Sakthi Group 41st, 42nd, 43rd & 44th Tamil Nadu IM Norm Closed Circuit Chess Tournaments – Chennai

• January 15, 2026
• in Chess, Chess Spotlights, Flash News, Tournament News

Sakthi Group 41^st, 42^nd, 43^rd & 44^th Tamil Nadu IM Norm Closed Circuit Chess Tournaments – Chennai

The 41^st to 44^th edition of Sakthi Group Tamil Nadu IM Norm Closed Circuit Chess Tournaments – Chennai was held at Hotel Royal Regency, Periamet, Chennai from 09.01.2026 to 14.01.2026.

The four champions were GM Aleksandrov Aleksej (Belarus) with 7.5 points, CM  Jaidambareesh N R (Tamil Nadu) 6.5 points, GM Fedorov Alexei (Belarus) with 7.5 points , GM Savenchenko Boris (Russia) of the 41^st,42^nd, 43^rd & 44^th tounaments respectively. All the champions carried home the winner’s purse of Rupees forty five thousand each.

Standings (top three finishers)

41^st IM Norm Tournament

1. GM Aleksandrov Aleksej (Belarus)      7.5  points
2. GM Gomez Sanchez Jorge Marcos (Cuba) 6.5 points
3. Vaibhav Jayant Raut (Maharastra) 5 points

42^nd IM Norm Tournament

1. CM Jaidambareesh N R (Tamil Nadu) 6.5 points
2. FM Jaiveer Mahendru (Maharastra) 6.5 points
3. FM Harshad S (Tamil Nadu)  6.5 points

43^rd IM Norm Tournament

1. GM Fedorov Alexei (Belarus)   7 points
2. IM Slizhevesky Alexander (Russia)  5.5 points
3. 3  IM   Tologon Tegin Semetei (Krygystan)    5.5 points

44^th IM Norm Tournament

1.GM Savchenko Boris (Russia)    7.5 points

2.CM Madhvenra Pratap Sharma (Madhya Pradesh) 7 points

3. GM Nguyen Van Huy (Vietnam) 5 points

At the end of the final round, five players have accomplished the task of securing International Master norms to fulfill the purpose of organizing this circuit event.   42^nd event was the maximum beneficiary out of all four events. Three players have obtained their norms from this event.  FM Harshad S has completed his fourth norm and completed International Master Title requirements here after crossing the  required rating mark of 2400. FM Jaiveer Mahendru (Maharastra) caused a mild flutter in the final round when he halted the dream run of Harshad S to target 6.5 points to secure his IM norm. CM Jaidambareesh N R (Tamil Nadu) also earned 6.5 points to earn his maiden norm. From the 44^th event, School boy CM Madhvenra Pratap Sharma (Madhya Pradesh) mustered 7 points needed to get his first IM Norm. WFM Nivedita V.C (Tamil Nadu) also reached 4.5 points to get her second WIM norm.

Chief Guest of the award giving ceremony Shri. Jothi Kumaran K, Former Secretary General, Indian Hockey Federation felicitated the winners in the presence of Shri. D V Sundar, former Vice President, FIDE, Grandmaster Shyam Sundar, Woman Grandmaster Aarthie Ramesh and Shri. Murugavel B, Vice President, TNSCA, Shri. Stephen Balasamy P, General Secretary, TNSCA and other office bearers of Tamil Nadu State Chess Association were also present.

GM Aleksandrov Aleksej (Belarus) – 41st IM Norm Champion

CM Jaidambareesh N R (Tamil Nadu) – 42nd IM Norm Champion

GM Fedorov Alexei (Belarus) – 43rd IM Norm Champion

GM Savchenko Boris (Russia) – 44th Im norm Champion