First Chola Chess International GM Norm Round Robin Tournament 2026 starts today

by Devansh Singh - 03/02/2026

The First Chola Chess International Grandmasters Norm Round Robin Tournament 2026 kicks off today in Chennai. It is a FIDE-rated international chess tournament hosted at Chola Chess, Chennai. The event is conducted under FIDE laws of chess and provides a structured, professional platform for players to pursue Grandmaster norms through a competitive round robin format. The opening ceremony and drawing of lots for the tournament took place yesterday in Chennai. The event will be played from 3rd to 11th February 2026. The 1st round starts today at 2 PM IST. Photos: Himank Ghosh

India's first GM norm closed tournament

The First Chola Chess International Grandmasters Norm Round Robin Tournament 2026 is organized by Chola Chess, an initiative of Chola Foundation, in partnership with Chess Gurukul. 10 Players will play a single round against each other in this 9-day round-robin format event. The objective of the event is to provide a strong platform to facilitate Indian players to get a chance to make GM norms playing within India.

Not all the players were present in the opening ceremony yesterday, so during the drawing of lots, Tamil Nadu State Chess Association secretary and 2 people from chola chess team joined in for the draw of lots. Another important piece of information about the event is: 6/9 points are needed for GM norm for all except Aronyak Ghosh and Vaz Ethan; they will need 6.5/9 points to make GM norm.

Check out some photos from the wonderful venue

The Battlefield!!

Do you know your Grandmasters??

Chola Chess invites you....

Photos from the opening ceremony and drawing of lots

Players after the drawing of lots is done

Chola Chess Mentor GM R.B. Ramesh talking with players

Officials

IM Harsh Suresh during the drawing of lots

An old picture of Chola Chess Mentor GM R.B. Ramesh and the man who sparked India’s chess boom, five-time World Champion Viswanathan Anand. | Photo: Sagar Shah

Starting rank of players

No.		Name	FideID	FED	Rtg
8	IM	Aronyak, Ghosh	25072846	IND	2533
5	IM	Vaz, Ethan	25940783	IND	2518
2	GM	Delgado Ramirez, Neuris	3503631	PAR	2511
3	GM	Suleymenov, Alisher	13707833	KAZ	2500
1	GM	Girel, Joseph	36033561	FRA	2499
4	GM	Boyer, Mahel	45102422	FRA	2486
9	IM	Mayank, Chakraborty	25659766	IND	2473
10	IM	Harsh, Suresh	45018464	IND	2443
7	IM	Audi, Ameya	25034430	IND	2418
6	IM	Borgaonkar, Akshay	25639110	IND	2381

Round 1 Pairing

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