Young Indians impress as Delhi GM Open 2025 chess tournament gets underway

NEW DELHI: The Delhi International Open Grandmasters Chess Tournament 2025 commenced today at Tivoli Gardens, featuring remarkable first-round results. In a notable upset, Vairaj Sogerwal (1869) secured a victory against Armenia's GM Karen H Grigoryan (2520). Additionally, young Meetansh Dixit (1874) achieved an impressive draw against Georgian GM Levan Pantsulaia (2551), highlighting the emerging talent at the event.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!GM Narayanan S L (2600), the tournament's top seed, secured a victory against Singapore's Sai Siddharth (1876). Indian GMs Diptayan Ghosh and Abhijeet Gupta, alongside Armenia's GM Manuel Petrosyan, also recorded victories on the opening day.Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Shri Parvesh Verma presided over the inauguration, accompanied by Shri Dhruv Sawhney, Chairman of Triveni and former President of the All India Chess Federation (AICF), along with other officials and chess personalities. Shri Verma acknowledged India's chess development and assured continued support for international chess competitions.The tournament's 21st edition has established itself as Asia's premier classical-format open chess competition, attracting over 2,500 participants from more than 20 countries, including 24 Grandmasters. The event offers a substantial prize fund of Rs 1.21 crore and serves as a significant platform for developing chess talent.Additional Round 1 victories were secured by GM Luka Paichadze, GM Vitaly Sivuk, GM Mihail Nikitenko, GM Karthik Venkataraman, GM Aditya S Samant, GM Mamikon Gharibyan, and IM Aronyak Ghosh (2510).The women's section features WFM Tanishka Kotia, WCM Sanskruti Wankhade, and WCM Nanditha V, who encountered challenging starts but are anticipated to improve as the tournament continues. Conducted under the All India Chess Federation's supervision, the Delhi GM Open has become Asia's largest classical-format chess competition by participation numbers.