Chennai Grand Masters 2023 R3: Arjun Erigaisi pulverizes Predke
Arjun Erigaisi scored his first win of the event against Alexandr Predke (SRB) in the third round of Chennai Grand Masters 2023. After losing the first round against Harikrishna, Arjun was virtually in a must-win situation to stay in the championship hunt and keep his chances in the FIDE Circuit. Alexandr Predke (SRB) made a positional mistake which allowed his opponent to force the queen exchange. Arjun made the most out of his opportunity to trail the leaders - Sanan Sjugirov (HUN) and Harikrishna by a half point at 1.5/3 each along with Levon Aronian (USA), Pavel Eljanov (UKR) and D Gukesh. A mutual blunder between Harikrishna and Eljanov allowed the former to salvage a half point via perpetual check. Gukesh had a relatively calm draw against Parham Maghsoodloo (IRI). Round 4 starts tomorrow at 3 p.m. IST. Photos: Shahid Ahmed
Harikrishna escapes against Eljanov
Harikrishna - Eljanov: 0.5-0.5
The sole rated game played earlier this year between GM Pentala Harikirshna (2696) and GM Pentala Eljanov (UKR, 2691) ended in a draw at World Rapid Team Championship. Their last decisive rated game occurred in 2019.
White should have taken on b5 here 26.Bxb5. Instead, he went for an adventurous 26.Bxh7+? which is incorrect if Black plays correctly. Fortunately White, his opponent didn't. 26...Kxh7 27.Qh4+ Kg8 28.Rh5 f5 29.Rh8+ Kf7 30.Qh5+ Kf6?? Black blundered. 30...Qg6 would have been winning for White 31.Re7+ Kf6 32.Qe2 Rxh8 33.Qe5+ Kg7 34.Rxg7 is what Harikrishna felt to be his only way to continue the fight. White got an opportunity to force perpetual 31.Rh6+ gxh6 32.Qxh6+ Kf7 33.Qh7+ Kf6 34.Qh6+ Kf7 and it's a draw.
Arjun - Predke: 1-0
GM Arjun Erigaisi (2727) played only two rated games against GM Alexandr Predke (SRB, 2689). He lost the first one and drew the second. It was time for Arjun to deliver the equalizer.
26...Bg4 allowed White to force queen trades after 27.Rxe3 Qxe3 28.Qd4 Qxd4 29.Nxd4. However, Arjun was unsure how he would make progress if his opponent went for 29...a5. Thus, after 29...Bd7 he immediately went 30.a5 to make a breakthrough on the queenside and push for a win. It was not easy but White showed some fine technique to convert his advantage into a win.
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Round 3 results
| Bo. | No. | Rtg | Name | Result | Name | Rtg | No. | PGN | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 2742 | GM | Maghsoodloo, Parham | ½ - ½ | GM | Gukesh, D | 2720 | 8 | |||
| 2 | 3 | 2703 | GM | Sjugirov, Sanan | ½ - ½ | GM | Aronian, Levon | 2723 | 1 | |||
| 3 | 4 | 2696 | GM | Harikrishna, Pentala | ½ - ½ | GM | Eljanov, Pavel | 2691 | 7 | |||
| 4 | 5 | 2727 | GM | Erigaisi, Arjun | 1 - 0 | GM | Predke, Alexandr | 2689 | 6 |
Standings after Round 3
| Rk. | SNo | Name | FED | Rtg | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | TB4 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | GM | Sjugirov, Sanan | HUN | 2703 | 2 | 0 | 2,75 | 1 | 1 | |
| 2 | 4 | GM | Harikrishna, Pentala | IND | 2696 | 2 | 0 | 2,75 | 1 | 0 | |
| 3 | 1 | GM | Aronian, Levon | USA | 2723 | 1,5 | 0 | 2,25 | 0 | 0 | |
| 4 | 7 | GM | Eljanov, Pavel | UKR | 2691 | 1,5 | 0 | 2,00 | 1 | 1 | |
| 5 | 8 | GM | Gukesh, D | IND | 2720 | 1,5 | 0 | 2,00 | 0 | 0 | |
| 6 | 5 | GM | Erigaisi, Arjun | IND | 2727 | 1,5 | 0 | 1,75 | 1 | 0 | |
| 7 | 6 | GM | Predke, Alexandr | SRB | 2689 | 1 | 0 | 2,00 | 0 | 0 | |
| 8 | 2 | GM | Maghsoodloo, Parham | IRI | 2742 | 1 | 0 | 1,50 | 0 | 0 |
Round 4 pairings
| Bo. | No. | Rtg | Name | Result | Name | Rtg | No. | PGN | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8 | 2720 | GM | Gukesh, D | GM | Predke, Alexandr | 2689 | 6 | ||||
| 2 | 7 | 2691 | GM | Eljanov, Pavel | GM | Erigaisi, Arjun | 2727 | 5 | ||||
| 3 | 1 | 2723 | GM | Aronian, Levon | GM | Harikrishna, Pentala | 2696 | 4 | ||||
| 4 | 2 | 2742 | GM | Maghsoodloo, Parham | GM | Sjugirov, Sanan | 2703 | 3 |
