1st Bangalore GM 2024 R4: Neelash Saha makes a quick work of Nigel Short, co-leads with Pranav Anand
IM Neelash Saha made a short work of GM Nigel Short (ENG) in the fourth round of 1st Bangalore GM 2024. His strategy of avoiding a lot of theory worked against the legend of the sport. Local boy, GM Pranav Anand defeated IM Sammed Shete by sacrificing a piece, to join the lead with Neelash. IM Nitish Belurkar held GM Alexei Fedorov to a draw. GM Laxman R R suffered a tough loss against GM Abhijeet Gupta. He missed a precise continuation in a same color bishop endgame which ideally should have been a draw. GM Neelotpal Das had a 134-move long grueling draw against his childhood friend, GM Sandipan Chanda. Pushkar Dere maintains his good form. He defeated IM Semetei Tologon Tegin (KGZ) to move to 3.5/4. Round 5 starts today at 9:30 a.m. IST. Photos: Aditya Sur Roy
Pushkar continues his impressive run
Pushkar Dere keeps his momentum going. He defeated his second IM of the event - Semetei Tologon Tegin (KGZ) in the fourth round. He is the only untitled player among the dozen pursuers at 3.5/4 each.
Neelash - Short: 1-0
IM Neelash Saha (2446) opted for 1.b3 against GM Nigel Short (ENG, 2592). His reasoning behind the choice is to prepare the least number of lines as his opponent plays almost everything, according to the victor.
6...d4 prompted White to play 7.b4. However, it is not as provoking as it might seem. 7...b6 keeps things calm. Instead, Black went for 7...Nxb4 8.exd4 Bg7 9.c3 Nd5 10.dxc5 Black lost the pawn and could not get out of the gate for the rest of the game.
Sammed - Pranav
While 36...Rxe4 is also winning, GM Pranav Anand (2513) opted for a different sacrifice 36...Nc3 37.Rxc7 Nxe4 38.dxe4 Rxg3+ 39.Kh2 Rg4 40.Qxd4 Rgxe4 41.Qd7 Qg8 42.Qc6?? it would have taken a computer-like prevision for IM Sammed Shete (2441) to defend which is certainly not easy a human in the said position.
Laxman - Abhijeet
GM Laxman R R (2338) could have held this to a draw with precise play against GM Abhijeet Gupta (2605). White needed to find 50.Bg8 h6 51.Bd5 instead 50.Be6? Bc2 allowed Black to bring the bishop just in time on f5 to shield the king from accessing g4-square and capture the h4-pawn.
For more Round 4 photos, please click here and here.
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 4 games
Round 4 results
| Bo. | No. | Name | Rtg | Club/City | Pts. | Result | Pts. | Name | Rtg | Club/City | No. | PGN | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 20 | IM | Neelash, Saha | 2446 | WB | 3 | 1 - 0 | 3 | GM | Short, Nigel D | 2592 | ENG | 3 | PGN | ||
| 2 | 22 | IM | Sammed Jaykumar, Shete | 2441 | MAH | 3 | 0 - 1 | 3 | GM | Pranav, Anand | 2513 | KAR | 11 | PGN | ||
| 3 | 23 | IM | Nitish, Belurkar | 2435 | GOA | 3 | ½ - ½ | 3 | GM | Fedorov, Alexei | 2457 | BLR | 19 | PGN | ||
| 4 | 12 | GM | Mitrabha, Guha | 2504 | WB | 2½ | 1 - 0 | 3 | IM | Viani, Antonio Dcunha | 2407 | KAR | 33 | PGN | ||
| 5 | 56 | GM | Laxman, R.R. | 2338 | ICF | 2½ | 0 - 1 | 2½ | GM | Gupta, Abhijeet | 2605 | PSPB | 1 | PGN | ||
| 6 | 2 | GM | Sethuraman, S.P. | 2594 | PSPB | 2½ | 1 - 0 | 2½ | IM | Kushagra, Mohan | 2374 | TEL | 45 | PGN | ||
| 7 | 46 | GM | Thejkumar, M. S. | 2372 | KAR | 2½ | 0 - 1 | 2½ | IM | Aronyak, Ghosh | 2541 | WB | 5 | PGN | ||
| 8 | 58 | FM | Ram, Aravind L N | 2332 | TN | 2½ | 0 - 1 | 2½ | GM | Iniyan, P | 2515 | TN | 9 | PGN | ||
| 9 | 60 | GM | Neelotpal, Das | 2329 | PSPB | 2½ | ½ - ½ | 2½ | GM | Chanda, Sandipan | 2486 | WB | 15 | PGN | ||
| 10 | 16 | IM | Srihari, L R | 2469 | TN | 2½ | ½ - ½ | 2½ | IM | Aswath, S | 2369 | TN | 47 | PGN | ||
| 11 | 26 | IM | Ilamparthi, A R | 2426 | TN | 2½ | 1 - 0 | 2½ | IM | Sarwat, Walaa | 2175 | EGY | 97 | PGN | ||
| 12 | 64 | FM | Mohamed, Anees M | 2319 | TN | 2½ | ½ - ½ | 2½ | IM | Tahbaz, Arash | 2425 | IRI | 27 | PGN | ||
| 13 | 30 | GM | Deepan, Chakkravarthy J. | 2422 | ICF | 2½ | 1 - 0 | 2½ | Aakash Sharadchandra, Dalvi | 2180 | MAH | 95 | PGN | |||
| 14 | 74 | GM | Karthikeyan, P. | 2287 | ICF | 2½ | 0 - 1 | 2½ | IM | Ritviz, Parab | 2391 | GOA | 37 | PGN | ||
| 15 | 40 | IM | Audi, Ameya | 2385 | GOA | 2½ | 1 - 0 | 2½ | Pattnayak, Nilsu | 1987 | ODI | 157 | PGN | |||
| 16 | 88 | Dere, Pushkar | 2191 | MAH | 2½ | 1 - 0 | 2½ | IM | Tologon Tegin, Semetei | 2384 | KGZ | 43 | PGN | |||
| 17 | 104 | FM | Dhananjay, S | 2151 | CHAT | 2½ | 0 - 1 | 2 | IM | Muthaiah, Al | 2464 | TN | 17 | PGN | ||
| 18 | 4 | GM | Ghosh, Diptayan | 2568 | WB | 2 | ½ - ½ | 2 | CM | Apoorv, Kamble | 2308 | KAR | 67 | PGN | ||
| 19 | 8 | GM | Fawzy, Adham | 2522 | EGY | 2 | ½ - ½ | 2 | Sahoo, Utkal Ranjan | 2316 | ODI | 65 | PGN | |||
| 20 | 10 | GM | Das, Sayantan | 2514 | RSPB | 2 | ½ - ½ | 2 | Srihari, L | 2288 | PUD | 73 | PGN |
Standings after Round 4
| Rk. | SNo | Name | Typ | sex | FED | Rtg | Club/City | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | TB4 | TB5 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 11 | GM | Pranav, Anand | IND | 2513 | KAR | 4 | 7,5 | 8 | 8,00 | 0 | 4 | |||
| 2 | 20 | IM | Neelash, Saha | IND | 2446 | WB | 4 | 7 | 9 | 9,00 | 0 | 4 | |||
| 3 | 88 | Dere, Pushkar | IND | 2191 | MAH | 3,5 | 8,5 | 9,5 | 8,00 | 0 | 3 | ||||
| 4 | 19 | GM | Fedorov, Alexei | BLR | 2457 | BLR | 3,5 | 8 | 10 | 8,25 | 0 | 3 | |||
| 5 | 12 | GM | Mitrabha, Guha | IND | 2504 | WB | 3,5 | 7,5 | 9 | 7,50 | 0 | 3 | |||
| 6 | 23 | IM | Nitish, Belurkar | IND | 2435 | GOA | 3,5 | 7,5 | 9 | 7,25 | 0 | 3 | |||
| 7 | 5 | IM | Aronyak, Ghosh | IND | 2541 | WB | 3,5 | 7,5 | 8,5 | 7,25 | 0 | 3 | |||
| 8 | 30 | GM | Deepan, Chakkravarthy J. | IND | 2422 | ICF | 3,5 | 7 | 9 | 7,75 | 0 | 3 | |||
| 9 | 2 | GM | Sethuraman, S.P. | IND | 2594 | PSPB | 3,5 | 7 | 8,5 | 7,75 | 0 | 3 | |||
| 10 | 26 | IM | Ilamparthi, A R | IND | 2426 | TN | 3,5 | 7 | 8,5 | 7,25 | 0 | 3 | |||
| 11 | 1 | GM | Gupta, Abhijeet | IND | 2605 | PSPB | 3,5 | 6,5 | 8 | 6,75 | 0 | 3 | |||
| 12 | 9 | GM | Iniyan, P | IND | 2515 | TN | 3,5 | 6,5 | 7,5 | 6,25 | 0 | 3 | |||
| 13 | 37 | IM | Ritviz, Parab | IND | 2391 | GOA | 3,5 | 5,5 | 6,5 | 5,75 | 0 | 3 | |||
| 40 | IM | Audi, Ameya | IND | 2385 | GOA | 3,5 | 5,5 | 6,5 | 5,75 | 0 | 3 | ||||
| 15 | 33 | IM | Viani, Antonio Dcunha | IND | 2407 | KAR | 3 | 9,5 | 11,5 | 8,00 | 0 | 3 | |||
| 16 | 3 | GM | Short, Nigel D | ENG | 2592 | ENG | 3 | 9,5 | 11 | 7,00 | 0 | 3 | |||
| 17 | 27 | IM | Tahbaz, Arash | IRI | 2425 | IRI | 3 | 8,5 | 9,5 | 6,25 | 0 | 2 | |||
| 18 | 22 | IM | Sammed Jaykumar, Shete | IND | 2441 | MAH | 3 | 8,5 | 9,5 | 5,50 | 0 | 3 | |||
| 19 | 47 | IM | Aswath, S | IND | 2369 | TN | 3 | 8 | 9 | 5,75 | 0 | 2 | |||
| 20 | 15 | GM | Chanda, Sandipan | IND | 2486 | WB | 3 | 7,5 | 8 | 5,50 | 0 | 2 |
Round 5 pairings
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