First Chola Chess International IM Norm Round Robin Tournament 2026
Round-RobinStandard
10 players participated in this 9-round tournament, held from 20 Jun 2026 to 28 Jun 2026 in Chennai, India. 10 titled players from 4 federations. Top 10 Elo average was 2340, and top seed was Aleksej Aleksandrov (🇧🇾 BLR, GM, 2433).
Aleksej Aleksandrov (🇧🇾 BLR, GM, 2433) won with 6.5/9, ahead of Daakshin Arun (6.0) and L M S T De Silva (5.5). Aleksandrov shared the lead from round 5 and won solo starting round 8.
Location
🇮🇳Chennai, India
Dates
20 Jun 2026 → 28 Jun 2026
Time control
Standard: 90 minutes with 30 second increment from move 1
System
Round-robin · 9 rounds
Titled players · 10
GM×1
IM×2
FM×6
WIM×1
Federations · 4 represented
🇮🇳India×6
🇱🇰Sri Lanka×2
🇷🇺Russia×1
🇧🇾Belarus×1
Top 3
- 🥇
- 🥈
- 🥉
How it unfolded
Top 10 · 9 roundsGM Aleksej Aleksandrov led from R8 onwards, the runner-up race stayed tight.
Co-leaders
4
4
3
1
3
2
2
1
1
Aleksandrov#1Arun#2De Silva#3Sharma#4Kapil#5Madhesh Kumar#6Singh#7Gunawardhana#8Pranav K#9Gochelashvili#10
R8 · LEADER CHANGE27 Jun
GM Aleksej Aleksandrov takes the sole lead (6.0/8).
R7 · HEAD-TO-HEAD · WINNER VS 2ND
GM Aleksej Aleksandrov drew with FM Daakshin Arun (White).
R5–R9 · UNBEATEN
GM Aleksej Aleksandrov went unbeaten across 5 games (R5–R9).
Cross-table
| # | Player | Elo | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | Pts | SB | Bh | Δ Elo | Perf |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 🇧🇾GMAleksandrov, Aleksej | 2433 | * | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6.5 | 27.00 | 38.5 | +7.4 | 2496 |
| 2 | 🇮🇳FMDaakshin Arun | 2308 | ½ | * | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6.0 | 24.00 | 39.0 | +19.3 | 2469 |
| 3 | 🇱🇰IMDe Silva, L M S T | 2382 | 0 | ½ | * | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5.5 | 21.00 | 39.5 | +4.3 | 2416 |
| 5 | 🇮🇳FMAarit Kapil | 2331 | ½ | 1 | ½ | * | ½ | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 5.0 | 22.75 | 40.0 | +12.6 | 2384 |
| 4 | 🇮🇳FMMadhvendra Pratap Sharma | 2373 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | * | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 5.0 | 20.25 | 40.0 | +0.8 | 2380 |
| 6 | 🇮🇳FMMadhesh Kumar S | 2315 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | * | 1 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 4.0 | 18.00 | 41.0 | -3.4 | 2300 |
| 7 | 🇮🇳FMArshpreet Singh | 2337 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | 0 | * | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4.0 | 16.75 | 41.0 | -9.4 | 2298 |
| 8 | 🇱🇰WIMGunawardhana, Devindya Oshini | 2340 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 0 | * | 0 | 1 | 3.5 | 16.00 | 41.5 | -19.4 | 2260 |
| 9 | 🇮🇳FMPranav K P | 2308 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | * | ½ | 3.0 | 10.75 | 42.0 | -21.4 | 2219 |
| 10 | 🇷🇺IMGochelashvili, David | 2275 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | 0 | ½ | * | 2.5 | 10.50 | 42.5 | -10.9 | 2181 |
Key insights
Biggest movers and upsets — the story behind the numbers.
Top rating gainers
- 1Daakshin ArunFMIND+19.36.0 pts · #2
- 2Aarit KapilFMIND+12.65.0 pts · #5
- 3Aleksandrov, AleksejGMBLR+7.46.5 pts · #1
Top rating losers
- 1Pranav K PFMIND-21.43.0 pts · #9
- 2Gunawardhana, Devindya OshiniWIMSRI-19.43.5 pts · #8
- 3Gochelashvili, DavidIMRUS-10.92.5 pts · #10