MPL 58th National Senior R5: Lalit, Abhijeet and Koustav score to join five-way lead

by Shahid Ahmed - 28/02/2022

The clash of titans between GM D Gukesh (TN) and GM Arjun Erigaisi (TEL) ended in an exciting draw. GM Aryan Chopra (DEL) was unable to capitalize on his advantage against GM Lalit Rohit (PSPB). Five-time Commonwealth Gold medalist, GM Abhijeet Gupta (PSPB) beat IM Aditya Mittal (MAH). IM Koustav Chatterjee (WB) continues his dream run as he beat GM Karthikeyan Murali (PSPB). Thus Lalit, Abhijeet Gupta and Koustav Chatterjee joined the previous round leaders Gukesh and Arjun Erigaisi. Arjun vs Abhijeet, Koustav vs Gukesh and Lalit vs Adhiban will be the top three fiery battles in Round 6 which starts today at 9:30 a.m. IST today. Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Koustav bests Karthikeyan

Untitled Sambit Panda (ODI) scored one of the biggest upsets of the round against GM Deepan Chakkravarthy (PSPB).

Lalit Rohit beat Aryan Chopra to join the lead, taking his unbeaten streak in Classical games to 41 | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Gukesh - Arjun Erigaisi: 0.5-0.5

The highly anticipated match between GM D Gukesh (TN) and GM Arjun Erigaisi (TEL) was an exciting draw.

Position after 27...c3

Black was aiming for c3 for quite sometime. 27.Rxa5 allowed him to finally play 27...c3. There is only a forced line 28.bxc3 Bxf1 29.Ra8+ Kc7 30.Ra8+ Kc7 31.Rxd8 Kxd8. Since White cannot stop the b-pawn from promoting, he has to promote one of his own 32.h6 b2 33.h7 b1Q 34.h8Q+. The resultant rare Queen vs Queen-Bishop endgame is a draw. Black is unable to shelter the king from the incessant checks and keep the pawns and bishop safe at the same time too.

Gukesh and Arjun Erigaisi had an exciting encounter | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Aryan Chopra - Lalit: 0-1

GM Aryan Chopra (DEL) gained an early advantage and it almost seemed like he will take the sole lead. However, Lalit Rohit (PSPB) hasn't lost a single Classical game (40 games), conquered four tournaments consecutively in four different countries since December 2021 for a reason.

Position after 29.Ng6

As Black, one is bound to feel dejected after 29.Ng6. That's not Lalit. He fought cautiously, waited with bated breath for the right opportunity to strike back. Once Aryan fumbled, his opponent pounced on the opportunity and snatched the full point to join the lead.

Lalit Rohit knows it is not over until it's over | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Abhijeet - Aditya: 1-0

Practical rook endgames are always difficult. No matter how much one knows, executing a correct defence is almost always a big ask. IM Aditya Mittal (MAH) had to defend against Mr. Commonwealth, GM Abhijeet Gupta (PSPB).

Position after 60.Ke4

Where should the rook go - d8 or d1? Only one of them is correct. Black was unable to find the correct defense probably under time trouble and it cost him the game.

Abhijeet Gupta has joined the lead 4.5/5 | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Karthikeyan - Koustav: 0-1

What started as the Ruy Lopez Anti-Berlin, transposed into a Philidor Defence like structure for Black. It is quite unpleasant to say the least. IM Koustav Chatterjee (WB) managed to not only equalize but also create some play of his own against GM Karthikeyan Murali (PSPB).

Position after 39.Bf4

39.g4 would have been a better response. 39.Bf4 just walks into a target. Black played the excellent move 39...Rxf4! 40.gxf4 Qxf4 and he is certainly not losing here. Now White needs to play precisely to save the game. 41.Qd2 was played and things completely shifted into Black's favor.

Beating 2600+ GMs, losing weight and becoming an IAS officer - Koustav Chatterjee | Video: ChessBase India

Koustav scored a fantastic victory against Karthikeyan | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

IM Sidhant Mohapatra (RSPB) had an exciting draw with GM Abhimanyu Puranik (MAH) | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Harshad - Aravindh: 0-1

One cannot afford to make a mistake in the opening especially against a player like GM Aravindh Chithambaram (PSPB). FM Harshad S (TN) made such in Modern Defence.

Position after 10.c3

10.c3 is a blunder. Find out why.

Aravindh Chithambaram had a cakewalk in Round 5 | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Sambit Panda (ODI) scored a big victory over GM Deepan Chakkravarthy (RSPB) | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

GM Arjun Kalyan (TN) - IM Anuj Shrivatri (MP): 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

GM Swapnil Dhopade (RSPB) - FM Mohamed Anees M (TN): 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

IM Pranav V (TN) - Utsab Chatterjee (WB): 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Srihari L (PON) defeated IM Sai Agni Jeevitesh (RSPB). CM Ojasva Singh (MP), Anustoop Biswas (WB), FM Kashish Jain Manoj (MAH), Kaivalya Sandip Nagare (MAH), Yash Bharadia (RAJ), Sumit Grover (JK), Sharsha Backer (KER), Ashutosh Kumar (BIH) and Adireddy Arjun (TEL) drew with IM Nitin S (RSPB), IM Srihari L R (TN), IM Srijit Paul (WB), IM D K Sharma (LIC), GM Vishnu Prasanna (TN), IM Raahul V S (TN), GM Sriram Jha (LIC), IM P Saravana Krishnan (TN) and IM R Balasubramaniam (TN).

National Championships 2022 | Day 3 highlights | Video: ChessBase India

For more Round 5 photos, click here.

AICF President Sanjay Kapoor meets all 23 GMs at the National Championships 2022 | Video: ChessBase India

A total of 184 players including 22 GMs and 30 IMs are taking part in this tournament organized by UP Chess Sports Association. The event is taking place at Ganges Club at Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh from 25th February to 3rd March 2022. The eleven-round Swiss league tournament has a time control of 90 minutes + 30 seconds increment from move no.1

National Championship Contest

Your task is to guess the winner in both Open and Women's section correctly. Three winners will be chosen and given some exciting ChessBase India goodies!

National Championship 2022 contest | Video: ChessBase India

1st Prize - Chess Course by FA FT Praful Zaveri (7 books) worth ₹4999

2nd Prize - ChessBase India Premium Chess Set worth ₹1999

3rd Prize - ChessBase India Round Neck T-Shirt worth ₹599.55

Replay Round 5 games

Round 5 results

Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	Club/City	No.
1	7	GM	Gukesh D	2614	TN	4	½ - ½	4	GM	Erigaisi Arjun	2633	TEL	2
2	9	GM	Aryan Chopra	2585	DEL	4	0 - 1	3½	GM	Lalith Babu M R	2563	PSPB	10
3	1	GM	Adhiban B.	2648	PSPB	3½	½ - ½	3½	GM	Harsha Bharathakoti	2499	TEL	18
4	3	GM	Gupta Abhijeet	2628	PSPB	3½	1 - 0	3½	IM	Aditya Mittal	2487	MAH	20
5	22	IM	Aronyak Ghosh	2482	WB	3½	½ - ½	3½	GM	Mitrabha Guha	2510	WB	16
6	4	GM	Karthikeyan Murali	2622	PSPB	3	0 - 1	3½	IM	Koustav Chatterjee	2466	WB	26
7	43	IM	Sidhant Mohapatra	2359	Rlys	3	½ - ½	3	GM	Puranik Abhimanyu	2618	MAH	6
8	47	FM	Harshad S	2328	TN	3	0 - 1	3	GM	Aravindh Chithambaram Vr.	2611	TN	8
9	59		Bharat Kumar Reddy Poluri	2263	TEL	3	0 - 1	3	GM	Sengupta Deep	2528	PSPB	12
10	87		Panda Sambit	2059	ODI	3	1 - 0	3	GM	Deepan Chakkravarthy J.	2520	Rlys	14
11	91		Jain Shrenhik Daklia	2049	CHT	3	0 - 1	3	GM	Iniyan P	2516	TN	15
12	17	GM	Arjun Kalyan	2506	TN	3	½ - ½	3	IM	Anuj Shrivatri	2350	MP	44
13	19	GM	Swapnil S. Dhopade	2495	Rlys	3	½ - ½	3	FM	Mohamed Anees M	2238	TN	62
14	21	IM	Pranav V	2486	TN	3	½ - ½	3		Utsab Chatterjee	2321	WB	48
15	25	IM	Ravi Teja S.	2469	Rlys	3	1 - 0	3	FM	Aradhya Garg	2236	DEL	65
16	28	IM	Das Sayantan	2459	Rlys	3	1 - 0	3	FM	Wagh Suyog	2232	MAH	66
17	31	IM	Vignesh N R	2444	Rlys	3	1 - 0	3		Sanket Chakravarty	2171	WB	70
18	34	GM	Laxman R.R.	2429	Rlys	3	1 - 0	3		Phatak Aanjaneya	2165	MAH	71
19	35	IM	Nitin S.	2427	Rlys	3	½ - ½	3	CM	Singh Ojasva	2141	MP	77
20	37	IM	Gusain Himal	2408	Rlys	3	0 - 1	3		Shreyansh Daklia	2128	CHT	79

Details

Round 6 pairings

Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	Club/City	No.
1	2	GM	Erigaisi Arjun	2633	TEL	4½		4½	GM	Gupta Abhijeet	2628	PSPB	3
2	26	IM	Koustav Chatterjee	2466	WB	4½		4½	GM	Gukesh D	2614	TN	7
3	10	GM	Lalith Babu M R	2563	PSPB	4½		4	GM	Adhiban B.	2648	PSPB	1
4	8	GM	Aravindh Chithambaram Vr.	2611	TN	4		4	IM	Aronyak Ghosh	2482	WB	22
5	25	IM	Ravi Teja S.	2469	Rlys	4		4	GM	Aryan Chopra	2585	DEL	9
6	12	GM	Sengupta Deep	2528	PSPB	4		4	IM	Das Sayantan	2459	Rlys	28
7	79		Shreyansh Daklia	2128	CHT	4		4	GM	Iniyan P	2516	TN	15
8	16	GM	Mitrabha Guha	2510	WB	4		4	IM	Vignesh N R	2444	Rlys	31
9	18	GM	Harsha Bharathakoti	2499	TEL	4		4	GM	Laxman R.R.	2429	Rlys	34
10	6	GM	Puranik Abhimanyu	2618	MAH	3½		4		Panda Sambit	2059	ODI	87
11	41	IM	Srihari L R	2400	TN	3½		3½	GM	Sethuraman S.P.	2619	PSPB	5
12	43	IM	Sidhant Mohapatra	2359	Rlys	3½		3½	GM	Visakh N R	2522	Rlys	13
13	48		Utsab Chatterjee	2321	WB	3½		3½	GM	Arjun Kalyan	2506	TN	17
14	44	IM	Anuj Shrivatri	2350	MP	3½		3½	GM	Swapnil S. Dhopade	2495	Rlys	19
15	20	IM	Aditya Mittal	2487	MAH	3½		3½	FM	Ayush Sharma	2302	MP	51
16	52	FM	Sharan Rao	2292	KAR	3½		3½	IM	Pranav V	2486	TN	21
17	30	IM	Neelash Saha	2445	WB	3½		3½		Ritviz Parab	2349	GOA	45
18	32	IM	Shyaamnikhil P	2442	Rlys	3½		3½	IM	Ratnakaran K.	2316	Rlys	49
19	54	IM	Sangma Rahul	2286	Rlys	3½		3½	IM	Mohammad Nubairshah Shaikh	2436	MAH	33
20	62	FM	Mohamed Anees M	2238	TN	3½		3½	IM	Nitin S.	2427	Rlys	35

Details

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