chessbase india logo

Bhopal GM Open 2019 Round 8: Yakubboev maintains his sole lead

by Niklesh Jain - 27/12/2019

Bhopal International GM Open 2019 has entered into its final stage. Top seed GM Nodirbek Yakubboev has taken sole lead with a score of 7.0/8, India's highest rated player in the event, GM Venkatesh M R is just behind the leader at 6.5/8 along with nine other players who are also at the same score. It is going to be a close contest since so many players are closing in on the leader. IM Nguyen Van Huy showed fantastic opening preparation and gave no chances to Yakubboev. All top four boards ended up in draws. Only Venkatesh scored a victory among the top five boards. Read round 8 report by Niklesh Jain from the venue. Photo: Niklesh Jain

Top seed of the tournament GM Nodirbek Yakubboev leads the Bhopal International GM Open 2019 with a score of 7.0/8 at the conclusion of round 8. The capital of Madhya Pradesh, Bhopal witnesses 250 players participation from 15 countries across the world in Central India's biggest tournament.

It was a peaceful day for top three boards in round 8 as all three of them ended up in draws. IM Nguyen Van Huy of Vietnam held the top seed GM Nodirbek Yakubboev to a draw after the game reached to a grid lock in 38 moves arising out of Bogo Indian Defence.

After recovering from yesterday's loss, GM Stanislav Bogdanovich of Ukraine, gave it all to score a full point, but unfortunately for him it was not him. His opponent IM Ortik Nigmatov of Uzbekistan managed to hold correctly in a Rook and minor piece endgame, the eventually liquidated into a drawn endgame where draw was made with a stalemate after 66 moves. 

On board no.3, IM Taher Yoseph Theolifus of Indonesia held Colombian GM Cristhian Rios to a draw. Rios pushed for advantage in Nimzo-Indian Defence but Taher kept exchanging pieces at regular intervals. A draw was agreed after 31 moves in a double rook and knight endgame.

Untitled Utkal Ranjan Sahoo held experienced Ukrainian GM Adam Tukhaeve to a draw. Playing with white pieces, Utkal opted for the Rubinstein variation in the Nimzo-Indian Defence. In a relatively balanced game, the Indian gave no chance to Tukhaev and eventuallyboth players agreed to a draw after 30 moves. 

The first win to register among the top boards was by the highest rated Indian of the tournament, GM Venkatesh M R. He defeated compatriot Rachit Lund with the black pieces in the Classical variation of Sicilian Defence and scored a relatively easy victory. With this win, Venkatesh got back into the championship hunt. 

Russian GM Maxim Lugovskoy defeated V Varun of India | Photo: Niklesh Jain

Slovak GM Manik Mikulas defated Indrajeet Mahindrakar | Photo: Niklesh Jain

GM Raset Ziatdinov of USA lost to GM Attila Czebe of Hungary | Photo: Niklesh Jain

Bharat Kumar Reddy Potluri lost to reigning National Amateur champion Kartavya Anadkat | Photo: Niklesh Jain

P Srikrishnan of India lost to GM Azer Mirzoev of Azerbaijan | Photo: Niklesh Jain

After an impressive start, Shivansh Tiwari lost his third consecutive game, this time against compatriot R Rathneesh | Photo: Niklesh Jain

At the conclusion of round 8, top seed GM Nodirbek Yakubboev has taken sole lead with 7.0/8. Ten players are at shared second position and just a half point behind the leader and they are Venkatesh M R, Taher Yoseph Theolifus, Cristhian Camilo Rios, Stanislav Bogdanovich, Maxim Lugovskoy, Manik Mikulas, Ortik Nigmatov, Attila Czebe, Nguyen Van Huy and Kartavya Anadkat.

Standings after Round 8

Rk.SNo NameTypsexGrFEDRtgClub/CityPts. TB1  TB2  TB3  TB4  TB5 
11GMYakubboev NodirbekUZB2592Uzbekistan7,00,040,044,538,756
25GMVenkatesh M.R.IND2491Tamil Nadu - India6,50,040,044,034,256
37IMTaher Yoseph TheolifusINA2469Indonesia6,50,040,043,033,256
44GMRios Cristhian CamiloCOL2505Colombia6,50,039,544,035,005
52GMBogdanovich StanislavUKR2562Ukraine6,50,039,542,532,256
68GMLugovskoy MaximRUS2466Russia6,50,038,542,534,506
714GMManik MikulasSVK2379Slovakia6,50,038,542,034,005
86IMNigmatov OrtikUZB2474Uzbekistan6,50,037,541,533,256
915GMCzebe AttilaHUN2374Hungary6,50,037,041,032,506
1010IMNguyen Van HuyVIE2457Vietnam6,50,037,040,530,506
1131Anadkat KartavyaU15IND2023Gujarat - India6,50,036,040,031,256
123GMTukhaev AdamUKR2552Ukraine6,00,039,043,032,004
139GMMirzoev AzerAZE2457Azerbaijan6,00,037,541,529,755
1432AGMRathneesh RU15IND2006Tamil Nadu - India6,00,037,041,028,006
1518Pranav VU13IND2264Tamil Nadu - India6,00,036,540,029,006
1617Sahoo Utkal RanjanIND2329Odisha - India6,00,036,540,027,255
1719Raahul V SIND2252Tamil Nadu - India6,00,034,538,528,255
1823IMDeshmukh AnupIND2168Maharashtra - India6,00,034,538,026,755
1943Sharan RaoIND1912Karnataka - India6,00,033,537,527,006
2028Shiva Pavan Teja Sharma UIND2072Andhra Pradesh - India6,00,033,036,527,005
2113IMEraschenkov DenisRUS2386Russia6,00,032,536,026,755
2254Shaik Sumer ArshU11IND1826Telangana - India6,00,032,535,524,506
2316Bharat Kumar Reddy PoluriIND2337Andhra Pradesh - India5,50,038,542,525,505
2421Varun VIND2250Andhra Pradesh - India5,50,038,041,525,255
2529Mahindrakar IndrajeetIND2042Maharashtra - India5,50,037,541,025,505
2622GMZiatdinov RasetS60USA2204United States of America5,50,037,541,025,005
2711IMKhusenkhojaev MuhammadTJK2427Tajikistan5,50,037,041,026,005
28127Aditya RawatU13IND1600Delhi - India5,50,036,039,525,254
2934Trivedi Karan RIND1949Gujarat - India5,50,036,039,524,255
30118Lund RachitU15IND1625Maharashtra - India5,50,035,538,022,255

 

Complete standings

 

GM Stanislav Bogdanovich won the Bhopal GM Open Blitz 2019 held on 25th December 2019 | Photo: Niklesh Jain

Replay all games