2nd Menorca Open R6: Aryan Chopra emerges sole leader

by Shahid Ahmed - 15/04/2023

GM Pranav Venkatesh had a well contested draw against GM D Gukesh. GM Aryan Chopra denied a hat-trick to GM Raja Rithvk R. After scoring two fantastic wins, Rithvik faltered against Aryan in the endgame. He made an incorrect choice to exchange a bunch of pieces and landed himself in a lost rook endgame. Aryan is currently the sole leader 5.5/6. Eight players including four Indians - Gukesh, Pranav V, Harsha and Prraneeth are trailing by a half point at 5/6 each. IM Prraneeth Vuppala defeated GM Visakh N R in a sharp skirmish. Asian Continental 2022 Silver medalist GM Harsha Bharathakoti got the better of the reigning National Senior 2022 champion, GM Karthik Venkataraman in a rematch from their last event. Round 7 starts today at 10 a.m. local time, 1:30 p.m. IST. Photo: Menorca Chess Open

Pranav Venkatesh, Gukesh, Harsha and Prraneeth in pursuit

IM Vantika Agrawal is currently the highest scoring female player in the field at 4/6.

GM Aryan Chopra is now the sole leader 5.5/6 | Photo: Menorca Chess Open 2023

Aryan - Raja Rithvik

Position after 28...Bc4

GM Aryan Chopra (2607) is a very strong player. Even a tiny inaccuracy against him will cost a lot. GM Raja Rithvik R (2472) made a positional mistake 28...Bc4. Instead, 28...Nb3 would have kept the game going and things would have remained in balance. 29.Nxc4 Qxc4 30.Qxc4 Rxc4 31.Bxa5 bxa5 32.Rxa5 Rb4 33.g4 the resultant rook endgame is winning for White. He just needed to bring his king to the queenside, attack the rook, capture the a7-pawn and it is over, which is what happened in the game.

Pranav Venkatesh vs D Gukesh, Round 6 - Live Commentary by IM Sagar Shah | Video: ChessBase India

Six moves later the game between GM Pranav Venkatesh and GM D Gukesh ended in a draw | Photo: Menorca Chess Open 2023

Pranav Anand - Jorden: 0-1

The reigning World Under-16 Open champion, GM Pranav Anand (2525) got himself a great opportunity against the Netherlands no.2 GM Jorden van Foreest (2680).

Position after 33...Rd3

34.e7 allowed Black to get back in the game Rxd4 35.exf8Q+ Kxf8 36.Rf2 Rd5. Instead, White needed to go 34.d7 Rxd4 35.Rf2. The key difference is, White needs to gain a few pawns as he is inevitably going to lose both center passed pawns after gaining the exchange. Not gaining any pawn while taking the exchange is what turned out to be the decisive mistake for White.

GM Pranav Anand really played well against GM Jorden van Foreest (NED), even though the result did not go in his way | Photo: Rupali Mullick

GM Harsha Bharathakoti got the better of GM Karthik Venkataraman in their rematch with the exact same colors from 10th Martinique Open - Joel Gratien Memorial | Photo: Ligue d'Echecs de la Martinique

Prraneeth - Visakh

Position after 21.Nfg5

IM Prraneeth Vuppala's (2437) response to GM Visakh N R's (2552) 20...Bxh3 was 21.Nfg5. Computer recommends Black to give up the exchange 21...Bf5 22.Nxf7+ Qxf7 23.Bxf4 exf4 24.Qxf4 and Black is doing fine. However, Black opted for 21...Bxg5 22.Bxg5 Nb7 23.gxh3 h6 24.Kxh2 hxg5 25.Rg1 Rg7 26.Rg4 Qxd5 27.Qe2 White obviously declines the queen exchange. 27...Qe6 28.Rag1 and White's extra material turned out to be quite strong against the vulnerable black king.

IM Prraneeth Vuppala 5/6 | Photo: Menorca Chess Open 2023

The tournament hall at Ciutadella in Menorca, Spain | Photo: Menorca Chess Open 2023

Round 6 results

GM Pranav Venkatesh - GM D Gukesh: 0.5-0.5

GM Aryan Chopra - GM Raja Rithvik R: 1-0

GM Karthik Venkataraman - GM Harsha Bharathakoti: 0-1

IM Prraneeth Vuppala - GM Visakh N R: 1-0

GM Brandon Jacobson (USA) - Sanket Chakravarty: 0.5-0.5

FM Vedant Panesar - IM P Shyam Nikhil: 0.5-0.5

FM Mahitosh Dey - IM Padmini Rout: 0.5-0.5

A total of 200 players including 37 GMs, 30 IMs, 3 WGMs and 6 WIMs are taking part from 38 countries across the world in Group A (>1750). The six day nine-round Swiss League Rating tournament is organized by Chess Menorca from 11th to 16th April 2023 at Ciutadella in Menorca, Spain. The time control of the tournament is 90 minutes + 30 seconds increment from move no.1.

Replay Round 6 games

Round 6 results

Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.	PGN
1	22	GM	Pranav V	2545	4½	½ - ½	4½	GM	Gukesh D	2730	1	PGN
2	10	GM	Aryan Chopra	2607	4½	1 - 0	4½	GM	Raja Rithvik R	2472	41	PGN
3	26	GM	Pranav Anand	2525	4	0 - 1	4	GM	Van Foreest Jorden	2680	3	PGN
4	32	GM	Henderson De La Fuente Lance	2506	4	0 - 1	4	GM	Nguyen Thai Dai Van	2649	5	PGN
5	29	GM	Karthik Venkataraman	2516	4	0 - 1	4	GM	Harsha Bharathakoti	2608	9	PGN
6	33	GM	Xu Yi	2505	4	½ - ½	4	GM	Warmerdam Max	2605	11	PGN
7	16	GM	Albornoz Cabrera Carlos Daniel	2586	4	1 - 0	4	IM	Aditya Mittal	2505	34	PGN
8	44	IM	Fernandez Guillen Ernesto J.	2461	4	0 - 1	4	GM	Sanal Vahap	2582	17	PGN
9	54	IM	Prraneeth Vuppala	2437	4	1 - 0	4	GM	Visakh N R	2552	20	PGN
10	25	GM	Pultinevicius Paulius	2532	4	½ - ½	4	FM	Trost Edvin	2398	64	PGN
11	38	GM	Solodovnichenko Yuri	2489	3½	0 - 1	3½	GM	Niemann Hans Moke	2706	2	PGN
12	4	GM	Fedoseev Vladimir	2674	3½	1 - 0	3½	IM	Sousa Andre Ventura	2470	42	PGN
13	39	IM	Gurel Ediz	2489	3½	½ - ½	3½	GM	Bernadskiy Vitaliy	2619	6	PGN
14	7	GM	Chigaev Maksim	2617	3½	1 - 0	3½	GM	Firat Burak	2456	45	PGN
15	14	GM	Santos Ruiz Miguel	2590	3½	1 - 0	3½	IM	Rozen Eytan	2450	48	PGN

Details

Standings after Round 6

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	10	GM	Aryan Chopra	IND	2607	5,5	22,5	19,5	18,5
2	22	GM	Pranav V	IND	2545	5	25	22	19
3	3	GM	Van Foreest Jorden	NED	2680	5	25	21,5	18,5
4	1	GM	Gukesh D	IND	2730	5	23,5	20,5	18
5	5	GM	Nguyen Thai Dai Van	CZE	2649	5	22,5	20	18,5
6	9	GM	Harsha Bharathakoti	IND	2608	5	22	19	17
7	17	GM	Sanal Vahap	TUR	2582	5	21	18	17
8	16	GM	Albornoz Cabrera Carlos Daniel	CUB	2586	5	20,5	18	18,5
9	54	IM	Prraneeth Vuppala	IND	2437	5	19,5	18,5	16
10	41	GM	Raja Rithvik R	IND	2472	4,5	23,5	21,5	18
11	4	GM	Fedoseev Vladimir	FID	2674	4,5	23,5	20,5	17,5
12	11	GM	Warmerdam Max	NED	2605	4,5	22,5	20	16
13	37	IM	Chen Qi B	CHN	2493	4,5	22,5	19,5	16
14	33	GM	Xu Yi	CHN	2505	4,5	22	19,5	17
15	7	GM	Chigaev Maksim	FID	2617	4,5	22	19	15,5

Details

Round 7 pairings

Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.
1	1	GM	Gukesh D	2730	5		5½	GM	Aryan Chopra	2607	10
2	3	GM	Van Foreest Jorden	2680	5		5	GM	Albornoz Cabrera Carlos Daniel	2586	16
3	5	GM	Nguyen Thai Dai Van	2649	5		5	GM	Pranav V	2545	22
4	9	GM	Harsha Bharathakoti	2608	5		5	IM	Prraneeth Vuppala	2437	54
5	17	GM	Sanal Vahap	2582	5		4½	GM	Niemann Hans Moke	2706	2
6	30	GM	Iniyan P	2515	4½		4½	GM	Fedoseev Vladimir	2674	4
7	31	GM	Krzyzanowski Marcin	2511	4½		4½	GM	Chigaev Maksim	2617	7
8	11	GM	Warmerdam Max	2605	4½		4½	IM	Chen Qi B	2493	37
9	35	IM	Tiglon Bryce	2502	4½		4½	GM	Xu Xiangyu	2587	15
10	64	FM	Trost Edvin	2398	4½		4½	GM	Kobo Ori	2549	21
11	41	GM	Raja Rithvik R	2472	4½		4½	GM	Pultinevicius Paulius	2532	25
12	28	IM	Koustav Chatterjee	2520	4½		4½	GM	Xu Yi	2505	33
13	6	GM	Bernadskiy Vitaliy	2619	4		4	IM	Sokolovsky Yahli	2464	43
14	39	IM	Gurel Ediz	2489	4		4	GM	Jumabayev Rinat	2609	8
15	12	GM	Fier Alexandr	2599	4		4	IM	Fernandez Guillen Ernesto J.	2461	44

Details

Links

Official site

Tournament regulations

Related news:

	Gukesh convincingly defends Menorca Open title, Pranav Venkatesh second @ 17/04/2023 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
	Will Gukesh win Menorca Open for the second year in-a-row? @ 16/04/2023 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
	2nd Menorca Open R4-5: Raja Rithvik crushes Fier and Fedoseev @ 14/04/2023 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
	2nd Menorca Open R1-3: Dhulipalla Bala Chandra Prasad defies World no.20 Gukesh @ 13/04/2023 by Shahid Ahmed (en)