When Ivanchuk roars!

by Sagar Shah - 19/12/2019

If there was someone in the world of chess that the great Garry Kasparov feared, it was Vassily Ivanchuk. The Ukrainian genius never feared Kasparov and was so talented that he could play at an extremely high level on any given day. Recently Ivanchuk's motivation to play strong chess has dipped a bit and you can see its effect on his rating. He is now down to 2690. But as they say form is temporary, class is permanent. Ivanchuk is showing some of his old magic at the Sunway Sitges Chess Festival 2019 as he beat two of India's biggest talents Raunak Sadhwani and R. Praggnanandhaa in back to back rounds and is now on 5.0/6. How did Ivanchuk manage to do it? In this article we bring you both the games along with video analysis by GM Daniel King.

Playing chess in Sunway Sitges is always a pleasure! | Photo: Lennart Ootes

There are not many open events that Vassily Ivanchuk likes to play, but this is the second year in a row when he is back to the Sunway Sitges. The Ukrainian genius surely loves it out here! This year he made a slow start with two draws in first three rounds. But since then Ivanchuk has picked up speed and is on 5.0/6, beating two of India's biggest talents - Raunak Sadhwani and Praggnanandhaa in back to back rounds!

When Ivanchuk starts playing like his old self, very few stand a chance against him | Photo: Lennart Ootes

In round five Ivanchuk played a very clean game to beat India's latest GM Raunak Sadhwani.

In the sixth round Ivanchuk's opponent was R. Praggnanandhaa | Photo: Lennart Ootes

The game began as a Sicilian and Pragg played 2...Nc6 hoping to go for the Sveshnikov. Ivanchuk didn't play 3.d4 and instead with 3.Nc3 steered the game into the Classical Sicilian territory. It is said that Ivanchuk was once upon a time so good with the openings, that he knew everything from A00 to E99. This was clearly on show against Pragg, as the youngster struggled to get a good position. His move d5, which usually is a strong one in the Sicilian, turned out to be an error.

Ivanchuk vs Praggnanandhaa, Round 6

White continued with e5 and after Ne4 pushed on with f5! The attack was super strong and within a few moves Vassily managed to checkmate the black king

To beat Praggnanandhaa in such dominating style is an excellent result for Ivanchuk | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Danny King analyzes Ivanchuk vs Praggnanandhaa

Anton Korobov leads the tournament with 6.0/6. He beat GM S.L. Narayanan in the sixth round. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Korobov will next face Vassily Ivanchuk in the seventh round. The all Ukrainian clash will be an interesting one to follow. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Abhimanyu Puranik is on 5.0/6 after his draw against GM Li Di. He faces Amin Tabatabei in round 7. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Super solid Nihal Sarin is on 4.5/6 and will face GM Girish Koushik in round 7 | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Gukesh lost his game to GM Igor Kovalenko and is on 4.0/6 | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Sethuraman received his second loss in a row at the event. In round five it was against S.L. Narayanan, while in round 6 it is against Arjun Erigaisi. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Anna Rudolf as the commentator is doing a great job at the Sunway Sitges 2019 | Photo: Lennart Ootes

She is joined by GM Daniel King and the two are perhaps the best commentating pair in the world of chess right now! | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Results of Round 6

Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.
1	3	GM	Korobov Anton	2668	5	1 - 0	5	GM	Narayanan.S.L	2626	13
2	25	GM	Santos Latasa Jaime	2585	4½	½ - ½	4½	GM	Nasuta Grzegorz	2545	33
3	35	GM	Li Di	2543	4½	½ - ½	4½	GM	Puranik Abhimanyu	2580	26
4	1	GM	Ivanchuk Vassily	2690	4	1 - 0	4	GM	Praggnanandhaa R	2586	24
5	5	GM	Sasikiran Krishnan	2656	4	½ - ½	4	GM	Peralta Fernando	2577	28
6	27	GM	Wagner Dennis	2578	4	1 - 0	4	GM	Lagarde Maxime	2655	6
7	31	GM	Gukesh D	2547	4	0 - 1	4	GM	Kovalenko Igor	2647	8
8	32	GM	Shevchenko Kirill	2547	4	½ - ½	4	GM	Donchenko Alexander	2644	9
9	34	GM	Erigaisi Arjun	2544	4	1 - 0	4	GM	Sethuraman S.P.	2638	10
10	11	GM	Tabatabaei M.Amin	2635	4	1 - 0	4	GM	Narayanan Srinath	2529	40

Standings after Round 6

Rk.	SNo		Name	Typ	sex	Gr	FED	RtgI	RtgN	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	3	GM	Korobov Anton				UKR	2668	0		6,0	21,5	0	24,0
2	11	GM	Tabatabaei M.Amin				IRI	2635	0		5,0	21,5	0	24,0
3	34	GM	Erigaisi Arjun	H16			IND	2544	0		5,0	20,0	0	22,5
4	18	GM	Durarbayli Vasif				AZE	2609	0		5,0	19,5	0	22,5
5	13	GM	Narayanan.S.L				IND	2626	0		5,0	19,5	0	22,5
6	26	GM	Puranik Abhimanyu				IND	2580	0		5,0	19,5	0	22,0
7	35	GM	Li Di	H			CHN	2543	0		5,0	19,5	0	22,0
8	25	GM	Santos Latasa Jaime				ESP	2585	2572	Ext	5,0	19,5	0	21,5
9	21	GM	Gareyev Timur				USA	2598	0		5,0	19,0	0	22,0
10	33	GM	Nasuta Grzegorz				POL	2545	0		5,0	19,0	0	21,5

Pairings of Round 7

Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.
1	1	GM	Ivanchuk Vassily	2690	5		6	GM	Korobov Anton	2668	3
2	8	GM	Kovalenko Igor	2647	5		5	GM	Santos Latasa Jaime	2585	25
3	26	GM	Puranik Abhimanyu	2580	5		5	GM	Tabatabaei M.Amin	2635	11
4	13	GM	Narayanan.S.L	2626	5		5	GM	Wagner Dennis	2578	27
5	18	GM	Durarbayli Vasif	2609	5		5	GM	Li Di	2543	35
6	33	GM	Nasuta Grzegorz	2545	5		5	GM	Gareyev Timur	2598	21
7	12	GM	Vocaturo Daniele	2627	4½		5	GM	Erigaisi Arjun	2544	34
8	36	GM	Harutyunian Tigran K.	2540	4½		4½	GM	Sasikiran Krishnan	2656	5
9	52	GM	Sadzikowski Daniel	2504	4½		4½	GM	Edouard Romain	2653	7
10	9	GM	Donchenko Alexander	2644	4½		4½	GM	Moradiabadi Elshan	2539	37

Related news:

	The biggest gainers at the Sunway Sitges 2019 @ 24/12/2019 by Sagar Shah (en)
	Immovable Arjun Erigaisi and Solid Nihal Sarin at the Sunway Sitges 2019 @ 21/12/2019 by Sagar Shah (en)
	Abhimanyu Puranik has a performance of 2746 after seven rounds at the Sunway Sitges 2019 @ 20/12/2019 by Sagar Shah (en)
	S.L. Narayanan's perfect 5.0/5 start at the Sunway Sitges 2019 @ 18/12/2019 by Sagar Shah (en)
	सनवे सिट्जस - सेथुरमन को हराकर नारायनन पहुंचे शीर्ष पर @ 18/12/2019 by Niklesh Jain (hi)
	सनवे सिट्जस - प्रग्गानंधा का बेहतरीन खेल ,सेथुरमन ,नारायनन के साथ सयुंक्त बढ़त पर @ 17/12/2019 by Niklesh Jain (hi)
	Black Magic by Praggnanandhaa to beat Nino Batsiashvili @ 17/12/2019 by Sagar Shah (en)
	Sunway Sitges 2019 - An event hosting 106 Indian players in Spain @ 16/12/2019 by Sagar Shah (en)
	सनवे सिट्जस 2019 - परहम को हराकर हर्षित नें किया धमाका ! @ 15/12/2019 by Niklesh Jain (hi)
	The most popular event in Europe for Indian players - Sunway Sitges Chess Festival @ 18/11/2019 by Sagar Shah (en)