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ChessMood Open R3: Narayanan, Pragg, Ter-Sahakyan and Shahinyan in a four-way lead

by Shahid Ahmed - 07/10/2021

GMs Narayanan S L, R Praggnanandhaa, Samvel Ter-Sahakyan and IM David Shahinyan are the four players in the lead 3.0/3 after the third round of ChessMood Open. Eleven players are at a half point behind 2.5/3. GMs D Gukesh and Arjun Erigaisi are the only two Indians among them. Arjun ended Bharath Subhramaniyam's undefeated streak. IM Moksh Amit Doshi continues his impressive run as he again got himself a decisive advantage, this time against GM Levan Pantsulaia. Narayanan will face Ter-Sahakyan and Praggnanandhaa will be up against Shahinyan in the fourth round which starts today from 4:30 p.m. IST. Photo: Rupali Mullick

A showcase of technique

Narayanan, Praggnanandhaa, Gukesh and Arjun have showed some fine technique to convert their advantage into a victory in the third round.

Top seed Narayanan is playing some fine chess | Photo: Rupali Mullick

Minasian - Narayanan: 0-1

GM Narayanan S L is India no.6 and a very strong player. He has been consistent for over a year and he is now at career peak rating of 2647. To get a glimpse of his strength, take a look at the following position from his game against GM Artashes Minasian (ARM).

Position after 35.Kf2

The above position is equal. However, Black has a bishop pair. Narayanan utilized that fact to his advantage by creating imbalance and eventually forced his opponent to make a mistake.

Position after 41.e5

White has made a couple of tiny positional mistakes. Exchanging a pawn towards the center might have given him a passed pawn, it is Black who has gained a space advantage which is good for him because he has a bishop pair and comparatively Black's king rapidly move towards the center unlike the White's king. Rest is just a matter of technique which Narayanan showed beautifully to convert his advantage into a victory.

Fist bump has replaced the handshake due to the Covid-19 pandemic | Photo: Rupali Mullick

Gharibyan - Praggnanandhaa: 0-1

It is well established by now that GM R Praggnanandhaa has a great understanding of the position. He reminds us all once again in his game against IM Mamikon Gharibyan (ARM).

Position after 14.e4

14.e4 is not really a bad move. However, if you stretch your imagination a bit, you may find why it is so. There is a hole at the d3 square and the d5-knight is ready to jump on it 14...Nb4 15.f4 Nd3 16.b3 b5 17.Be3 Ba6 18.Bf1 Rad8. The knight is now tactically defended twice. If White goes 19.Bxd3 cxd3 20.Rxd3 b4 and White will lose material.

Position after 27.Ne4

White has made a tactical error as he played 27.Ne4. Find out why it is a huge mistake. 27.Bd6 could have continued the game a little further which probably would not have changed the outcome as 27...Nc3 is there and Black already has a pleasant position.

GM R Praggnanandhaa 3.0/3 | Photo: Rupali Mullick

Ter-Sahakyan - Mitrabha: 1-0

IM Mitrabha Guha blundered in an already difficult position against GM Samvel Ter-Sahakyan (ARM).

Position after 21...Rc5

21...Rxb7 22.Bxb7 Kg7 23.Rxa5 and White is still significantly better. However, Black still has something to continue the fight. 21...Rc5 immediately ends the game due to the threat of Rxa5 followed by Ra8 or Ra7. Both of them are unstoppable threats.

GM Samvel Ter-Sahakyan 3.0/3 | Photo: Rupali Mullick

GM Abhimanyu Puranik - IM David Shahinyan (ARM): 0-1 | Photo: Rupali Mullick

Gukesh - Barseghyan: 1-0

What separates strong players from the rest? They make calculative and methodical decisions. Take a look GM D Gukesh's careful decision of which endgame to go to while taking a pawn against FM Armen Ar. Barseghyan (ARM).

Position after 32.Nxb7

White could have taken the b7-pawn in the previous move 31.Rxc8+ Nxc8 32.Qxb7 Qxb7 33.Nxb7 which the computer says White having a decisive advantage. Only a human would know that it has that much more chances of a draw. Instead, Gukesh opted for 31.Rc5 Kg7 and then he took 32.Nxb7. Soon Black made a dubious sacrifice which resulted in him being down by a rook in search of a perpetual which he could not find and Gukesh won the game.

GM D Gukesh 2.5/3 | Photo: Rupali Mullick

IM P Shyam Nikhil got a good position out of the opening, however he was unable to capitalize on it against GM Shant Sargsyan (ARM) | Photo: Rupali Mullick

Arjun - Bharath: 1-0

IM Bharath Subramaniyam H showed a lack of interest in defending his pawn which shifted the balance in his opponent GM Arjun Erigaisi's favor.

Position after 18.Bg5

Black can save the e5-pawn in two different ways, 18...Ng4 or Rc8. In the first case, Black is defending the e5-pawn directly, whereas in the latter Black will still go Ng4 with the same motif. The game continued 18...Nd5 19.Rxe5 and Black did not get a chance to get back for the rest of the game.

GM Arjun Erigaisi ended IM Bharath Subramaniyam H's unbeaten streak | Photo: Rupali Mullick

Moksh - Pantsulaia: 1-0

IM Moksh Amit Doshi continues his good form as he once again got a decisive advantage, this time against GM Levan Pantsulaia (GEO).

Position after 22...Nxb2

A lot of things are going on in the above position. There are many things to consider. One thing is for certain that White has a decisive advantage but how to maximize it? Find out the best continuation for White.

IM Moksh Amit Doshi played another great game | Photo: Rupali Mullick

IM Pranav Anand drew with GM Tigran L Petrosian (ARM) | Photo: Rupali Mullick

WGM Vantika Agrawal - GM Tigran K Harutyunyan (ARM): 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Rupali Mullick

GM Harsha Bharathakoti - IM D K Sharma: 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Rupali Mullick

GM Arman Mikaelyan (ARM) - WIM Priyanka Nutakki: 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Rupali Mullick

IM Nikolos Petriashvili (GEO) - WIM Aakanksha Hagawane: 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Rupali Mullick

For more Round 3 photos, please click here.

Highlights

Here is an interesting finish of Round 3

GM Samvel Ter-Sahakyan (ARM) defeated IM Mitrabha Guha

Replay Round 3 games

The tournament is taking place at Tsaghkadzor Marriott Hotel, Tsaghkadzor in Armenia from 4th to 12th October 2021. Time control is 90'/40 + 30' + 30" per move. Everyday game starts at 3 p.m. local time (4:30 p.m. IST), except 12th October, the final round will start at 10:30 a.m. local time (12 p.m. IST).

Round 3 results

Bo.No. NameRtgPts.ResultPts.NameRtg No.
124
GMMinasian Artashes247220 - 12GMNarayanan.S.L2647
1
226
IMGharibyan Mamikon247120 - 12GMPraggnanandhaa R2618
5
36
GMTer-Sahakyan Samvel260721 - 02IMMitrabha Guha2479
23
428
IMDavtyan Artur24532½ - ½2GMPetrosyan Manuel2605
7
58
GMHakobyan Aram26032½ - ½2GMKasparov Sergey2471
25
610
GMPuranik Abhimanyu256820 - 12IMShahinyan David2469
27
732
GMBabujian Levon24472½ - ½2GMQuparadze Giga2495
17
820
IMSturt Raven24852½ - ½2IMSchekachikhin Maksim2448
31
92
GMGukesh D26401 - 02FMBarseghyan Armen Ar.2356
50
1029
IMShyaamnikhil P24530 - 1GMSargsyan Shant2640
3
114
GMErigaisi Arjun26341 - 0IMBharath Subramaniyam H2435
33
1246
IMMoksh Amit Doshi2379½ - ½GMPantsulaia Levan2570
9
1312
GMPaichadze Luka25661 - 0FMOhanyan Emin2373
47
1436
IMPranav Anand2430½ - ½GMPetrosian Tigran L.2562
13
1514
GMGoganov Aleksey25571 - 0Pour Agha Bala Amirreza2432
35
1654
WIMVantika Agrawal23221½ - ½1GMHarutyunyan Tigran K.2567
11
1755
FMAlaverdyan Gevorg23201½ - ½1GMChanda Sandipan2543
15
1816
GMHarsha Bharathakoti25171½ - ½1IMSharma Dinesh K.2289
59
1918
GMMikaelyan Arman24871½ - ½1WIMPriyanka Nutakki2263
63
2058
Kunal M229010 - 11GMMosadeghpour Masoud2486
19

Details

Round 4 pairings

Bo.No. NameRtgPts.ResultPts.NameRtg No.
11
GMNarayanan.S.L264733GMTer-Sahakyan Samvel2607
6
25
GMPraggnanandhaa R261833IMShahinyan David2469
27
314
GMGoganov Aleksey2557GMGukesh D2640
2
43
GMSargsyan Shant2640IMSturt Raven2485
20
517
GMQuparadze Giga2495GMErigaisi Arjun2634
4
67
GMPetrosyan Manuel2605GMBabujian Levon2447
32
731
IMSchekachikhin Maksim2448GMHakobyan Aram2603
8
825
GMKasparov Sergey2471GMPaichadze Luka2566
12
99
GMPantsulaia Levan25702IMDavtyan Artur2453
28
1039
FMSokolovsky Yahli242222GMPuranik Abhimanyu2568
10
1113
GMPetrosian Tigran L.256222IMKrishna Teja N2385
44
1219
GMMosadeghpour Masoud248622IMMoksh Amit Doshi2379
46
1321
GMKarthik Venkataraman248322IMMullick Raahil2368
48
1441
GMHarutjunyan Gevorg240922GMMovsziszian Karen2480
22
1523
IMMitrabha Guha247922FMBarseghyan Armen Ar.2356
50
1643
IMFarahat Ali239222GMMinasian Artashes2472
24
1745
IMPadmini Rout238022IMGharibyan Mamikon2471
26
1851
IMDanielyan Vahe233522IMPranav Anand2430
36
1937
Gholami Orimi Mahdi243022FMDilanyan Grigor2214
72
2053
FMHakemi Arman232322FMDaghli Arash2427
38

Details

Links

Official site

Tournament Details