The Chola Chess International GM Norm Round Robin Tournament 2026 began in Chennai on February 3, with IM Audi Ameya defeating GM Mahel Boyer of France in the only decisive result of the first round. The other four games ended in draws after competitive play. This FIDE-recognized event features six Indian international masters and four foreign grandmasters competing over nine rounds.
The tournament, hosted by Chola Chess in partnership with Chess Gurukul at the Chola Chess Centre in T. Nagar, aims to provide Indian players opportunities to earn grandmaster norms without traveling abroad. It runs from February 3 to 11, 2026, with a ₹2.5 lakh prize fund and classical time controls under FIDE regulations.
In the opening round, IM Audi Ameya (Goa), champion of the 2025 Ceske Budejovice IM Tournament, secured a win with black pieces against GM Mahel Boyer (France), winner of the 2025 Cappelle-la-Grande Open. A critical moment came on move 26, where Boyer missed Qd8+ and played Bc4?, allowing Ameya to convert the advantage in five moves through a strong attack.
The draws included tense battles. IM Harsh Suresh (Tamil Nadu), winner of the 2025 Paracin Open in Serbia, held GM Joseph Girel (France), a multiple-time French youth champion, in a rook-pawn endgame despite Girel's earlier advantage. IM Mayank Chakraborty (Assam), India's first IM from the North-East and winner of the 2026 Muscat Nights Blitz after defeating five GMs, defended solidly with black against GM Neuris Delgado Ramírez (Paraguay, peak rating 2636). GM Alisher Suleymenov (Kazakhstan), who defeated Magnus Carlsen in the 2023 Qatar Masters, drew with IM Aronyak Ghosh (West Bengal), who holds two GM norms and reached the second round of the 2025 FIDE World Cup. IM Ethan Vaz (Goa), the reigning National Junior U-19 Champion with two GM norms, drew against IM Akshay Borgaonkar (Maharashtra), who earned a gold at the 2025 Commonwealth Chess Championship U-16 Open.
Mr. Vellayan Subbiah of Chola Chess stated, “By hosting an event of international standards, Chola Chess is proud to provide young players with a platform to challenge themselves, learn, and grow.” Organizer R B Ramesh added, “This tournament has been carefully planned to give Indian players an authentic international playing experience while competing on home ground.” The second round begins on February 4 at 2 PM IST.
