Asian Continental 2022 R6: Nandhidhaa gains sole lead, Harsha remains the frontrunner

by Shahid Ahmed - 01/11/2022

GM Harsha Bharathakoti drew with the top seed GM R Praggnanandhaa to maintain his sole lead 5/6. He is followed by eleven players at 4.5/6. GM S L Narayanan, GM Aravindh Chithambaram, IM Saparmyrat Atabayev (TKM) and IM Koustav Chatterjee won their respective games to reduce the gap. In the Women's event, WGM Nandhidhaa P V defeated her coleader WGM Priyanka Nutakki to gain sole lead 5.5/6. Nandhidhaa is now full point ahead of Priyanka and IM Padmini Rout. Narayanan - Harsha and Nandhidhaa - Padmini are the top board matches in Round 7. It starts today at 2:30 p.m. IST. Photo: Shahid Ahmed

Calm before storm

The top four boards in the Open event might have ended in draws. However, they were well-fought ones, one of them lasting for nearly 5.5 hours. Among the Women, the percentage got inverted. Six out of top ten games ended decisively. The last three rounds are surely going to be exciting as players move their way to claim a medal and secure a spot in the FIDE World Cup 2023.

GM Harsha Bharathakoti maintains his pole position 5/6 | Photo: Shahid Ahmed

WGM Nandhidhaa P V is the sole leader 5.5/6 | Photo: Shahid Ahmed

Open: Harsha - Praggnanandhaa: 0.5-0.5

GM Harsha Bharathakoti (2582) had a solid draw with GM R Praggnanandhaa (2687). There was a moment where White could have captured a pawn differently.

Position after 11...Nd4

It is not much but after 11...Nd4 12.Qxe5 probably would have fetched a pawn Nxf3+ 13.Bxf3 Re8 14.Qf4 Bxc5 15.Qxc4. The game continued 12.Nxe5 Bxc5 13.Be3 Bf5 14.Qxb7 Rb8 15.Qd5 and it meandered into a draw.

GM Harsha Bharathakoti had a solid draw with the top seed GM R Praggnanandhaa | Photo: Shahid Ahmed

Leon - Sethuraman: 0.5-0.5

GM Leon Luke Mendonca (2558) thwarted all attempts by GM Sethuraman S P (2645) to create trouble for him.

Position after 18...Bb4

19.Kb1 Bxc3 20.Nxc3 Rc6 21.Ka1 Ke7 22.Bd3 Rb8 Black is rapidly building up his forces on the queenside. 23.h5 White prepares for the endgame by advancing his kingside pawns.

Position after 36...Kxe5

37.f4+ seems promising but it does not offer as much as White would want gxf4 38.Rh5+ Kf6 39.hxg7 Rg8 40.Rh7 Ke5 and Black is doing fine.

Final moments: GM Leon Luke Mendonca vs GM Sethuraman S P | Video: ChessBase India

GM Leon Luke Mendonca had a well contested draw with GM Sethuraman S P | Photo: Shahid Ahmed

GM Karthikeyan Murali - GM B Adhiban: 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Shahid Ahmed

Sandipan - S L Narayanan: 0-1

GM S L Narayanan (2663) made a short work of GM Sandipan Chanda (2474) in just 20 moves.

Position after 12.Ne5

12.Ne5 is generally plausible due to the pin on the b5-e8 diagonal. However, the unprotected d4-pawn plays a key role in Black taking on e5. 12...Nxe5 13.dxe5 Ng4. White still cannot take on e8 due to the f2-pawn being under attack. 14.Qe2 Rec8 15.Bxe7 dxc4 16.bxc4 a6 17.Ba4 Qa5 18.Bb3 Re8 Black's pieces are continuously attacking all White's pieces like a pinball. 19.Bd6 Bxe5 20.Bxe5 Rxe5 21.Qd1 Rd8 and White resigned as there is no good way to defend the d2-knight.

GM Sandipan Chanda - GM S L Narayanan: 0-1 | Photo: Shahid Ahmed

FM Ayush Sharma's all-out approach did not work out against GM Aravindh Chithambaram | Photo: Shahid Ahmed

Saparmyrat - Rinat: 1-0

Turkmenistan no.3 IM Saparmyrat Atabayev (2433) is playing phenomenal chess in this tournament. He grinded a relatively equal endgame against Kazakkstan no.1 GM Rinat Jumabayev (2620).

Position after 55...Rb6

The above position seems to be heading towards a draw. However, White felt otherwise. He grinded the endgame like the world champion and eventually induced a mistake from his opponent to score the full point.

IM Saparmyrat Atabayev is consistently doing well from the very first round | Photo: Shahid Ahmed

GM Pranav Venkatesh - IM Aditya Mittal: 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Shahid Ahmed

IM Sammed Jaykumar Shete beats his second GM of the event - Deep Sengupta | Video: ChessBase India

IM Sammed Jaykumar Shete 4/6 | Photo: Shahid Ahmed

The thought of my opponent being Olympiad Gold medalist evaded me - GM Laxman R R | Video: ChessBase India

Women: Priyanka - Nandhidhaa: 0-1

WGM Priyanka Nutakki's (2326) winning streak came to a halt against WGM Nandhidhaa P V (2309) in the sixth round. Priyanka made a positional mistake which shifted things in her opponent's favor.

Position after 20...Nac7

White needed to trade the knights on c7. 21.Nxc7 Nxc7 22.f4 and things would have remained fine. 21.Re1 allowed Black to gain the upper hand Nxb5 22.Bxb5 Rac8 23.Rac1 Bg5 and now White inevitably loses a pawn on the queenside and things go out of hand.

Final moments: WGM Priyanka Nutakki vs WGM Nandhidhaa P V | Video: ChessBase India

WGM Nandhidhaa P V halted WGM Priyanka Nutakki's winning streak | Photo: Shahid Ahmed

Padmini - Nilufar: 1-0

IM Padmini Rout (2390) would have been in serious trouble if her opponent, double IM-norm holder, WGM Nilufar Yakubbaeva (UZB, 2350).

Position after 31.f6

Black cannot take on f6 immediately as 31...Bxf6 immediately ends the game for Black 32.Qxg6+ which is what happened in the game. Try to find out what Black should have done before taking on f6.

IM Padmini Rout on her win against WGM Nilufar Yakubbaeva (UZB) | Video: ChessBase India

IM Padmini Rout joins WGM Priyanka Nutakki in the chase 4.5/6 | Photo: Shahid Ahmed

Final moments: WGM Divya Deshmukh vs IM Soumya Swaminathan | Video: ChessBase India

WIM Saina Salonika (pictured) - IM Tania Sachdev: 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Shahid Ahmed

A total of 91 players including 31 GMs and 39 IMs in the Open, 49 players including 7 IMs, 14 WGMs and 17 WIMs in the Women, are taking part from 13 countries across the world including India. The nine-round Swiss League tournament will take place from 26th October to 3rd November 2022 at The Leela Ambience Convention Hotel, Delhi. It is organized by Delhi Chess Association. The time control of the tournament is 90 Minutes for 40 moves + 30 Minutes with increment of 30 second from move 1.

Replay Round 6 Open games

Replay Round 6 Women games

Round 6 Open results

Bo.	No.		Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	FED	Rtg	No.	PGN
1	12	GM	Harsha Bharathakoti	IND	2582	4½	½ - ½	4	GM	Praggnanandhaa R	IND	2687	1	PGN
2	15	GM	Mendonca Leon Luke	IND	2558	4	½ - ½	4	GM	Sethuraman S.P.	IND	2645	4	PGN
3	7	GM	Karthikeyan Murali	IND	2623	4	½ - ½	4	GM	Adhiban B.	IND	2603	10	PGN
4	13	GM	Vokhidov Shamsiddin	UZB	2568	4	½ - ½	4	GM	Atabayev Maksat	TKM	2475	32	PGN
5	33	GM	Chanda Sandipan	IND	2474	3½	0 - 1	3½	GM	Narayanan.S.L	IND	2663	2	PGN
6	84	FM	Ayush Sharma	IND	2267	3½	0 - 1	3½	GM	Aravindh Chithambaram Vr.	IND	2625	6	PGN
7	47	IM	Atabayev Saparmyrat	TKM	2433	3½	1 - 0	3½	GM	Jumabayev Rinat	KAZ	2620	8	PGN
8	17	IM	Pranav V	IND	2530	3½	½ - ½	3½	IM	Aditya Mittal	IND	2486	30	PGN
9	19	GM	Shyam Sundar M.	IND	2518	3½	½ - ½	3½	IM	Urazayev Arystanbek	KAZ	2458	39	PGN
10	24	IM	Koustav Chatterjee	IND	2496	3½	1 - 0	3½	IM	Viani Antonio Dcunha	IND	2342	72	PGN
11	11	GM	Puranik Abhimanyu	IND	2603	3	1 - 0	3	IM	Ajay Karthikeyan	IND	2441	44	PGN
12	21	GM	Sankalp Gupta	IND	2502	3	½ - ½	3	IM	Nigmatov Ortik	UZB	2433	49	PGN
13	23	GM	Sengupta Deep	IND	2497	3	0 - 1	3	IM	Sammed Jaykumar Shete	IND	2408	52	PGN
14	27	IM	Shyaamnikhil P	IND	2489	3	½ - ½	3	IM	Anuj Shrivatri	IND	2407	53	PGN
15	29	GM	Karthik Venkataraman	IND	2486	3	1 - 0	3	IM	Amartuvshin Ganzorig	MGL	2406	55	PGN

Details

Round 7 Open pairings

Bo.	No.		Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	FED	Rtg	No.
1	2	GM	Narayanan.S.L	IND	2663	4½		5	GM	Harsha Bharathakoti	IND	2582	12
2	1	GM	Praggnanandhaa R	IND	2687	4½		4½	GM	Karthikeyan Murali	IND	2623	7
3	4	GM	Sethuraman S.P.	IND	2645	4½		4½	GM	Vokhidov Shamsiddin	UZB	2568	13
4	6	GM	Aravindh Chithambaram Vr.	IND	2625	4½		4½	IM	Koustav Chatterjee	IND	2496	24
5	10	GM	Adhiban B.	IND	2603	4½		4½	IM	Atabayev Saparmyrat	TKM	2433	47
6	32	GM	Atabayev Maksat	TKM	2475	4½		4½	GM	Mendonca Leon Luke	IND	2558	15
7	30	IM	Aditya Mittal	IND	2486	4		4	GM	Puranik Abhimanyu	IND	2603	11
8	35	GM	Raja Rithvik R	IND	2470	4		4	IM	Pranav V	IND	2530	17
9	52	IM	Sammed Jaykumar Shete	IND	2408	4		4	GM	Shyam Sundar M.	IND	2518	19
10	39	IM	Urazayev Arystanbek	KAZ	2458	4		4	GM	Karthik Venkataraman	IND	2486	29
11	8	GM	Jumabayev Rinat	KAZ	2620	3½		4	IM	Pranesh M	IND	2442	43
12	53	IM	Anuj Shrivatri	IND	2407	3½		3½	GM	Sankalp Gupta	IND	2502	21
13	22	IM	Pranav Anand	IND	2502	3½		3½	GM	Neelotpal Das	IND	2400	56
14	49	IM	Nigmatov Ortik	UZB	2433	3½		3½	IM	Shyaamnikhil P	IND	2489	27
15	74	FM	Ritviz Parab	IND	2337	3½		3½	IM	Vignesh N R	IND	2486	31

Details

Round 6 Women results

Bo.	No.		Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	FED	Rtg	No.	PGN
1	11	WGM	Priyanka Nutakki	IND	2326	4½	0 - 1	4½	WGM	Nandhidhaa P V	IND	2309	13	PGN
2	3	IM	Padmini Rout	IND	2390	3½	1 - 0	4	WGM	Yakubbaeva Nilufar	UZB	2350	6	PGN
3	7	WGM	Divya Deshmukh	IND	2338	3½	½ - ½	3½	IM	Soumya Swaminathan	IND	2326	10	PGN
4	9	WGM	Vo Thi Kim Phung	VIE	2335	3½	½ - ½	3½	WGM	Gomes Mary Ann	IND	2324	12	PGN
5	5	WGM	Vantika Agrawal	IND	2362	3	1 - 0	3½	WIM	Cholleti Sahajasri	IND	2246	16	PGN
6	25	WIM	Salonika Saina	IND	2209	3	½ - ½	3	IM	Tania Sachdev	IND	2406	1	PGN
7	14	WGM	Enkhtuul Altan-Ulzii	MGL	2295	3	0 - 1	3	WGM	Nguyen Thi Mai Hung	VIE	2217	23	PGN
8	19	WIM	Kairbekova Amina	KAZ	2231	3	½ - ½	3	WFM	Pandey Srishti	IND	2213	24	PGN
9	29	IM	Mohota Nisha	IND	2181	3	1 - 0	3	WIM	Balabayeva Xeniya	KAZ	2230	20	PGN
10	21	WIM	Rakshitta Ravi	IND	2219	3	1 - 0	3	WGM	Varshini V	IND	2137	34	PGN

Details

Round 7 Women pairings

Bo.	No.		Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	FED	Rtg	No.
1	13	WGM	Nandhidhaa P V	IND	2309	5½		4½	IM	Padmini Rout	IND	2390	3
2	6	WGM	Yakubbaeva Nilufar	UZB	2350	4		4½	WGM	Priyanka Nutakki	IND	2326	11
3	12	WGM	Gomes Mary Ann	IND	2324	4		4	WGM	Vantika Agrawal	IND	2362	5
4	21	WIM	Rakshitta Ravi	IND	2219	4		4	WGM	Divya Deshmukh	IND	2338	7
5	23	WGM	Nguyen Thi Mai Hung	VIE	2217	4		4	WGM	Vo Thi Kim Phung	VIE	2335	9
6	10	IM	Soumya Swaminathan	IND	2326	4		4	IM	Mohota Nisha	IND	2181	29
7	1	IM	Tania Sachdev	IND	2406	3½		3½	FM	Kurmangaliyeva Liya	KAZ	2199	27
8	16	WIM	Cholleti Sahajasri	IND	2246	3½		3½	WIM	Salonika Saina	IND	2209	25
9	28	WGM	Srija Seshadri	IND	2187	3½		3½	WIM	Kairbekova Amina	KAZ	2231	19
10	26	WIM	Chitlange Sakshi	IND	2208	3½		3½	WGM	Kiran Manisha Mohanty	IND	2030	41

Details

Links

Delhi Chess Association

Tournament Regulations

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