Sethuraman and Ayush in the fray
FM Ram Aravind L N needs a draw and Sriram Adarsh Uppala need to score a win in the ninth round to score an IM-norm each.
Alexei - Semetei
GM Alexei Fedorov (2409) made an unusual decision of not castling his king after responding 2.g3 against 1...d6 by IM Semetei Tologon Tegin (KGZ, 2351). The GM took this approach two years ago and drew his game. However, this time, Semetei seized his opportunity when White made a positional inaccuracy. In the above position, 23.Ra2 keeps the knight trapped, while attacking it 23.Ra3 allows it to move towards e4 23...Nd2 24.Qe2 Ne4 25.Bxe4 fxe4 26.Qg4+ Rd7 27.d5 Rf8 soon Black went on to win the game. White pieces having lack of coordination and moreover vulnerable king were the key factors.
Ayush - Mitrabha
IM Ayush Sharma (2469) got a better position out of the opening against GM Mitrabha Guha (2509). White made a checkmate threat at f7 26.Qb7 Re7?? 27.Qc8+ Re8 28.e7+! and it's over. 25...Kg8 would have continued the fight.
A total of 187 players including 17 GMs, 34 IMs and 6 WIMs are taking part from 17 countries across the world including India in Category A (>2000). The tournament is organized by Goa Chess Association from 11th to 19th January 2025 at Dr. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Indoor Stadium in Panaji, Goa. The ten-round Swiss league tournament has a time control of 90 minutes + 30 seconds increment from move no.1.
Replay Round 8 games
Round 8 results
| Bo. | No. | White | Rtg | Club/City | Pts. | Result | Pts. | Black | Rtg | Club/City | No. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 19 | GM | Fedorov, Alexei | 2409 | BLR | 6 | 0 - 1 | 6 | IM | Tologon Tegin, Semetei | 2351 | KGZ | 30 | ||
| 2 | 33 | IM | Slizhevsky, Alexander | 2340 | RUS | 6 | ½ - ½ | 5½ | IM | Aronyak, Ghosh | 2544 | RSPB | 3 | ||
| 3 | 7 | IM | Srihari, L R | 2494 | TN | 5½ | ½ - ½ | 5½ | GM | Ghosh, Diptayan | 2569 | RSPB | 1 | ||
| 4 | 2 | GM | Sethuraman, S.P. | 2560 | TN | 5½ | 1 - 0 | 5½ | GM | Das, Sayantan | 2434 | WB | 12 | ||
| 5 | 11 | IM | Ayush, Sharma | 2469 | MP | 5½ | 1 - 0 | 5½ | GM | Mitrabha, Guha | 2509 | WB | 5 | ||
| 6 | 10 | IM | Rohith, Krishna S | 2473 | TN | 5 | 1 - 0 | 5½ | Nithin, Babu | 2169 | KER | 63 | |||
| 7 | 49 | FM | Aakash Sharadchandra, Dalvi | 2278 | MAH | 5 | ½ - ½ | 5 | GM | Savchenko, Boris | 2481 | RUS | 9 | ||
| 8 | 13 | IM | Audi, Ameya | 2422 | GOA | 5 | 1 - 0 | 5 | FM | Adireddy, Arjun | 2327 | TEL | 38 | ||
| 9 | 62 | Varun, V | 2173 | TEL | 5 | ½ - ½ | 5 | FM | Nguyen, Quoc Hy | 2418 | VIE | 14 | |||
| 10 | 16 | IM | Kushagra, Mohan | 2412 | TEL | 5 | ½ - ½ | 5 | Sriram, Adarsh Uppala | 2306 | TEL | 40 | |||
| 11 | 34 | IM | Nitin, S. | 2338 | TN | 5 | 0 - 1 | 5 | IM | Vaz, Ethan | 2412 | GOA | 17 | ||
| 12 | 22 | IM | Sammed Jaykumar, Shete | 2379 | MAH | 5 | 1 - 0 | 5 | GM | Karthikeyan, P. | 2286 | TN | 46 | ||
| 13 | 28 | GM | Nguyen, Duc Hoa | 2359 | VIE | 5 | 1 - 0 | 5 | Sri, Sai Baswanth P | 2160 | AP | 65 | |||
| 14 | 6 | GM | Anurag, Mhamal | 2499 | GOA | 4½ | ½ - ½ | 4½ | CM | Madhvendra, Pratap Sharma | 2281 | MP | 48 | ||
| 15 | 15 | GM | Deepan, Chakkravarthy J. | 2413 | ICF | 4½ | ½ - ½ | 4½ | IM | Gochelashvili, David | 2257 | RUS | 51 | ||
| 16 | 20 | IM | Kaustuv, Kundu | 2409 | WB | 4½ | 1 - 0 | 4½ | CM | Sherla, Prathamesh | 2191 | MAH | 60 | ||
| 17 | 53 | IM | Saravana, Krishnan P. | 2244 | KVB | 4½ | 0 - 1 | 4½ | IM | Agibileg, Uurtsaikh | 2392 | MGL | 21 | ||
| 18 | 47 | FM | Potawad, Anirudhha | 2281 | MAH | 4½ | 1 - 0 | 4½ | IM | Das, Arghyadip | 2376 | WB | 23 | ||
| 19 | 24 | IM | Sanket, Chakravarty | 2374 | WB | 4½ | 1 - 0 | 4½ | Saptorshi, Gupta | 2070 | WB | 88 | |||
| 20 | 26 | IM | Ritviz, Parab | 2371 | GOA | 4½ | 0 - 1 | 4½ | FM | Ram, Aravind L N | 2249 | TN | 52 |
Standings after Round 8
| Rk. | SNo | Name | Typ | sex | FED | RtgI | Club/City | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | TB4 | TB5 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 30 | IM | Tologon Tegin, Semetei | KGZ | 2351 | KGZ | 7 | 36,5 | 38 | 31,50 | 0 | 6 | |||
| 2 | 33 | IM | Slizhevsky, Alexander | RUS | 2340 | RUS | 6,5 | 40 | 43 | 33,75 | 0 | 5 | |||
| 3 | 2 | GM | Sethuraman, S.P. | IND | 2560 | TN | 6,5 | 39 | 42,5 | 32,50 | 0 | 6 | |||
| 4 | 11 | IM | Ayush, Sharma | IND | 2469 | MP | 6,5 | 35 | 38 | 29,00 | 0 | 6 | |||
| 5 | 3 | IM | Aronyak, Ghosh | IND | 2544 | RSPB | 6 | 38 | 42 | 30,50 | 0 | 4 | |||
| 6 | 1 | GM | Ghosh, Diptayan | IND | 2569 | RSPB | 6 | 38 | 40 | 28,50 | 0 | 4 | |||
| 7 | 7 | IM | Srihari, L R | IND | 2494 | TN | 6 | 37 | 38 | 25,25 | 0 | 5 | |||
| 8 | 19 | GM | Fedorov, Alexei | BLR | 2409 | BLR | 6 | 36,5 | 40,5 | 28,50 | 0 | 5 | |||
| 9 | 28 | GM | Nguyen, Duc Hoa | VIE | 2359 | VIE | 6 | 36 | 39 | 26,75 | 0 | 5 | |||
| 10 | 22 | IM | Sammed Jaykumar, Shete | IND | 2379 | MAH | 6 | 35 | 38 | 27,50 | 0 | 6 | |||
| 11 | 17 | IM | Vaz, Ethan | IND | 2412 | GOA | 6 | 34,5 | 38 | 27,50 | 0 | 4 | |||
| 12 | 10 | IM | Rohith, Krishna S | IND | 2473 | TN | 6 | 30,5 | 36,5 | 26,50 | 0 | 5 | |||
| 13 | 13 | IM | Audi, Ameya | IND | 2422 | GOA | 6 | 30,5 | 33,5 | 24,50 | 0 | 5 | |||
| 14 | 12 | GM | Das, Sayantan | IND | 2434 | WB | 5,5 | 37 | 41 | 25,75 | 0 | 4 | |||
| 15 | 5 | GM | Mitrabha, Guha | IND | 2509 | WB | 5,5 | 36,5 | 40 | 25,75 | 0 | 4 | |||
| 16 | 9 | GM | Savchenko, Boris | RUS | 2481 | RUS | 5,5 | 35,5 | 39 | 25,75 | 0 | 5 | |||
| 17 | 14 | FM | Nguyen, Quoc Hy | VIE | 2418 | VIE | 5,5 | 35,5 | 39 | 25,50 | 0 | 4 | |||
| 18 | 40 | Sriram, Adarsh Uppala | IND | 2306 | TEL | 5,5 | 35,5 | 38,5 | 24,00 | 0 | 4 | ||||
| 19 | 62 | Varun, V | IND | 2173 | TEL | 5,5 | 35 | 37 | 22,25 | 0 | 5 | ||||
| 20 | 52 | FM | Ram, Aravind L N | IND | 2249 | TN | 5,5 | 34,5 | 37,5 | 25,00 | 0 | 3 |
