Abu Dhabi Masters: Young Indians shine!

by Aditya Pai - 14/08/2018

With the finale drawing closer, Murali Karthikeyan and Aravindh Chithambaram scored two big upsets beating Vladimir Fedoseev and Martyn Kravtsiv respectively to take joint second spot on the leaderboard. The two are only half-a-point behind the leaders at 5.5/7. Nihal Sarin, while also being in contention for the title is also inching closer towards his final GM norm. In round 7, he drew effortlessly against Constantin Luplescu to come upto 5.0/7. Arjun Erigaisi also moved closer to his GM norm with a quick draw white against GM Amin Bassem.

Karthikeyan and Chithambaram in a six-way tie for second!

Round 7 of the 25^th Abu Dhabi Masters 2018 witnessed a sedate draw in its headlining game between the two tournament leaders, Daniil Dubov and Anton Korobov. The biggest beneficiary of this development turned out to be local GM Salem AR Saleh who defeated the Vietnamese number one, GM Le Quang Liem to join Dubov and Korobov at the top of the leaderboard.

Young Indian Grandmasters also scored a fair bit of upsets on the top boards. The biggest of these was scored by GM Murali Karthikeyan. On board two, Karthikeyan brought down the fifth seed of the tournament, Vladimir Fedoseev and is currently in a six-way tie for the second place.

Fedoseev was definitely looking for a win in this game. His opening choice of the Sicilian Najdorf with black only affirmed to this. And for the most part of the game, it was indeed Fedoseev who was pressing for a win. In the middle game, the Russian Grandmaster had launched a dangerous looking attack on the white king.

Position after 31...Re3

Black’s kingside attack looks dangerous but after black’s last move, white gets to enter an endgame with an extra pawn. White could simply defend his queen with 32.Qd2 and after black defends his knight with 32…Ne5, white has the tactical shot 33.Qxe3 fxe3 34.Rxf6 Rxf6 35.Re7, collecting the e3 pawn on the next turn. Karthikeyan did find Qxe3 but he played it straight away without 32.Qd2 and Ne5 in the mix. This allowed white to recapture on f6 with the knight and take on d5 after 32.Qxe3 fxe3 33.Rxf6 Nxf6 34.Ne6 Nxd5. Also, in the ensuing position, white remained with his e3 pawn after the text sequence.

Nonetheless, the resulting position was still equal. But in his zeal to win, Fedoseev made a suicidal pawn break on his 39^th move that tipped the game in Karthikeyan’s favour.

Position after 39...b6

Black played 39…b6 here, allowing white the counter-break 40.b5. Now white is just winning as at least one of his pawns marches to the queening square with decisive effect. 40..axb5 was played in the game while 40…bxa5 loses to 41.Rc6.

GM Murali Karthikeyan brought down the tournament's fifth seed, Vladimir Fedoseev after the latter's over-ambitious play in the endgame

Another Indian sharing the second place in this six-way tie is the Chennai based Grandmaster, Aravindh Chithambaram. Chithambaram was playing Ukranian GM Martyn Kravtsiv and pulled off a win in a Scotch Defence game.

Aravindh had the white pieces in the game and, as is typical in the Scotch, got an equal position out of the opening. However, Kravtsiv tried a bit too hard to prevent the enemy king from castling and got into a worse position.

Position after 14.Bd2

Black’s pawns on c6 and d6 are quite precarious here. Not only do they look potentially weak but also, if Black is not careful, one or both might fall off like autumn leaves in no time. Kravtsiv played 14…Bg4 here and after 15.f3 Re8+ 16.Kf2, succeeded in preventing white from castling.

The downside to this is that this allowed white to connect his rooks and now black’s central pawns are much more vulnerable. In just a few moves, both pawns fell and Aravindh was in a clearly winning position.

Position after 47...Kd6

Here, white seems to be giving the position some final touches before forcing resignation. But the position got much trickier quite soon. The computer suggests 48.Rd8+ Kc7 49.Rd7+ Kc8 and 50.Rd5, after which it all looks straightforward. Aravind chose to push his passer here with 48.b6, however, and allowed 48…f4+. White recovered the piece here after 49.Kh2 Rxf2 and 50.Kg1.

Position after 50.Kg1

But here, after 50…Rb2 51.Kxf1 Kxc6, the position went from being clearly winning for white to one where black had fighting chances. The tricks still haven’t ended though. Aravindh very cunningly gave up a pawn here with 52.Kg1!

Black played 51...Kxc6 here, after which, white replied with 52.Kg1

If black takes on b6, the white king just collects everything on the kingside with Kh2-h3-g4. The fun part is, black could have enjoyed full equality one move ago had he not hurried to take the c6 pawn and played 51…Rb1+. Now, after 52.Kf2 Kxc6, the white king needs longer to reach g4, allowing black enough time to bring his king to the kingside to defend. Lots of skirmishes ensued after this but Aravindh came out on top at the end.

GM Aravindh Chithambaram won a tumultuous battle against Martyn Kravtsiv | Photo: Amruta Mokal

Meanwhile, IM Nihal Sarin also inched closer towards becoming India’s 53^rd grandmaster, holding GM Constantin Lupulescu to a comfortable draw with the black pieces. Nihal essayed the Queen’s Indian Defence in the game and came up with a novelty on his 14^th turn which led to a quick liquidation of the position. In the ensuing heavy piece endgame, Nihal’s d6 pawn looked a little weak but with his active pieces, he held the draw without batting an eye.

IM Nihal Sarin is inching closer to his third and final GM norm! | Photo (L): Amruta Mokal

Another young Indian, IM Arjun Erigaisi is also heading strongly towards his GM norm. In round 7, Arjun held the Egytian number one GM Amin Bassem to a draw without breaking a sweat. The game only lasted 19 moves in a Classical King’s Indian Defence. Going for an early Queen trade with the white pieces, Arjun ensured that he got a safe and solid half point. So far, his performance rating has been a stunning 2586. If he could maintain his solid play in the next two rounds, he might as well become another GM norm scorer from India!

Arjun Erigaisi is another Indian who is very close to his GM norm | Photo (L): Amruta Mokal

All Games

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Standings after Round 7

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	n	w	we	w-we	K	rtg+/-
1	6	GM	Dubov Daniil	RUS	2691	6,0	0,0	2600	32,0	7	6	4,62	1,38	10	13,8
2	10	GM	Korobov Anton	UKR	2664	6,0	0,0	2580	32,0	7	6	4,53	1,47	10	14,7
3	16	GM	Salem A.R. Saleh	UAE	2636	6,0	0,0	2557	27,0	7	6	4,44	1,56	10	15,6
4	2	GM	Rapport Richard	HUN	2719	5,5	0,0	2607	29,5	7	5,5	4,79	0,71	10	7,1
5	28	GM	Aravindh Chithambaram Vr.	IND	2581	5,5	0,0	2570	29,0	7	5,5	3,95	1,55	10	15,5
6	3	GM	Cheparinov Ivan	GEO	2718	5,5	0,0	2565	31,0	7	5,5	5,11	0,39	10	3,9
7	8	GM	Sargissian Gabriel	ARM	2680	5,5	0,0	2564	29,5	7	5,5	4,81	0,69	10	6,9
8	15	GM	Maghsoodloo Parham	IRI	2636	5,5	0,0	2545	28,5	7	5,5	4,61	0,89	10	8,9
9	22	GM	Karthikeyan Murali	IND	2609	5,5	0,0	2451	26,5	7	5,5	5,05	0,45	10	4,5
10	4	GM	Wang Hao	CHN	2711	5,0	0,0	2603	33,0	7	5	4,76	0,24	10	2,4
11	34	IM	Nihal Sarin	IND	2556	5,0	0,0	2573	27,5	7	5	3,70	1,30	10	13,0
12	44	IM	Kuybokarov Temur	UZB	2499	5,0	0,0	2551	29,0	7	5	3,46	1,54	10	15,4
13	23	GM	Andersen Mads	DEN	2601	5,0	0,0	2540	28,0	7	5	4,34	0,66	10	6,6
14	12	GM	Akopian Vladimir	ARM	2655	5,0	0,0	2502	27,5	7	5	5,08	-0,08	10	-0,8
15	35	GM	Abdusattorov Nodirbek	UZB	2539	5,0	0,0	2432	30,0	7	5	4,69	0,31	10	3,1
16	36	GM	Debashis Das	IND	2539	5,0	0,0	2421	27,0	7	5	4,71	0,29	10	2,9
17	13	GM	Kravtsiv Martyn	UKR	2654	4,5	0,0	2600	33,5	7	4,5	4,30	0,20	10	2,0
18	5	GM	Fedoseev Vladimir	RUS	2707	4,5	0,0	2598	34,0	7	4,5	4,76	-0,26	10	-2,6
19	26	GM	Pantsulaia Levan	GEO	2587	4,5	0,0	2591	31,0	7	4,5	3,80	0,70	10	7,0
20	19	GM	Vocaturo Daniele	ITA	2617	4,5	0,0	2584	33,0	7	4,5	4,12	0,38	10	3,8

Results of round 7

Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.
1	6	GM	Dubov Daniil	2691	5½	½ - ½	5½	GM	Korobov Anton	2664	10
2	16	GM	Salem A.R. Saleh	2636	5	1 - 0	4½	GM	Le Quang Liem	2727	1
3	2	GM	Rapport Richard	2719	4½	1 - 0	4½	GM	Tabatabaei M.Amin	2590	25
4	19	GM	Vocaturo Daniele	2617	4½	0 - 1	4½	GM	Cheparinov Ivan	2718	3
5	4	GM	Wang Hao	2711	4½	½ - ½	4½	GM	Andersen Mads	2601	23
6	22	GM	Karthikeyan Murali	2609	4½	1 - 0	4½	GM	Fedoseev Vladimir	2707	5
7	8	GM	Sargissian Gabriel	2680	4½	1 - 0	4½	GM	Pantsulaia Levan	2587	26
8	28	GM	Aravindh Chithambaram Vr.	2581	4½	1 - 0	4½	GM	Kravtsiv Martyn	2654	13
9	29	GM	Narayanan.S.L	2574	4½	0 - 1	4½	GM	Maghsoodloo Parham	2636	15
10	18	GM	Lupulescu Constantin	2619	4	½ - ½	4½	IM	Nihal Sarin	2556	34
11	42	IM	Erigaisi Arjun	2517	4	½ - ½	4	GM	Amin Bassem	2684	7
12	12	GM	Akopian Vladimir	2655	4	1 - 0	4	GM	Puranik Abhimanyu	2514	43
13	38	GM	Aryan Chopra	2536	4	½ - ½	4	GM	Adly Ahmed	2634	17
14	20	GM	Gupta Abhijeet	2614	4	½ - ½	4	GM	Kadric Denis	2537	37
15	49	IM	Iniyan P	2464	4	½ - ½	4	GM	Petrosian Tigran L.	2610	21
16	54	IM	Nitin S.	2449	4	½ - ½	4	GM	Jojua Davit	2583	27
17	44	IM	Kuybokarov Temur	2499	4	1 - 0	4	GM	Yuffa Daniil	2570	31
18	70	GM	Raetsky Alexander	2380	4	0 - 1	4	GM	Abdusattorov Nodirbek	2539	35
19	36	GM	Debashis Das	2539	4	1 - 0	4		Aaryan Varshney	2261	109
20	110	FM	Pranav Anand	2260	4	0 - 1	3½	GM	Sjugirov Sanan	2677	9

Round 8 Pairing

Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.
1	16	GM	Salem A.R. Saleh	2636	6		6	GM	Dubov Daniil	2691	6
2	10	GM	Korobov Anton	2664	6		5½	GM	Rapport Richard	2719	2
3	3	GM	Cheparinov Ivan	2718	5½		5½	GM	Karthikeyan Murali	2609	22
4	15	GM	Maghsoodloo Parham	2636	5½		5½	GM	Sargissian Gabriel	2680	8
5	4	GM	Wang Hao	2711	5		5½	GM	Aravindh Chithambaram Vr.	2581	28
6	35	GM	Abdusattorov Nodirbek	2539	5		5	GM	Akopian Vladimir	2655	12
7	23	GM	Andersen Mads	2601	5		5	GM	Debashis Das	2539	36
8	34	IM	Nihal Sarin	2556	5		5	IM	Kuybokarov Temur	2499	44
9	1	GM	Le Quang Liem	2727	4½		4½	GM	Aryan Chopra	2536	38
10	5	GM	Fedoseev Vladimir	2707	4½		4½	GM	Firouzja Alireza	2561	33
11	7	GM	Amin Bassem	2684	4½		4½	GM	Fier Alexandr	2561	32
12	9	GM	Sjugirov Sanan	2677	4½		4½	IM	Erigaisi Arjun	2517	42
13	11	GM	Short Nigel D	2659	4½		4½	IM	Sindarov Javokhir	2488	46
14	13	GM	Kravtsiv Martyn	2654	4½		4½	IM	Iniyan P	2464	49
15	17	GM	Adly Ahmed	2634	4½		4½	IM	Nguyen Anh Khoi	2454	52
16	37	GM	Kadric Denis	2537	4½		4½	GM	Lupulescu Constantin	2619	18
17	51	IM	Harsha Bharathakoti	2454	4½		4½	GM	Vocaturo Daniele	2617	19
18	54	IM	Nitin S.	2449	4½		4½	GM	Gupta Abhijeet	2614	20
19	21	GM	Petrosian Tigran L.	2610	4½		4½	IM	Akash G	2410	62
20	25	GM	Tabatabaei M.Amin	2590	4½		4½	WGM	Tokhirjonova Gulrukhbegim	2350	78

About the Author

Aditya Pai is an ardent chess fan, avid reader, and a film lover. He holds a Master's in English Literature and used to work as an advertising copywriter before joining the ChessBase India team.

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