Can Arjun Erigaisi beat Andrey Esipenko to win Qatar Masters 2024?

by Shahid Ahmed - 12/12/2024

GM Andrey Esipenko defeated GM Shant Sargsyan (ARM) to gain sole lead 7/8 at Qatar Masters. Esipenko won a hard fought battle which resulted in a four-knights endgame. GM Arjun Erigaisi won against his compatriot, GM Karthikeyan Murali to maintain his pursuit. Arjun is trailing the sole leader Esipenko by a half point 6.5/8. He is in a must-win situation to become the champion, while a draw is enough for Esipenko to clinch the first place. More than the championship, the valuable FIDE Circuit points are also hanging in the balance. So Arjun would undoubtedly go for maximum. Round 9 starts today at 12 p.m. local time, 2:30 p.m. IST. Photos: Anna Shtourman

Arjun in a must-win situation

There are four players behind Arjun at 6/8 each. GM Leon Luke Mendonca is the sole Indian among them.

GM Arjun Erigaisi continues his quest for the first place | Photo: Anna Shtourman

Arjun - Karthikeyan: 1-0

GM Arjun Erigaisi (2801) had a great score against GM Karthikeyan Murali (2637) in Classical rated games, 3-2 to be exact. The world no.4 decided to increase his head-to-head score.

Position after 24...Kg7

The ever alert Arjun struck 25.Nxd5 Bxd5 26.Bxe4 Bb4 White did not hesitate to sacrifice an exchange 27.Bxd5 Rxe1+ 28.Rxe1 Bxe1 29.Be4 White eventually went on to win the game after Black made a tactical error in the endgame.

GM Arjun Erigaisi scored his fifth win of the event | Photo: Saji Mathew

Lorenzo - Leon

Position after 11.Nxb5

GM Lorenzo Lodici (ITA, 2564) made a thematic sacrifice 11.Nxb5. However, in this position it is not that effective 11...axb5 12.Bxb5+ Bd7 13.Nxd6+ Bxd6 14.Qxd6 Qe7 15.Qxe7+ Kxe7. White had three pawns for the piece but GM Leon Luke Mendonca (2642) neutralized them and won the game comfortably.

GM Leon Luke Mendonca 6/8 | Photo: Saji Mathew

Adhiban - Nihal

Position after 22.Rxe5

GM B Adhiban (2535) sacrificed an exchange 22.Rxe5 with the aim of launching an attack on the kingside dxe5 23.Ne4 Qb6 24.Qh6 cxd5 24.Ng5 Qf6 25.Bxd5 e6 Black is out of danger and he went on to win the game. White's attack did not work out due to the lack of enough pieces.

GM Nihal Sarin scored his first Classical rated game victory over GM B Adhiban | Photo: Saji Mathew

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

Replay Round 8 games

Round 8 results

Bo.	No.		White	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Black	Rtg	No.
1	6	GM	Esipenko, Andrey	2682	6	1 - 0	6	GM	Sargsyan, Shant	2646	13
2	1	GM	Erigaisi, Arjun	2801	5½	1 - 0	5½	GM	Karthikeyan, Murali	2637	15
3	20	GM	Paravyan, David	2620	5	0 - 1	5	GM	Abdusattorov, Nodirbek	2777	2
4	31	GM	Abdisalimov, Abdimalik	2536	5	½ - ½	5	GM	Artemiev, Vladislav	2701	4
5	9	GM	Yakubboev, Nodirbek	2668	5	½ - ½	5	GM	Idani, Pouya	2603	22
6	26	GM	Lodici, Lorenzo	2564	5	0 - 1	5	GM	Mendonca, Leon Luke	2642	14
7	18	GM	Salem, A.R. Saleh	2622	5	1 - 0	5	GM	Madaminov, Mukhiddin	2501	38
8	5	GM	Tabatabaei, M. Amin	2695	4½	1 - 0	5	GM	Fawzy, Adham	2493	39
9	7	GM	Vokhidov, Shamsiddin	2681	4½	1 - 0	4½	IM	Xu, Zhihang	2511	35
10	32	GM	Adhiban, B.	2535	4½	0 - 1	4½	GM	Nihal, Sarin	2676	8

Details

Standings after Round 8

Rk.	SNo		Name	Typ	FED	RtgI	Pts.	TB2	TB3	TB4
1	6	GM	Esipenko, Andrey		FID	2682	7	2896	37	2
2	1	GM	Erigaisi, Arjun		IND	2801	6,5	2803	36	3
3	13	GM	Sargsyan, Shant		ARM	2646	6	2782	38	3
4	18	GM	Salem, A.R. Saleh		UAE	2622	6	2701	36	2
5	2	GM	Abdusattorov, Nodirbek	U20	UZB	2777	6	2647	31,5	2
6	14	GM	Mendonca, Leon Luke	U18	IND	2642	6	2640	31	3
7	15	GM	Karthikeyan, Murali		IND	2637	5,5	2699	36	2
8	31	GM	Abdisalimov, Abdimalik		UZB	2536	5,5	2682	35	1
9	22	GM	Idani, Pouya		IRI	2603	5,5	2682	34	1
10	30	GM	Zemlyanskii, Ivan	U14	FID	2543	5,5	2675	32,5	1
11	8	GM	Nihal, Sarin	U20	IND	2676	5,5	2653	35	2
12	7	GM	Vokhidov, Shamsiddin		UZB	2681	5,5	2632	31	1
13	23	GM	Daneshvar, Bardiya	U18	IRI	2600	5,5	2625	36	1
14	5	GM	Tabatabaei, M. Amin		IRI	2695	5,5	2622	33	1
15	9	GM	Yakubboev, Nodirbek		UZB	2668	5,5	2612	33	1
16	4	GM	Artemiev, Vladislav		FID	2701	5,5	2612	31,5	0
17	16	GM	Naiditsch, Arkadij		BUL	2636	5	2641	37,5	2
18	24	GM	Pranesh, M	U18	IND	2582	5	2632	33,5	1
19	26	GM	Lodici, Lorenzo		ITA	2564	5	2618	33	2
20	38	GM	Madaminov, Mukhiddin	U18	UZB	2501	5	2603	32	2

Details

Round 9 pairings

Bo.	No.		White	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Black	Rtg	No.
1	1	GM	Erigaisi, Arjun	2801	6½		7	GM	Esipenko, Andrey	2682	6
2	2	GM	Abdusattorov, Nodirbek	2777	6		6	GM	Mendonca, Leon Luke	2642	14
3	13	GM	Sargsyan, Shant	2646	6		6	GM	Salem, A.R. Saleh	2622	18
4	4	GM	Artemiev, Vladislav	2701	5½		5½	GM	Zemlyanskii, Ivan	2543	30
5	22	GM	Idani, Pouya	2603	5½		5½	GM	Tabatabaei, M. Amin	2695	5
6	15	GM	Karthikeyan, Murali	2637	5½		5½	GM	Vokhidov, Shamsiddin	2681	7
7	8	GM	Nihal, Sarin	2676	5½		5½	GM	Daneshvar, Bardiya	2600	23
8	31	GM	Abdisalimov, Abdimalik	2536	5½		5½	GM	Yakubboev, Nodirbek	2668	9
9	36	IM	Galaviz Medina, Sion Radamantys	2508	5		5	GM	Narayanan, S L	2647	11
10	28	GM	Bharath, Subramaniyam H	2561	5		5	GM	Nguyen, Ngoc Truong Son	2646	12

Details

Links

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