8th Salamanca Chess Festival 2025 R4: Pranav Venkatesh maintains his sole lead

by Shahid Ahmed - 24/10/2025

The reigning World Junior 2025 champion, GM Pranav Venkatesh won a back and forth battle in the fourth round of 8th Salamanca Chess Festival 2025. Pranav got a substantial advantage in the middlegame. However, his opponent, WGM Nadya Toncheva (BUL) kept fighting and getting herself back in the game. Eventually, she made the final mistake and lost. The Latin America legend, GM Julio Granda (PER) scored his first win of the event against IM Sabrina Vega Gutierrez (ESP). Former World Champion, GM Ruslan Ponomariov (UKR) defeated IM Sara Khadem (ESP) to stay a half point behind the sole leader at 3/4. Three rounds of Rapid games will be played today. Round 5 starts at 4 p.m. local time, 7:30 p.m. IST. Photo: Universidad de Salamanca. Comunicación Alumni - USAL

Ponomariov in pursuit

The tournament is organized by Universidad de Salamanca at Centro Internacional del Español - Edificio Banco de España (Salamanca), the 'Cradle of Modern Chess' in Salamanca, Spain.

Nadya - Pranav: 0-1

GM Pranav Venkatesh (2563) opted for the Scandinavian Defence against WGM Nadya Toncheva (BUL, 2332). He won a back and forth battle.

GM Pranav Venkatesh won a back and forth battle against WGM Nadya Toncheva (BUL) | Photo: Universidad de Salamanca. Comunicación Alumni - USAL

GM Julio Granda (PER) - IM Sabrina Vega Gutierrez (ESP): 1-0 | Photo: Universidad de Salamanca. Comunicación Alumni - USAL

GM Ruslan Ponomariov (UKR) - IM Sara Khadem (ESP): 1-0 | Photo: Universidad de Salamanca. Comunicación Alumni - USAL

Round 4 in progress | Photo: Universidad de Salamanca. Comunicación Alumni - USAL

Replay live stream

Replay 8th Salamanca Chess Festival 2025 Round 4 Live Commentary | Video: Alumni - USAL

Format

The tournament will be held in a six-player double round-robin format. The time control will be 30 minutes + 5 seconds increment and it will be rapid rating event.

Schedule

Round 1-3 will be played on 22nd October at 4 p.m., 5:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. local time, 7:30 p.m., 9 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. IST. On Thursday 23rd October, there will be only one game. Round 4 will take place at 12:30 p.m. local time, 4 p.m. IST. Round 5-7 will take place on 25th October at 4 p.m., 5:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. local time, 7:30 p.m., 9 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. IST. Round 8-10 will be held on 26th October at 4 p.m., 5:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. local time, 7:30 p.m., 9 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. IST.

Round 4 results

Bo.	No.	Rtg		White	Result		Black	Rtg	No.	PGN
1	6	2624	GM	Granda Zuniga, Julio E	1 - 0	IM	Vega Gutierrez, Sabrina	2362	5	PGN
2	1	2635	GM	Ponomariov, Ruslan	1 - 0	IM	Khademalsharieh, Sarasadat	2444	4	PGN
3	2	2332	WGM	Toncheva, Nadya	0 - 1	GM	Pranav, V	2641	3	PGN

Details

Standings after Round 4

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	3	GM	Pranav, V	IND	2641	3,5	0	3	7,00
2	1	GM	Ponomariov, Ruslan	UKR	2635	3	0	3	4,50
3	4	IM	Khademalsharieh, Sarasadat	ESP	2444	2	0	2	2,00
4	2	WGM	Toncheva, Nadya	BUL	2332	1,5	0	1	1,50
5	6	GM	Granda Zuniga, Julio E	PER	2624	1	1	1	1,00
6	5	IM	Vega Gutierrez, Sabrina	ESP	2362	1	0	0	2,50

Details

Round 5-7 pairings

Round 5 on 2025/10/24 at 16:00
Bo.	No.	Rtg		White	Result		Black	Rtg	No.	PGN
1	3	2641	GM	Pranav, V		GM	Granda Zuniga, Julio E	2624	6
2	4	2444	IM	Khademalsharieh, Sarasadat		WGM	Toncheva, Nadya	2332	2
3	5	2362	IM	Vega Gutierrez, Sabrina		GM	Ponomariov, Ruslan	2635	1
Round 6 on 2025/10/24 at 17:30
Bo.	No.	Rtg		White	Result		Black	Rtg	No.	PGN
1	6	2624	GM	Granda Zuniga, Julio E		GM	Ponomariov, Ruslan	2635	1
2	5	2362	IM	Vega Gutierrez, Sabrina		WGM	Toncheva, Nadya	2332	2
3	4	2444	IM	Khademalsharieh, Sarasadat		GM	Pranav, V	2641	3
Round 7 on 2025/10/24 at 19:00
Bo.	No.	Rtg		White	Result		Black	Rtg	No.	PGN
1	4	2444	IM	Khademalsharieh, Sarasadat		GM	Granda Zuniga, Julio E	2624	6
2	3	2641	GM	Pranav, V		IM	Vega Gutierrez, Sabrina	2362	5
3	2	2332	WGM	Toncheva, Nadya		GM	Ponomariov, Ruslan	2635	1

Details

Links

Tournament Regulations

Salamanca Chess: Official site, fb page, twitter and instagram

Festival Internacional de Ajedrez Salamanca: twitter and instagram

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