Rohith and Aleksandrov In Joint Lead, Dhananjay Catching Up at 16th Chennai GM

by Devansh Singh - 07/01/2026

8 rounds are completed at The 16th Chennai Open International Grandmasters Chess Tournament 2026, and we have two players, GM Rohith Krishna S with GM Aleksandrov Aleksej on 7/8 points, both players are still unbeaten in the event, and they will be playing against each other in the penultimate round, which will be played tomorrow. For the second place its a tie between 6 players who are playing on 6.5/8. Dhananjay S From chattisgarh utilised the advantage after Hoang Thi Bao Tram made a blunder in an equal position and won the game in style. On the Top board, Rohith played a Draw against Srihari LR, and on board 2, Aleksandrov Aleksej won against Mayank Chakraborty with the white pieces. Srihari LR, Alexei Fedorov, Nguyen Duc Hoa, Vandan Alankar Sawai, and Palencia Morales are on 6.5/8 points alongside Dhananjay S. Round 9 will start at 10 am on 8th January. Photo Credit: IA S. Paul Arokia Raj

Vandan Alankar Sawai is increasing his rating by 99 points after 8 rounds

14-year-old boy from Delhi, CM Vandan Alankar Sawai, is looking in great form going into the penultimate round. He won against IM Sarvana Krishna P in round 6, then in round 7 he drew with 2258 rated arnav agrawal, and in round 8 he won his game against Bhoir Paras Dilip of Maharashtra. 2094 rated Vandan is playing with a rating performance of 2346. Currently, he is also in the race to win the event with 6.5/8 points, and he will be going against GM Nguyen Duc Hoa of Vietnam.

CM Vandan Alankar Sawai

CM Vandan Alankar Sawai Vs Bhoir Paras Dilip Round-8 (1-0)

Dhananjay S From chattisgarh Won an almost equal game after Hoang Thi Bao blundered

Colombian IM Palencia Morales, with Black Pieces, simply outclassed the Indian IM Mehar Chinna Reddy in a miniature game

Round 8 Games

Round 8 Results

Bo.	No.		White	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Black	Rtg	Club/City	No.	PGN
1	2	GM	Srihari, L R	2472	Tamil Nadu	6	½ - ½	6½	GM	Rohith, Krishna S	2489	Tamil Nadu	1	PGN
2	9	GM	Aleksandrov, Aleksej	2409	Belarus	6	1 - 0	6	IM	Mayank, Chakraborty	2468	Assam	3	PGN
3	8	GM	Nguyen, Duc Hoa	2416	Vietnam	5½	1 - 0	6	CM	Madhvendra, Pratap Sharma	2284	Madhya Pradesh	21	PGN
4	10	IM	Mehar, Chinna Reddy C.H.	2384	Telangana	5½	0 - 1	5½	IM	Palencia Morales, Wilson Guillermo	2207	Colombia	31	PGN
5	11	GM	Fedorov, Alexei	2377	Belarus	5½	1 - 0	5½	IM	Elgabry, Mohsen	2177	Egypt	34	PGN
6	19	FM	Dhananjay, S	2299	Chhattisgarh	5½	1 - 0	5½	WGM	Hoang, Thi Bao Tram	2175	Vietnam	35	PGN
7	48	CM	Vandan, Alankar Sawai	2094	Delhi	5½	1 - 0	5½		Bhoir, Paras Dilip	2276	Maharashtra	22	PGN
8	25		Arnav, Agrawal	2258	Uttar Pradesh	5½	½ - ½	5½		Avirat, Chauhan	2138	Maharashtra	40	PGN
9	45	CM	Aadik, Theophane Lenin	2113	Kerala	5½	½ - ½	5	IM	Ayush, Sharma	2454	Madhya Pradesh	5	PGN
10	6	GM	Burmakin, Vladimir	2428	Russia	5	½ - ½	5		Abhishek, T M	2136	Kerala	41	PGN

Details

Rank after Round 8

Rk.	SNo		Name	sex	FED	RtgI	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB4	TB5	TB6	K	rtg+/-
1	1	GM	Rohith, Krishna S		IND	2489	Tamil Nadu	7	42	46	40	0	6	3	10	9,3
2	9	GM	Aleksandrov, Aleksej		BLR	2409	Belarus	7	38,5	41	34,5	0	6	2	10	12,3
3	2	GM	Srihari, L R		IND	2472	Tamil Nadu	6,5	41	45	35	0	5	3	10	2,9
4	19	FM	Dhananjay, S		IND	2299	Chhattisgarh	6,5	40,5	44	34	0	6	3	20	10
5	11	GM	Fedorov, Alexei		BLR	2377	Belarus	6,5	39	42,5	32	0	6	2	10	4,7
6	8	GM	Nguyen, Duc Hoa		VIE	2416	Vietnam	6,5	38,5	43	34,5	0	5	2	10	-1,3
7	48	CM	Vandan, Alankar Sawai		IND	2094	Delhi	6,5	37,5	41	31	0	6	2	40	98,8
8	31	IM	Palencia Morales, Wilson Guillermo		COL	2207	Colombia	6,5	34,5	38	30,25	0	6	3	20	20,4
9	25		Arnav, Agrawal		IND	2258	Uttar Pradesh	6	40,5	44,5	32,25	0	4	2	40	30
10	3	IM	Mayank, Chakraborty		IND	2468	Assam	6	37	41	28,5	0	6	2	10	-6,3

Details

Round 9 Pairings

Bo.	No.		White	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Black	Rtg	Club/City	No.
1	1	GM	Rohith, Krishna S	2489	Tamil Nadu	7		7	GM	Aleksandrov, Aleksej	2409	Belarus	9
2	2	GM	Srihari, L R	2472	Tamil Nadu	6½		6½	FM	Dhananjay, S	2299	Chhattisgarh	19
3	48	CM	Vandan, Alankar Sawai	2094	Delhi	6½		6½	GM	Nguyen, Duc Hoa	2416	Vietnam	8
4	31	IM	Palencia Morales, Wilson Guillermo	2207	Colombia	6½		6½	GM	Fedorov, Alexei	2377	Belarus	11
5	3	IM	Mayank, Chakraborty	2468	Assam	6		6		Avirat, Chauhan	2138	Maharashtra	40
6	7	GM	Deepan, Chakkravarthy J.	2426	ICF	6		6		Agnivo, Chakraborty	2114	West Bengal	44
7	21	CM	Madhvendra, Pratap Sharma	2284	Madhya Pradesh	6		6	CM	Aadik, Theophane Lenin	2113	Kerala	45
8	57	CM	Aarav, A	2070	Tamil Nadu	6		6		Arnav, Agrawal	2258	Uttar Pradesh	25
9	27	GM	Manik, Mikulas	2251	Slovakia	6		6	IM	Murali, Krishnan B T	2063	Tamil Nadu	59
10	5	IM	Ayush, Sharma	2454	Madhya Pradesh	5½		5½	AIM	Banik, Hrishikesh Kumar	2147	West Bengal	38