2nd Chessable Sunway Formentera R7: Pranav Venkatesh wins a 105-move marathon against Aravindh

by Shahid Ahmed - 26/04/2023

Pranav Venkatesh ended Aravindh Chithambaram's 34-game unbeaten streak which he achieved in 2023. He managed to endure a difficult position where only Aravindh could make a breakthrough which he did. The teenager waited with bated breath for his opportunity. When it arose, Pranav struck and scored a full point. Aryan Chopra suffered a loss against the super-strong Vladimir Fedoseev. First, he made an incorrect decision in the endgame which created some practical chances for Fedoseev. Later he missed his last opportunity in the final stage of the rook and few pawns endgame. Pranav and Fedoseev are currently the coleaders at 5.5/7 each. Round 8 starts today at 3 p.m. local time, 6:30 p.m. IST. Photo: Patricia Claros Aguilar

No less than 97 moves

Beating Aravindh Chithambaram in a Classical game is no easy task. Considering the position that was on the board, Pranav Venkatesh showed his true grit against someone who is equally gritty as well when it comes to tournament games. This win certainly shows that Pranav can easily overcome a first-round loss. One should not forget that he had already won the first Blitz event, a week ago on 19th April.

GM Pranav Venkatesh is now coleader with GM Vladimir Fedoseev 5.5/7 | Photo: Patricia Claros Aguilar

Fedoseev - Aryan

Position after 47.Rf1

GM Aryan Chopra (2607) found himself in a complex rook and minor piece endgame where he was down by a pawn against GM Vladimir Fedoseev (2674). Black had to find 47...Rg3 which would have been easier to draw the game. The key difference between 47...Ke7 and 47...Rg3 is, Black not only exchanges the kingside pawn but also the minor pieces. Thus, the knight is unable to cause further trouble which is what happened in the game. The lack of space, suffocated the bishop soon.

Position after 76.Rxb6

Yes, Black is two pawns behind and it seems like White is winning. Yet, there is a way for Black to save the game. One last chance. What was it? The game continued 76...Kc7 77.c5 Rc3 78.d6+ and White went on to win the game.

A tough loss for GM Aryan Chopra against the strong GM Vladimir Fedoseev | Photo: Patricia Claros Aguilar

Aravindh - Pranav Venkatesh

Position after 28.Rb5

GM Aravindh Chithambaram (2607) got a stronghold against GM Pranav Venkatesh (2545). His king is well-placed on d3 and it certainly does not seem like White is going to lose the game.

Position after 81.e5

If anyone could win from the above position, it has to be White. Only White had the opportunity to break the position and create something. 81.e5 dxe5 82.d6 Qf8 83.Be4 exf4 84.Bd5 Ne5 now here 85.Be6 would have maintained the grip for White. 85.Bxf7 loosened it Qxf7 86.Qe4 b5! Black is back in the game. 87.Rgg1 further worsened White's position bxa4+ 88.Ka2 f3. 88...Nxc4 would have ended things much sooner.

GM Daniel Dardha (BEL) - IM Prraneeth Vuppala (pictured): 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Patricia Claros Aguilar

A total of 57 players including 19 GMs, 11 IMs, 2 WGMs and 2 WIMs are taking part from 18 countries across the world in Group A (>1700). The eleven day ten-round Swiss League Rating tournament is organized by and at Hotel Club Sunway Punta Prima from 18th to 28th April 2023 in Spain. The time control of the tournament is 90 minutes/40 moves + 30 minutes + 30 seconds per move from the first move.

Replay Round 7 games

Round 7 results

Rd.	Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.
7	1	1	GM	Fedoseev Vladimir	2674	4½	1 - 0	5	GM	Aryan Chopra	2607	5
7	2	4	GM	Aravindh Chithambaram Vr.	2607	4½	0 - 1	4½	GM	Pranav V	2545	11
7	3	2	GM	Dardha Daniel	2625	4	½ - ½	4	IM	Prraneeth Vuppala	2437	25
7	5	6	GM	Mendonca Leon Luke	2596	4	½ - ½	4	GM	Asis Gargatagli Hipolito	2511	15
7	6	21	GM	Raja Rithvik R	2472	4	½ - ½	4	GM	Jacobson Brandon	2556	9
7	7	14	GM	Karthik Venkataraman	2516	4	1 - 0	4	IM	Samant Aditya S	2496	19
7	9	13	GM	Alsina Leal Daniel	2520	3½	1 - 0	3½	IM	Vaishali Rameshbabu	2433	26
7	10	16	GM	Xu Yi	2505	3½	1 - 0	3½	FM	Sahithi Varshini M	2260	40
7	11	20	IM	Chen Qi B	2493	3½	½ - ½	3½	IM	Aditya Mittal	2505	17
7	12	12	GM	Pranav Anand	2525	3	0 - 1	3½		Chen Peng	2425	27
7	14	34		Liu Zhaoqi	2301	3	½ - ½	3	FM	Panda Sambit	2452	23
7	16	28	IM	Kushagra Mohan	2400	3	1 - 0	3	FM	Krishnan Ritvik	2004	55
7	25	45	FM	Mahitosh Dey	2154	2	1 - 0	2		Blazquez Denis	2077	52
7	26	54	WFM	Blanco Garcia Liliam Barbara	2054	1½	½ - ½	2		Advaitt Srikant Koduri	1630	56

Details

Standings after Round 7

Rk.	SNo		Name	sex	FED	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	1	GM	Fedoseev, Vladimir		FID	2674		5,5	25,5	28	21,00
2	11	GM	Pranav, V		IND	2545		5,5	24,5	27,5	21,00
3	5	GM	Aryan, Chopra		IND	2607		5	27	30,5	20,50
4	14	GM	Karthik, Venkataraman		IND	2516		5	26	28	18,50
5	10	GM	Li, Di		CHN	2554		5	24,5	28	19,25
6	4	GM	Aravindh, Chithambaram Vr.		IND	2607		4,5	28,5	31,5	18,75
7	25	IM	Prraneeth, Vuppala		IND	2437		4,5	26	27,5	16,25
8	6	GM	Mendonca, Leon Luke		IND	2596		4,5	25,5	29,5	18,75
9	16	GM	Xu, Yi		CHN	2505		4,5	25,5	28	17,00
10	2	GM	Dardha, Daniel		BEL	2625	SK Moretus Hoboken	4,5	25,5	27,5	16,75

Details

Round 8 pairings

Rd.	Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.
8	1	11	GM	Pranav V	2545	5½		5½	GM	Fedoseev Vladimir	2674	1
8	2	5	GM	Aryan Chopra	2607	5		5	GM	Li Di	2554	10
8	3	2	GM	Dardha Daniel	2625	4½		5	GM	Karthik Venkataraman	2516	14
8	4	15	GM	Asis Gargatagli Hipolito	2511	4½		4½	GM	Aravindh Chithambaram Vr.	2607	4
8	5	27		Chen Peng	2425	4½		4½	GM	Mendonca Leon Luke	2596	6
8	7	25	IM	Prraneeth Vuppala	2437	4½		4½	GM	Alsina Leal Daniel	2520	13
8	8	3	GM	Bernadskiy Vitaliy	2619	4		4½	GM	Raja Rithvik R	2472	21
8	10	17	IM	Aditya Mittal	2505	4		4	IM	Kushagra Mohan	2400	28
8	12	19	IM	Samant Aditya S	2496	4		4	IM	Zhao Yuanhe	2447	24
8	14	23	FM	Panda Sambit	2452	3½		3½	GM	Jonkman Harmen	2323	31
8	15	40	FM	Sahithi Varshini M	2260	3½		3½	IM	Vaishali Rameshbabu	2433	26
8	17	55	FM	Krishnan Ritvik	2004	3		3	GM	Pranav Anand	2525	12
8	19	35	FM	Ibanez Aullana Ramon	2292	3		3	FM	Mahitosh Dey	2154	45
8	23	56		Advaitt Srikant Koduri	1630	2½		2½	CM	Krzywda Andrzej	2223	41

Details

Links

Official site

Tournament regulations

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