IM Nitish Belurkar wins the 1st Indore International GM Open

Finishing with a win in the final round

IM Nitish Belurkar was leading the event before the final round with 7.5/9, and so was IM Viani Antonio Dcunha. In order to have chances for the podium position, it was necessary to try for a win! That's exactly what Nitish did with the White pieces against FM Harsh Suresh in the final round.

Round 10: IM Nitish Belurkar - FM Harsh Suresh: 1-0

Harsh had just completed his IM Norm in the previous round, so he was also in a fighting mood in the last round. Probably that's why he went for the Modern defense with the Black pieces! But Nitish started taking the upper hand from the opening itself:

Black's position is already not very good, but 11...c5 is a considerably large mistake. All of White's pieces are developed and connected with each other - now White simply continue 12. dxc5 and is a full pawn up. It's not possible to win back the c5-pawn like in most cases, because it is defended by the Bishop and can be defended by a3-b4 later, which is exactly what Nitish did in a few more moves!

White had a completely winning position relatively early in the game, but 26. c6 seals the deal. The Black queenside is tore open, and now the White major pieces will infiltrate. Black resigned after 26....bxc6 27.Qc3 Qc7 28. Rxg4 fxg4 29. Rh4 Kb7 30. Qc5 Qd8 31. Qa7+ Kc8 32. Bb6!

IM Ameya Audi - IM Viani Antonio Dcunha: 0-1

Viani was in a must-win situation with the Black pieces for chances of finishing 1st. But IM Ameya Audi wasn't going to give up easy - with a win. he good chances of a top 3 finish! The resulting game was an extremely chaotic one in the Sicilian Najdorf:

A typical complex position from the Najdorf. White is creating threats on the Black king, and Black has a lot of Queenside activity. Black made a mistake here, but it went unpunished:

This is a tactical error, but the refutation is not so easy to spot. In this position, White should play Rxf7! exd4 Nd5! Bxd5 exd5 Be7 Re1 Rc7 Bd3, and has a winning position. Instead, White continued with 19. Nd5 Bxd5? and Black is still okay. After some topsy-turvy action, it was White who made the final error:

This was the deciding error in the game. Ameya should've continued with Bf1 - even though Black is better, White can hold on. But 23.Rf1 is met with 23...Nf4! and Black will lose material now. Viani went on to win the game comfortably in the next few moves.

Both IMs Nitish Belurkar and Viani Antonio Dcunha finished with 8.5/10. But due to better tiebreaks, IM Nitish Belurkar became the Champion of 1st Indore International GM Open!

GM Michal Krasenkow - Kaustav Kundu: 1-0

GM Michal Krasenkow had a slow start, but started picking up pace in the final rounds. In the last round, he was facing Kaustav Kundu, and had a better position for the majority of the game. But Kaustav fought back, and the players entered an even endgame. Late in the endgame, Kaustav went wrong:

Black does have enough compensation for the piece with his 2 strong passers, but this is a big mistake. You have to remove your Rook from the pin first with ...Rc4, and only then ...b3 is good. But 45...b3 directly is met by the beautiful 46. Rd1! Ra1# is the main threat, and ...b2 is met with Nxb2! Rxd1 Nxd1, and the White h-pawn marches forward. The game continued 46....Ka2 47. Nc1+ Kb2 48. Rxd4 and Black resigned soon.

Thanks to this win in the final round, GM Michal Krasenkow took the 3rd position in the 1st Indore International GM Open!

Special Achievements

Photo and Video Gallery

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All the Round 10 games

Round 10 results

All Round 10 results

Final Standings

Full standings

The 1st Indore International GM Open 2023 is taking place in Emerald Heights International School, Indore. The total prize fund of this mega event is Rs. 33 lakhs. The event is being organized by the Malwanchal Chess Club and All Indore Chess Federation, under the Madhya Pradesh Ad Hoc Chess Committee. This is a 10-round classical swiss event which will run from 1st April 2023 - 8th April 2023. The time control of the event is 90 minutes +30 seconds increment. The 10th and final round started from 8th April 10 AM IST, and the final prize distribution ceremony started from 4 PM IST.

Important links

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