Huge Wins for Ajay Santhosh and Harsh Suresh in Round 2 of 2nd Chola Chess GM Round Robin

by Devansh Singh - 22/06/2026

IM Ajay Santhosh Parvathareddy and IM Harsh Suresh scored huge wins in the 2nd round of the Chola Chess GM Round Robin Tournament 2026. Ajay defeated IM Antoine Bournel with the black pieces, while Harsh Suresh beat Mihail Nikitenko with white pieces. In the 3rd round, Ajay is going to face Harsh Suresh. In the IM Group, there was only one decisive result, where FM Pranav KP defeated Devindya Oshini Gunawardhana. Check out today's player of the day in the report. The 3rd round starts on 22nd June at 2 PM IST. Photos: Devansh Singh

Play the board, not the opponent

In the post-game interview with IM Ajay Santhosh Parvathareddy, he talked about his strong mindset and the way he decided to take part in open events without worrying about rating or result. Ajay is performing really well this year, and he is getting back-to-back podium finishes.

Ajay during the 2nd round

Just play the board, don't care about the opponent, and if you play well, you will definitely win!

Ajay with his trophy at Dhanpat Rai Sachdeva Memorial

Ajay secured 2nd place in the very strong Baku Open 2026, scoring his 1st GM Norm. Then, he finished as runner-up at the Dhanpat Rai Sachdeva Memorial Open 2026, and finished in 3rd position at the 360 One Mumbai Masters too!

IM Ajay Santhosh Parvathareddy discussed why a strong mindset is important for progress, his consistency in recent tournaments, his huge win over IM Antoine Bournel in the 2nd round of the Chola Chess GM Round Robin 2026, and upcoming tournaments.

Interview with Ajay

GM Group

In the GM Round Robin tournament, there were 2 decisive results. Ajay defeated Antoine, and Harsh defeated Nikitenko. IM Bala Chandra Prasad Dhulipalla missed some crucial chances against IM Harshavardhan GB in the Rook endgame. IM Anuj Shrivatri made a solid draw against GM Alexei Fedorov, and IM Kushagra Mohan survived a scare against GM Michal Krasenkow.

Antoine Bournel vs. Ajay Santhosh Parvathareddy (0-1)

Both players had a long analysis session after the game

IM Harsh Suresh played an excellent game to beat GM Mihail Nikitenko

A visual representation of how to stay calm even under time pressure

Ummmmmm

Harsh played 30.Rb5, and then he sacrificed the rook on e5

Check out the full game

IM Harsh Suresh kept his composure under time pressure to win this game

Anuj Shrivatri vs. Alexei Fedorov (0.5-0.5)

Kushagra was in a really bad spot against Krasenkow, but managed to hold the game for a draw

Bala Chandra Prasad missed a crucial chance in the rook endgame against Harshavardhan G B

Can you find the winning idea for white here??

Games in action

Replay Round 2 Games

GM Round 2 Results

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

Details

GM Round 3 Pairings

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

Details

Player of the day

The Player of the day will be selected by the Author based on the performance of the player in a particular round.

IM Ajay Santhosh Parvathareddy

IM Group

It was a peaceful day in the IM Group as 4 games ended in a draw, the only decisive result was Pranav K P winning against Devindya Oshini Gunawardhana, Aarit Kapil drew against Aleksej Aleksandrov. Madhesh Kumar drew against De Silva L M S T, Madhvendra Pratap Sharma drew against David Gochelashvili, and Arshpreet Singh drew against Daakshin Arun.

Devindya Oshini blundered in an equal rook endgame and lost against Pranav K P

Oshini played 60.Rh5+, which allowed Pranav to play Kg4 and advance with his king

Aleksej Aleksandrov drew against FM Aarit Kapil

De Silva L M S T vs. Madhesh Kumar (0.5-0.5)

David Gochelashvili vs Madhvendra Pratap Sharma (0.5-0.5)

Daakshin Arun drew against Arshpreet Singh

Games in action

Replay Round 2 Games

IM Round 2 Results

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

Details

IM Round 3 Pairings

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

Details

Photo Gallery: Here

Before the round starts, lunch is provided to all the players at the venue itself,

Which World Champion is in this picture?

Grab the snacks

Post-game analysis

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!