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Serbia Open R8: Nihal gains sole lead 7.0/8 and breaks into World Top 100

by Shahid Ahmed - 08/07/2021

Nihal Sarin soared into World Top #100 as he crossed 2650 in the live ratings list to become World #90. What a way to achieve that as he gained sole lead 7.0/8 by scoring a hat-trick of victories and he is still undefeated. He will face the top seed of the tournament, Vladimir Fedoseev in the final round. Apart from Fedoseev, Bernadskiy and IM Aditya Mittal are also tied at second place 6.5/8. Aditya is playing phenomenal chess as he racked up five consecutive victories including the last three against GMs. He would definitely like to score his maiden GM-norm and make a podium finish. Round 9 starts today at 1:30 p.m. IST. Photo: Official site

Aditya ascends to the top

Nihal Sarin completed a hat-trick of wins in Round 8 against Kovalenko to take the sole lead 7.0/8. IM Aditya Mittal has been extremely impressive as he scored five consecutive victories including a hat-trick of wins against GMs as he moved to share second place 6.5/8, heading into the final round of the event. Pranav and Arjun are at 6.0/8 each respectively. Pranav became an IM and also made his maiden GM-norm.

Nihal scored a hat-trick | Photo: Rupali Mullick

Nihal - Kovalenko: 1-0

When an opportunity is presented, Nihal seizes every bit of it. He already had a good position, but it was time to maximize his advantage.

Position after 28.c4

White's intention behind 28.c4 is to open the e-file and invade with the battery of rooks on e7. 28...dxc4 was met with 29.bxc4, however 29.d5 exd5 30.Re7 was an interesting continuation for White.

Position after 35...R8c3

Kovalenko blundered an exchange 35...R8c3. Find out why it is a mistake. With this win, Nihal gained sole lead 7.0/8 and broke into World Top 100.

Nihal Sarin beats Igor Kovalenko | Enters World top 100 | Crosses 2650 | Video: ChessBase India

Nihal is currently World #90 in the live rating list as crossed 2650 | Photo: 2700chess

Safarli - Pranav: 0.5-0.5

Pranav continued his momentum and held GM Eltaj Safarli (AZE) to a solid draw.

Position after 20...b4

20...b4 forces White to give up two minor pieces for a rook and a pawn. It wasn't easy by any means for Pranav but he managed to hold his ground and make a draw, taking him one step closer to the IM-title and his maiden GM-norm.

Focused Pranav | Photo: Official site

Aditya - Postny: 1-0

GM Evgeny Postny (ISR) got himself in a cramped position in the middlegame against IM Aditya Mittal.

Position after 19...axb5

Black needed to defend the b6-pawn 19...Nbd7 and everything would have remained fine. However, 19...axb5 only makes things difficult for Black as the c-file opens and b6-pawn also drops. Aditya is not going to let go of these chances. He converted it comfortably and picked up his fifth consecutive win of the event.

Aditya is playing absolutely fantastic in this event | Photo: Official site

Blohberger - Arjun: 0-1

Arjun Erigaisi got back to his winning ways as he beat IM Felix Blohberger (AUT) convincingly.

Position after 22...Ra5

Arjun got a fantastic position in the middlegame and after 22...Ra5 White is in deep trouble. There is no good escape.

Arjun moves to 6.0/8 | Photo: Rupali Mullick

Pap - Puranik: 0-1

GM Misa Pap (SRB) went wrong in the endgame which cost him the game.

Position after 44.Rb1

White needed to play 44.Rb6 immediately to have some fighting chances, but 44.Rb1 lost a valuable tempo and Black went on to win the game.

A welcome victory for GM Abhimanyu Puranik | Photo: Official site

IM Raja Rithvik R held GM Boban Bogosavljevic (SRB) to a draw | Photo: Rupali Mullick

Highlights

Here are a few interesting finishes from Round 8

Final position - GM Misrat Iskandarov (AZE) won against GM Yuriy Kuzubov (UKR)

Final position - GM Samvel Ter-Sahakyan (ARM) defeated IM Meilis Annaberdiev (TKM)

Final position - GM Alexandr Fier (BRA) lost to IM Miodrag Perunovic (SRB)

Replay Round 8 games

Round 8 results

Rd.Bo.No. NameFEDRtgPts.ResultPts.NameFEDRtg No.
818
GMNihal SarinIND262061 - 06GMKovalenko IgorLAT2643
3
8813
GMSafarli EltajAZE2604½ - ½Pranav VIND2366
113
8964
IMAditya MittalIND24381 - 05GMPostny EvgenyISR2578
17
81346
IMBlohberger FelixAUT249050 - 15GMErigaisi ArjunIND2567
21
8187
GMPichot AlanARG26301 - 0IMMohammad Nubairshah ShaikhIND2436
66
82068
GMPap MisaSRB24310 - 1GMPuranik AbhimanyuIND2589
15
82472
IMBharath Subramaniyam HIND24260 - 1GMZanan EvgenyISR2535
31
82535
GMBogosavljevic BobanSRB2527½ - ½IMRaja Rithvik RIND2408
85
83048
IMRaja HarshitIND24840 - 1FMDamjanovic VukSRB2369
109
83150
IMCabarkapa NovakSRB2478½ - ½IMVardaan NagpalIND2366
111
845130
GMZhukova NataliaUKR23364½ - ½4IMSankalp GuptaIND2429
71
857101
IMMullick RaahilIND238641 - 04CMBoucquet EmileBEL2100
272
865177
FMSahin OzgunTUR22690 - 1IMAkshat KhampariaIND2406
86
869199
FMMaksimenko ViktorKAZ2239½ - ½FMVatsal SinghaniaIND2371
107
872202
Thorsbro PeterDEN22330 - 1Souhardo BasakIND2364
115
892208
WGMVarshini VIND222631 - 03FMRonka ErikFIN2303
157
8101174
Tanmay ChopraIND227330 - 13WFMBalabayeva XeniyaKAZ2116
260
8102279
Jordanov MihailMKD20823½ - ½3CMDev ShahIND2270
175
8106139
IMZakic SrdjanSRB23241 - 0Ojas KulkarniIND2216
211
8107214
WIMSharma IshaIND22131 - 0IMHasanzade ToghrulAZE2323
142
8126273
Herega NejcSLO209921 - 02WIMRakshitta RaviIND2190
228

Details

Round 9 pairings

Rd.Bo.No. NameFEDRtgPts.ResultPts.NameFEDRtg No.
911
GMFedoseev VladimirRUS26967GMNihal SarinIND2620
8
9264
IMAditya MittalIND2438GMBernadskiy VitaliyUKR2606
10
98113
Pranav VIND236666GMShevchenko KirillUKR2605
12
91021
GMErigaisi ArjunIND256766IMNenezic MarkoSRB2531
34
91115
GMPuranik AbhimanyuIND25896IMMuradli MahammadAZE2461
57
92419
GMDragnev ValentinAUT256955IMMullick RaahilIND2386
101
93085
IMRaja Rithvik RIND240855IMErenberg ArielISR2506
40
934111
IMVardaan NagpalIND236655IMSchreiner PeterAUT2441
62
938115
Souhardo BasakIND2364GMSedlak NikolaSRB2519
36
942135
FMIrizanin RadojeSRB2330IMRaja HarshitIND2484
48
94866
IMMohammad Nubairshah ShaikhIND2436IMOzenir Ekin BarisTUR2331
133
95071
IMSankalp GuptaIND2429FMVetokhin SavvaRUS2324
141
951209
WIMBlagojevic TijanaSRB2222IMBharath Subramaniyam HIND2426
72
95686
IMAkshat KhampariaIND2406FMDolgun CanTUR2133
253
967107
FMVatsal SinghaniaIND237144Ivanovic MarkoSRB2245
192
970127
FMVolkov DmitriyUSA234344WGMVarshini VIND2226
208
986153
FMKalogeris IoannisGRE2307WIMSharma IshaIND2213
214
993175
CMDev ShahIND2270De Boer BasNED2143
245
9102221
FMToncheva NadyaBUL220133Tanmay ChopraIND2273
174
9118211
Ojas KulkarniIND2216WIMDemchenko SvitlanaCAN2089
277

Details

Links

Official site