Chola Chess GM Norm RR D1: Audi Ameya starts with a win

by Devansh Singh - 03/02/2026

The Chola Chess International GM Norm Round Robin Tournament 2026 started today in Chennai. There was only one decisive game in the first round of the event, where IM Audi Ameya won his game against GM Mahel Boyer of France with the black pieces. Audi played a great attacking game to secure the victory in the first round. Other four games ended in a draw, but not without a great fight. The event consists of a very strong field of 6 Indian IMs and 4 GMs from outside the country. The 2nd round starts on 4th February at 2 PM IST. Photos: Himank Ghosh

Harsh Suresh and Mayank Chakraborty survive a scare

All the games in the first round of the event showed the fighting spirit of all the players taking part in the event. The game between IM Harsh Suresh and GM Girel Joseph ended in a draw, but at one point, Girel was having a clear advantage in the Rook pawn endgame, but Harsh showed great resistance and held the game for a draw. Something similar happened in the game of GM Delgado Ramirez Neuris and IM Mayank Chakraborty, where Mayank showed his defensive skills and held the draw with black pieces.

GM Mahel Boyer vs IM Audi Ameya (0-1)

This is the moment where Mahel could have played 26.Qd8+ followed by Qd3 next to stop black's Idea of putting the queen on a8-h1 diagonal, but he decided to play Bc4? instead that turned out to be a big mistake, and Audi Ameya converted the game easily in the next 5 moves

GM Girel Joseph vs IM Harsh Suresh ended in a draw after a long fight of 111 moves

GM Delgado Ramirez Neuris and IM Mayank Chakraborty ended in a draw. Mayank was in a tough spot, but he managed to get out of it to hold the draw

The game between Ethan Vaz and Akshay Borgaonkar ended in a draw when Ethan decided to sacrifice his camp to give perpetual checks to Akshay's king in 26 moves

Suleymenov, Alisher vs Aronyak Ghosh (0.5-0.5)

Check out some wonderful photos from the venue by Himank Ghosh: Here

Tournament Hall

Chief Arbiter Shenvi Nitin

Deputy Chief Arokia Raj S Paul

Moments before the start of the round

Anti-Cheating Arbiter: IA Bhaskar.v

Harsh Suresh's Interview with Himank Ghosh

Akshay's Interview with Himank Ghosh

Replay Round 1 Games

Round 1 Results

Bo.	FED	Rtg		White	Result		Black	FED	Rtg	PGN
1	FRA	2499	GM	Girel, Joseph	½ - ½	IM	Harsh, Suresh	IND	2443	PGN
2	PAR	2511	GM	Delgado Ramirez, Neuris	½ - ½	IM	Mayank, Chakraborty	IND	2473	PGN
3	KAZ	2500	GM	Suleymenov, Alisher	½ - ½	IM	Aronyak, Ghosh	IND	2533	PGN
4	FRA	2486	GM	Boyer, Mahel	0 - 1	IM	Audi, Ameya	IND	2418	PGN
5	IND	2518	IM	Vaz, Ethan	½ - ½	IM	Borgaonkar, Akshay	IND	2381	PGN

Details

Rank after Round 1

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB2	TB3	TB4
1	7	IM	Audi, Ameya	IND	2418	1	0	1	1
2	1	GM	Girel, Joseph	FRA	2499	0,5	0,25	0	0
	2	GM	Delgado Ramirez, Neuris	PAR	2511	0,5	0,25	0	0
	3	GM	Suleymenov, Alisher	KAZ	2500	0,5	0,25	0	0
	5	IM	Vaz, Ethan	IND	2518	0,5	0,25	0	0
	6	IM	Borgaonkar, Akshay	IND	2381	0,5	0,25	0	0
	8	IM	Aronyak, Ghosh	IND	2533	0,5	0,25	0	0
	9	IM	Mayank, Chakraborty	IND	2473	0,5	0,25	0	0
	10	IM	Harsh, Suresh	IND	2443	0,5	0,25	0	0
10	4	GM	Boyer, Mahel	FRA	2486	0	0	0	0

Details

Round 2 Pairings

Bo.	FED	Rtg		White	Result		Black	FED	Rtg	PGN
1	IND	2443	IM	Harsh, Suresh		IM	Borgaonkar, Akshay	IND	2381
2	IND	2418	IM	Audi, Ameya		IM	Vaz, Ethan	IND	2518
3	IND	2533	IM	Aronyak, Ghosh		GM	Boyer, Mahel	FRA	2486
4	IND	2473	IM	Mayank, Chakraborty		GM	Suleymenov, Alisher	KAZ	2500
5	FRA	2499	GM	Girel, Joseph		GM	Delgado Ramirez, Neuris	PAR	2511