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Can Narayanan beat Goganov to win ChessMood Open?

by Shahid Ahmed - 12/10/2021

Alexey Goganov (RUS) beat Samvel Ter-Sahakyan (ARM) in the penultimate round to take sole lead 7.0/8 for the first time, heading into the final round of ChessMood Open. Top seed Narayanan S L 6.5/8 beat fellow countryman, Arjun Erigaisi to keep his championship hopes. Goganov and Narayanan will face each other in the final round. A draw is enough for Goganov to win the tournament, while Narayanan must defeat him to become champion. Both of them will have tie-breaks in their favor if they can score the desired result. IM Vaishali scored her fourth consecutive win to bring her score 5.5/8. Round 9 starts today from 12 p.m. IST. Photo: Rupali Mullick

Goganov overcomes Ter-Sahakyan to gain sole lead

Top seed of the tournament GM Narayanan S L drew with fellow countryman GM Abhimanyu Puranik to stay in the hunt at 5.5/7 each respectively.

Goganov or Narayanan - one of them will win the event| Photo: Rupali Mullick

ChessMood Open logo | Photo: Official site

Goganov - Ter-Sahakyan: 1-0

GM Alexey Goganov increased his advantage as his opponent GM Samvel Ter-Sahakyan allowed him to create a protected passed pawn.

Position after 22...b6

Black's position was already difficult. 22...b6 23.c6 Ra8 24.b5 a6 did not help Black's case either. With this win, Goganov gained sole lead.

Alexey Goganov dashed Samvel Ter-Sahakyan's championship hopes | Photo: Rupali Mullick

Narayanan - Arjun: 1-0

GM Arjun Erigaisi made a positional mistake which transposed the game into an unfavorable endgame for him against GM Narayanan S L.

Position after 14...Ne4

14...Ne4 opens up the position after 15.Nxe4 dxe4 16.Be3 Qxd1 17.Rfxd1 f5 18.f3 exf3 19.Bxf3. White having the bishop pair in the resultant endgame definitely gives him the significant upper hand. Rest is just a matter of technique, and Narayanan had no trouble converting his advantage into a win.

Narayanan scored an important victory against Arjun | Photo: Rupali Mullick

Praggnanandhaa - Mikaelyan: 1-0

GM R Praggnanandhaa completely outplayed his opponent, GM Arman Mikaelyan (ARM).

GM R Praggnanandhaa played a very instructive game | Photo: Rupali Mullick

Sandipan - Karthik: 0-1

GM Sandipan Chanda got his rook in a precarious position at the center of the board against GM Karthik Venkataraman.

Position after 20.N1d2

Find out why 20.N1d2 is a mistake.

Karthik made a short work of Sandipan | Photo: Rupali Mullick

GM D Gukesh - IM Nikoloz Petriashvili (GEO): 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Rupali Mullick

Tigran Harutyunyan - Vaishali: 0-1

IM Vaishali scored her fourth consecutive victory of the event. This time she conquered GM Tigran K Harutyunyan (ARM).

Position after 26...d3

26...d3 is an incredible move. There is no good defense for White. It is completely winning for Black.

Vaishali is playing some fantastic chess | Photo: Rupali Mullick

IM Sidhant Mohapatra - IM Urazayev Arystanbek (KAZ): 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Rupali Mullick

GM Karen Movsziszian (ARM) - WGM Vantika Agrawal: 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Rupali Mullick

For more Round 8 photos, please click here.

Highlights

Here are a few interesting finishes of Round 8.

GM Tigran L Petrosian (ARM) defeated GM Shant Sargsyan (ARM)

GM Sandipan Chanda lost to GM Karthik Venkataraman

Replay Round 8 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 8 results

Bo.No. NameRtgPts.ResultPts.NameRtg No.
114
GMGoganov Aleksey255761 - 06GMTer-Sahakyan Samvel2607
6
21
GMNarayanan.S.L26471 - 0GMErigaisi Arjun2634
4
39
GMPantsulaia Levan25701 - 0GMPuranik Abhimanyu2568
10
413
GMPetrosian Tigran L.25621 - 05GMSargsyan Shant2640
3
55
GMPraggnanandhaa R261851 - 05GMMikaelyan Arman2487
18
67
GMPetrosyan Manuel260550 - 15GMMosadeghpour Masoud2486
19
715
GMChanda Sandipan254350 - 15GMKarthik Venkataraman2483
21
82
GMGukesh D2640½ - ½IMPetriashvili Nikoloz2432
34
98
GMHakobyan Aram26031 - 0IMDavtyan Artur2453
28
1011
GMHarutyunyan Tigran K.25670 - 1WGMVaishali R2419
40
1143
IMFarahat Ali23920 - 1GMPaichadze Luka2566
12
1251
IMDanielyan Vahe23351 - 0IMSturt Raven2485
20
1327
IMShahinyan David24691 - 0FMAlaverdyan Gevorg2320
55
1437
Gholami Orimi Mahdi243041 - 04GMHarsha Bharathakoti2517
16
1538
FMDaghli Arash24274½ - ½4IMMitrabha Guha2479
23
1644
IMKrishna Teja N238540 - 14IMGharibyan Mamikon2471
26
1747
FMOhanyan Emin23734½ - ½4IMShyaamnikhil P2453
29
1849
IMSidhant Mohapatra23674½ - ½4IMUrazayev Arystanbek2451
30
1950
FMBarseghyan Armen Ar.23564½ - ½4IMSchekachikhin Maksim2448
31
2056
FMAtakhan Abtin231940 - 14GMBabujian Levon2447
32

Details

Round 9 pairings

Bo.No. NameRtgPts.ResultPts.NameRtg No.
11
GMNarayanan.S.L26477GMGoganov Aleksey2557
14
213
GMPetrosian Tigran L.2562GMPantsulaia Levan2570
9
319
GMMosadeghpour Masoud248666GMPraggnanandhaa R2618
5
46
GMTer-Sahakyan Samvel260766GMKarthik Venkataraman2483
21
54
GMErigaisi Arjun2634GMHakobyan Aram2603
8
610
GMPuranik Abhimanyu2568IMDanielyan Vahe2335
51
712
GMPaichadze Luka2566IMShahinyan David2469
27
840
WGMVaishali R24195GMGukesh D2640
2
93
GMSargsyan Shant264055GMBabujian Levon2447
32
1034
IMPetriashvili Nikoloz243255GMPetrosyan Manuel2605
7
1172
FMDilanyan Grigor221455GMChanda Sandipan2543
15
1218
GMMikaelyan Arman248755Gholami Orimi Mahdi2430
37
1326
IMGharibyan Mamikon247155Chaqryan Erik2181
80
1433
IMBharath Subramaniyam H24355GMHarutyunyan Tigran K.2567
11
1523
IMMitrabha Guha2479GMHarutjunyan Gevorg2409
41
1624
GMMinasian Artashes2472IMMoksh Amit Doshi2379
46
1728
IMDavtyan Artur2453IMFarahat Ali2392
43
1829
IMShyaamnikhil P2453IMSidhant Mohapatra2367
49
1930
IMUrazayev Arystanbek2451FMOhanyan Emin2373
47
2031
IMSchekachikhin Maksim2448Mkrtchyan Sargis R.2199
75

Details

Links

Official site

Tournament Details