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ChessMood Open R4: Samvel Ter-Sahakyan takes sole lead 4.0/4

by Shahid Ahmed - 08/10/2021

Samvel Ter-Sahakyan beat the top seed of the tournament, Narayanan S L to emerge as the sole leader 4.0/4 at the conclusion of the fourth round of ChessMood Open. Praggnanandhaa is the only Indian who is a half point behind the leader. They will face each other in the fifth round. Apart from Abhimanyu, Karthik and Mitrabha's win, it was a tough day for the Indian players at the top as Gukesh, Arjun, Krishna, Moksh, Raahil, Padmini and Pranav lost their respective games. WIMs Aakanksha Hagawane and Isha Sharma held IMs Daneshvar Bardiya (IRI) and Vaishali to a draw each respectively. Round 5 starts today from 4:30 p.m. IST. Photo: Rupali Mullick

Praggnanandhaa in pursuit

Five players are at a half point behind the leader. They are - GMs R Praggnanandhaa, Alexey Goganov (RUS), Giga Quparadze (GEO), Levon Babujian (ARM) and IM David Shahinyan (ARM).

Samvel Ter-Sahakyan beat top seed Narayanan S L | Photo: Rupali Mullick

ChessMood Open logo | Photo: Official site

Narayanan - Ter-Sahakyan: 0-1

GM Narayanan S L made an interesting bishop sacrifice against GM Samvel Ter-Sahakyan (ARM).

Position after 23.Bxh5

23.Bxh5 does not yield anything immediately as White does not have enough pieces to make the damage on the black king. The game continued 23...gxh5 24.Qe2 Nf8 25.Qxh5 Ng6 26.Nc2 Bf8 27.Ne3 Qe7. White took a bit longer to bring the knight. 25.Ne3 instead of taking the h5-pawn would have been faster, before Black could regroup his pieces.

Position after 30...Nb3

The position is incredible. It seems like things are falling apart for White, however there is a way to save the game. It is not an easy one. Find out what it is.

Narayanan's bishop sacrifice went wrong against Ter-Sahakyan | Video: ChessBase India

GM Praggnanandhaa had a hard-fought draw against IM David Shahinyan (ARM) | Photo: Rupali Mullick

Goganov - Gukesh: 1-0

Sometimes two knights can be stronger than a pair of bishops. That is exactly what happened in the game between GM Alexey Goganov (RUS) and GM D Gukesh.

Position after 36.Ra1

Black's position is unpleasant. It is certainly not easy to play. 36...Bb3 makes sure after bxc5+ the b-file remains blocked temporarily after bxc5+. 36...Be6 37.bxc5+ Ka7 and now the Black king is stranded at the edge of the board. After 38.Rxa4+ bxa4, it is not only easy for White to pick up the a-pawn but also Black's king is more vulnerable than it would have been if it were on c7. White exploited the king's vulnerability and won the game shortly.

Goganov got the better of Gukesh | Photo: Rupali Mullick

Quparadze - Arjun: 1-0

GM Arjun Erigaisi made a questionable break against GM Giga Quparadze (GEO).

Position after 16...f5

16...f5 allowed White to transform the position in his favor by gaining space advantage and blindsiding the b7-bishop 17.d5 Ne5 18.Nd4 Bc8 19.Ra3 and Black's position is already quite unpleasant, as there is no good way to generate an attack on the kingside for Black. Thing spiralled out of Black's control and White eventually won the game.

It was not Arjun's day | Photo: Rupali Mullick

Sokolovsky - Abhimanyu: 0-1

FM Yahli Sokolovsky (ISR) almost managed to save the game against GM Abhimanyu Puranik, until he overextended his position and made his king vulnerable.

Position after 41.f4

White would have probably still lost the game even without 41.f4. However, the pawn push only accelerated Black's chances of converting the advantage. For e.g. 41.Kf1 and White maintaining the checkmate threat on the seventh rank is a better alternative as it is not easy for Black to make progress.

GM Abhimanyu Puranik 3.0/4 | Photo: Rupali Mullick

Mosadeghpour - Moksh: 1-0

GM Masoud Mosadeghpour (IRI) stopped IM Moksh Amit Doshi's great momentum.

Position after 16.f4

Black's position is quite difficult to play as both bishops path are obstructed. The only thing going for Black is, White is still yet to complete the development of pieces. The game continued 16...Re8 17.c4 bxc3 18.bxc3 Qf6 19.Rb1 Rab8 20.Nxd7 and it was all over for Black. Find out what Black should have done instead.

GM Mosad Mosadeghpour - IM Moksh Amit Doshi: 1-0 | Photo: Rupali Mullick

CM Prraneeth Vuppala - IM Nikoloz Petriashvili (GEO): 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Rupali Mullick

WIM Aakanksha Hagawane - IM Daneshvar Bardiya (IRI): 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Rupali Mullick

WIM Isha Sharma - IM Vaishali: 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Rupali Mullick

For more Round 4 photos, please click here.

Replay Round 4 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 4 results

Bo.No. NameRtgPts.ResultPts.NameRtg No.
11
GMNarayanan.S.L264730 - 13GMTer-Sahakyan Samvel2607
6
25
GMPraggnanandhaa R26183½ - ½3IMShahinyan David2469
27
314
GMGoganov Aleksey25571 - 0GMGukesh D2640
2
43
GMSargsyan Shant2640½ - ½IMSturt Raven2485
20
517
GMQuparadze Giga24951 - 0GMErigaisi Arjun2634
4
67
GMPetrosyan Manuel26050 - 1GMBabujian Levon2447
32
731
IMSchekachikhin Maksim2448½ - ½GMHakobyan Aram2603
8
825
GMKasparov Sergey2471½ - ½GMPaichadze Luka2566
12
99
GMPantsulaia Levan257021 - 0IMDavtyan Artur2453
28
1039
FMSokolovsky Yahli242220 - 12GMPuranik Abhimanyu2568
10
1113
GMPetrosian Tigran L.256221 - 02IMKrishna Teja N2385
44
1219
GMMosadeghpour Masoud248621 - 02IMMoksh Amit Doshi2379
46
1321
GMKarthik Venkataraman248321 - 02IMMullick Raahil2368
48
1441
GMHarutjunyan Gevorg240921 - 02GMMovsziszian Karen2480
22
1523
IMMitrabha Guha247921 - 02FMBarseghyan Armen Ar.2356
50
1643
IMFarahat Ali239221 - 02GMMinasian Artashes2472
24
1745
IMPadmini Rout238020 - 12IMGharibyan Mamikon2471
26
1851
IMDanielyan Vahe233521 - 02IMPranav Anand2430
36
1937
Gholami Orimi Mahdi243020 - 12FMDilanyan Grigor2214
72
2053
FMHakemi Arman232320 - 12FMDaghli Arash2427
38

Details

Round 5 pairings

Bo.No. NameRtgPts.ResultPts.NameRtg No.
16
GMTer-Sahakyan Samvel26074GMPraggnanandhaa R2618
5
232
GMBabujian Levon2447GMGoganov Aleksey2557
14
327
IMShahinyan David2469GMQuparadze Giga2495
17
421
GMKarthik Venkataraman248333GMNarayanan.S.L2647
1
523
IMMitrabha Guha247933GMSargsyan Shant2640
3
68
GMHakobyan Aram260333GMHarutjunyan Gevorg2409
41
726
IMGharibyan Mamikon247133GMPantsulaia Levan2570
9
810
GMPuranik Abhimanyu256833GMKasparov Sergey2471
25
912
GMPaichadze Luka256633IMSchekachikhin Maksim2448
31
1038
FMDaghli Arash242733GMPetrosian Tigran L.2562
13
1172
FMDilanyan Grigor221433GMMosadeghpour Masoud2486
19
1220
IMSturt Raven248533IMFarahat Ali2392
43
134
GMErigaisi Arjun26343IMDanielyan Vahe2335
51
142
GMGukesh D2640FMOhanyan Emin2373
47
1529
IMShyaamnikhil P2453GMPetrosyan Manuel2605
7
1628
IMDavtyan Artur2453GMHarutyunyan Tigran K.2567
11
1730
IMUrazayev Arystanbek2451GMChanda Sandipan2543
15
1816
GMHarsha Bharathakoti2517IMBharath Subramaniyam H2435
33
1918
GMMikaelyan Arman2487IMSidhant Mohapatra2367
49
2066
FMPoormosavi Seyed Kian22552GMMovsziszian Karen2480
22

Details

Links

Official site

Tournament Details