1st Bangalore GM 2024 R2-3: Nigel Short and six more perfect at 3/3
The legend GM Nigel Short (ENG) is known not to prefer playing double rounds in a Classical tournament. It will be difficult to recall when was the last time he did that. However, on the second day of 1st Bangalore GM 2024, he played and won both games in Round 2 and 3. IM Viani Antonio Dcunha, IM Neelash Saha, GM Alexei Fedorov, GM Pranav Anand, IM Sammed Jaykumar Shete and IM Nitish Belurkar are the remaining five players at 3/3. Bangalore's very own, Pranav won an exciting battle against GM Duc Hoa Nguyen (VIE) in the third round. Srihari L scored the biggest upset of the day when he defeated GM Boris Savchenko in a thrilling encounter. Round 4 starts today at 3 p.m. IST. Photos: Aditya Sur Roy
Srihari stuns Savchenko; Nilsu, Pushkar and Aakash shine
Nilsu Pattnaik, Pushkar Dere and Aakash Sharadchandra Dalvi are the only three untitled players at 2.5/3 each. Nilsu defeated GM Jayson Gonzales (PHI) in Round 3. Pushkar got the better of the reigning Commonwealth champion - IM P Shyam Nikhil in Round 2 and drew against IM Arash Tahbaz (IRI) in Round 3. Aakash won against Sri Lanka no.2 Thilakarathne G M H in the second round and drew against IM Ilamparthi A R in Round 3.
Round 2: Savchenko - Srihari L: 0-1
GM Boris Savchenko (2489) decided not to repeat moves against Srihari L (2288) in a volatile position.
28.Qg5+ Ke7 would have been a draw by threefold repetition. However, White decided to take a chance 27.Rhf1 sacrificing his knight axb3 28.Qg5+ Ke8 29.cxb3 Rc8? apparently this move is not good due to 30.Kb1. The game continued 30.Qf6? Qe3+ turned things in Black's favor. He went on to win the game in the next few moves.
Pushkar - Shyam Nikhil
IM P Shyam Nikhil (2443) needed a computer-like precision to save the game 42...Qa3 43.Qe4 Qxc3+ 44.Qe2 Qb2+ and so on. 42...Rg8? allowed White to tighten his grip 43.Qf5 Qg7? 44.Rg6 Qb7+ 45.d5 and soon White's central connected passed pawns to be strong enough in fetching a full point.
Round 3
Aronyak - Laxman: 0.5-0.5
IM Aronyak Ghosh (2541) missed a couple of relatively simpler winning chances against GM Laxman R R (2338), compared to what his opponent got in the endgame.
23...Qe6? allowed White a winning opportunity 24.d5 Qe5 25.Qxe4 Qxe4 26.Bxe4 Rxe4 27.Rxb7 threatening Nd6 and Ne7 fork. The game continued 24.Rxb7 Ndf6 25.Rxa7. White once missed the opportunity to play 25.Bxe4 having similar ideas as the above-mentioned variation.
It was quite difficult for Black to find 65...g4 66.Rg8+ poses no danger Kh7. The game eventually ended in a draw.
Pranav Anand - Duc Hoa
GM Duc Hoa Nguyen (VIE, 2322) needed to play 38...Rg5 to keep things in balance. 39.Qxg5 is met with Rd1+. So 39.Qe2 Rd4 and Black is fine. 38...a5 is met by 39.Rh5! Rxh5?? 40.Qxh5+ and now White is in full control Kf8 41.Qxa5 e6 42.Qc5+ and White went on to win after a dozen more moves.
For more Round 2 and Round 3 photos, please click at the respective links.
A total of 207 players including 31 GMs, 40 IMs, 4 WGMs and 10 WIMs are taking part from 16 countries across the world in Open A. The eight-day ten round GM tournament is being organized by Bengaluru Urban District Chess Association at Sri Kanteerava Indoor Stadium in Bengaluru, Karnataka from 18th to 26th January 2024. The time control of the event is 90 minutes + 30 seconds increment per move. There are no Classical round on 22nd January 2024. A Blitz Open tournament will take place on that day.
Replay Round 2-3 games
Round 3 results
Standings after Round 3
| Rk. | SNo | Name | Typ | sex | FED | Rtg | Club/City | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | TB4 | TB5 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 33 | IM | Viani, Antonio Dcunha | IND | 2407 | KAR | 3 | 4 | 6 | 6,00 | 0 | 3 | |||
| 2 | 20 | IM | Neelash, Saha | IND | 2446 | WB | 3 | 4 | 5,5 | 5,50 | 0 | 3 | |||
| 3 | 3 | GM | Short, Nigel D | ENG | 2592 | ENG | 3 | 4 | 5 | 5,00 | 0 | 3 | |||
| 4 | 19 | GM | Fedorov, Alexei | BLR | 2457 | BLR | 3 | 3,5 | 4,5 | 4,50 | 0 | 3 | |||
| 5 | 11 | GM | Pranav, Anand | IND | 2513 | KAR | 3 | 3,5 | 4 | 4,00 | 0 | 3 | |||
| 22 | IM | Sammed Jaykumar, Shete | IND | 2441 | MAH | 3 | 3,5 | 4 | 4,00 | 0 | 3 | ||||
| 7 | 23 | IM | Nitish, Belurkar | IND | 2435 | GOA | 3 | 3 | 4,5 | 4,50 | 0 | 3 | |||
| 8 | 30 | GM | Deepan, Chakkravarthy J. | IND | 2422 | ICF | 2,5 | 4,5 | 6,5 | 5,25 | 0 | 2 | |||
| 9 | 97 | IM | Sarwat, Walaa | EGY | 2175 | EGY | 2,5 | 4,5 | 6 | 4,75 | 0 | 2 | |||
| 157 | Pattnayak, Nilsu | IND | 1987 | ODI | 2,5 | 4,5 | 6 | 4,75 | 0 | 2 | |||||
| 11 | 27 | IM | Tahbaz, Arash | IRI | 2425 | IRI | 2,5 | 4,5 | 5,5 | 4,25 | 0,5 | 2 | |||
| 88 | Dere, Pushkar | IND | 2191 | MAH | 2,5 | 4,5 | 5,5 | 4,25 | 0,5 | 2 | |||||
| 13 | 95 | Aakash Sharadchandra, Dalvi | IND | 2180 | MAH | 2,5 | 4,5 | 4,5 | 3,25 | 0 | 2 | ||||
| 14 | 26 | IM | Ilamparthi, A R | IND | 2426 | TN | 2,5 | 4 | 5,5 | 4,25 | 0 | 2 | |||
| 15 | 5 | IM | Aronyak, Ghosh | IND | 2541 | WB | 2,5 | 4 | 5 | 3,75 | 0 | 2 | |||
| 12 | GM | Mitrabha, Guha | IND | 2504 | WB | 2,5 | 4 | 5 | 3,75 | 0 | 2 | ||||
| 17 | 104 | FM | Dhananjay, S | IND | 2151 | CHAT | 2,5 | 4 | 4,5 | 3,25 | 0 | 2 | |||
| 18 | 47 | IM | Aswath, S | IND | 2369 | TN | 2,5 | 4 | 4 | 2,75 | 0 | 2 | |||
| 19 | 2 | GM | Sethuraman, S.P. | IND | 2594 | PSPB | 2,5 | 3,5 | 4,5 | 4,00 | 0 | 2 | |||
| 20 | 1 | GM | Gupta, Abhijeet | IND | 2605 | PSPB | 2,5 | 3,5 | 4,5 | 3,25 | 0 | 2 |
Round 4 pairings
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