Team Herald
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PANJIM: Grandmaster SP Sethuraman (India, 2560), International Masters Tologon Tegin Semetei (Kyrgyzstan, 2351) and Alexander Slizhevsky (Russia, 2340), along with IM S Nitin (India, 2338), have taken the lead with perfect scores of 4 points each after four rounds of the Late Shri Manohar Parrikar 3rd Goa International Open Grandmaster Chess Tournament 2025, organised by the Goa Chess Association under the aegis of the All India Chess Federation (AICF) and played at the Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Indoor Stadium, Taleigao.
The leaders, a blend of seasoned Grandmasters and rising International Masters, have displayed flawless performances to dominate the early rounds.
Close behind, 10 players with 3.5 points each are hot on their heels, including GM Diptayan Ghosh (RSPB, 2569), GM Alexei Fedorov (Belarus, 2409), GM Mitrabha Guha (WB, 2509), IM Ethan Vaz (Goa, 2412), FM Nguyen Quoc Hy (Vietnam, 2418), IM Aronyak Ghosh (RSPB, 2544), GM Siddharth Jagadeesh (Singapore, 2516), and GM Nguyen Duc Hoa (Vietnam, 2359). Sayantan Das (WB, 2434) and Saravana Krishnan P. (KVB, 2244) are also among the top chasers, keeping the competition intense with six more rounds to play.
IM Tologon Tegin Semetei and IM S Nitin notched impressive wins in Round 4, with Semetei defeating IM Srihari LR (Tamil Nadu, 2494) and Nitin besting GM Boris Savchenko (Russia, 2481). GM Sethuraman maintained his streak by overcoming GM Marat Dzhumaev (Uzbekistan, 2364), while IM Slizhevsky defeated IM Ayush Sharma (Madhya Pradesh, 2469) to keep his perfect score intact.
In other key matches, GM Siddharth Jagadeesh beat IM Shahil Dey (Assam, 2374), moving to 3.5 points. The top-board clash between GM Nguyen Duc Hoa and GM Diptayan Ghosh ended in a hard-fought draw, keeping both players in the chasing pack.
Goan players shine
Goa’s IM Ethan Vaz continues to impress, defeating GM Laxman R.R. (ICF, 2303) in Round 4 to join the joint second-place group with 3.5 points. GM Anurag Mhamal (2499) secured a critical win against WIM Mrudul Dehankar (MAH, 2121) to reach 3 points. IM Ameya Audi (2422) added to Goa’s strong showing with a victory over GM Raset Ziatdinov (USA, 2031), bringing his tally to 2.5 points. IM Ritviz Parab (2371), despite a valiant effort, fell to GM Mitrabha Guha and currently has 2.5 points.
