Chennai Grand Masters 2023 R1: Harikrishna and Eljanov strike
Chennai Grand Masters 2023 is off to a splendid start. Just when it seemed like the first round will end up being victorless, Pentala Harikrishna and Pavel Eljanov (UKR) proved those predictions wrong. Arjun Erigaisi made a significant mistake early in the game. It made him defend the better part of the battle. Eventually he missed his final opportunity to salvage a half point which cost him the game. Parham Maghsoodloo (IRI) made a huge blunder in a rook and two pawns endgame which was seemingly heading towards a draw. The other two games between Levon Aronian (USA) and D Gukesh, and Sanan Sjugirov (HUN) and Alexandr Predke (SRB). Round 2 starts tomorrow at 3 p.m. IST. All photos are by Shahid Ahmed unless specified otherwise.
Endgames decide the fate
Harikrishna - Arjun: 1-0
GM Pentala Harikrishna (2696) played only three rated games against GM Arjun Erigaisi (2727) a few months ago in Kolkata at Tata Steel Chess India 2023. Arjun won a rapid and blitz game each, while the other blitz game ended in a draw. Of course, Harikrishna had not forgotten about it.
According to Harikrishna, 15...Bxc3 was a huge mistake, simply because Black suddenly has to find all the tough correct moves. White has a bishop pair and rooks controlling on the c-file, does not make things easier for him.
White blundered 49.Ra7?? It allowed Black to escape with a draw 49...Rh5 50.f5 now he needed to take the h6-pawn via Rh1+ 51.Kd2 Rxh6. Instead, he missed it and went to capture the f5-pawn. 50...Rxf5 abandoned all hope for Black to salvage a draw.
Parham - Eljanov: 0-1
GM Parham Maghsoodloo (IRI, 2742) and GM Pavel Eljanov (UKR, 2691) played only two Classical rated games before this encounter. The first one ended in a draw and Parham won the second one. It was about time for Eljanov to deliver the equalizer.
51.Re3?? was the decisive mistake by White. 51...Rg5+ dropped the h5-pawn and Black got decisive advantage, thanks to White's misplaced king at the center of the board.
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Replay Round 1 live stream
Replay Round 1 games
Round 1 results
| Bo. | No. | Rtg | Name | Result | Name | Rtg | No. | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 2723 | GM | Aronian, Levon | ½ - ½ | GM | Gukesh, D | 2720 | 8 | |||
| 2 | 2 | 2742 | GM | Maghsoodloo, Parham | 0 - 1 | GM | Eljanov, Pavel | 2691 | 7 | |||
| 3 | 3 | 2703 | GM | Sjugirov, Sanan | ½ - ½ | GM | Predke, Alexandr | 2689 | 6 | |||
| 4 | 4 | 2696 | GM | Harikrishna, Pentala | 1 - 0 | GM | Erigaisi, Arjun | 2727 | 5 |
Standings after Round 1
| Rk. | SNo | Name | FED | Rtg | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | TB4 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7 | GM | Eljanov, Pavel | UKR | 2691 | 1 | 0 | 0,00 | 1 | 1 | |
| 2 | 4 | GM | Harikrishna, Pentala | IND | 2696 | 1 | 0 | 0,00 | 1 | 0 | |
| 3 | 1 | GM | Aronian, Levon | USA | 2723 | 0,5 | 0 | 0,25 | 0 | 0 | |
| 3 | GM | Sjugirov, Sanan | HUN | 2703 | 0,5 | 0 | 0,25 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 6 | GM | Predke, Alexandr | SRB | 2689 | 0,5 | 0 | 0,25 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 8 | GM | Gukesh, D | IND | 2720 | 0,5 | 0 | 0,25 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 7 | 2 | GM | Maghsoodloo, Parham | IRI | 2742 | 0 | 0 | 0,00 | 0 | 0 | |
| 5 | GM | Erigaisi, Arjun | IND | 2727 | 0 | 0 | 0,00 | 0 | 0 |
Round 2 pairings
| Bo. | No. | Rtg | Name | Result | Name | Rtg | No. | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8 | 2720 | GM | Gukesh, D | GM | Erigaisi, Arjun | 2727 | 5 | ||||
| 2 | 6 | 2689 | GM | Predke, Alexandr | GM | Harikrishna, Pentala | 2696 | 4 | ||||
| 3 | 7 | 2691 | GM | Eljanov, Pavel | GM | Sjugirov, Sanan | 2703 | 3 | ||||
| 4 | 1 | 2723 | GM | Aronian, Levon | GM | Maghsoodloo, Parham | 2742 | 2 |
