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1st Maharashtra GM Open 2022 R10: Three-way race between Amonatov, Aleksandrov and Arjun Kalyan

by Shahid Ahmed - 08/06/2022

Top seed of the tournament, GM Farrukh Amonatov (TJK) drew with GM Arjun Kalyan in the penultimate round. GM Aleksej Aleksandrov defeated GM Deep Sengupta. Amonatov and Aleksandrov are at 8/10 each, closely followed by Arjun 7.5/10. Arjun must win the final round game against GM Alexei Fedorov and hope, Amonatov and Aleksandrov draw their game and also tie-break works out in his favor. Only then, Arjun will have a chance of winning the tournament. FM Ram Aravind L N scored his maiden IM-norm. CM Kushagra Mohan is the highest scorer so far who is neither an IM nor GM. Final Round 11 starts today at 10 a.m. IST. Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Ram Aravind earns his maiden IM-norm

FM Ram Aravind L N becomes the third player of the tournament to score an IM-norm. IM Bhakti Kulkarni is having a great tournament among female participants. Prasannaa S and Srihari L are the two highest scorer so far among untitled players at 6.5/10 each.

GM Arjun Kalyan - GM Farrukh Amonatov (TJK): 0.5-0.5| Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Aleksandrov - Deep: 1-0

GM Deep Sengupta (2526) had a tough decision to make in the Rook, Knight and few Pawns endgame against GM Aleksej Aleksandrov (2492).

Position after 30.Kh3

Black had to make an important decision - whether to save the e5-pawn or not. The correct answer would be to let it go. Why? Because defending it via 30...Re6 only hampers the mobility of pieces for Black. 30...Nf6 31.Nxe5 Rh6+ is one of the ways to go about it. Keeping the pieces free to move was a better practical decision. Soon, White got the pawn to c6 and exchanged to rooks to transition into a winning Knight endgame.

GM Aleksej Aleksandrov ended GM Deep Sengupta's unbeaten streak | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

IM Srihari L R - IM Aditya Mittal: 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

GM Lalit Rohit - IM Neelash Saha: 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

GM Venkatesh M R - IM Bhakti Kulkarni: 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

IM Anuj Shrivatri - GM Karthik Venkataraman: 1-0 | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Kushagra - Ortik: 1-0

CM Kushagra Mohan (2343) first survived a massive tactical shot which his opponent IM Nigmatov Ortik (UZB, 2463) missed.

Position after 25.c3

25.c3 is a big mistake. Find out the winning continuation for Black. The game continued 25...Ba5 and White got another opportunity. Kushagra certainly made the most out of his second chance.

Position after 37...Bf7

In the endgame, Black went wrong 37...Bf7. White played the obvious 38.c5 Ba5 39.c6+ Ka6 40.Ra1 Ba2 41.Re2 and Black resigned in another four moves.

CM Kushagra Mohan is certainly having a good tournament | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Srihari L - GM Nguyen Duc Hoa (VIE): 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Azer - Konguvel: 0-1

GM Azer Mirzoev (AZE, 2476) offered too many pieces up for exchange, neglecting an onslaught on the kingside by his opponent, IM P Konguvel (2331).

Position after 23.Nc5

23.hxg4 and Rec2 were better choices, the former was more plausible. 23.Nc5 Bxe5 24.Nxe6 Qxe6 25.dxe5 gxh3 26.Qd3 Qh6 and White's position fell apart in a hurry.

GM Azer Mirzoev (AZE) - IM P Konguvel: 0-1 | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Nubairshah - Sharan: 0-1

FM Sharan Rao (2274) did not slow down after scoring his second IM-norm. He kept the momentum going as he beat IM Nubairshah Shaikh (2443).

Position after 20...Nd3

19.Qb2 allowed Black to gain an exchange using tactics 19...Nd3. White had to play 20.Bxb4 to keep the fight going.

IM Nubairshah Shaikh - FM Sharan Rao: 0-1 | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

GM Vishnu Prasanna - Kaustuv Kundu: 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

CM Aaditya Dhingra - GM Karthikeyan P: 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

FM Ram Aravind L N beat WGM Mary Ann Gomes to secure his maiden IM-norm | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

IM Asyl Abdyjapar - Aakash Sharadchandra Dalvi (pictured): 0-1 | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Game of the Round #3 winner - IM Anup Deshmukh | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Game of the Round #4 winner - IM Aditya S Samant | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Game of the Round #5 winner - FM Jubin Jimmy | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

For more Round 10 photos, please click here.

Reigning Asian Junior champion IM Raahul V S shows his sideline preparations against IM Anup Deshmukh | Video: ChessBase India
How Ilamparthi A R outplayed WGM Srija Seshadri | Video: ChessBase India

A total of 141 players including 20 GMs, 29 IMs, 6 WGM and 9 WIMs are taking part from 13 countries across the world including India. The tournament is organized by Maharashtra Chess Association from 31st May to 8th June 2022 at Balewadi Sports Complex, Pune, Maharashtra. The eleven-round Swiss league tournament has a time control of 90 minutes + 30 seconds increment from move no.1.

Replay Round 10 games

Round 10 results

Bo.No. NameRtgPts.ResultPts.NameRtg No.
113
GMArjun Kalyan24777½ - ½GMAmonatov Farrukh2622
1
27
GMAleksandrov Aleksej249271 - 07GMSengupta Deep2526
5
32
GMPaichadze Luka2567½ - ½GMStupak Kirill2440
17
46
GMSavchenko Boris2524½ - ½GMNikitenko Mihail2479
11
524
IMSrihari L R2404½ - ½IMAditya Mittal2490
9
63
GMLalith Babu M R25636½ - ½IMNeelash Saha2439
18
728
IMAudi Ameya238960 - 16GMFedorov Alexei2529
4
88
GMVenkatesh M.R.24906½ - ½6IMKulkarni Bhakti2370
31
935
IMAnuj Shrivatri235661 - 06GMKarthik Venkataraman2480
10
1040
CMKushagra Mohan234361 - 06IMNigmatov Ortik2463
15
1120
FMSamant Aditya S24336½ - ½6Prasannaa.S2164
73
1271
Srihari L21786½ - ½6GMNguyen Duc Hoa2398
26
1312
GMDeepan Chakkravarthy J.24781 - 0FMRohith Krishna S2337
42
1414
GMMirzoev Azer24760 - 1IMKonguvel Ponnuswamy2331
43
1516
IMMohammad Nubairshah Shaikh24430 - 1FMSharan Rao2274
53

Details

Round 11 pairings

Bo.No. NameRtgPts.ResultPts.NameRtg No.
11
GMAmonatov Farrukh262288GMAleksandrov Aleksej2492
7
24
GMFedorov Alexei25297GMArjun Kalyan2477
13
39
IMAditya Mittal249077GMPaichadze Luka2567
2
45
GMSengupta Deep252677IMAnuj Shrivatri2356
35
518
IMNeelash Saha243977GMSavchenko Boris2524
6
611
GMNikitenko Mihail247977IMSrihari L R2404
24
717
GMStupak Kirill244077CMKushagra Mohan2343
40
829
IMKrishna Teja N2374GMLalith Babu M R2563
3
926
GMNguyen Duc Hoa2398GMVenkatesh M.R.2490
8
1031
IMKulkarni Bhakti2370GMDeepan Chakkravarthy J.2478
12
1143
IMKonguvel Ponnuswamy2331FMSamant Aditya S2433
20
1273
Prasannaa.S2164GMNguyen Van Huy2405
23
1327
IMGusain Himal2396Srihari L2178
71
1453
FMSharan Rao22746GMVishnu Prasanna. V2437
19
1510
GMKarthik Venkataraman248066FMAaryan Varshney2308
50

Details