Gireman Ja outright winner of Sakthi Group 36th Tamil Nadu IM-norm RR 2025, Vivaan Vishal Shah third

by R Anantharam - 29/11/2025

CM Gireman Ja scored an unbeaten 7/9 to win Sakthi Group 36th Tamil Nadu IM-norm Round-Robin 2025. He finished a half point ahead of the rest. Gireman also scored his maiden IM-norm at this event. GM Evgeniy Podolchenko scored sole 6.5/9 to secure second place. FM Vivaan Vishal Shah edged past IM Diasmany Otero Acosta (CUB) on tie-breaks to finish third scoring 5.5/9. The top three prizes were US$ 500, $300 and $200 each. Check out the tournament report written by revered International Arbiter, IA R Anatharam. Photo: IA R Anantharam

Gireman earns his maiden IM-norm

Gireman Ja of Coimbatore was the outright winner of the Sakthi Group 36th Tamil Nadu IM-norm Round-Robin Tournament, scoring seven points in nine rounds. He drew with GM Evgeniy Podolchenko in the final round to score seven points and also achieve the coveted maiden IM-norm, besides a cash prize of US$ 500.

Gireman Ja receives the trophy from Grandmaster Iniyan Pa and R Rajesh, Chairman Arbiters' Commission, AICF. Next to Iniyan is Dr. M Manickam, President of Tamil Nadu State Chess Association | Photo: IA R Anantharam

Grandmaster Podolchenko is the only player to have scored 6.5 points to get the second rank and also US$ 300.

GM Evgeniy Podolchenko collects his prize money from GM Iniyan Pa | Photo: IA R Anantharam

13-year-old VIvaan Vishal Shah of Gujarat had a slow start and picked up momentum to score 5.5 points, on par with IM Diasmany Otero Acosta (CUB). As Vivaan defeated Diasmany in the final round, he won the third place, ahead of Diasmany.

Vivaan Vishal Shah of Gujarat won the third place and also US$ 200 | Photo: IA R Anantharam

Arising out of the Ruy Lopez opening, Vivaan lost three pawns in the middlegame against Hari Ganesh and could not escape from the loss | Photo: IA R Anantharam

Gireman's two bishops posed a constant threat to IM Palenciao of Colombia, who could not avoid the loss of queen or checkmate

CM Gireman Ja scored an unbeaten 7/9, finished a half point ahead of others, performed at 2482 to earn his maiden IM-norm and also increased his Elo rating by 60.2 points

Vivaan Vishal Shah threw caution to the wind in the middlegame and paid the penalty to IM Raul Claverie (ARG) in the third round | Photo: Sakthi Prabhakar

Debutant CM A Kumaresh, a former Silver medalist in the World Amateur championship, gained advantage against another debutant FM Jaiveer Mahendru of Maharashtra in the opening phase, but brought the game to neutral by hurrying to promote his pawn. Jaiveer akso made a blunder in the very next move to hand over the game to Kumaresh. | Photo: IA R Anantharam

Many mistakes by both FM Jaiveer Mahendru and IM Raul Claevrie (ARG) ended in favour of the Indian player | Photo: IA R Anantharam

In the Philidor defence by IM Oblitas, Gireman trapped the opponent’s queen by a nice knight sacrifice. Gireman converted the winning advantage into a comfortable win, with consummate ease. | Photo: IA R Anantharam

A wrong pawn sacrifice by IM Carlomagno Oblitas (PER) tilted the game in favour of Hari Ganesh T | Photo: IA R Anantharam

The tournament was inaugurated by Dr. M Manickam, President, Tamil Nadu State Chess Association, whose brainchild is the Sakthi Group Tamil Nadu IM-norm Closed Circuit Tournaments.

Inauguration by Dr.M Manickam, President, Tamil Nadu State Chess Association. Mr. D V Sundar, former Vice President, FIDE and Mr. P Stephen Balasamy, General Secretary, TNSCA are present at the center | Photo: IA R Anantharam

The innovative idea of Dr. Manickam has revolutionized the Indian chess, with 22 IM norms from 36 tournaments. Many players who have participated in the series have already become International Masters, Grandmasters, and age category World Champions, attributing their success to these tournaments. The latest addition to the Indian IMs list is Apoorv Kamble of Karnataka, who achieved two IM norms in Tournaments 32 and 34 and also reached the coveted 2400 here.

Replay all games

Final standings

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	6	CM	Gireman, Ja	IND	2218	7	0	28,25	5
2	4	GM	Podolchenko, Evgeniy	BLR	2341	6,5	0	26,5	4
3	3	FM	Vivaan, Vishal Shah	IND	2331	5,5	1	21,75	5
4	7	IM	Otero Acosta, Diasmany	CUB	2306	5,5	2	21,75	3
5	8		Hari, Ganesh T	IND	2144	4,5	0	19,25	2
6	9	CM	Kumaresh, A	IND	2248	4	0	14,25	2
7	10	IM	Palencia Morales, Wilson Guillermo	COL	2229	3,5	0	13,5	2
8	5	FM	Jaiveer, Mahendru	IND	2270	3	1	9,5	2
9	1	IM	Claverie, Raul	ARG	2164	3	2	14,5	1
10	2	IM	Oblitas, Carlomagno	PER	2321	2,5	0	11,25	0

Details

About the Author

Prof. Rathinam Anantharam is an A-grade international arbiter. Member of FIDE Arbiters’ Commission, Chairman of Titles Commission in All India Chess Federation, Vice President of Tamil Nadu State Chess Association, Chief Arbiter for six world championships, many Asian, International and National Championships. Nominated as one of the top seven arbiters in the world for the past hundred years by FIDE.

The report was edited by Shahid Ahmed