Top Seed Dmitriy Khegay Claims Sole Leadership in Round 7: 5th Blue Chevaliers Open Round 8 Preview

Round 7 of the 5th Blue Chevaliers International Open 2026 at the Novotel Phuket Resort in Patong Beach, Thailand, broke open the four-way logjam at the summit. Top seed GM Dmitriy Khegay emerged as the sole tournament leader as the competition enters its critical penultimate stage.

Round 7 Recap: Khegay Strikes on Board 1

• Board 1 Deciser: Top seed GM Dmitriy Khegay (2504) secured a crucial White victory over co-leader GM M.R. Venkatesh (2335), breaking away from the field to reach 6.0 / 7.0 points.
• Board 2 Split: Vietnamese GM Van Huy Nguyen (2348) and Indian IM Nubairshah Shaikh Mohammad (2387) fought to a hard-earned draw, moving both players to 5.5 / 7.0 points in shared second place.
• Pursuit Group Draws: Boards 3 through 6 all ended in draws, including A Qil A Lauddin Abd Aziz vs. GM Fabien Libiszewski, IM Devaki V. Prasad vs. GM David C. Smerdon, FM Varun Gampa Aditya vs. Neelabhro Bandyopadhyay, and Tran Pham Quang Minh vs. GM Harmen Jonkman.
• Climbers to 5.0 Points: Arsens Batashevs, FM Nikolai Val. Makarov, FM Ngoc Lan Tran, and Andrey Morin all scored Round 7 victories to join the 5.0-point chasing pack.

Current Standings After Round 7

• Sole Leader (6.0 Points): GM Dmitriy Khegay (FID)
• Shared 2nd Place (5.5 Points): GM Van Huy Nguyen (VIE) and IM Nubairshah Shaikh Mohammad (IND)
• Chasing Pack (5.0 Points): GM Fabien Libiszewski, GM David C. Smerdon, FM Jack Rodgers, GM M.R. Venkatesh, Arsens Batashevs, FM Ngoc Lan Tran, FM Varun Gampa Aditya, GM Harmen Jonkman, Andrey Morin, IM Devaki V. Prasad, A Qil A Lauddin Abd Aziz, Neelabhro Bandyopadhyay, and FM Nikolai Val. Makarov.

Round 8 Outlook: High-Stakes Penultimate Battles

With only two rounds remaining in this 9-round Swiss tournament, Round 8 presents critical matchups across the top boards:

• Board 1: IM Nubairshah Shaikh Mohammad (5.5) vs. GM Dmitriy Khegay (6.0)
• Board 2: GM Fabien Libiszewski (5.0) vs. GM Van Huy Nguyen (5.5)
• Board 3: FM Jack Rodgers (5.0) vs. GM David C. Smerdon (5.0)
• Board 4: GM M.R. Venkatesh (5.0) vs. Arsens Batashevs (5.0)
• Board 8: Neelabhro Bandyopadhyay (5.0) vs. FM Nikolai Val. Makarov (5.0)

How the Leaderboard Can Shift in Round 8

1. Khegay Wins: A victory on Board 1 takes Dmitriy Khegay to 7.0 / 8.0, giving him a commanding lead heading into the final round.
2. Nubairshah Upsets Khegay: A White victory for IM Nubairshah moves him to 6.5 points, taking over first place (or sharing it if GM Nguyen wins on Board 2).
3. Chasing Pack Surge: If Board 1 ends in a draw, a win by GM Van Huy Nguyen on Board 2 would tie him for the lead at 6.5 points. Meanwhile, any winners from the 13-player 5.0-point pack will reach 6.0 points, setting up a multi-way final-round sprint for the title!
   
   Top 20 standings so far:
   
   

   🏆 CHESS STANDINGS 🏆

   1. GM Dmitriy Khegay 🇫🇮 — 6.0

   2. GM Van Huy Nguyen 🇻🇳 — 5.5

   3. IM Nubairshah Shaikh Mohammad 🇮🇳 — 5.5

   4. Neelabhro Bandyopadhyay 🇮🇳 — 5.0

   5. IM Devaki V. Prasad 🇮🇳 — 5.0

   6. GM M.R. Venkatesh 🇮🇳 — 5.0

   7. GM David C. Smerdon 🇦🇺 — 5.0

   8. Arsens Batashevs 🇱🇻 — 5.0

   9. FM Jack Rodgers 🇦🇺 — 5.0

   10. FM Nikolai Val. Makarov 🇫🇮 — 5.0

   11. A Qil A Lauddin Abd Aziz 🇲🇾 — 5.0

   12. FM Varun Gampa Aditya 🇮🇳 — 5.0

   13. FM Ngoc Lan Tran 🇻🇳 — 5.0

   14. Tran Pham Quang Minh 🇻🇳 — 5.0

   15. GM Harmen Jonkman 🇳🇱 — 5.0

   16. GM Fabien Libiszewski 🇫🇷 — 5.0

   17. Andrey Morin 🇫🇮 — 5.0

   18. FM Ankit Gajwa 🇮🇳 — 4.5

   19. FM Nicolas Grandadam 🇨🇭 — 4.5

   20. CM Ashirwad Swain 🇮🇳 — 4.5

   
   

♟️