Muradli wins Paracin Open 2021, Arjun Erigaisi finishes second

Vatsal Singhania makes his second IM-norm

Both Shantanu Bhambure and FM Vatsal Singhanina played fantastic in this event. However, Vatsal's consistency rewarded him with a second IM-norm. Nine Indians finished under top 30 places. The highest rating was gained by WFM Bommini Mounika Akshaya - 107 Elo rating points followed Aanjaneya Phatak, 77 points.

Arjun Erigaisi remained unbeaten throughout the event | Photo: Rupali Mullick

FM Vatsal Singhania scored his second IM-norm | Photo: Rupali Mullick

Vatsal performed at 2500, gained 32 Elo rating points and the only loss was against the eventual champion of the tournament

Round 7: Ter-Sahakyan - Arjun: 0.5-0.5

Arjun Erigaisi held the top seed GM Samvel Ter-Sahakyan (ARM) to a draw.

Arjun Erigaisi held top seed Ter-Sahakyan to a draw | Photo: Rupali Mullick

Aditya - Abergel: 1-0

IM Aditya Mittal capitalized on his advantage in the endgame against GM Thal Abergel (FRA).

Position after 36.Ra7

It would have taken Black inhuman effort to save the game 36...Nd3 with the idea of Nf2-e4 to defend the d6-pawn. Of course in a tournament game, these are very difficult to spot. Aditya went on to win the game.

Aditya Mittal moved to 5.5/7 | Photo: Rupali Mullick

Pranav made a solid draw with IM Ahmad Ahmadzada | Photo: Rupali Mullick

Sadikhov - Shantanu: 0-1

Shantanu continued his good form and beat his first GM of the event, Ulvi Sadikhov (AZE).

Position after 30.Bh5+

Both 29.Rh4 and 30.Bh5+ did not help White's position, it only helped the black king to advance towards the center. After a few more inaccuracies, Shantanu got a completely winning position.

Shantanu deservedly won the game | Photo: Rupali Mullick

Round 8: Arjun - Aditya: 1-0

Aditya made a few mistakes in the endgame which cost him the game against Arjun.

Position after 41...Kxh6

One of the first significant mistake in the endgame was 41...Kxh6 leaving b4-pawn en prise. The game continued 42.axb4 Bb6 43.Rg8 e4 is the next big mistake. 44.Re8 e3 45.Re6+ and the d6-pawn falls. Rest was just a matter of technique and Arjun won it comfortably.

Aditya lost his sole game of the event against Arjun | Photo: Rupali Mullick

IM Nubairshah Shaikh held GM Samvel Ter-Sahakyan (ARM) to a draw | Photo: Rupali Mullick

Shantanu - Budisavljevic: 0.5-0.5

Shantanu was in complete control for the better part of the game against GM Luka Budisavljevic (SRB).

Position after 21...Qb7

Perhaps trading the knight and then getting a quick b6 would have done White slightly better than the text 22.Na5. The line White could have opted for 22.Nxb6 Qxb6 23.Ra6 Qb7 24.b6 Nd7 25.Qb5 Bd8 26.Ra7 etc.

Shantanu should have won this one too | Photo: Rupali Mullick

Pranav - Gavrilescu: 0.5-0.5

IM Pranav Venkatesh avoided a loss as his opponent IM David Gavrilescu (ROU) missed an opportunity.

Position after 18.Qd3

White needed to take on e6 first before playing Qd3. As 18.Qd3 leads to 18...f6 19.Bf4 and now Black can win this. 19...fxe5 allowed White to save the day 20.Bxe5.

Pranav had a rare miscue | Photo: Rupali Mullick

Round 9: Petrosyan - Arjun: 0.5-0.5

Arjun had a hard-fought draw with GM Manuel Petrosyan (ARM).

Petrosyan tried till the very end, but Arjun did not crumble | Photo: Rupali Mullick

Sankalp Gupta drew with the top seed of the touranment GM Samvel Ter-Sahakyan (ARM) | Photo: Rupali Mullick

Shantanu Bhambure drew his final round game with GM Eltaj Safarli (AZE) which could have gone either way | Photo: Rupali Mullick

Budisavljevic - Pranav: 0-1

Pranav scored a fine victory over GM Luka Budisavljevic (SRB).

Pranav secured 10th place 6.5/9 | Photo: Rupali Mullick

Vatsal drew with IM Aydin Suleymanli (AZE) to finish with 5.5/9 and score his second IM-norm | Photo: Rupali Mullick

WIM Isha Sharma beat GM Prithu Gupta in the last round | Photo: Rupali Mullick

WFM Bommini Mounika Akshaya scored 5.0/9 and gained 107 Elo rating points | Photo: Rupali Mullick

178th seeded Aanjaneya Phatak scored 5.5/9, finished 40th and gained 77 Elo rating points | Photo: Rupali Mullick

Photos: Round 7, 8 and 9.

Replay Round 7-9 games

Round 7 results

Rd.	Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.
7	3	1	GM	Ter-Sahakyan Samvel	2643	4½	½ - ½	5	GM	Erigaisi Arjun	2567	6
7	5	5	GM	Postny Evgeny	2578	4½	1 - 0	4½	IM	Sankalp Gupta	2429	26
7	9	23	IM	Aditya Mittal	2438	4½	1 - 0	4½	GM	Abergel Thal	2414	32
7	10	25	IM	Ahmadzada Ahmad	2431	4½	½ - ½	4½		Pranav V	2366	47
7	15	13	GM	Sadikhov Ulvi	2490	4	0 - 1	4		Bhambure Shantanu	2391	41
7	16	35	IM	Raja Rithvik R	2408	4	½ - ½	4	IM	Raja Harshit	2484	14
7	18	18	IM	Gavrilescu David	2470	4	1 - 0	4	IM	Mullick Raahil	2386	43
7	19	22	FM	Dudin Gleb	2439	4	½ - ½	4	FM	Vatsal Singhania	2371	46
7	20	24	IM	Mohammad Nubairshah Shaikh	2436	4	1 - 0	4	FM	Grieve Harry	2351	53
7	23	80	WIM	Beydullayeva Govhar	2264	3½	0 - 1	3½	GM	Puranik Abhimanyu	2589	4
7	24	81	FM	Jocev Milan	2260	3½	½ - ½	3½	GM	Prithu Gupta	2472	16
7	35	67	FM	Barseghyan Armen Ar.	2316	3½	1 - 0	3½	WIM	Rakshitta Ravi	2190	108
7	37	178		Phatak Aanjaneya	1769	3½	1 - 0	3½	CM	Dev Shah	2270	78
7	39	100	WIM	Sharma Isha	2213	3	0 - 1	3	WFM	Kamalidenova Meruert	2334	56
7	50	96	WGM	Varshini V	2226	3	1 - 0	3	CM	Aslanov Umid	2019	159
7	51	98		Ojas Kulkarni	2216	3	1 - 0	3		Gusev Mikhail	1859	177
7	52	157	WFM	Bommini Mounika Akshaya	2029	3	½ - ½	3	CM	Kostov Deyan Samuil	2215	99

Details

Round 8 results

Rd.	Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.
8	4	6	GM	Erigaisi Arjun	2567	5½	1 - 0	5½	IM	Aditya Mittal	2438	23
8	5	1	GM	Ter-Sahakyan Samvel	2643	5	½ - ½	5	IM	Mohammad Nubairshah Shaikh	2436	24
8	10	41		Bhambure Shantanu	2391	5	½ - ½	5	GM	Budisavljevic Luka	2509	11
8	12	47		Pranav V	2366	5	½ - ½	5	IM	Gavrilescu David	2470	18
8	15	4	GM	Puranik Abhimanyu	2589	4½	1 - 0	4½	FM	Kurmangaliyeva Liya	2322	65
8	16	14	IM	Raja Harshit	2484	4½	1 - 0	4½	WGM	Heinemann Josefine	2285	73
8	18	26	IM	Sankalp Gupta	2429	4½	1 - 0	4½	FM	Barseghyan Armen Ar.	2316	67
8	20	46	FM	Vatsal Singhania	2371	4½	½ - ½	4½	FM	Babazada Khazar	2409	34
8	21	62	FM	Ohanyan Emin	2324	4½	½ - ½	4½	IM	Raja Rithvik R	2408	35
8	22	13	GM	Sadikhov Ulvi	2490	4	- - +	4½		Phatak Aanjaneya	1769	178
8	23	16	GM	Prithu Gupta	2472	4	0 - 1	4	FM	Vetokhin Savva	2324	63
8	29	40	IM	Radovanovic Nikola	2395	4	1 - 0	4	WGM	Varshini V	2226	96
8	30	86		Ivanovic Marko	2245	4	1 - 0	4	IM	Mullick Raahil	2386	43
8	32	51	FM	Kamer Kayra	2355	4	½ - ½	4		Ojas Kulkarni	2216	98
8	41	59	FM	Nogerbek Kazybek	2328	3½	1 - 0	3½	WIM	Rakshitta Ravi	2190	108
8	46	78	CM	Dev Shah	2270	3½	½ - ½	3½	CM	Debevec Blaz	2135	121
8	48	157	WFM	Bommini Mounika Akshaya	2029	3½	½ - ½	3½		Papakonstantinou Dimitrios	2251	83
8	60	159	CM	Aslanov Umid	2019	3	0 - 1	3	WIM	Sharma Isha	2213	100

Details

Round 9 results

Rd.	Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.
9	2	2	GM	Petrosyan Manuel	2632	6	½ - ½	6½	GM	Erigaisi Arjun	2567	6
9	7	26	IM	Sankalp Gupta	2429	5½	½ - ½	5½	GM	Ter-Sahakyan Samvel	2643	1
9	8	3	GM	Safarli Eltaj	2604	5½	½ - ½	5½		Bhambure Shantanu	2391	41
9	9	24	IM	Mohammad Nubairshah Shaikh	2436	5½	0 - 1	5½	GM	Puranik Abhimanyu	2589	4
9	11	11	GM	Budisavljevic Luka	2509	5½	0 - 1	5½		Pranav V	2366	47
9	12	27	IM	Zarubitski Viachaslau	2426	5½	½ - ½	5½	IM	Raja Harshit	2484	14
9	14	23	IM	Aditya Mittal	2438	5½	1 - 0	5½		Phatak Aanjaneya	1769	178
9	15	7	IM	Suleymanli Aydin	2563	5	½ - ½	5	FM	Vatsal Singhania	2371	46
9	19	35	IM	Raja Rithvik R	2408	5	½ - ½	5		Ivanovic Marko	2245	86
9	32	98		Ojas Kulkarni	2216	4½	½ - ½	4½	FM	Nogerbek Kazybek	2328	59
9	35	43	IM	Mullick Raahil	2386	4	0 - 1	4½		Pavlov Mark	2195	106
9	36	100	WIM	Sharma Isha	2213	4	1 - 0	4	GM	Prithu Gupta	2472	16
9	40	142		Jordanov Mihail	2082	4	+ - -	4	CM	Dev Shah	2270	78
9	46	96	WGM	Varshini V	2226	4	0 - 1	4	WFM	Bommini Mounika Akshaya	2029	157
9	53	108	WIM	Rakshitta Ravi	2190	3½	1 - 0	3½		Ilijic Mihajilo	2058	147

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Final Standings

Rk.	SNo		Name	sex	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	K	rtg+/-
1	21	IM	Muradli Mahammad		AZE	2461	7,5	48,5	40,0	6	10	27,8
2	6	GM	Erigaisi Arjun		IND	2567	7,0	48,5	37,0	5	10	10,9
3	10	IM	Annaberdiev Meilis		TKM	2532	7,0	43,5	33,5	6	10	6,3
4	9	GM	Iskandarov Misratdin		AZE	2533	7,0	42,0	31,5	6	10	2,0
5	2	GM	Petrosyan Manuel		ARM	2632	6,5	49,5	35,5	4	10	-3,5
6	5	GM	Postny Evgeny		ISR	2578	6,5	48,0	35,0	4	10	0,1
7	12	IM	Sturt Raven		USA	2500	6,5	45,5	37,0	5	10	9,9
8	19	IM	Gharibyan Mamikon		ARM	2464	6,5	45,5	36,0	5	10	11,1
9	8	GM	Aleksandrov Aleksej		BLR	2535	6,5	44,5	33,0	4	10	-2,4
10	47		Pranav V		IND	2366	6,5	44,5	32,5	5	20	39,0
11	25	IM	Ahmadzada Ahmad		AZE	2431	6,5	44,0	35,0	5	10	15,0
12	15	IM	Aitbayev Aslan		KAZ	2475	6,5	43,5	31,0	5	10	1,6
13	18	IM	Gavrilescu David		ROU	2470	6,5	43,0	33,5	5	10	6,2
14	23	IM	Aditya Mittal		IND	2438	6,5	42,5	34,0	5	10	6,8
15	4	GM	Puranik Abhimanyu		IND	2589	6,5	41,5	31,0	5	10	-7,1
16	42	IM	Yankelevich Lev		GER	2389	6,0	47,0	33,0	4	10	15,6
17	20	IM	Bryakin Mikhail		RUS	2463	6,0	46,5	36,5	5	10	7,4
18	1	GM	Ter-Sahakyan Samvel		ARM	2643	6,0	45,5	31,0	4	10	-13,3
19	26	IM	Sankalp Gupta		IND	2429	6,0	44,5	32,5	4	10	11,7
20	38	WGM	Sargsyan Anna M.	w	ARM	2397	6,0	44,0	31,0	6	10	8,1
21	17	IM	Nikitenko Mihail		BLR	2472	6,0	43,5	33,5	5	10	4,7
22	3	GM	Safarli Eltaj		AZE	2604	6,0	42,5	31,0	3	10	-12,0
23	27	IM	Zarubitski Viachaslau		BLR	2426	6,0	42,0	30,0	4	10	1,0
24	14	IM	Raja Harshit		IND	2484	6,0	41,5	31,0	5	10	-1,7
25	41		Bhambure Shantanu		IND	2391	6,0	39,0	29,0	4	20	13,8
26	122	FM	Dolgun Can		TUR	2133	6,0	36,0	24,5	4	40	108,8
27	35	IM	Raja Rithvik R		IND	2408	5,5	46,5	31,0	2	10	8,4
28	11	GM	Budisavljevic Luka		SRB	2509	5,5	46,0	35,0	4	10	-3,8
29	46	FM	Vatsal Singhania		IND	2371	5,5	46,0	30,5	3	20	32,0
30	34	FM	Babazada Khazar		AZE	2409	5,5	45,0	31,0	4	10	10,2

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Muradli wins Paracin Open 2021, Arjun Erigaisi finishes second