Levan Pantsulaia dominates Chhattisgarh CM Trophy GM Masters 2022

by Shahid Ahmed - 29/09/2022

GM Levan Pantsulaia (GEO) deservedly won Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Trophy GM Masters Tournament 2022. He drew his final round game against IM Ajay Karthikeyan to finish a full point ahead of the field 8.5/10. Three players followed him at 8.5/10. They are - GM Boris Savchenko, GM Michal Krasenkow (POL) and GM Shyam Sundar M. They were placed second to fourth according to tie-breaks. Apart from Shyam, IM Ajay Karthikeyan, IM Nubairshah Shaikh and GM Mitrabha Guha are the only three Indians to finish in top ten at seventh, eighth and ninth place respectively scoring 7/10 each. The total prize fund in the Masters section was ₹2300000. Top three prizes were ₹331000, ₹231000 and ₹175000 each respectively. Photo: Chhattisgarh Pradesh Shatranj Sangh

Shyam Sundar M is the top Indian finisher

WIM Mahalakshmi M is the highest finisher among female participants. She scored 6.5/10 to finish 23rd overall and win the Best Woman prize. Srihari L, CM Mayank Chakraborty and Chidvilash Sai Surapaneni gained 142.4, 157.6 and 175.2 Elo rating points.

Champion - GM Levan Pantsulaia (GEO) 8.5/11 | Photo:Chhattisgarh Pradesh Shatranj Sangh

"India is like my second home" - GM Levan Pantsulaia | Video: ChessBase India

Runner-up - GM Boris Savchenko 7.5/11 | Photo:Chhattisgarh Pradesh Shatranj Sangh

I am happy to finish second as it was a very difficult tournament for me - GM Boris Savchenko | Video: ChessBase India

Second Runner-up - GM Michal Krasenkow (POL) 7.5/11 | Photo:Chhattisgarh Pradesh Shatranj Sangh

Top 3 (L to R) - 3rd GM Michal Krasenkow, 2nd GM Boris Savchenko and 1st GM Levan Pantsulaia | Photo:Chhattisgarh Pradesh Shatranj Sangh

Harshavardhan - Shyam Sundar: 0-1

What separates a strong Grandmaster from the rest is their ability to induce mistakes by their opponent and create opportunities which might seem equal at a first glance. GM Shyam Sundar M (2526) asked his opponent IM Harshavardhan G B (2429), a difficult question in a relatively equal bishop vs knight endgame.

Position after 35...Ng6

35...Ng6 threatens Nh4. 36.g3 is the first choice as a human reflex. However, that is what causes White to lose the game. Black creates a passed pawn by force 36...Ne5 37.f4 Nd3 38.Be3 h4 and it's over for White. The question arises - how could have White saved the game? Simply by moving the king towards the c-file. 36.Kc6/c5/c7 everything would have been fine. 36...Nh4 is then met by 37.g4 Nxf3 38.gxh5 Ng1 39.h6 Nxh3 40.h7 Kg7 41.Kd6 White utilizes his advanced king to ensure a half point.

GM Shyam Sundar M scored a very nice win to finish fourth 7.5/10

Nubairshah - Duc Hoa: 1-0

IM Nubairshah Shaikh (2461) scored a convincing win over GM Duc Hoa Nguyen (VIE, 2365).

Position after 16...b5

Black has gone terribly wrong in the Grunfeld opening. 16...b5 pawn sacrifice did not help Black's case either 17.Qxb5 Qg4 18.0-0 Qxe4 19.Bf4 c5 20.Qd7 and White went on to win the game in the next few moves.

Amazing h4 idea in Grünfeld Opening! (Hindi audio) | Video: Hindi ChessBase India

8th IM Nubairshah Shaikh 7/10 | Photo: Chhattisgarh Pradesh Shatranj Sangh

Prize winners | Photo: Chhattisgarh Pradesh Shatranj Sangh

Players and accompanying persons at the prize distribution ceremony | Photo: Chhattisgarh Pradesh Shatranj Sangh

The Arbiters' team with the guests | Photo: Chhattisgarh Pradesh Shatranj Sangh

GMs, IMs, WGMs, WIMs and foreign players were invited to the Dinner with the Chief Minister, Bhupesh Baghel | Photo: Chhattisgarh Pradesh Shatranj Sangh

For more Dinner with CM and Prize distribution ceremony photos, please click at the respective links.

"Ye Europe ke Standard Ka Tournament Tha" - IM Srinath Rao (Hindi Audio) | Video: Hindi ChessBase India

A total of 127 players including 15 GMs, 23 IMs, 3 WGMs and 11 WIMs took part from 14 countries across the world including India in the Masters section. The tournament was organized by Chhattisgarh Pradesh Shatranj Sangh from 19th to 28th September 2022 at Hotel Grand Imperia in Raipur, Chhattisgarh. The ten-round Swiss league tournament had a time control of 90 minutes for 40 moves + 30 minutes with 30 seconds increment from move 1.

Replay Round 10 games

Round 10 results

Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	Club/City	No.	PGN
1	1	GM	Pantsulaia Levan	2596	GEO	8	½ - ½	6½	IM	Ajay Karthikeyan	2422	TN	19	PGN
2	4	GM	Krasenkow Michal	2545	POL	6½	1 - 0	7	GM	Batchuluun Tsegmed	2478	MGL	9	PGN
3	58		Srihari L	2214	PON	6½	0 - 1	6½	GM	Savchenko Boris	2547	RUS	3	PGN
4	18	IM	Harshavardhan G B	2429	TN	6½	0 - 1	6½	GM	Shyam Sundar M.	2526	TN	5	PGN
5	10	GM	Mitrabha Guha	2471	WB	6½	½ - ½	6½	IM	Tahbaz Arash	2437	IRI	15	PGN
6	8	GM	Venkatesh M.R.	2481	TN	6	1 - 0	6½		Utsab Chatterjee	2332	WB	34	PGN
7	11	IM	Mohammad Nubairshah Shaikh	2461	MAH	6	1 - 0	6	GM	Nguyen Duc Hoa	2365	VIE	25	PGN
8	48	FM	Aaryan Varshney	2263	DEL	6	½ - ½	6	IM	Neelash Saha	2454	WB	13	PGN
9	14	GM	Deepan Chakkravarthy J.	2439	RLYS	6	½ - ½	6	IM	Gusain Himal	2359	RLYS	27	PGN
10	59	FM	Mohamed Anees M	2204	TN	6	0 - 1	6	GM	Neverov Valeriy	2430	UKR	17	PGN
11	22	GM	Laxman R.R.	2388	ICF	6	0 - 1	6		Omidi Arya	2309	IRI	41	PGN
12	37	IM	Avinash Ramesh	2328	TN	6	½ - ½	5½	IM	Aronyak Ghosh	2519	WB	6	PGN
13	56		Sai Vishwesh.C	2244	TN	5½	½ - ½	5½	IM	Nitin S.	2416	TN	21	PGN
14	31	IM	Raahul V S	2345	TN	5½	1 - 0	5½		Dhananjay S	2197	CG	61	PGN
15	79		Praloy Sahoo	2117	WB	5½	½ - ½	5½	FM	Panesar Vedant	2336	MAH	32	PGN
16	76		Aswath S	2135	TN	5½	0 - 1	5½	IM	Rajesh V A V	2331	RLYS	35	PGN
17	98	CM	Mayank Chakraborty	2044	ASS	5½	0 - 1	5½	WIM	Mahalakshmi M	2253	RLYS	51	PGN
18	2	GM	Paichadze Luka	2560	GEO	5	½ - ½	5	IM	Mohota Nisha	2166	PSPB	68	PGN
19	63	CM	Aaditya Dhingra	2178	HAR	5	1 - 0	5	GM	Saptarshi Roy	2388	WB	23	PGN
20	28		Kaustuv Kundu	2358	WB	5	0 - 1	5	FM	Harshal Shahi	2136	DEL	75	PGN

Details

Final standings

Rk.	SNo		Name	sex	FED	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB4	TB5	K	rtg+/-
1	1	GM	Pantsulaia Levan		GEO	2596	GEO	8,5	61,5	67	56,50	0	7	10	12,9
2	3	GM	Savchenko Boris		RUS	2547	RUS	7,5	60,5	65	47,50	0	6	10	2,6
3	4	GM	Krasenkow Michal		POL	2545	POL	7,5	54	58	40,25	0	7	10	0,9
4	5	GM	Shyam Sundar M.		IND	2526	TN	7,5	51	55	41,25	0	6	10	-8
5	9	GM	Batchuluun Tsegmed		MGL	2478	MGL	7	60,5	64,5	43,00	0	5	10	9,3
6	15	IM	Tahbaz Arash		IRI	2437	IRI	7	60	65	44,00	0	4	10	15,2
7	19	IM	Ajay Karthikeyan		IND	2422	TN	7	57,5	60,5	39,75	0	5	10	18,7
8	11	IM	Mohammad Nubairshah Shaikh		IND	2461	MAH	7	56,5	60,5	39,00	0	5	10	-2,2
9	10	GM	Mitrabha Guha		IND	2471	WB	7	56	59,5	38,25	0	5	10	2,9
10	17	GM	Neverov Valeriy		UKR	2430	UKR	7	55	58	39,00	0	4	10	1,1
11	41		Omidi Arya		IRI	2309	IRI	7	50	53,5	34,25	0	6	10	11,9
12	8	GM	Venkatesh M.R.		IND	2481	TN	7	50	53	35,75	0	6	10	-11,4
13	27	IM	Gusain Himal		IND	2359	RLYS	6,5	57	61,5	37,50	0	4	10	20,2
14	14	GM	Deepan Chakkravarthy J.		IND	2439	RLYS	6,5	56,5	61	36,50	0	5	10	0,4
15	13	IM	Neelash Saha		IND	2454	WB	6,5	55	60	38,25	0	4	10	-8,2
16	48	FM	Aaryan Varshney		IND	2263	DEL	6,5	55	59	36,25	0	4	20	49
17	18	IM	Harshavardhan G B		IND	2429	TN	6,5	55	59	35,50	0	5	10	4,1
18	34		Utsab Chatterjee		IND	2332	WB	6,5	55	58	33,50	0	6	10	13,3
19	35	IM	Rajesh V A V		IND	2331	RLYS	6,5	54	58	36,25	0	4	10	3,2
20	58		Srihari L		IND	2214	PON	6,5	54	56,5	34,50	0	5	40	142,4
21	31	IM	Raahul V S		IND	2345	TN	6,5	52	56,5	33,50	0	5	10	-2,5
22	37	IM	Avinash Ramesh		IND	2328	TN	6,5	48,5	51,5	29,00	0	5	10	6,4
23	51	WIM	Mahalakshmi M	w	IND	2253	RLYS	6,5	48	52	33,00	0	5	20	4
24	6	IM	Aronyak Ghosh		IND	2519	WB	6	58	63,5	37,75	0	3	10	-13
25	21	IM	Nitin S.		IND	2416	TN	6	57,5	61,5	33,50	0	4	10	0,9
26	79		Praloy Sahoo		IND	2117	WB	6	54,5	57	32,25	0	3	40	124
27	32	FM	Panesar Vedant		IND	2336	MAH	6	53	57,5	32,50	0	3	20	10,2
28	24	IM	Sammed Jaykumar Shete		IND	2387	MAH	6	52,5	56,5	31,50	0	5	10	-1,6
29	25	GM	Nguyen Duc Hoa		VIE	2365	VIE	6	51,5	55,5	30,50	0	5	10	-4,7
30	22	GM	Laxman R.R.		IND	2388	ICF	6	51,5	54,5	29,25	0	4	10	-6,2
31	59	FM	Mohamed Anees M		IND	2204	TN	6	51	53,5	27,00	0	6	20	32,6
32	33	FM	Aradhya Garg		IND	2332	DEL	6	50,5	51	26,50	0	4	20	-15
33	47		Ilamparthi A R		IND	2269	TN	6	47,5	51,5	28,25	0	5	40	-18
34	40	IM	Srinath Rao S.V.		IND	2317	CG	6	47	51	30,00	0	5	10	-21,4
35	30	IM	Viani Antonio Dcunha		IND	2348	KAR	6	45	49	26,50	0	5	10	-15,6

Details

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