieces in a complex rook endgame and finally drew his last game against Mihail Nikitenko to finish the tournament with 6.5/9, his final GM Norm and Grandmaster Title!! Read a round-by-round breakdown of Harshavardhan's Journey.

Harshavardhan with his hard-earned norm

Proud Parents

Check out the final moments when he achieved this title, raw emotions, and the reaction of his mom. We also talked to Harshavardhan about his journey, his chess career, his coaches, and much more.

Michal Krasenkow was unstoppable and scored 7/9 points to win the tournament

IM Group

In the IM Group, Aarit Kapil missed a huge chance as he lost his last round game against Devindya Oshini Gunawardhana. Daakshin Arun scored a win on demand to score his second IM Norm.

Daakshin Arun scored 2nd IM Norm

The way was not easy as he lost his 5th game against Aarit Kapil and had to score 3 points in the next 4 games. In the 6th round, he defeated Pranav KP and had back-to-back draws against Aleksandrov and De Silva. In the final round, he had to win on demand against David Gochelashvili to score his norm, and he managed to do that with the Black pieces. With this win, Daakshin now needs only 1 more IM norm to become India's latest International Master.

Daakshin secured the 2nd place in the tournament

Daakshin is training at Chola Chess, and it is a big achievement for the young boy to score his norm here at the Chola Chess tournament. He is working with GM RB Ramesh at Chola Chess, attending camps, and also training with Alexander Goloshchapov and GM Shyam Nikhil. Daakshin previously scored his 1st GM Norm at the Rilton Cup 2026.

Daakshin before the final round

He is also the 2023 U-13 National Champion and crossed the 2400 rating barrier in 2023 itself. Congratulations to the young lad, and hoping to see him getting his final norm soon!

Check out his final game against David Gochelashvili and the post-match interview where he talked about attending camps at Chola Chess, working with RB Ramesh, his National Title, and much more.

GM Aleksej Aleksandrov won the IM Norm Tournament

Photo Gallery: Here

The selfie of the tournament!

Happy Faces

What a click!

Proud Mother

Arbiters behind conducting these tournaments smoothly

Champions!

A Pic with India's 97th GM

Video Gallery: Here

In round 8, Harshavardhan played a beautiful rook endgame to outplay GM Alexei Fedorov. It was a long battle, but winning this game helped him most in securing his final GM Norm and becoming the 97th Grandmaster of India. Check out the starting moments, full game, and final moments.

With Harshavardhan securing GM and Daakshin scoring IM Norm, the Chola Chess IM and GM Norm Round Robin tournament was a huge success. Check out the closing ceremony!!

In this interview, Aarthie talked about the Chola Chess Initiative, her time in Hong Kong with the Chessgurukul team, her career as a chess player, the transition phase, upcoming plans, camps at Chola Chess, and much more.

In this interview, he talked about the challenges he faced as a parent, as a coach, what one can suggest to parents, and Harshavardhan's Chess Journey. He has been training kids for the last 35 years, and he was also in the main organising committee of the Anand vs. Carlsen Match. Check this Amazing Interview with a lot of insights.

GM Round 9 Results

o.	No.	FED	Rtg		White	Result		Black	FED	Rtg	No.	PGN
1	5	IND	2503	IM	Ajay, Santhosh Parvathareddy	½ - ½	IM	Dhulipalla, Bala Chandra Prasad	IND	2432	10	PGN
2	6	IND	2493	IM	Harshavardhan, G B	½ - ½	GM	Nikitenko, Mihail	BLR	2479	4	PGN
3	7	FRA	2430	IM	Bournel, Antoine	1 - 0	GM	Fedorov, Alexei	BLR	2388	3	PGN
4	8	IND	2435	IM	Harsh, Suresh	½ - ½	GM	Krasenkow, Michal	POL	2483	2	PGN
5	9	IND	2483	IM	Anuj, Shrivatri	½ - ½	IM	Kushagra, Mohan	IND	2456	1	PGN

Details

Final Standings

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	2	GM	Krasenkow, Michal	POL	2483	7	0	27,25	6
2	6	IM	Harshavardhan, G B	IND	2493	6,5	0	27,5	4
3	8	IM	Harsh, Suresh	IND	2435	5	1	22,5	1
4	4	GM	Nikitenko, Mihail	BLR	2479	5	2	18,25	4
5	5	IM	Ajay, Santhosh Parvathareddy	IND	2503	4,5	0	18,25	2
6	3	GM	Fedorov, Alexei	BLR	2388	4	0	16,75	2
7	9	IM	Anuj, Shrivatri	IND	2483	4	0	15,5	1
8	10	IM	Dhulipalla, Bala Chandra Prasad	IND	2432	3,5	0	14,75	0
9	1	IM	Kushagra, Mohan	IND	2456	3,5	0	14	1
10	7	IM	Bournel, Antoine	FRA	2430	2	0	8,25	1

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IM Round 9 Results

Bo.	No.	FED	Rtg		White	Result		Black	FED	Rtg	No.	PGN
1	5	IND	2331	FM	Aarit, Kapil	0 - 1	WIM	Gunawardhana, Devindya Oshini	SRI	2340	10	PGN
2	6	IND	2308	FM	Pranav, K P	½ - ½	FM	Madhesh, Kumar S	IND	2315	4	PGN
3	7	BLR	2433	GM	Aleksandrov, Aleksej	½ - ½	FM	Madhvendra, Pratap Sharma	IND	2373	3	PGN
4	8	SRI	2382	IM	De Silva, L M S T	½ - ½	FM	Arshpreet, Singh	IND	2337	2	PGN
5	9	RUS	2275	IM	Gochelashvili, David	0 - 1	FM	Daakshin, Arun	IND	2308	1	PGN

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Final Ranking

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB4
1	7	GM	Aleksandrov, Aleksej	BLR	2433	BLR	6,5	0	27	5	4
2	1	FM	Daakshin, Arun	IND	2308	TN	6	0	24	4	2
3	8	IM	De Silva, L M S T	SRI	2382	SRI	5,5	0	21	3	1
4	5	FM	Aarit, Kapil	IND	2331	DEL	5	0	22,75	3	1
5	3	FM	Madhvendra, Pratap Sharma	IND	2373	MP	5	0	20,25	3	0
6	4	FM	Madhesh, Kumar S	IND	2315	PON	4	1	18	2	0
7	2	FM	Arshpreet, Singh	IND	2337	HAR	4	2	16,75	3	0
8	10	WIM	Gunawardhana, Devindya Oshini	SRI	2340	SRI	3,5	0	16	3	1
9	6	FM	Pranav, K P	IND	2308	TN	3	0	10,75	2	1
10	9	IM	Gochelashvili, David	RUS	2275	RUS	2,5	0	10,5	1	1

Details

Points Required for Norm

As per the regulations and rating average of the tournament, 6 points are required to score an IM norm, while 6.5 for a GM Norm.

Lineup

GM Norm (L to R): GM Mihail Nikitenko, GM Alexei Fedorov, IM G B Harshavardhan, IM Bala Chandra Prasad Dhulipalla, IM Antoine Bourne, IM Santhosh Parvathareddy Ajay, IM Kushagra Mohan, IM Shrivatri Anuj, IM Suresh Harsh, and GM Michal Krasenkow.

Participants of the GM Round Robin

IM Norm (L to R): GM Aleksej Aleksandrov, IM David Gochelashvili, IM L M S T De Silva, FM Kapil Aarit, FM Singh Arshpreet, FM Pratap Sharma Madhvendra, FM Kumar S Madhesh, FM Arun Daakshin, and FM K P Pranav. WIM Devindya Oshini Gunawardhana was on her flight and will catch up soon!