Baku Open 2023 R1: Dushyant Sharma holds Rauf Mamedov to a draw

by Shahid Ahmed - 05/05/2023

IM Dushyant Sharma held Azerbaijan no.5, GM Rauf Mamedov to a draw in the first round of Baku Open 2023. Dushyant played solid throughout the game and ensured no mistakes were made. The majority of the game was a rook endgame which lasted for 56 moves out of 88 in total. FM Mohamed Anees M missed a great opportunity to win against GM Vitaliy Bernadskiy (UKR). The former initially found the correct way to liquidate into a favorable knight vs bishop endgame. However, he misplayed and let his opportunity slip. FM Nikhil Dixit scored a beautiful win against IM Manish Anto Cristiano F when the latter blundered immediately after declining a guaranteed draw by perpetual check. Round 2 starts today at 3 p.m. local time, 4:30 p.m. IST. Photo: FA Lana Afandiyeva

A good start for few Indians

FM Aradhya Garg, WIM Mahalakshmi M, WGM Srija Seshadri and WIM Priyanka K drew with GM Namig Guliyev (AZE), IM Nigmatov Ortik (UZB), IM Nikoloz Petriashvili (GEO) and IM Nurgyul Salimova (BUL) each respectively. The total prize fund of the tournament is US$ 50000. Top three prizes are $12000 + Cup, $8000 and $6000 each respectively.

IM Dushyant Sharma held Azerbaijan no.5 GM Rauf Mamedov to a draw | Photo: FA Lana Afandiyeva

Bernadskiy - Anees

Position after 37...Rxe2

How should White recapture here? GM Vitaliy Bernadskiy (UKR, 2592) made an incorrect decision to capture with his rook 38.Rxe2. His opponent found the precise continuation 38...h4! 39.Rxe6+ dxe6 40.Ne2 e5 41.Kf2 Kf5 42.g3 Ke4 Black king invades on White's queenside. He does not need to be bothered about the h4-pawn. 43.gxh4 Kd3 44.Ng3 Bd7 45.Nh5 g6 46.Nf6 Bxh3 47.Nd5 Kc2 48.b4 and now Black made a mistake to allow his opponent to get back in the game.

Position after 48.b4

The one thing Black should not do here is 48...Kb3. The reason is simple, it abandons the e5-pawn and Black will not gain the c3-pawn, getting the a3-pawn is not enough to win the game. Instead, 48...Kd2 49.Ne3 Be6 still keeps Black's winning chances. 49.Ke3 Bf5 50.Nc7 Kxa3 51.Nxa6 and White went to save the half point.

FM Aradhya Garg (pictured) - GM Namig Guliyev (AZE): 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Azerbaijan Chess Federation

Nikhil - Manish

Position after 41...Bxd5!

IM Manish Anto Cristiano F (2485) made a correct sacrifice 41...Bxd5! FM Nikhil Dixit (2257) took it 42.Qxd5 Qxf2+ 43.Qg2 Qxh4+ 44.Kg1 and now draw by perpetual check is the best result for Black. However, he made a grave mistake here

Position after 44.Kg1

44...Qxh6?? is a big mistake. 45.Qh2! +- and it's a curtain call for Black. 45...Qxh2+ 46.Kxh2 e4 47.b5! e3 48.Kg3 ensuring neither e nor g-pawn gets to promote axb5 49.a6 and White's one pawn is enough to win the game whereas Black's five pawns are not enough to save the day. What an amazing finish. A painful loss for Black but a picturesque finish for White.

FM Nikhil Dixit scored a very nice victory over IM Manish Anto Cristiano F | Photo: Azerbaijan Chess Federation

WGM Mahalakshmi M (pictured) - IM Nigmatov Ortik (UZB): 0.5-0.5 | Photo: FA Lana Afanadiyeva

Petriashvili - Srija

Position after 24...Qf6

WGM Srija Seshadri (2199) took advantage of the d4-bishop being pinned by her rook on the fourth rank 24...Qf6. IM Nikoloz Petriashvili (GEO, 2432) unpinned his bishop by offering his rook as a sacrifice 25.Re4 Rb1+ 26.Kh2 and now Black sacrificed her queen, actually it is an exchange because she was already ahead by an exchange Nxe4 27.Bxf6 Nxf6 28.Qd4 c5! a clever tactic to deflect the queen and force a perpetual 29.Qxc5 Ng4+ 30.Kh3 Nxf2+ 31.Kh2 Ng4+ 32.Kh3 Nf2+ and it's a draw as White cannot get out of the perpetual checks.

WGM Srija Seshadri had an interesting draw against IM Nikoloz Petriashvili (GEO) | Photo: Azerbaijan Chess Federation

WIM Priyanka K (pictured) - IM Nurgyul Salimova (BUL): 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

The tournament hall at Baku Crystal Hall in Baku, Azerbaijan | Photo: Azerbaijan Chess Federation

A total of 119 players including 32 GMs, 29 IMs, 11 WGMs and 7 WIMs are taking part from 14 countries across the world in Group A. The nine-day nine-round Swiss League tournament is organized by Azerbaijan Chess Federation and the Ministry of Youth & Sport of the Republic of Azerbaijan from 4th to 12th May 2023 at Baku Crystal Hall in Baku, Azerbaijan. The time control of the tournament is 90 minutes for 40 moves + 30 minutes + 30 seconds per move from the first move.

Replay Round 1 games

Round 1 results

Rd.	Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.
1	1	62	WGM	Divya Deshmukh	2372	0	0 - 1	0	GM	Niemann Hans Moke	2708	1
1	4	4	GM	Mamedov Rauf	2646	0	½ - ½	0	IM	Dushyant Sharma	2355	65
1	6	6	GM	Sethuraman S.P.	2626	0	1 - 0	0	FM	Naghdiyev Niyazi	2349	67
1	8	8	GM	Gareyev Timur	2617	0	1 - 0	0	WGM	Gomes Mary Ann	2336	69
1	11	72	WGM	Klek Hanna Marie	2325	0	0 - 1	0	GM	Mendonca Leon Luke	2603	11
1	12	12	GM	Harsha Bharathakoti	2602	0	1 - 0	0	FM	Ahmad Khagan	2321	73
1	14	14	GM	Bernadskiy Vitaliy	2592	0	½ - ½	0	FM	Mohamed Anees M	2315	75
1	15	76	FM	Wagh Suyog	2313	0	0 - 1	0	GM	Asadli Vugar	2584	15
1	21	82	FM	Aradhya Garg	2284	0	½ - ½	0	GM	Guliyev Namig	2540	21
1	23	84	FM	Aliyev Ravan	2280	0	0 - 1	0	GM	Aditya Mittal	2522	23
1	24	24	GM	Bharath Subramaniyam H	2517	0	1 - 0	0	FM	Chizhikov Vladislav	2279	85
1	25	86	FM	Bayramov Zaur	2276	0	0 - 1	0	IM	Samant Aditya S	2501	25
1	26	26	IM	Samunenkov Ihor	2501	0	1 - 0	0	WIM	Sharma Isha	2275	87
1	30	30	GM	Sadikhov Ulvi	2489	0	1 - 0	0	FM	Ayush Sharma	2267	91
1	33	94	FM	Dixit Nikhil	2257	0	1 - 0	0	IM	Manish Anto Cristiano F	2485	33

Details

Standings after Round 1

Rk.	SNo		Name	Gr	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	1	GM	Niemann, Hans Moke	A	USA	2708	1	0	0	1
	2	GM	Predke, Alexandr	A	SRB	2685	1	0	0	1
	3	GM	Korobov, Anton	A	UKR	2664	1	0	0	1
	5	GM	Abasov, Nijat	A	AZE	2634	1	0	0	1
	6	GM	Sethuraman, S.P.	A	IND	2626	1	0	0	1
	7	GM	Indjic, Aleksandar	A	SRB	2618	1	0	0	1
	8	GM	Gareyev, Timur	A	USA	2617	1	0	0	1
	10	GM	Safarli, Eltaj	A	AZE	2609	1	0	0	1
	11	GM	Mendonca, Leon Luke	A	IND	2603	1	0	0	1
	12	GM	Harsha, Bharathakoti	A	IND	2602	1	0	0	1
	15	GM	Asadli, Vugar	A	AZE	2584	1	0	0	1
	16	GM	Romanov, Evgeny	A	NOR	2578	1	0	0	1
	17	GM	Iskandarov, Misratdin	A	AZE	2577	1	0	0	1
	18	GM	Pantsulaia, Levan	A	GEO	2570	1	0	0	1
	19	GM	Suleymanli, Aydin	A	AZE	2560	1	0	0	1
	20	GM	Petrov, Nikita	A	MNE	2547	1	0	0	1
	23	GM	Aditya, Mittal	A	IND	2522	1	0	0	1
	24	GM	Bharath, Subramaniyam H	A	IND	2517	1	0	0	1
	25	IM	Samant, Aditya S	A	IND	2501	1	0	0	1
	26	IM	Samunenkov, Ihor	A	UKR	2501	1	0	0	1

Details

Round 2 pairings

Rd.	Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.
2	4	5	GM	Abasov Nijat	2634	1		1	IM	Prraneeth Vuppala	2442	44
2	5	39	IM	Erdogmus Yagiz Kaan	2470	1		1	GM	Sethuraman S.P.	2626	6
2	7	41	GM	Chanda Sandipan	2460	1		1	GM	Gareyev Timur	2617	8
2	9	11	GM	Mendonca Leon Luke	2603	1		1		Kushko Dmitriy	2391	56
2	10	43	IM	Jubin Jimmy	2455	1		1	GM	Harsha Bharathakoti	2602	12
2	17	23	GM	Aditya Mittal	2522	1		1	FM	Dixit Nikhil	2257	94
2	18	57	IM	Ilamparthi A R	2388	1		1	GM	Bharath Subramaniyam H	2517	24
2	19	25	IM	Samant Aditya S	2501	1		1		Valiyev Shahin	2252	98
2	23	75	FM	Mohamed Anees M	2315	½		½	GM	Mamedov Rauf	2646	4
2	24	13	GM	Sanal Vahap	2600	½		½	FM	Aradhya Garg	2284	82
2	25	65	IM	Dushyant Sharma	2355	½		½	GM	Bernadskiy Vitaliy	2592	14
2	30	35	GM	Raja Rithvik R	2476	½		½	CM	Aslanov Umid	2273	88
2	35	49	FM	Kilic Eray	2414	½		½	WIM	Mahalakshmi M	2210	106
2	37	51	IM	Lortkipanidze Nodar	2406	½		½	WIM	Priyanka K	2137	116
2	38	107	WGM	Srija Seshadri	2199	½		½	IM	Moksh Amit Doshi	2401	52

Details

Links

Official site

Tournament regulations

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