Ten-Year-Old Gurugrahan Gurumoorthi Draws Grand Master in St. Louis

Bill Broich, NTD, IA

Milwaukee ten-year-old Gurugrahan Gurumoorthi, a frequent visitor to Iowa chess events, secured a draw with three-time World Open Championship GM Varuzhen Akobian in the second round of the Beckstead Family Open Championship held September 19-21, 2025, at the Chase Hotel in St. Louis Missouri. GM Akobian, an accomplished chess player having played on two American Olympia Teams capturing two bronze metals and rose to the fifth highest rated chess player in the United States in 2014. Earlier this year Gurumoorthi defeated GM Dmitry Gurevich in the US Amateur Team North held in Schaumburg, Illinois February 21-23, 2025. GM Gurevich has won the US Open Championship four times and the US Master Chess Championship twice.

Gurumoorthi draws GM Akobian

2025 Beckstead Family Open Championship, 20.09.2025

 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Bb4+ 4.Nbd2 b6 5.a3 Bxd2+ 6.Qxd2 Bb7 7.g3 d5 8.cxd5 Bxd5 9.Bg2 0–0 10.0–0 Nbd7 11.b4 a5 12.b5 c5 13.bxc6 Bxc6 14.a4 Qc7 15.Qb2 Qb7 16.Bg5 Rac8 17.Bxf6 Nxf6 18.Rfb1 Nd7 19.Ne1 Qa6 20.e4 Qa8 21.Qe2 Rfd8 22.Nc2 Bb7 23.Rb2 Rc3 24.Na3 Rdc8 25.h3 Nf6 26.d5 exd5 27.e5 Ne4 28.Rxb6 Qa7 29.Qb2 Ba8 30.Rb1 Qd7 31.Rb8 Rxb8 32.Qxb8+ Rc8 33.Qb5 Qf5 34.Qb2 Nc3 35.Re1 Nxa4 36.Qd4 Nc3 37.Kh2 Ne4 38.Nb5 h5 39.Nd6 Nxd6 40.exd6 Rd8 41.Re5 Qf6 42.Bxd5 Bxd5 43.Rxd5 Qxd4 44.Rxd4 a4 45.Rxa4 Rxd6

               Gurugrahan Gurumoorthi and GM Var Akobian. Photo by Guru Gurumoorthi

Gurumoorthi defeats GM Gurevich

North America Team Amature 22–23Feb: GM Dmitry Gurevich 2439 0 GG 1869 1, 22.02.2025

 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 0–0 5.Bd3 d5 6.cxd5 exd5 7.Nge2 c6 8.0–0 Re8 9.f3 Nbd7 10.a3 Ba5 11.b4 Bb6 12.Kh1 Nf8 13.Bc2 Bc7 14.e4 dxe4 15.fxe4 Ng4 16.h3 Qh4 17.Qe1 Qxe1 18.Rxe1 Nf6 19.Bg5 Nh5 20.Rf1 Ne6 21.Be3 g5 22.e5 Rd8 23.Ne4 Nhf4 24.Nf6+ Kg7 25.Bxf4 gxf4 26.Rad1 Bb6 27.d5 cxd5 28.Nxd5 Bd7 29.Nexf4 Nxf4 30.Nxf4 Rac8 31.Bb3 Bb5 32.e6 Bxf1 33.Rxf1 Bc7 34.e7 Re8 35.Nd5 Bd6 36.Ne3 Bxe7 37.Rxf7+ Kg6 38.Rf1 Rf8 39.Rb1 Bg5 40.Nc4 Rf2 41.Kg1 Re2 42.Kf1 Re7 43.Rd1 Rf8+ 44.Kg1 Bf4 45.g4 b5 46.Nd6 Be3+ 47.Kg2 Rf2+ 48.Kg3 Rb2 49.Rd3 Bf2+ 50.Kf3 Bh4 51.Ne4 Re8 52.Rd6+ Kg7 53.Be6 Rf8+ 54.Bf5 Rb3+ 55.Kf4 Rxa3 56.g5 Be1 57.g6 hxg6 58.Rxg6+ Kh8 59.Rh6+ Kg7 60.Rh7+ Kg8 61.Rb7 Bxb4 62.Kg5 Ra6 63.Rxb5 Be7+ 64.Kf4 Rh6

              Gurugrahan Gurumoorthi and GM Dmitry Gurevich. Photo by Guru Gurumoorthi

Young Gurumoorthi has competed in 145 chess events as of this article and thanks to his supportive parents, he has played in sixteen different states. He played his first over-the-board tournament 5-23-2021 in Ohio and received a provisional rating of 567. By January 1, 2022, his rating was 1141, on January 1, 2023, it was 1320, on January 1, 2024, it was 1645, and January 1, 2025, it rose to 1908. As of the date of this article his rating is 2070. Gurugrahan is currently number 12 in the US in the age 10 category. For 9-1-2025. 

Gurugrahan said his favorite chess players are Vishy Anand and Magnus Carlsen. He plays the London System with the White pieces, and he plays the Sicilian Defense against e4, and the Nimzo Indian Defense against d4. When I asked him about his best tournament he responded, “My best tournament so far I feel is the Indianapolis Open Tournament 2025 because I crossed 2100 USCF milestone and also I got my norm based Candidate Master Title with a score of 3.5/5 and also I got a chance to play in the Illinois Open 2025 where I had an opportunity to play against GM Praveen Balakrishnan for the very first round at the Major Section.” Gurugrahan said he is most proud of his games against GM

G Gurevich and GM Akobian.

Gurugrahan is a fifth grader and in addition to chess, he enjoys keyboarding, riding his bike, playing word games, and playing with his friends. His favorite subject in school is math. When asked about his favorite food, Gurugrahan responded, “Anything mom cooks!” Gurugrahan’s dad, Guru, is IT employee in Software Industry and his mother is primarily a chess companion and a personal coach for Gurugrahan and works as a substitute teacher for schools.