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Diptayan, Abhijeet and Pranesh in the title fray of 18th Delhi GM Open 2020

by Shahid Ahmed - 15/01/2020

Aleksej Aleksandrov maintained his sole lead with a score of 7.0/8, by making a short draw with compatriot Alexei Fedorov. Abhijeet Gupta defeated Himal Gusain after the latter made an incorrect bishop exchange. Diptayan converted his decent advantage in the middle game against Lokesh N. 14-year old Pranesh M continued his fantastic run as he defeated Adam Tukhaev by double piece sacrifice and scored his second IM-norm. He is on the verge of scoring his maiden GM-norm. All players and officials maintained a two-minute silence to mourn the loss of former AICF Secretary General P T Ummer Koya | Photo: Niklesh Jain

Three Indians stay in the hunt

The All-Belarusian game between GM Aleksej Aleksandrov (2592) and GM Alexei Fedorov (2592) was a quick draw in just 13 moves.

IM Himal Gusain (2401) had a decent advantage against GM Abhijeet Gupta (2603) in the middlegame, but he made an incorrect bishop exchange at the wrong time and all advantage faded.

Mr.Commonwealth Abhijeet Gupta is back at the top | Photo: Niklesh Jain

Abhijeet - Himal

Himal made the mistake of exchanging bishops with 38...Ba4

After the exchange of bishops, things turned very quickly into Abhijeet's favor.

Position after 42.Qe6

Black could have still maintained some sort of equality with correct play here, however Himal made the mistake of playing 42...Kf8 which gave white the opportunity to gain further advantage.

GM Vishnu Prasanna (2474) grabbed one pawn too many and that cost him the game against GM Jose Eduardo Martinez (2606).

It was not Vishnu's day | Photo: Niklesh Jain

Vishnu - Martinez

Why 28.Qxa7 is a mistake?

GM Nodirbek Yakubboev (2597) scored a fine victory over IM Florian Kaczur (2485) after the latter sacrificed three pawns without any compensation.

Yakubboev is slowly getting back at the top| Photo: Niklesh Jain

IM Neelash Saha (2356) held GM Ivan Rozum (2573) to a draw comfortably.

Neelash became an IM at Delhi Open last year, this year also he is having a good run | Photo: Shahid Ahmed

GM Diptayan Ghosh (2550) got a decent advantage in the middle game and he had no trouble converting it into a win.

Diptayan after moving to Delhi for his higher studies is doing fantastic | Photo: Niklesh Jain

14-year old Pranesh M (2317) continues his impressive run and scores another fantastic victory over GM Adam Tukhaev (2548). Pranesh also scored his second IM-norm and he is on the verge of scoring his maiden GM-norm.

Watch out for the profusely talented Pranesh who is on the verge of becoming an IM | Photo: Niklesh Jain

Tukhaev - Pranesh

Position after 15.f4

How do you think Black should react here?

Position after 16.fxe5

Black has already given up a knight, how should Black continue after 16.fxe5 ?

Position after 22.Nd2

White's final mistake in the game was 22.Nd2. Find out why

GM Stupak Kirill (2506) punished GM Karthik Venkataraman's (2479) extreme passive play.

GM Stanislav Bogdanovich's (2562) poor form continued as FM Ameya Audi (2359) defeated him with sharp play. Bogdanovich gave away his Queen for a Rook which Ameya later returned to be ahead in material. Later on Ameya made a checkmate threat which was too strong for the Ukrainian to defend.

Ameya played brilliantly to defeat Bogdanovich | Photo: Amruta Mokal

Ameya - Bogdanovich

How should white continue after 22.Nf5

It is not easy for white to bring his queen in the action, so what should white do?

The Indian Tal IM Rathnakaran K (2329) defeated Iranian GM Aryan Gholami (2541).

15-year old Srihari L R (2302) got a decent advantage early in the middle game against GM Sergei Yudin (2508) which he had no trouble converting into a full point.

Saurabh Anand (2269) defeated Chilean GM Rodrigo Schroeder (2487) with a sharp play.

FM Manish Anto Cristiano F (2280) held Bangladesh's GM Ziaur Rahman (2434) to a draw.

All players and officials maintained a two-minutes silence for the passing of former AICF Secretary General P T Ummer Koya | Photo: Niklesh Jain

Replay all games

Round 8 results

Bo.No. NameRtgPts.ResultPts.NameRtg No.
18
GMAleksandrov Aleksej2592½ - ½6GMFedorov Alexei2562
14
25
GMGupta Abhijeet26031 - 06IMGusain Himal2401
45
329
GMVishnu Prasanna. V24740 - 1GMMartinez Alcantara Jose Eduardo2606
4
47
GMYakubboev Nodirbek25971 - 0IMKaczur Florian2485
27
511
GMRozum Ivan2573½ - ½IMNeelash Saha2356
54
671
Lokesh N.22640 - 1GMGhosh Diptayan2550
16
717
GMTukhaev Adam25480 - 1FMPranesh M2317
59
823
GMStupak Kirill25061 - 0GMKarthik Venkataraman2479
28
937
GMLugovskoy Maxim24530 - 15GMPonkratov Pavel2622
2
101
GMAmonatov Farrukh26315½ - ½5GMHesham Abdelrahman2429
40
113
GMKarthikeyan Murali260651 - 05GMDzhumaev Marat2422
42
1243
IMKhusenkhojaev Muhammad242050 - 15GMPantsulaia Levan2598
6
1344
GMKarthikeyan P.241650 - 15GMMchedlishvili Mikheil2578
10
1453
FMAudi Ameya235951 - 05GMBogdanovich Stanislav2562
12
1513
GMDavid Alberto256251 - 05Sammed Jaykumar Shete2398
46
1657
IMRathnakaran K.232951 - 05IMGholami Aryan2541
18
1719
GMDebashis Das252351 - 05IMMuthaiah Al2367
51
1821
GMVisakh N R251851 - 05IMAbdisalimov Abdimalik2381
48
1961
FMSrihari L R230251 - 05GMYudin Sergei2508
22
2065
FMRohith Krishna S228950 - 15GMHarsha Bharathakoti2502
24
2169
Saurabh Anand226951 - 05GMVasquez Schroeder Rodrigo2487
26
2231
IMNigmatov Ortik246751 - 05IMSangma Rahul2291
64
2333
IMTaher Yoseph Theolifus24625½ - ½5FMAaryan Varshney2287
66
24123
Mota Pankit206050 - 15IMShyaamnikhil P2458
36
2539
GMRahman Ziaur24345½ - ½5FMManish Anto Cristiano F2280
68

Complete results

Round 9 pairings

Bo.No. NameRtgPts.ResultPts.NameRtg No.
14
GMMartinez Alcantara Jose Eduardo26067GMAleksandrov Aleksej2592
8
216
GMGhosh Diptayan2550GMGupta Abhijeet2603
5
359
FMPranesh M2317GMYakubboev Nodirbek2597
7
414
GMFedorov Alexei2562GMStupak Kirill2506
23
52
GMPonkratov Pavel262266FMAudi Ameya2359
53
624
GMHarsha Bharathakoti250266GMKarthikeyan Murali2606
3
76
GMPantsulaia Levan259866IMNigmatov Ortik2467
31
810
GMMchedlishvili Mikheil257866IMRathnakaran K.2329
57
936
IMShyaamnikhil P245866GMRozum Ivan2573
11
1045
IMGusain Himal240166GMDavid Alberto2562
13
1154
IMNeelash Saha235666GMDebashis Das2523
19
1261
FMSrihari L R230266GMVisakh N R2518
21
1327
IMKaczur Florian24856Saurabh Anand2269
69
1441
IMDas Sayantan2424GMAmonatov Farrukh2631
1
1550
IMEraschenkov Denis2370GMLalith Babu M R2558
15
1668
FMManish Anto Cristiano F2280GMTukhaev Adam2548
17
1766
FMAaryan Varshney2287GMRios Cristhian Camilo2498
25
1828
GMKarthik Venkataraman2479GMManik Mikulas2378
49
1976
Raahul V S2233GMVishnu Prasanna. V2474
29
2032
IMNguyen Van Huy2463Lokesh N.2264
71
2170
Pranav V2265IMTaher Yoseph Theolifus2462
33
22111
Anadkat Kartavya2082GMLugovskoy Maxim2453
37
2338
IMKrishna C R G2436Varun V2256
73
24158
Jain Kashish Manoj1962GMRahman Ziaur2434
39
2540
GMHesham Abdelrahman2429Vaibhav Jayant Raut1969
154

Complete pairings