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Sunway Sitges Open R2: Korobov survives a scare

by Shahid Ahmed - 15/12/2020

Top seed Anton Korobov survived a massive scare against IM Jesus Martin Duque. Eventually Korobov won from a completely lost position. Armenia no.4 Karen Grigoryan won the Blitz event with a score of 7.5/9. Untitled Souhardo Basak held former Women's world champion GM Antoaneta Stefanova to a draw. IM Leon Mendonca lost to WGM Laura Unuk. 22 players are in the lead with a 100% score at the completion of Round 2. Leon will face an untitled player and Souhardo will go against IM Christophe Sochacki in Round 3 starting tonight from 9 p.m. IST. Photo: Sunway Chess Open

Souhardo holds Stefanova to a draw

Untitled Souhardo Basak held former Women's world champion GM Antoaneta Stefanova to a draw. IM Leon Mendonca lost to WGM Laura Unuk. Top seed Anton Korobov survived a huge scare and won against IM Jesus Martin Duque from a completely lost position. GM Karen Grigoryan won the Blitz championships with a score of 7.5/9. Shubham Bandikatte held fourth seeded Alexander Domene Mulyukov to a draw.

Karen Grigoryan won the Blitz event with a score of 7.5/9| Photo: Sunway Chess Open

Korobov makes a great escape

Korobov was on the brink of a loss as his king got into deep trouble against Jesus Martin Duque.

Martin - Korobov

Position after 27...Kh7

27...Kh7 was uncalled for. Simply 27...gxh3 28.gxh3 Kh7 would have sufficed and black king would have stayed out of danger.

Position after 35...Rxe2

The king at h5 looks very much vulnerable. Find out the winning continuation for white after 35...Rxe2.

Korobov was in deep trouble | Photo: Sunway Chess Open

Exchange sacrifice done right

Untitled Souhardo Basak held former Women's World Champion GM Antoaneta Stefanova to a draw. He made an interesting exchange sacrifice to avoid making things worse but eventually he recovered it and got two minor pieces for a rook.

Stefanova - Souhardo

Position after 35...cxb5

Although black has two pieces for a rook but still white can push for a win here. How?

Position after 42.h4

Tables have turned and it is time for black to push for a win. Find out the correct continuation for black after 42.h4

Souhardo made a good recovery | Photo: Amruta Mokal

Leon loses against Laura

Leon sacrificed a pawn in the middle game to gain some activity.

Leon - Laura

Position after 18.e4

White is about to lose the d4 pawn after the exchange on e4, the only compensation white will have is some activity. Otherwise black would've launched a devastating attack with f5-f4.

Position after 27.Neg5+

White tried to make things interesting with 27.Neg5+ but it wasn't much as white's pieces are not ready to cause havoc, only queen and knight are not sufficient enough to deal a damage. The resultant rook vs double knight ending favored black who had no trouble converting it into a victory.

Photo Gallery

GM Sébastien Maze giving a lecture | Photo: Sunway Chess Open

Ivan Cheparinov scored a comfortable victory | Photo: Sunway Chess Open

Blitz tournament in progress | Photo: Sunway Chess Open

GM Karen Grigoryan won the 7th Sunway Sitges Blitz Championship 2020 | Photo: Sunway Chess Open

Temperature check of all the players | Photo: Sunway Chess Open

Sanitization of all boards after every match | Photo: Sunway Chess Open

Players waiting outside the hall after each match | Photo: Sunway Chess Open

Replay Round 2 games

Round 2 results

Bo.No. NameRtgPts.ResultPts.NameRtg No.
136
IMMartin Duque Jesus241410 - 11GMKorobov Anton2693
1
22
GMCheparinov Ivan266011 - 01IMTravadon Loic2421
35
338
Svoboda Vaclav24071½ - ½1GMGrigoryan Karen H.2651
3
440
IMAyats Llobera Gerard240010 - 11GMMoussard Jules2626
5
56
GMSantos Latasa Jaime258811 - 01IMVlachos Anatole2413
37
642
Lin Yingrui238710 - 11GMSantos Ruiz Miguel2581
7
744
IMOotes Lars237310 - 11GMCornette Matthieu2558
9
810
GMMaze Sebastien25571½ - ½1GMRomanishin Oleg M2402
39
946
IMGarcia Martin Marta234210 - 11GMPlat Vojtech2552
11
1012
GMFier Alexandr254911 - 01IMValenzuela Gomez Fernando2390
41
1148
IMEden James23231½ - ½1GMNevednichy Vladislav2546
13
1214
GMKrysa Leandro254411 - 01FMGarcia Ramos Daniel2380
43
1350
FMEsplugas Esteve Vicenc231911 - 01GMLopez Martinez Josep Manuel2542
15
1416
IMMendonca Leon Luke253010 - 11WGMUnuk Laura2346
45
1552
FMMsellek Ilyass231611 - 01GMCuenca Jimenez Jose Fernando2528
17
1618
GMCheca Nicolas252711 - 01FMYu Jennifer2328
47
1754
FMGarcia Gimenez Santiago230010 - 11GMBellahcene Bilel2510
19
1820
GMFlom Gabriel24991½ - ½1WFMToncheva Nadya2321
49
1956
FMGarcia Jimenez Francisco Javier228810 - 11GMNarciso Dublan Marc2495
21
2022
IMGarriga Cazorla Pere248711 - 01FMBoyer Mahel2307
53

Details

Blitz Final Standings

Rk.SNoNameFEDRtgPts. TB1  TB2  TB3 
12GMGrigoryan Karen H.ARM26307,548,552,042,25
27GMSantos Latasa JaimeESP25537,046,550,538,00
33GMFier AlexandrBRA25877,045,550,037,50
48IMDardha DanielBEL24686,550,052,536,25
55GMVasquez Schroeder RodrigoCHI25766,544,048,032,75
64GMCheca NicolasUSA25796,049,053,031,50
710IMNiemann Hans MokeUSA23646,047,550,530,50
812GMSiebrecht SebastianGER23006,044,547,527,00
913FMExposito Amaro JosueESP22806,043,046,527,50
1019FMGarcia Gimenez SantiagoESP20566,042,044,525,00
111GMKorobov AntonUKR27555,549,554,029,75
129GMCuenca Jimenez Jose FernandoESP23795,541,044,021,75
1334Silva Pedro Gil Ferreira DaPOR16275,536,539,521,00
146GMPlat VojtechCZE25595,043,046,022,50
1511IMValenzuela Gomez FernandoCHI23195,040,041,520,00

Details

Prizes

Total Prize fund - €27155. For the entire prize details, click here.

Schedule

13th - 22nd December - 9:00 p.m. IST

23rd December - 2:00 p.m. IST

Links

Official site