Abhijeet Gupta, Aswath S and Kushagra Mohan register crucial wins in Round 8 of Pune International Grandmaster Round Robin Chess Tournament

Pune, 7th July 2026: Top seed Grandmaster Abhijeet Gupta strengthened his grip on the leaderboard with a commanding victory in the eighth round of the Pune International Grandmaster Round Robin Chess Tournament, organised by Buddhibal Kreeda Trust and sponsored by The Habitat. Indian International Masters Aswath S and Kushagra Mohan also posted impressive victories to remain firmly in contention for the title.

With one round remaining, Abhijeet Gupta leads the standings with 6.5 points, while Aswath S and Kushagra Mohan are placed second and third respectively with 6.0 points each. The ninth and final round, to be played on July 8, will decide the champion, with all three Indians still in the title race.

At The Fern Habitat, Mundhwa, Kushagra Mohan produced another impressive performance to defeat Sri Lanka’s IM L.M.S.T. De Silva. Playing with the white pieces, Kushagra opened with the Ruy Lopez variation, while De Silva opted for the Spanish Opening. Despite briefly allowing his opponent an opportunity with an inaccurate move, Kushagra kept his composure. As the game entered the rook endgame, De Silva committed a decisive error, allowing Kushagra to seize the advantage and convert it into a well-earned victory.

On the top board, Abhijeet Gupta outplayed IM Vaidyanathan Kannan (USA) in convincing fashion. Aswath S defeated fellow Indian IM Akshay Borgaonkar, while IM Nitish Belurkar produced an excellent fighting draw against Belarusian Grandmaster Aleksandrov, Aleksej after a hard-fought encounter.

Aswath S, currently second in the standings, will secure his Grandmaster title if he wins the final-round game. Kushagra Mohan, meanwhile, is one victory away from earning a coveted Grandmaster Norm. Pune’s FIDE Master Advik Agarwal also delivered an impressive performance by holding experienced Grandmaster Fedorov Alexei to a draw.

Earlier, the eighth-round proceedings were inaugurated by Mr. Kishor Desai, Managing Director of Kishor Pumps. Also present were Chief Arbiter R. Srivatsan, Deputy Chief Arbiter IA Atharva Godbole, and IA Deepti Shidore.

Before the start of play, players and officials observed a minute’s silence to pay tribute to veteran chess administrator Prakash Kunte, who passed away earlier in the day.

Results: Round Robin 8th Round:
IM Kushagra Mohan(1pts)(Ind)bt IM De Silva LMST(0pts)(Slr);
GM Abhijeet Gupta(1pts)(Ind) bt FM Vaidyanathan Kannan(0pts)(USA);
IM Aswath S(1pts)(Ind) bt IM Akshay Borgaonkar(0pts);
IM Nitish Belurkar(0.5pts)(Ind) drew with GM Aleksandrov, Aleksej(0.5pts)(Blr);
GM Fedorov Alexei(0.5pts)(Blr) drew with
FM Advik Agrawal(0.5pts)(Ind);