Arghyadip continues his chase for a top finish
GM Kirill Shevchenko (UKR) beat GM Lu Shanglei (CHN) to take sole lead at 7.5/8 followed by three players at 7.0/8. IM Arghyadip Das is the only Indian who is at 6.5/8. He can still make a top finish.
IM Arghyadip Das got into trouble in the middle game after missing a correct continuation. Then he somehow managed to equalize after his opponent GM Andrey Shariyazdanov (RUS, 2519) missed an intermediate move thus the winning opportunity.
Arghyadip - Shariyazdanov, Round 8
White continued with 29.Qd3 instead of eliminating the threat on h4 and pinning his own knight at c3.
Time scramble could be one of the reason why black missed the intermediate move and went with straight 29...Bf5
Shardul made a very interesting sacrifice on Di's king side but he was unable to follow through.
Shardul - Di, Round 8
Shardul misplayed here with 21.d5 which allowed black to regroup his pieces until black made an incorrect sacrifice.
Black made an incorrect sacrifice with 23...Bxf2+ which allowed white to get back into the game.
White continued with 28.Qf5+ instead white should have gone with 28.Rc3 Rb4 29.Qf3 and consolidate the position. After some further inaccuracies, white landed in a lost Queen ending.
IM Ravi Teja S held GM Alexei Pridorozhni (RUS, 2601) to a comfortable draw.
GM Swayams Mishra was held to a draw by FM Daniel Barrish (RSA, 2352) when neither side gave any chance to their opponent.
IM Nisha Mohota lost to IM Vladimir Bukal Jr. (CRO, 2385) after the former misplayed in the middle game.
IM Padmini Rout scored a beautiful win by sacrificing an exchange against FM Alisa Melekhine (USA, 2192)
Alisa - Padmini, Round 8
Among other Indian women, WIM Pratyusha Bodda defeated Sebastian Romero and she setup a final round clash against Padmini. FM Nikoloz Chkhaidze defeated WIM Shalmali Gagare and WGM Soumya Swaminathan defeated Danilo Jose Guevara Rocha.
The nine-round Swiss League tournament XLV Abierto Internacional "Ciudad de Sevilla" takes place from 10th to 18th January 2020, everyday at 5:30 p.m. local time, 9 p.m. IST. Only final round on 18th January 2020 will take place at 9:30 a.m. local time, 1 p.m. IST.
