2nd seed Grandmaster Abhijeet Gupta of PSPB in sole lead after defeating International Master Koustav Chatterjee of West Bengal, Top seed Grandmaster Sethuraman SP of PSPB defeated Grandmaster Deep Sengupta of PSPB.After the 5th Round GM Abhijeet Gupta leading the tournament with 5 points followed by GM Sethuraman SP, GM Mitrabha Guha, GM Visakh NR & IM Aronyak Ghosh.
Ranking Crosstable after Round 5
| Rank | Name | Rtg | Club | Type | Pts | |
| 1 | GM | Gupta Abhijeet | 2601 | PSPB | 5 | |
| 2 | IM | Aronyak Ghosh | 2521 | RSPB | U20 | 4½ |
| 3 | GM | Mitrabha Guha | 2487 | West Bengal | 4½ | |
| 4 | GM | Sethuraman S.P. | 2642 | PSPB | 4½ | |
| 5 | GM | Visakh N R | 2544 | RSPB | 4½ | |
| 6 | GM | Iniyan P | 2507 | Tamil Nadu | U20 | 4 |
| 7 | IM | Koustav Chatterjee | 2508 | West Bengal | U20 | 4 |
| 8 | Dere Pushkar | 2114 | Maharashtra | U20 | 4 | |
| 9 | IM | Kushagra Mohan | 2390 | Telangana | U18 | 4 |
| 10 | Sahoo Utkal Ranjan | 2333 | Odisha | 4 | ||
| 11 | Hari Madhavan N B | 2385 | Tamil Nadu | U20 | 4 | |
| 12 | IM | Mehar Chinna Reddy C.H. | 2405 | RSPB | 4 | |
| 13 | GM | Mendonca Leon Luke | 2566 | Goa | U16 | 4 |
| 14 | IM | Ratnakaran K. | 2304 | RSPB | 4 | |
| 15 | Garv Rai | 2181 | Delhi | U16 | 4 | |
| 16 | Bharadia Yash | 2117 | Rajasthan | U14 | 4 | |
| 17 | GM | Venkatesh M.R. | 2459 | PSPB | 4 |
Round 3 : 1st Chola Chess International Grandmaster Norm Round Robin Tournament 2026, Chennai. 
Day 2:1st Chola Chess International Grandmaster Norm Closed Circuit Chess Tournament, Chennai 
Fide Arbiter Seminar in Pune 28 Feb -02 March 2026 & Thoothukudi 07-09 March 2026 
First Chola chess International GM Norm Round Robin Tournament in form Chennai from 02 February to 11 February 2026. 
Live games link for First Chola chess International GM Norm Round Robin Tournament 2026 
Announcement : Medical Evaluation in Chennai on 27 & 28 February 2026.