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Sunway Sitges Open R5: Leon Mendonca holds Oleg Romanishin to a draw

by Shahid Ahmed - 18/12/2020

GM Vojtech Plat emerged as the sole leader after round 5 as he was the only one to score a victory among eleven leaders. Plat beat GM Bilel to take the sole lead with 4.5/5. 15 players are behind him at 4.0/5. IM Leon Mendonca held legendary Ukrainian GM Oleg Romanishin to a draw. Leon could have pushed for a win in the endgame but it was not that easy. He will now face the only other Indian taking part in Group-A, Souhardo Basak in Round 6 on Saturday 19th December from 9 p.m. IST. Shubham Bandikatte suffered his first loss of the event in Group B. Friday 18th December is a rest day for all categories. Photo: Lennart Ootes / Sunway Chess Open

Plat takes sole lead

Czech GM Vojtech Plat scored the sole victory among the leaders against Algeria no.1 GM Bilel Bellahcene to move to 4.5/5. He will now face GM Joules Moussard in Round 6 after the rest day. IM Leon Mendonca held legendary Ukrainian GM Oleg Romanishin. Although Leon could have taken his chances in the endgame, eventually it ended up in a draw. He will now face the only other Indian taking part in the Group A, Souhardo Basak in Round 6. They both are at 3.0/5. Shubham Bandikatte suffered his first loss of the event against Mariano Ribon Calabia in Round 5. He is now at 3.5/5

Leon moves to 3.0/5 | Photo: Lennart Ootes/Sunway Chess Open

In a seemingly equal endgame, the Algeria no.1 GM Bilel Bellahcene erred and blundered a pawn which eventually became the deciding factor of the game.

Plat - Bellahcene

Position after 35...Qe8

Find out why 35...Qe8 is a mistake and what black could have played instead.

Top boards in action | Photo: Lennart Ootes/Sunway Chess Open

Leon held legendary Romanishin

Leon played some solid chess and held Ukrainian GM Oleg Romanishin to a draw. Although Leon had a good chance.

Romanishin - Leon

Position after 21.bxc4

White has a bishop pair but black has a passed pawn on the a-file. The game went on with 21...b6 which is slightly slower. What was the better continuation for black here?

GM Oleg Romanishin finished shared second with Gulko, Tal and Vaganian in 1975 USSR Championship | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Sunway Chess Open

Photo Gallery

Korobov scored a fine victory | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Sunway Chess Open

Even after the game, learning doesn't stop for Leon | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Sunway Chess Open

Beautiful tournament hall | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Sunway Chess Open

Replay Round 5 games

Round 5 results

Bo.No. NameRtgPts.ResultPts.NameRtg No.
129GMVasquez Schroeder Rodrigo2459½ - ½GMCheparinov Ivan26602
25GMMoussard Jules2626½ - ½GMFier Alexandr254912
318GMCheca Nicolas2527½ - ½GMSantos Latasa Jaime25886
47GMSantos Ruiz Miguel2581½ - ½GMAsis Gargatagli Hipolito247025
511GMPlat Vojtech25521 - 0GMBellahcene Bilel251019
64GMLagarde Maxime26513½ - ½GMBatsiashvili Nino246627
79GMCornette Matthieu255831 - 03IMAyats Llobera Gerard240040
813GMNevednichy Vladislav25463½ - ½3IMGarcia Martin Marta234246
930IMMaurizzi Marc Andria24453½ - ½3GMKrysa Leandro254414
1015GMLopez Martinez Josep Manuel254231 - 03FMJimenez Ruano Adrian227958
1143FMGarcia Ramos Daniel23803½ - ½3GMFlom Gabriel249920
1247FMYu Jennifer232830 - 13GMNarciso Dublan Marc249521
1351FMCarbonell Sancho Marc231830 - 13IMNiemann Hans Moke247824
1464FMAntova Gabriela224730 - 13IMSochacki Christophe246926
1566FMCsiki Endre223130 - 13GMStefanova Antoaneta246628
161GMKorobov Anton26931 - 03Lever Erwan220069
173GMGrigoryan Karen H.26511 - 0IMMartin Duque Jesus241436
1838Svoboda Vaclav2407½ - ½GMDragnev Valentin25648
1942Lin Yingrui23870 - 1GMMaze Sebastien255710
2039GMRomanishin Oleg M2402½ - ½IMMendonca Leon Luke253016
2117GMCuenca Jimenez Jose Fernando25280 - 1IMOotes Lars237344
2268Alvarez Albiol Victor22060 - 1IMGarriga Cazorla Pere248722
2331IMGines Esteo Pedro Antonio24371 - 0IMEden James232348
2453FMBoyer Mahel23071 - 0GMSiebrecht Sebastian242932
2533IMBulmaga Irina2424½ - ½FMGarcia Jimenez Francisco Javier228856

Details

Prizes

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

Schedule

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

18th December - Rest day

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

Links

Official site