Pavel Ponkratov wins 1st Guwahati GM Open, Nitin S third

by Shahid Ahmed - 21/03/2022

Top seed of the tournament GM Pavel Ponkratov won the 1st Guwahati International GM Open 2022. Both Ponkratov and GM Fawzy Adham (EGY) scored 8.5/10, however the former edged passed the latter on tie-breaks. IM Nitin S is the best Indian performer of the event. He scored 8.0/10 and secured third place on tie-breaks. FM Aradhya Garg delivered a phenomenal performance to score 8.0/10, earn his final IM-norm and secure fourth place. A last round loss gave IM C R G Krishna a sixth place finish. IM P Shyam Nikhil, GM Visakh N R and GM Iniyan P secured eighth, ninth and tenth place finish scoring 7.5/10 each. Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Aradhya Garg scores his final IM-norm

FM Aradhya Garg scored 8.0/10, performed at 2465 and gained 62.2 Elo rating points to earn his final IM-norm. The former National Junior champion took a no-draw approach, his two hat-tricks include wins over GM Karthik Venkataraman, GM Masoud Mosadeghpour, IM Himal Gusain and IM Sayantan Das.

Top 3 (L to R) - 3rd IM Nitin S 8.0/10, 1st GM Pavel Ponkratov 8.5/10 and 2nd GM Fawzy Adham 8.5/10 | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

The total prize fund of the tournament was ₹15,00,000. Top three prizes were ₹251000, ₹201000 and ₹150000 each respectively. Bimal Bora, Minister of Sports & Youth Welfare, Cultural Affairs, Tourism and Power of Assam, Bharat Singh Chauhan, AICF Hony. Secretary were present at the closing ceremony among other guests.

Champion - GM Pavel Ponkratov 8.5/10 | Photo: Niklesh Jain

Runner-up - GM Fawzy Adham (EGY) 8.5/10 | Photo: Niklesh Jain

Second Runner-up - IM Nitin Senthilvel 8.0/10 | Photo: Niklesh Jain

Neuris - Pavel: 0-1

Paraguay no.1 GM Neuris Delgado Ramirez (2622) went wrong at the very end of the rook endgame. GM Pavel Ponkratov (2641) seized his opportunity.

Position after 32.Kf2

32.Kf2 allowed Black to maneuver his rook 32...Rh3 33.Kg2 Rh5 and now the g5-pawn drops. There is no way to defend it. Thus, 34.Rxd4 Rxg5+ was played and rest was just a matter of technique for Black to convert it into a win. 32.Kg2 d3 34.Rd4 should have led to a draw as Black does not gain the g5-pawn easily. White should be more than happy to exchange his a2-pawn for the d3-pawn because 2 vs 3 pawns on the kingside is an easy theoretical draw.

"Love Chess, Play Chess" - Pavel Ponkratov on winning 1st Guwahati International Tournament 2022 | Video: ChessBase India

Top seed Pavel Ponkratov got the better of Neuris Delgado Ramirez | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Fawzy - Krishna: 1-0

IM C R G Krishna (2466) was unable to get out of the gate against GM Adham Fawzy (EGY, 2490). The former went wrong early in the opening and could not get back for the rest of the game.

Adham Fawzy finishes 2nd in Guwahati, recounts his amazing game against Ratnakaran | Video: ChessBase India

A last round loss cost C R G Krishna a podium finish | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Nitin - Ratnakaran: 1-0

IM Ratnakaran K (2316) went for a break in an interesting position against IM Nitin S (2427).

Position after 20...e5

20...e5 is not a good idea as 21.dxe5 Bxe5 22.Nc4 Qb8 23.Na5 and Black cannot save the c6-pawn. The d5-pawn also fell in the next few moves and Black lost an exchange. Nitin cleverly returned the exchange, to neutralize the deadly bishop at b6. Rest was just a matter of time before Black resigned.

Facing your good friend in the final round - IM Nitin S finishes third | Video: ChessBase India

Nitin's resounding win over Ratnakaran earned him a third place finish | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Aradhya - Sayantan: 1-0

IM Sayantan Das (2459) had a tough finish. He lost his second game in-a-row. FM Aradhya Garg (2236) scored an important win in the last round to finish fourth and secure his final IM-norm.

Position after 42.Rf5

It is a critical moment for Black. 42...c4 would have kept things in balance. 42...Rb4 completely changed the outcome 43.f4 and now c4 does not have the same effect. 44.bxc4 gxf4+ 45.Rxf4 Rxa4 46.c5 White is completely winning.

Aradhya Garg scores his final IM norm at the Guwahati GM International 2022 | Video: ChessBase India

Aradhya Garg finished his tournament on a fantastic note | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Best Female 1st - WGM Srija Seshadri 6.5/10 | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Best Female 2nd - WIM Franco Angela Valencia 6.5/10 | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

The search for the first WGM of North East India | Father of Arshiya Das, Purnendu Das | Video: ChessBase India

Guwahati GM International 2022 - Finale | Video: ChessBase India

Highlights

A few interesting finishes from Round 10

IM Nitin S - IM Ratnakaran K: 1-0

Akshay Borgaonkar - Kaustuv Kundu: 0.5-0.5

For more Round 10 and Prize distribution ceremony photos, please click at the respective links.

A total of 254 players including 13 GMs, 16 IMs, 2 WGMs and 3 WIMs took part from 11 federations across the world including India. The tournament was organized by All Assam Chess Association from 14th to 20th March 2022 at Guwahati, Assam. The ten-round Swiss league tournament had a time control of 90 minutes + 30 seconds increment from move no.1

Replay Round 10 games

Round 10 results

Bo.	No.		Name	Gr	Typ	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Gr	Typ	Rtg	No.
1	2	GM	Delgado Ramirez Neuris			2622	7½	0 - 1	7½	GM	Ponkratov Pavel			2641	1
2	8	GM	Fawzy Adham			2490	7½	1 - 0	7½	IM	Krishna C R G			2466	13
3	3	GM	Visakh N R			2522	7	½ - ½	7	IM	Sidhant Mohapatra			2359	25
4	34	FM	Aradhya Garg			2236	7	1 - 0	7	IM	Das Sayantan			2459	14
5	19	IM	Nitin S.			2427	7	1 - 0	7	IM	Ratnakaran K.			2316	26
6	4	GM	Deepan Chakkravarthy J.			2520	6½	½ - ½	6½	GM	Saptarshi Roy			2402	22
7	5	GM	Stany G.A.			2517	6½	1 - 0	6½	GM	Karthikeyan P.			2397	24
8	6	GM	Iniyan P			2516	6½	1 - 0	6½	IM	Sai Agni Jeevitesh J			2316	27
9	18	IM	Abdisalimov Abdimalik			2435	6½	0 - 1	6½	GM	Karthik Venkataraman			2485	9
10	10	IM	Raahul V S			2478	6½	1 - 0	6½	WGM	Divya Deshmukh			2301	29
11	28		Dhananjay S			2310	6½	0 - 1	6½	GM	Mirzoev Azer			2476	11
12	15	GM	Rios Cristhian Camilo			2449	6½	½ - ½	6½	FM	Aaryan Varshney			2277	32
13	16	IM	Nigmatov Ortik			2445	6½	1 - 0	6½	IM	Manish Anto Cristiano F			2236	33
14	17	IM	Shyaamnikhil P			2442	6½	1 - 0	6½	WGM	Srija Seshadri			2219	37
15	50		Shiva Pavan Teja Sharma U			2022	6	½ - ½	6	GM	Mosadeghpour Masoud			2511	7
16	12	IM	Tahbaz Arash			2469	6	1 - 0	6		Imocha Laishram	NE-A		2049	47
17	20		Gholami Orimi Mahdi			2420	6	1 - 0	6		Kumar Gaurav			2025	49
18	52		Arnav Maheshwari		U15	2010	6	½ - ½	6	IM	Gusain Himal			2408	21
19	54		Imtiaz Islam Bora	NE-A		2004	6	½ - ½	6	IM	Shahil Dey	NE	U15	2400	23
20	56		Borgaonkar Akshay		U15	1985	6	½ - ½	6		Kaustuv Kundu			2281	31

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Final standings

Rk.	SNo		Name	Typ	sex	Gr	FED	RtgI	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB4	TB5
1	1	GM	Ponkratov Pavel				CFR	2641	8,5	64,5	69,5	57,75	0,0	7
2	8	GM	Fawzy Adham				EGY	2490	8,5	62,0	66,5	55,25	0,0	8
3	19	IM	Nitin S.				IND	2427	8,0	59,0	64,5	50,50	0,0	7
4	34	FM	Aradhya Garg				IND	2236	8,0	59,0	63,0	47,00	0,0	8
5	2	GM	Delgado Ramirez Neuris				PAR	2622	7,5	65,5	71,0	51,75	0,0	6
6	13	IM	Krishna C R G				IND	2466	7,5	62,0	67,0	48,00	0,0	6
7	11	GM	Mirzoev Azer				AZE	2476	7,5	61,5	65,5	46,25	0,0	7
8	17	IM	Shyaamnikhil P				IND	2442	7,5	61,0	66,0	47,75	0,0	5
9	3	GM	Visakh N R				IND	2522	7,5	61,0	65,5	48,25	0,0	6
10	6	GM	Iniyan P				IND	2516	7,5	59,5	65,0	46,75	0,0	6
11	25	IM	Sidhant Mohapatra				IND	2359	7,5	59,5	63,5	46,00	0,0	6
12	5	GM	Stany G.A.				IND	2517	7,5	58,5	63,0	46,25	0,0	6
13	9	GM	Karthik Venkataraman				IND	2485	7,5	58,0	63,0	45,50	0,0	7
14	16	IM	Nigmatov Ortik				UZB	2445	7,5	55,5	59,5	45,00	0,0	7
15	10	IM	Raahul V S				IND	2478	7,5	53,0	57,5	42,25	0,0	7
16	26	IM	Ratnakaran K.				IND	2316	7,0	64,5	69,0	46,25	0,0	6
17	14	IM	Das Sayantan				IND	2459	7,0	63,0	67,0	43,75	0,0	6
18	15	GM	Rios Cristhian Camilo				COL	2449	7,0	61,0	65,5	44,50	0,0	5
19	4	GM	Deepan Chakkravarthy J.				IND	2520	7,0	57,0	62,0	41,75	0,0	5
20	32	FM	Aaryan Varshney				IND	2277	7,0	57,0	61,5	39,75	0,0	5
21	12	IM	Tahbaz Arash				IRI	2469	7,0	56,5	61,0	40,25	0,0	6
22	20		Gholami Orimi Mahdi				IRI	2420	7,0	56,0	60,5	39,25	0,0	6
23	22	GM	Saptarshi Roy				IND	2402	7,0	54,5	58,5	39,25	0,0	5
24	51	FM	Gaikwad Siddhant				IND	2016	7,0	53,0	57,0	36,50	0,0	7
25	53		Singh Soram Rahul			NE-A	IND	2006	7,0	52,5	56,5	36,00	0,0	7
26	45		Mahindrakar Indrajeet				IND	2059	7,0	51,0	55,0	37,00	0,0	7
27	31		Kaustuv Kundu				IND	2281	6,5	63,5	69,0	43,00	0,0	4
28	18	IM	Abdisalimov Abdimalik				UZB	2435	6,5	60,5	65,0	39,00	0,0	5
29	21	IM	Gusain Himal				IND	2408	6,5	60,5	64,0	37,50	0,0	5
30	7	GM	Mosadeghpour Masoud				IRI	2511	6,5	59,0	64,5	40,25	0,0	4
31	27	IM	Sai Agni Jeevitesh J				IND	2316	6,5	59,0	63,5	39,25	0,0	6
32	23	IM	Shahil Dey	U15		NE	IND	2400	6,5	59,0	63,5	38,25	0,0	6
33	28		Dhananjay S				IND	2310	6,5	58,5	63,5	40,00	0,0	5
34	35	FM	Poormosavi Seyed Kian				IRI	2229	6,5	58,5	63,5	38,25	0,0	6
35	24	GM	Karthikeyan P.				IND	2397	6,5	58,0	62,5	37,00	0,0	5

Details

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