Arjun and Abhijeet in the fray
GM Abhijeet Gupta got himself in the championship picture as he defeated GM Vugar Asadli (AZE) by launching a great attack.
Aravindh - Matlakov
White has a substantial advantage in the above position. 26.cxd5 and improving the pawn structure would have been better than 26.Rxd5 as the rook does not have anywhere to go except back and White is not going to get the d6-pawn either. 26.cxd5 g5 27.Rdf1 b5 28.Rf5 was the better alternative. 26...Qc7 27.g5 Rh7 28.Qxh7+ Qxh7 29.Rxh7 Kxh7 White's attack dissipated and the game meandered into a draw.
Asadli - Abhijeet
Black had already sacrificed a piece to gain an initiative on the queenside. White decided to return it 23.Qd2 Rfd8 24.Qd4 cxb3 25.Bxb3 a5 26.Qa7 Qc8 Black obviously wants to avoid the queen exchange to maintain the pressure. 27.Rd3 Ra8 28.Qb6 a4 29.Ba2 Rb8 30.Qa7 Rb7 31.Qb4 Be8 and it's over.
Karthik - Harsha
GM Karthik Venkataraman (2528) cemented his knight's outpost at d6 with 28.c5. Although 28.Rxf7 Nxf7 29.Nxf7+ Rxf7 30.Rxf7 was also good, the game continued 28...f6 29.Be4 Be6 30.d4 exd4 31.exd4 Nf7 32.Rf4 Qg3 33.Nxf7+ Bxf7 34.Bxc6 Bg6 35.Qf2 Qxf2+ 36.R1xf2 White eventually went on to win the game.
For more Round 7 photos, please click here.
A total of 81 players including 47 GMs, 19 IMs, a WGM and 3 WIMs are taking part in the Category A (>2200) from 31 countries across the world. The tournament is being organized by Dubai Chess & Culture Club from 27th May to 4th June 2023 at Dubai Chess & Culture Club, UAE. The nine-round Swiss league tournament has a time control of 90 minutes + 30 seconds increment from move no.1.
Replay Round 7 games
Round 7 results
| Rd. | Bo. | No. | Name | Rtg | Pts. | Result | Pts. | Name | Rtg | No. | ||||
| 7 | 1 | 9 | GM | Aravindh Chithambaram Vr. | 2633 | 5 | ½ - ½ | 4½ | GM | Matlakov Maxim | 2662 | 6 | ||
| 7 | 3 | 3 | GM | Erigaisi Arjun | 2701 | 4½ | ½ - ½ | 4½ | GM | Tabatabaei M. Amin | 2677 | 5 | ||
| 7 | 7 | 25 | GM | Asadli Vugar | 2584 | 4 | 0 - 1 | 4 | GM | Gupta Abhijeet | 2630 | 10 | ||
| 7 | 9 | 13 | GM | Karthikeyan Murali | 2627 | 4 | 0 - 1 | 4 | GM | Smirin Ilia | 2599 | 20 | ||
| 7 | 12 | 16 | GM | Vakhidov Jakhongir | 2607 | 3½ | 1 - 0 | 4 | GM | Adhiban B. | 2589 | 24 | ||
| 7 | 13 | 34 | GM | Karthik Venkataraman | 2528 | 3½ | 1 - 0 | 3½ | GM | Harsha Bharathakoti | 2602 | 18 | ||
| 7 | 15 | 36 | GM | Aditya Mittal | 2522 | 3½ | ½ - ½ | 3½ | GM | Theodorou Nikolas | 2591 | 23 | ||
| 7 | 17 | 60 | IM | Anuj Shrivatri | 2404 | 3½ | 0 - 1 | 3½ | GM | Lalit Babu M R | 2529 | 33 | ||
| 7 | 19 | 31 | Sviridov Valery | 2545 | 3 | ½ - ½ | 3 | GM | Chanda Sandipan | 2460 | 50 | |||
| 7 | 21 | 39 | GM | Sankalp Gupta | 2504 | 3 | 1 - 0 | 3 | IM | Buksa Nataliya | 2406 | 59 | ||
| 7 | 34 | 73 | GM | Ahmad Al Khatib | 2344 | 2 | 1 - 0 | 2 | IM | Panda Sambit | 2436 | 52 | ||
| 7 | 39 | 84 | WGM | Eric Jovana | 2217 | ½ | 0 - 1 | 1½ | GM | Raja Rithvik R | 2476 | 46 |
Standings after Round 7
| Rk. | SNo | Name | FED | Rtg | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | K | rtg+/- | ||
| 1 | 9 | GM | Aravindh, Chithambaram Vr. | IND | 2633 | 5,5 | 2631 | 0 | 28 | 10 | 17,3 | |
| 2 | 1 | GM | Yu, Yangyi | CHN | 2729 | 5,5 | 2616 | 0 | 27 | 10 | 7,9 | |
| 3 | 5 | GM | Tabatabaei, M. Amin | IRI | 2677 | 5 | 2634 | 0 | 26 | 10 | 8,7 | |
| 4 | 7 | GM | Sindarov, Javokhir | UZB | 2661 | 5 | 2622 | 0 | 26 | 10 | 9,1 | |
| 5 | 3 | GM | Erigaisi, Arjun | IND | 2701 | 5 | 2603 | 0 | 22,5 | 10 | 4,2 | |
| 6 | 6 | GM | Matlakov, Maxim | RUS | 2662 | 5 | 2588 | 0 | 26 | 10 | 6,3 | |
| 7 | 17 | GM | Murzin, Volodar | FID | 2604 | 5 | 2573 | 0 | 22,5 | 10 | 9,9 | |
| 8 | 10 | GM | Gupta, Abhijeet | IND | 2630 | 5 | 2540 | 0 | 24 | 10 | 4,9 | |
| 9 | 12 | GM | Chigaev, Maksim | FID | 2628 | 5 | 2539 | 0 | 24 | 10 | 4,5 | |
| 10 | 20 | GM | Smirin, Ilia | ISR | 2599 | 5 | 2484 | 0 | 21 | 10 | 0,8 | |
| 11 | 15 | GM | Kovalev, Vladislav | FID | 2612 | 4,5 | 2616 | 0 | 25,5 | 10 | 7,8 | |
| 12 | 14 | GM | Indjic, Aleksandar | SRB | 2618 | 4,5 | 2579 | 0 | 25,5 | 10 | 1,2 | |
| 13 | 21 | GM | Bernadskiy, Vitaliy | UKR | 2592 | 4,5 | 2573 | 0 | 25 | 10 | 5,2 | |
| 14 | 29 | GM | Mishra, Abhimanyu | USA | 2550 | 4,5 | 2573 | 0 | 25 | 10 | 9,4 | |
| 15 | 11 | GM | Sargsyan, Shant | ARM | 2630 | 4,5 | 2573 | 0 | 24 | 10 | 2,5 |
Round 8 pairings
| Rd. | Bo. | No. | Name | Rtg | Pts. | Result | Pts. | Name | Rtg | No. | ||||
| 8 | 1 | 1 | GM | Yu Yangyi | 2729 | 5½ | 5 | GM | Erigaisi Arjun | 2701 | 3 | |||
| 8 | 2 | 10 | GM | Gupta Abhijeet | 2630 | 5 | 5½ | GM | Aravindh Chithambaram Vr. | 2633 | 9 | |||
| 8 | 7 | 8 | GM | Iturrizaga Bonelli Eduardo | 2637 | 4½ | 4½ | GM | Karthik Venkataraman | 2528 | 34 | |||
| 8 | 10 | 33 | GM | Lalit Babu M R | 2529 | 4½ | 4½ | GM | Kovalev Vladislav | 2612 | 15 | |||
| 8 | 13 | 13 | GM | Karthikeyan Murali | 2627 | 4 | 4 | GM | Gavrilescu David | 2535 | 32 | |||
| 8 | 14 | 23 | GM | Theodorou Nikolas | 2591 | 4 | 4 | GM | Sankalp Gupta | 2504 | 39 | |||
| 8 | 15 | 24 | GM | Adhiban B. | 2589 | 4 | 4 | GM | Aditya Mittal | 2522 | 36 | |||
| 8 | 18 | 18 | GM | Harsha Bharathakoti | 2602 | 3½ | 4 | IM | Ohanyan Emin | 2444 | 51 | |||
| 8 | 19 | 26 | GM | Romanov Evgeny | 2578 | 3½ | 3½ | IM | Anuj Shrivatri | 2404 | 60 | |||
| 8 | 23 | 50 | GM | Chanda Sandipan | 2460 | 3½ | 3½ | IM | Erdogmus Yagiz Kaan | 2470 | 47 | |||
| 8 | 33 | 46 | GM | Raja Rithvik R | 2476 | 2½ | 2½ | WIM | Mkrtchyan Mariam | 2360 | 70 | |||
| 8 | 38 | 52 | IM | Panda Sambit | 2436 | 2 | 2 | WIM | Mandura Tijana | 2203 | 86 |
