The 15-year-old Kush Agarwal, with an ELO of 1458, achieved his finest performance to date by securing a draw against Raghav Srivathsav, the 2nd seed and overnight joint leader, ELO of 1980, in the 4th round of the ongoing 360 One Wealth All India Grand Prix Chess Series, organised by Indian Chess School at the Russian Centre for Science & Culture.
Playing white, Kush opened with his king pawn to which Raghav opted for the Pirc/Modern defense. The game led to a sharp middlegame and Raghav skillfully alleviated the pressure by exchanging pieces and gained some initiative in the endgame with his advanced king. However, he overlooked a straightforward winning continuation, allowing Kush to escape by exchanging the remaining pieces. After 56 moves, the players agreed to a draw.
On board 2, Amardeep Bartakke, the reigning National Amateur Chess Champion, swiftly defeated young Ishan Tendolkar from the white side of the Caro-Kann defense in just 39 moves, propelling himself to the top of the table.
Arnav Koli, Sanjeev Mishra, and Yash Kapadi secured victories against their respective opponents, earning four points each and joining Amardeep at the top of the standings.
Trailing the leaders by half a point are five players, among them top-seeded International Master Vikramaditya Kulkarni, Raghav Srivathsav, Arnav Kherdekar, Abhijit Joglekar, and Kush Agarwal.
Key Results of Round 4:
Kush Agarwal (3½) drew (3½) Raghav Srivathsav
Bartakke A (4) beat (3) Ishaan Tendolkar
Soni Deepak (3) lost to (4) Arnav Koli
Mishra Sanjeev (4) beat (3) Shreyas Kaushik
Kapadi Yash (4) beat (3) Kadkade Ameya
Kulkarni V (3½) beat (2½) Devesh Ambre
Yuti Patel (2½) lost to (3½) Kherdekar Arnav
Agraval S (2½) lost to (3½) Joglekar Abhijit
Sunil Vaidya (3) beat (2½) Reyaansh Venkat
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