Qatar Masters 2024 R2: Arjun Erigaisi escapes jaws of defeat against Murtas Kazhgaleyev

by Shahid Ahmed - 05/12/2024

When you face World no.4 at a strong event like Qatar Masters 2024, you have to take every chance you get. GM Murtas Kazhgaleyev (KAZ) was aware of it. He played enterprising chess against GM Arjun Erigaisi. At one point, the Kazakh GM got himself a winning opportunity. He missed it. Later, Arjun got a much smaller chance in the endgame. The game eventually ended in a draw. IM Goutham Krishna H and IM Ayush Sharma held 44th Olympiad Gold medalist, GM Shamsiddin Vokhidov (UZB) and GM Haik Martirosyan (ARM) to a draw each respectively. A total of 16 players including seven Indians are at perfect 2/2. Round 3 starts today at 4 p.m. local time, 6:30 p.m. IST. Photos: Qatar Chess Association live stream

Goutham and Ayush hold Shamsiddin and Haik to a draw each

IM Moksh Amit Doshi continues his good start, as he drew with GM Tigran K Harutyunyan (ARM) to a draw. Meanwhile, World no.6, GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov's (UZB) search for a win continues as he was held to a draw by IM Omran Al Hosani (UAE). The defending champion, GM Nodirbek Yakubboev (UZB) scored a win over FM Murad Abdulla (SCO).

World no.4, GM Arjun Erigaisi survived a scare against GM Murtas Kazhgaleyev (KAZ) | Photo: Qatar Chess Association live stream

Arjun - Murtas: 0.5-0.5

GM Murtas Kazhgaliyev (KAZ, 2488) played fearlessly from the early stage against the world no.4, GM Arjun Erigaisi (2801).

Position after 18...a5!?

18...a5!? is certainly an interesting sacrifice 19.cxb4 a4 20.Bc2 Bxb4 21.Be5 White launches an attack of his own h6 22.Bxf6 Qxf6 23.Nh7 Qxd4 24.Ne4 Qe5 25.Nef6+ gxf6 26.Qg4+ Kh8 27.Qxb4 White managed to reduce the attack a little by trading pieces Rfc8 28.Qe7 Rxc2+! 29.Kxc2 Qf5+ 30.Kc3?? this created a winning opportunity for Black.

Position after 30.Kc3??

30...Rc8+ 31.Kb4 Qc2 would have ended things for White. Instead, he went 30...Qe5+? 31.Kc2 Qf5+ 32.Kd2 Qf4+ Black's attack fizzled out and the game meandered into a draw. Arjun had some winning chances at the end for himself too.

IM Goutham Krishna H (2466) held the 44th Olympia Gold medalist, GM Shamsiddin Vokhidov (UZB, 2681) to a well contested draw.

GM Shamsiddin Vokhidov (UZB) - IM Goutham Krishna H: 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Qatar Chess Association live stream

Srihari L R - Nihal

Position after 16.Nd6

GM Nihal Sarin (2676) decided to sacrifice his queen 16...Nxd4 17.Nxc8 Bf3 18.Qd3 Raxc8 Since Black got three minor pieces for a queen, it is more of an exchange than a sacrifice. IM Srihari L R (2484) blundered 19.Bxh6?? Nc5 instead Bd5 would have increased Black's advantage.

IM Srihari L R and GM Nihal Sarin had an exciting game | Photo: Qatar Chess Association live stream

IM Ayush Sharma - GM Haik Martirosyan (ARM): 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Qatar Chess Association live stream

Notable results

GM Tigran K Harutyunyan (ARM) - IM Moksh Amit Doshi: 0.5-0.5

IM Vantika Agrawal - GM Ngoc Truong Son Nguyen (VIE): 0.5-0.5

IM Ethan Vaz - GM Leon Luke Mendonca: 0.5-0.5

IM Aradhya Garg - GM David Paravyan: 0.5-0.5

FM Ankit Ray - GM Sandipan Chanda: 0.5-0.5

FM Kashish Manoj Jain - IM Leya Garifullina: 0.5-0.5

FM Ajay Santhosh Parvathareddy - GM P Shyam Nikhil: 0.5-0.5

CM Vivaan Vishal Shah - IM Khumoyun Begmuratov (UZB): 0.5-0.5

FM Jaiveer Mahendru - IM Almas Rakhmatullaev (UZB): 0.5-0.5

Kushal R Jani - IM Mukhammadali Abdurakhmonov (UZB): 0.5-0.5

CM Yash Bharadia - IM Mohammed Ezat (EGY): 1-0

Sriansh Das - IM Pham le Thao Nguyen (VIE): 0.5-0.5

FM Daakshin Arun - IM Hamed Wafa (EGY): 1-0

Schedule

There is one round every day from 3rd to 12th December 2024 starting from 4 p.m. local time, 6:30 p.m. IST. Sunday 8th December 2024 is a rest day. Only last round on 12th December starts at 12 p.m. local time, 2:30 p.m. IST.

Time control

Time control for each tournament game is 90 minutes for the first 40 moves, plus 30 minutes for the rest of the game, with an increment of 30 seconds per move starting from move 1.

Prizes

The total prize fund of the tournament is US$ 108250, $94250 for Open A (≥2300) and $14400 for Open B (≤2299). The top three prizes are $25000, $15000 and $10000 each.

Replay live stream

Replay Round 2 Live Commentary by GM Srinath Narayanan and IM Irene Sukandar | Video: Qatar Chess Association

Replay Round 2 games

Round 2 results

Bo.	No.		White	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Black	Rtg	No.
1	1	GM	Erigaisi, Arjun	2801	1	½ - ½	1	GM	Kazhgaleyev, Murtas	2488	40
2	39	GM	Fawzy, Adham	2493	1	0 - 1	1	GM	Esipenko, Andrey	2682	6
3	7	GM	Vokhidov, Shamsiddin	2681	1	½ - ½	1	IM	Goutham, Krishna H	2466	46
4	41	IM	Srihari, L R	2484	1	0 - 1	1	GM	Nihal, Sarin	2676	8
5	45	IM	Ayush, Sharma	2466	1	½ - ½	1	GM	Martirosyan, Haik M.	2656	10
6	11	GM	Narayanan, S L	2647	1	1 - 0	1	GM	Prraneeth, Vuppala	2461	48
7	13	GM	Sargsyan, Shant	2646	1	1 - 0	1	IM	Mamedov, Edgar	2441	56
8	15	GM	Karthikeyan, Murali	2637	1	1 - 0	1	IM	Gan-Erdene, Sugar	2437	58
9	49	GM	Swayams, Mishra	2456	1	0 - 1	1	GM	Naiditsch, Arkadij	2636	16
10	57	FM	Sahib, Singh	2438	1	0 - 1	1	GM	Idani, Pouya	2603	22

Details

Standings after Round 2

Rk.	SNo		Name	Typ	sex	FED	RtgI	Pts.	TB2	TB3
1	71	FM	Mahdavi, Reza	U16		IRI	2394	2	3443	1
2	6	GM	Esipenko, Andrey			FID	2682	2	3239	1
3	8	GM	Nihal, Sarin	U20		IND	2676	2	3234	1
4	11	GM	Narayanan, S L			IND	2647	2	3220	1
	59	IM	Tahbaz, Arash			IRI	2432	2	3220	1
6	16	GM	Naiditsch, Arkadij			BUL	2636	2	3213	1
7	13	GM	Sargsyan, Shant			ARM	2646	2	3208	1
8	15	GM	Karthikeyan, Murali			IND	2637	2	3204	1
9	22	GM	Idani, Pouya			IRI	2603	2	3199	1
10	23	GM	Daneshvar, Bardiya	U18		IRI	2600	2	3195	1
11	25	GM	Ganguly, Surya Shekhar			IND	2578	2	3188	1
12	30	GM	Zemlyanskii, Ivan	U14		FID	2543	2	3180	1
13	32	GM	Adhiban, B.			IND	2535	2	3176	1
14	29	GM	Sankalp, Gupta			IND	2545	2	3173	1
15	34	GM	Raja, Rithvik R	U20		IND	2521	2	3168	1
16	37	IM	Shuvalova, Polina		w	FID	2504	2	3107	1
17	95	WIM	Khamdamova, Afruza	U16	w	UZB	2354	1,5	2826	1
18	78	IM	Moksh, Amit Doshi			IND	2383	1,5	2789	1,5
19	90		Zhu, Hengyi	U20		CHN	2361	1,5	2781	1
20	40	GM	Kazhgaleyev, Murtas	S50		KAZ	2488	1,5	2751	1,5

Details

Round 3 pairings

Bo.	No.		White	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Black	Rtg	No.
1	6	GM	Esipenko, Andrey	2682	2		2	GM	Ganguly, Surya Shekhar	2578	25
2	8	GM	Nihal, Sarin	2676	2		2	GM	Sankalp, Gupta	2545	29
3	30	GM	Zemlyanskii, Ivan	2543	2		2	GM	Narayanan, S L	2647	11
4	32	GM	Adhiban, B.	2535	2		2	GM	Sargsyan, Shant	2646	13
5	34	GM	Raja, Rithvik R	2521	2		2	GM	Karthikeyan, Murali	2637	15
6	16	GM	Naiditsch, Arkadij	2636	2		2	IM	Shuvalova, Polina	2504	37
7	22	GM	Idani, Pouya	2603	2		2	IM	Tahbaz, Arash	2432	59
8	71	FM	Mahdavi, Reza	2394	2		2	GM	Daneshvar, Bardiya	2600	23
9	44	IM	Saydaliev, Saidakbar	2473	1½		1½	GM	Erigaisi, Arjun	2801	1
10	46	IM	Goutham, Krishna H	2466	1½		1½	GM	Tabatabaei, M. Amin	2695	5

Details

Links

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