Junior U21 Round Table Open R1-6: Alexey Sarana in sole lead 5.5/6

by Shahid Ahmed - 01/10/2021

IM Bharath Subramaniyam H is terrific from at Junior U21 Round Table Open. He prevented the tournament leader, GM Alexey Sarana 5.5/6 from making a double hat-trick. Bharath is at 4.5/6 along with GM Abhimanyu Puranik, GM Hans Niemann, GM Vugar Asadli, IM Muradli Mahammad and IM Nail Bashirli. Arjun Erigaisi 5.0/6 will face Sarana in the seventh round. Gukesh, Praggnanandhaa and Iniyan suffered a loss in the sixth round against Arjun, Muradli and Bashirli respectively. A total of 57 players including 9 GMs, 8 IM, a WGM and 4 WIMs are taking part from 14 countries across the world, in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. Total prize fund is €20000, first prize being €10000. Round 7 starts today at 5:30 p.m. IST. Photo: Lennart Ootes/FIDE

Arjun Erigaisi in the title fray

GM Arjun Erigaisi is the only player who is at a half point behind the tournament leader 5.0/6.

Top seed GM Alexey Sarana 5.5/6 | Photo: Lennart Ootes/FIDE

Round 3: Abhimanyu - Bharath: 0.5-0.5

IM Bharath Subramaniyam made a nice save from a difficult position against GM Abhimanyu Puranik.

Position after 25...Rb3

White needed to play 26.Ng6 as it takes advantage of Black's back rank and there is a threat of Bxc4 too. However, the game continued 26.Rcxc4 Rxc4 27.Rxc4 Rxb5 and White's advantage dwindled.

Gukesh - Lucas: 1-0

Gukesh won a very exciting endgame against GM Lucas van Foreest.

Round 4: Iniyan - Praggnanandhaa: 1-0

Iniyan defeated Praggnanandhaa in an explosive game which should have gone Pragg's way.

Position after 22.Qe3

It is evident that Black has more than enough compensation for the sacrificed piece. Find out the best continuation for Black. The game continued 22...Bf3 and White slowly managed to get back in the game and eventually turn things in his favor.

Round 5: Sarana - Iniyan: 1-0

Iniyan made a miscalculation in a seemingly equal endgame against GM Alexey Sarana (RUS).

Position after 23.axb5

White is doing a double attack on the e7-bishop and a7-pawn. Find out the best way for Black to respond. The game continued 23...Rd7 which turned things in White's favor.

GM Alexey Sarana (RUS) made his sole lead by beating GM Iniyan | Photo: Христинка Илиева

Gukesh - Bharath: 0.5-0.5

IM Bharath Subramaniyam H held GM D Gukesh to a draw.

IM Bharat Subramaniyam continues his impressive run | Photo: Христинка Илиева

Blohberger - Arjun: 0-1

GM Arjun Erigaisi won an interesting back and forth game against IM Felix Blohberger (AUT). It could have gone either player's way.

IM Felix Blohberger (AUT) had an exciting game against GM Arjun Erigaisi | Photo: Христинка Илиева

Abhimanyu - Stoyanov: 1-0

GM Abhimanyu Puranik scored a clinical victory over FM Tsvetan Stoyanov (BUL).

Position after 23...Kh8

White is very much ready to launch an attack. Find out the best way, like Abhimanyu did in the game.

GM Abhimanyu Puranik scored a nice victory with a brilliant display of attack | Photo: Христинка Илиева

Praggnanandhaa - Yordanov: 1-0

Pragg scored a fantastic victory by making a double rook sacrifice against FM Lachezar Yordanov (BUL).

Position after 20...Kd8

Find out the best continuation for White after 20...Kd8.

Praggnanandhaa showcased a brilliant display of attack | Photo: Христинка Илиева

Round 6: Bharath - Sarana: 0.5-0.5

Bharath held Sarana to a well-fought draw.

Arjun - Gukesh: 1-0

Arjun Erigaisi turned things in his favor as he capitalized on his opponent, Gukesh's mistake.

Position after 42...g6

42...g6 gave the opening White was looking for 43.Nf6+ Kg7 44.Qg5 and White masterfully used his knights to manipulate the position and score a win.

Highlights

Here are some interesting finishes of Round 1-6

FM Beloslava Krasteva (BUL) lost to GM Vugar Asadli (AZE), Round 1

GM Abhimanyu Puranik defeated Georgios Alexakis (GRE), Round 1

GM Hans Niemann (USA) drew with FM Elliott Papadiamandis (FRA), Round 2

IM Nail Bashirli (AZE) lost to GM Hans Niemann, Round 3

GM D Gukesh defeated GM Lucas van Foreest (NED), Round 3

FM Marco Dobrikov (GER) lost to FM Tsvetan Stoyanov (BUL), Round 3

IM Nail Bashirli (BUL) defeated Grigorios Vardakas (GRE), Round 5

GM Iniyan lost to IM Nail Bashirli (AZE), Round 6

Photo Gallery

Round 1

Untitled Viktor Boev (BUL) held GM Arjun Erigaisi to a draw | Photo: Христинка Илиева

GM R Praggnanandhaa scored a comfortable win against FM Mahitosh Dey | Photo: Христинка Илиева

GM D Gukesh was held to a draw by FM Valentin Mitev (BUL) | Photo: Христинка Илиева

CM Simeon Todev (BUL) lost to WGM Vantika Agrawal | Photo: Христинка Илиева

The tournament hall | Photo: Христинка Илиева

Venue: Hotel Imperial in Plovdiv, Bulgaria | Photo: Христинка Илиева

Outside the venue | Photo: Христинка Илиева

Liveboards on display | Photo: Христинка Илиева

Round 2

Vantika lost to GM Abhimanyu Puranik | Photo: Христинка Илиева

IM Bharath Subramaniyam H defeated FM Marco Dobrikov (GER) Photo: Христинка Илиева

GM Iniyan defeated Bulgaria no.2 woman IM Nurgyul Salimova | Photo: Христинка Илиева

Arjun and Gukesh won their respective games | Photo: Христинка Илиева

Replay Round 1-6 games

Round 6 results

Bo.	No.		Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	FED	Rtg	No.
1	16	IM	Bharath Subramaniyam H	IND	2435	4	½ - ½	5	GM	Sarana Alexey	RUS	2635	1
2	2	GM	Erigaisi Arjun	IND	2626	4	1 - 0	4	GM	Gukesh D	IND	2599	5
3	6	GM	Asadli Vugar	AZE	2578	4	½ - ½	4	GM	Puranik Abhimanyu	IND	2568	7
4	3	GM	Praggnanandhaa R	IND	2617	3½	0 - 1	3½	IM	Muradli Mahammad	AZE	2487	12
5	4	GM	Niemann Hans Moke	USA	2609	3½	1 - 0	3½	FM	Ochedzan Tymon	POL	2300	26
6	10	GM	Iniyan P	IND	2522	3½	0 - 1	3½	IM	Bashirli Nail	AZE	2382	19
7	8	GM	Van Foreest Lucas	NED	2535	3	1 - 0	3	FM	Papadiamandis Elliot	FRA	2404	17
8	18	FM	Stoyanov Tsvetan	BUL	2396	3	½ - ½	3	IM	Petrov Martin	BUL	2533	9
9	23	FM	Giannoulakis Lampros	GRE	2319	3	1 - 0	3	IM	Blohberger Felix	AUT	2493	11
10	31	FM	Mahitosh Dey	IND	2254	3	½ - ½	3	IM	Gokerkan Cem Kaan	TUR	2465	13
11	28	FM	Yordanov Lachezar	BUL	2296	3	0 - 1	3	IM	Ioannidis Evgenios	GRE	2445	15
12	14	FM	Alexakis Dimitris	GRE	2460	2½	1 - 0	3		Boev Viktor	BUL	2257	30
13	20	FM	Van Dael Siem	NED	2370	2½	0 - 1	2½	WIM	Urh Zala	SLO	2234	32
14	33	FM	Mitev Valentin	BUL	2223	2½	½ - ½	2½	IM	Salimova Nurgyul	BUL	2362	21
15	24	WIM	Vantika Agrawal	IND	2315	2½	½ - ½	2½		Popvasilev Kaloyan	GER	2132	42

Details

Round 7 pairings

Bo.	No.		Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	FED	Rtg	No.
1	1	GM	Sarana Alexey	RUS	2635	5½		5	GM	Erigaisi Arjun	IND	2626	2
2	7	GM	Puranik Abhimanyu	IND	2568	4½		4½	GM	Niemann Hans Moke	USA	2609	4
3	12	IM	Muradli Mahammad	AZE	2487	4½		4½	GM	Asadli Vugar	AZE	2578	6
4	19	IM	Bashirli Nail	AZE	2382	4½		4½	IM	Bharath Subramaniyam H	IND	2435	16
5	5	GM	Gukesh D	IND	2599	4		4	FM	Giannoulakis Lampros	GRE	2319	23
6	15	IM	Ioannidis Evgenios	GRE	2445	4		4	GM	Van Foreest Lucas	NED	2535	8
7	26	FM	Ochedzan Tymon	POL	2300	3½		3½	GM	Praggnanandhaa R	IND	2617	3
8	9	IM	Petrov Martin	BUL	2533	3½		3½	FM	Mahitosh Dey	IND	2254	31
9	32	WIM	Urh Zala	SLO	2234	3½		3½	GM	Iniyan P	IND	2522	10
10	13	IM	Gokerkan Cem Kaan	TUR	2465	3½		3½	WFM	Mehmed Elif	BUL	2260	29
11	39	CM	Erdogmus Yagiz Kaan	TUR	2150	3½		3½	FM	Alexakis Dimitris	GRE	2460	14
12	41		Vardakas Grigorios	GRE	2140	3½		3½	FM	Stoyanov Tsvetan	BUL	2396	18
13	11	IM	Blohberger Felix	AUT	2493	3		3	FM	Yordanov Lachezar	BUL	2296	28
14	17	FM	Papadiamandis Elliot	FRA	2404	3		3		Stoyanov Plamen	BUL	2017	49
15	21	IM	Salimova Nurgyul	BUL	2362	3		3	WIM	Vantika Agrawal	IND	2315	24

Details

Links

Official site

Tournament Details

Related news: