Sandipan, Gukesh, Eduardo and Bogdanovich share four-way lead in 9th HDBank International 2019

Gukesh and Sandipan in four-way lead, Laxman holds defending champion to a draw in round 3

A firm, no eye-contact handshake between GM Laxman R R and defending champion GM Mareco Sandro of Argentina| Photo: Shahid Ahmed

Laxman in good spirits before the match | Photo: Shahid Ahmed

Sandro equalized with Black pieces quite easily out of the opening Grunfeld Exchange variation. Pieces got exchanged at regular interval from move no.14 and a draw was agreed in another 13 moves in a Queen-Rook endgame.

One of the leaders at the end of round 3, Venezuela no.1 GM Eduardo speaks about the chess scene in Venezuela, his games in the tournament and more.

Eduardo playing with Black pieces, sacrificed a Knight for three pawns and a huge initiative which became surmountable for Irina to defend eventually.

Stanislav has pinned Setyaki's Bishop. What is the best continuation for Black here?

Sandipan won it with ease in round 4. He outplayed his opponent in just 30 moves in Dutch Defence: Leningrad System | Photo: Shahid Ahmed

Gukesh is loved globally. Vietnamese media asks Gukesh to pose before his round 3 game | Photo: Shahid Ahmed

Can you think like Gukesh? Find the winning combination for white here

A quick chat with Gukesh at the end of round 3 | Video: Shahid Ahmed

IM Nitin S held GM Ivan Cheparinov to a draw | Photo: Shahid Ahmed

Round 3 results

Bo.	No.		Name	Typ	FED	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Typ	FED	Rtg	No.
1	40	GM	Laxman R.R.		IND	2425	2	½ - ½	2	GM	Mareco Sandro		ARG	2666	4
2	41	IM	Bulmaga Irina		ROU	2424	2	0 - 1	2	GM	Iturrizaga Bonelli Eduardo		VEN	2639	6
3	13	GM	Bogdanovich Stanislav		UKR	2536	2	1 - 0	2	FM	Setyaki Azarya Jodi		INA	2378	58
4	45	IM	Le Quang Long		VIE	2412	2	0 - 1	2	GM	Chanda Sandipan		IND	2534	14
5	15	IM	Gukesh D	U16	IND	2529	2	1 - 0	2	IM	Pham Le Thao Nguyen		VIE	2374	61
6	53	GM	Cao Sang		VIE	2385	2	½ - ½	2	IM	Xu Yi		CHN	2520	18
7	62	IM	Chu Wei Chao		CHN	2373	2	½ - ½	2	GM	Karthik Venkataraman		IND	2494	20
8	83	IM	Kulkarni Rakesh		IND	2298	2	½ - ½	2	GM	Laylo Darwin		PHI	2430	36
9	1	GM	Wang Hao		CHN	2718	1½	1 - 0	1½	IM	Nguyen Van Huy		VIE	2428	38
10	46	IM	Nitin S.		IND	2408	1½	½ - ½	1½	GM	Cheparinov Ivan		GEO	2683	2
11	3	GM	Demchenko Anton		RUS	2678	1½	½ - ½	1½	FM	Zou Chen		CHN	2397	48
12	5	GM	Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son		VIE	2647	1½	1 - 0	1½	IM	Nava Roderick		PHI	2393	50
13	7	GM	Van Wely Loek		NED	2612	1½	1 - 0	1½	CM	Rohith Krishna S	U16	IND	2363	64
14	11	GM	Popov Ivan		RUS	2581	1½	1 - 0	1½		Sammed Jaykumar Shete		IND	2387	52
15	51		Samant Aditya S	U16	IND	2388	1½	0 - 1	1½	GM	Tran Tuan Minh		VIE	2556	12
16	63	IM	Krishna Teja N		IND	2370	1½	0 - 1	1½	GM	Megaranto Susanto		INA	2526	16
17	67	IM	Fenil Shah		IND	2360	1½	0 - 1	1½	IM	Nguyen Anh Khoi		VIE	2484	24
18	69	IM	Vo Thanh Ninh		VIE	2358	1½	½ - ½	1½	GM	Nguyen Anh Dung		VIE	2458	26
19	70	IM	Raghunandan Kaumandur Srihari		IND	2352	1½	½ - ½	1½	IM	Taher Yoseph Theolifus		INA	2446	29
20	72	WGM	Vo Thi Kim Phung		VIE	2349	1½	0 - 1	1½	CM	Mendonca Leon Luke	U16	IND	2446	30

Sammed Shete held GM Loek Van Wely to a draw in round 2

Untitled Sammed Shete held the strong Dutch GM Loek Van Wely to a draw | Photo: Shahid Ahmed

Final moments of the game between Sammeda and Van Wely | Video: Shahid Ahmed

Rakesh continued his fantastic run by defeating GM Tu Hoang Thong in round 2.

Here is a quick chat with Rakesh after he drew with GM Laylo Darwin in round 3.

Round 2 results

Bo.	No.		Name	Typ	FED	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Typ	FED	Rtg	No.
1	50	IM	Nava Roderick		PHI	2393	1	½ - ½	1	GM	Demchenko Anton		RUS	2678	3
2	4	GM	Mareco Sandro		ARG	2666	1	1 - 0	1	IM	Rahul Srivatshav P		IND	2400	47
3	6	GM	Iturrizaga Bonelli Eduardo		VEN	2639	1	1 - 0	1	FM	Hoang Canh Huan		VIE	2394	49
4	52		Sammed Jaykumar Shete		IND	2387	1	½ - ½	1	GM	Van Wely Loek		NED	2612	7
5	10	GM	Pichot Alan		ARG	2584	1	0 - 1	1	GM	Cao Sang		VIE	2385	53
6	54	FM	Dang Hoang Son		VIE	2385	1	0 - 1	1	GM	Bogdanovich Stanislav		UKR	2536	13
7	14	GM	Chanda Sandipan		IND	2534	1	1 - 0	1	IM	Pham Chuong		VIE	2383	55
8	56	IM	Sukandar Irine Kharisma		INA	2381	1	0 - 1	1	IM	Gukesh D	U16	IND	2529	15
9	18	IM	Xu Yi		CHN	2520	1	1 - 0	1	FM	Navalgund Niranjan		IND	2378	57
10	58	FM	Setyaki Azarya Jodi		INA	2378	1	1 - 0	1	FM	Nasanjargal Urtnasan		MGL	2503	19
11	20	GM	Karthik Venkataraman		IND	2494	1	1 - 0	1	FM	Nguyen Dang Hong Phuc		VIE	2376	59
12	61	IM	Pham Le Thao Nguyen		VIE	2374	1	1 - 0	1	GM	Nguyen Duc Hoa		VIE	2450	27
13	62	IM	Chu Wei Chao		CHN	2373	1	1 - 0	1	IM	Pascua Haridas		PHI	2446	28
14	29	IM	Taher Yoseph Theolifus		INA	2446	1	½ - ½	1	IM	Krishna Teja N		IND	2370	63
15	70	IM	Raghunandan Kaumandur Srihari		IND	2352	1	½ - ½	1	IM	Liu Guanchu		CHN	2445	31
16	33	WGM	Tokhirjonova Gulrukhbegim		UZB	2434	½	1 - 0	1		Wang Shixu B		CHN	2362	65
17	34		Li Yankai		CHN	2434	1	½ - ½	1	IM	Fenil Shah		IND	2360	67
18	72	WGM	Vo Thi Kim Phung		VIE	2349	1	½ - ½	1		Zhao Yuanhe		CHN	2431	35
19	36	GM	Laylo Darwin		PHI	2430	1	1 - 0	1	IM	Saravana Krishnan P.		IND	2352	71
20	74		Huang Renjie	U16	CHN	2335	1	½ - ½	1	IM	Shyaamnikhil P		IND	2429	37
21	38	IM	Nguyen Van Huy		VIE	2428	1	½ - ½	1	IM	Tran Minh Thang		VIE	2343	73
22	40	GM	Laxman R.R.		IND	2425	1	1 - 0	1	FM	Mithil Ajgaonkar		IND	2332	75
23	100	WIM	Nandhidhaa P V		IND	2240	1	0 - 1	1	IM	Bulmaga Irina		ROU	2424	41
24	44	GM	Tu Hoang Thong		VIE	2416	1	0 - 1	1	IM	Kulkarni Rakesh		IND	2298	83
25	143	FM	Nouri Alekhine	U16	PHI	2064	1	0 - 1	1	IM	Le Quang Long		VIE	2412	45

Round 4 pairings

Bo.	No.		Name	Typ	FED	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Typ	FED	Rtg	No.
1	6	GM	Iturrizaga Bonelli Eduardo		VEN	2639	3		3	IM	Gukesh D	U16	IND	2529	15
2	14	GM	Chanda Sandipan		IND	2534	3		3	GM	Bogdanovich Stanislav		UKR	2536	13
3	24	IM	Nguyen Anh Khoi		VIE	2484	2½		2½	GM	Wang Hao		CHN	2718	1
4	4	GM	Mareco Sandro		ARG	2666	2½		2½	IM	Shyaamnikhil P		IND	2429	37
5	30	CM	Mendonca Leon Luke	U16	IND	2446	2½		2½	GM	Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son		VIE	2647	5
6	34		Li Yankai		CHN	2434	2½		2½	GM	Van Wely Loek		NED	2612	7
7	36	GM	Laylo Darwin		PHI	2430	2½		2½	GM	Popov Ivan		RUS	2581	11
8	12	GM	Tran Tuan Minh		VIE	2556	2½		2½	GM	Laxman R.R.		IND	2425	40
9	16	GM	Megaranto Susanto		INA	2526	2½		2½	GM	Cao Sang		VIE	2385	53
10	18	IM	Xu Yi		CHN	2520	2½		2½	IM	Chu Wei Chao		CHN	2373	62
11	20	GM	Karthik Venkataraman		IND	2494	2½		2½	IM	Kulkarni Rakesh		IND	2298	83
12	2	GM	Cheparinov Ivan		GEO	2683	2		2	IM	Pham Le Thao Nguyen		VIE	2374	61
13	56	IM	Sukandar Irine Kharisma		INA	2381	2		2	GM	Demchenko Anton		RUS	2678	3
14	8	GM	Predke Alexandr		RUS	2611	2		2	IM	Vo Thanh Ninh		VIE	2358	69
15	58	FM	Setyaki Azarya Jodi		INA	2378	2		2	GM	Wen Yang		CHN	2599	9
16	74		Huang Renjie	U16	CHN	2335	2		2	FM	Nasanjargal Urtnasan		MGL	2503	19
17	26	GM	Nguyen Anh Dung		VIE	2458	2		2	IM	Raghunandan Kaumandur Srihari		IND	2352	70
18	86		Xu Minghui		CHN	2293	2		2	IM	Pascua Haridas		PHI	2446	28
19	29	IM	Taher Yoseph Theolifus		INA	2446	2		2	IM	Saravana Krishnan P.		IND	2352	71

Sandipan, Gukesh, Eduardo and Bogdanovich share four-way lead in 9th HDBank International 2019