8th Sunway Sitges Open R5: Sethuraman makes a perfect start 5.0/5

by Shahid Ahmed - 18/12/2021

Sethuraman outplayed his opponent Denis Kadric (BIH) to score his fifth consecutive victory and gain sole lead heading into the only rest day of 8th Sunway Sitges Open 2021 Group A. Abhimanyu Puranik scored an academic victory to be in a pack of seven players at 4.5/5. Neelotpal Das had a very good opportunity to beat Aydin Suleymanli (AZE), he missed, and it ended in a draw. Neelotpal, Arjun Erigaisi and Mary Ann Gomes are at 4.0/5 each. Daniel Dardha brought Soumya's great run to a halt as she was unable to find a draw in the same color bishop ending. Sethuraman will face Abdusattorov in Round 6. Today 18th December is a rest day. Round 6 starts tomorrow Sunday 19th December at 9 p.m. IST. Photo: Rupali Mullick

Abhimanyu Puranik in pursuit

Things are heating up as six games ended decisively out of the top ten boards. IM Pranesh M, IM Pranav Anand, Shantanu Bhambure, FM Manu David Suthandram R, Utsab Chatterjee, Tanmay Chopra, WIM Priyanka Nutakki, Kush Devnani, Barath Kalyan M and WIM Sakshi Chitlange drew with GM Nihal Sarin, GM M Amin Tabatabaei (IRI), GM Harsha Bharathakoti, IM Diego Rafael Di Berardino (BRA), IM Nubairshah Shaikh, IM Deimante Daultye-Cornette (FRA), IM Sidhant Mohapatra, WGM Ulviyya Fataliyeva (AZE), WGM Nandhidhaa P V and IM Manish Anto Cristiano F respectively. Sharan Rao and Vaibhav Jayant Raut defeated IM Irine Kharisma Sukandar (INA) and WIM Sila Caglar (TUR) each respectively.

GM Sethuraman S P soars into sole lead 5.0/5 | Photo: Rupali Mullick

Sethuraman - Kadric: 1-0

Sethuraman positionally outplayed his opponent Denis Kadric (BIH) who first lost a pawn.

Position after 24...Ng6

25.Ne1 Rd2 26.Qxa6, Black not only lost a pawn but the c6-pawn is also under attack. White managed to bring his queen back in action in no time. 26...Ne5 27.Qb7 Be6 28.Qb4 Bc8 29.Qb3+ Kf8 30.Qc3 Ba6 31.b4 Re2

Position after 31...Re2

Giving up the control of the d-file is a big mistake for Black. White brought its final piece into the play 31.Rd1 Qe8 32.N1c2 Qh5 33.Qd4 White improved his position gradually and won the game in few more moves.

Sethuraman scored a convincing victory over Denis Kadric | Photo: Rupali Mullick

Garriga - Abhimanyu: 0-1

GM Abhimanyu Puranik scored an academic victory against IM Pere Garriga Cazorla (ESP).

Position after 18.dxe5

Find out why 18.dxe5 is a big mistake. Abhimanyu correctly spotted it and seized his opportunity.

Abhimanyu moves to 4.5/5 | Photo: Rupali Mullick

Aydin - Neelotpal: 0.5-0.5

Neelotpal Das had a good opportunity to win the game against Aydin Suleymanli (AZE) in the final moments of the endgame. He probably missed it in time scramble.

Position after 34.Qg4

White's king is more vulnerable than Black's because of imminent attacking chances due to a battery on c-file. 34.Qg4 is a big mistake. Find out why.

GM Neelotpal Das is playing really well in this event so far | Photo: Rupali Mullick

Soumya - Dardha: 0-1

IM Soumya Swaminathan's great momentum was brought to a screeching halt by GM Daniel Dardha (BEL). A back and forth game seemed to be heading towards a draw, until Soumya blundered in the same color bishop endgame.

Position after 64...e4

Can White still save the game? If yes then find out how.

GM Daniel Dardha 4.5/5 | Photo: Rupali Mullick

Nihal - Pranesh: 0.5-0.5

IM Pranesh M is playing some good chess in this event. He had an interesting draw with Nihal Sarin where the former thwarted all attempts by the latter to stir up trouble.

Nihal and Pranesh had a great game | Photo: Rupali Mullick

IM Pranav Anand had a solid draw with GM M Amin Tabatabaei | Photo: Rupali Mullick

GM Arjunb Erigaisi made a short work of IM Mahel Boyer in 26 moves | Photo: Rupali Mullick

Shantanu Bhambure - GM Harsha Bharathakoti: 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Rupali Mullick

IM Diego Rafael Di Berardino (BRA) - FM Manu David Suthandram R: 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Rupali Mullick

IM Mohammad Nubairshah Shaikh - Utsab Chatterjee: 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Rupali Mullick

Sharan Rao - IM Irine Kharisma Sukandar (INA): 1-0 | Photo: Rupali Mullick

IM Deimante Daulyte-Cornette (FRA) - Tanmay Chopra: 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Rupali Mullick

IM Sidhant Mohapatra - WIM Priyanka Nutakki: 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Rupali Mullick

WGM Ulviyya Fataliyeva (AZE) - Kush Devnani: 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Rupali Mullick

Barath Kalyan M - WGM Nandhidhaa P V: 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Rupali Mullick

IM Manish Anto Cristiano F - WIM Sakshi Chitlange: 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Rupali Mullick

WIM Sila Caglar (TUR) - Vaibhav Jayant Raut: 0-1 | Photo: Rupali Mullick

For more photos, click here.

Replay Round 5 games

Round 5 results

Rd.	Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.
5	1	11	GM	Sethuraman S.P.	2613	4	1 - 0	4	GM	Kadric Denis	2572	16
5	4	29	IM	Sankalp Gupta	2504	3½	0 - 1	3½	GM	Niemann Hans Moke	2645	4
5	8	37	IM	Garriga Cazorla Pere	2477	3½	0 - 1	3½	GM	Puranik Abhimanyu	2604	12
5	10	23	GM	Suleymanli Aydin	2537	3½	½ - ½	3½	GM	Neelotpal Das	2410	62
5	11	90	IM	Soumya Swaminathan	2351	3½	0 - 1	3½	GM	Dardha Daniel	2533	24
5	12	3	GM	Nihal Sarin	2662	3	½ - ½	3	IM	Pranesh M	2437	50
5	13	5	GM	Tabatabaei M. Amin	2643	3	½ - ½	3	IM	Pranav Anand	2416	58
5	14	53	IM	Boyer Mahel	2427	3	0 - 1	3	GM	Erigaisi Arjun	2629	8
5	15	15	GM	Fier Alexandr	2572	3	1 - 0	3	IM	Vaishali R	2401	66
5	16	17	GM	Iniyan Panneerselvam	2555	3	0 - 1	3	IM	Dionisi Thomas	2396	70
5	19	63	IM	Baenziger Fabian	2409	3	½ - ½	3	GM	Arjun Kalyan	2537	22
5	21	78		Bhambure Shantanu	2377	3	½ - ½	3	GM	Harsha Bharathakoti	2489	32
5	22	33	GM	Vasquez Schroeder Rodrigo	2484	3	1 - 0	3	IM	Moksh Amit Doshi	2368	80
5	23	35	IM	Di Berardino Diego Rafael	2480	3	½ - ½	3	FM	Manu David Suthandram R	2360	84
5	24	81	IM	Aulia Medina Warda	2367	3	½ - ½	3	IM	Bharath Subramaniyam H	2479	36
5	26	45	IM	Quintiliano Pinto Renato R.	2466	3	0 - 1	3	WGM	Gomes Mary Ann	2354	88
5	28	7	GM	Karthikeyan Murali	2630	2½	1 - 0	2½	FM	Kenneskog Theodor	2307	111
5	34	47	IM	Aditya Mittal	2459	2½	1 - 0	2½	FM	Aranha Filho Alvaro Z.	2283	116
5	36	51	IM	Mohammad Nubairshah Shaikh	2429	2½	½ - ½	2½		Utsab Chatterjee	2255	122
5	41	57	IM	Cuhendi Sean Winshand	2419	2½	1 - 0	2½	WIM	Rakshitta Ravi	2240	130

Details

Round 6 pairings

Rd.	Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.
6	1	6	GM	Abdusattorov Nodirbek	2633	4½		5	GM	Sethuraman S.P.	2613	11
6	4	12	GM	Puranik Abhimanyu	2604	4½		4½	GM	Rios Cristhian Camilo	2460	46
6	5	62	GM	Neelotpal Das	2410	4		4	GM	Korobov Anton	2699	1
6	7	8	GM	Erigaisi Arjun	2629	4		4	GM	Van Foreest Lucas	2530	25
6	13	88	WGM	Gomes Mary Ann	2354	4		3½	GM	Tabatabaei M. Amin	2643	5
6	14	54	FM	Stoyanov Tsvetan	2424	3½		3½	GM	Nihal Sarin	2662	3
6	15	57	IM	Cuhendi Sean Winshand	2419	3½		3½	GM	Karthikeyan Murali	2630	7
6	16	22	GM	Arjun Kalyan	2537	3½		3½	IM	Gines Esteo Pedro Antonio	2413	59
6	17	58	IM	Pranav Anand	2416	3½		3½	IM	Sankalp Gupta	2504	29
6	19	32	GM	Harsha Bharathakoti	2489	3½		3½	FM	Hess Max	2404	65
6	20	34	IM	Dann Matthias	2482	3½		3½	CM	Prraneeth Vuppala	2377	77
6	21	35	IM	Di Berardino Diego Rafael	2480	3½		3½		Bhambure Shantanu	2377	78
6	22	36	IM	Bharath Subramaniyam H	2479	3½		3½	IM	Salimova Nurgyul	2353	89
6	24	42	IM	Kacharava Nikolozi	2469	3½		3½	IM	Soumya Swaminathan	2351	90
6	25	84	FM	Manu David Suthandram R	2360	3½		3½	GM	Nestorovic Nikola	2467	43
6	26	95	IM	Padmini Rout	2345	3½		3½	IM	Kurmann Oliver	2466	44
6	27	135	WIM	Sieber Fiona	2225	3½		3½	IM	Aditya Mittal	2459	47
6	29	160		Sharan Rao	2179	3½		3½	IM	Ayats Llobera Gerard	2448	49
6	30	50	IM	Pranesh M	2437	3½		3½	IM	Tarigan Gilbert Elroy	2149	173
6	33	108	WGM	Nandhidhaa P V	2313	3		3	GM	Iniyan Panneerselvam	2555	17

Details

Prizes

Total Prize fund - €27155. For the entire prize details, click here.

Schedule

13th - 22nd December - 9:00 p.m. IST

18th December - Rest day

23rd December - 1:30 p.m. IST

Links

Official site

Tournament rules

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