Kirill Shevchenko clinches XLV Seville Open 2020

by Shahid Ahmed - 19/01/2020

18-year old GM Kirill Shevchenko (UKR) scored a win in the final round and finished a full point ahead of the competition at 8.5/9 to win XLV International Open "City of Seville". Shevchenko could have easily taken a draw in the final round to clinch the championship as Grigoryan, the only person who could overtake Shevchenko, already made a quick draw. GM Karen Grigoryan and GM Andrey Shariyazdanov finished at 7.0/9, they were placed second and third respectively. IM Ravi Teja S, GM Swayams Mishra, IM Arghyadip Das and IM Padmini Rout all four of them finished at 7.0/9 each at shared sixth position. Padmini was the only woman to finish in top 30. Photo: Ismael Nieto

Shevchenko finishes a full point ahead, Indians finish strong

Even though a draw was enough for GM Kirill Shevchenko (UKR) to become the champion as Qi Chen (CHN) and Karen Grigoryan made a short draw, Shevchenko fought till the end and scored a victory to finish a full point ahead of the runner-up at 8.5/9. Four players finished at 7.5/9. GM Karen Grigoryan (ARM) and GM Andrey Shariyazdanov (RUS) were placed second and third according to their tie-break score.

Podium finishers (L to R) - Second Runner-up Andrey Shariyazdanov, Champion Kirill Shevchenko and Runner-up Karen Grigoryan | Photo: Ismael Nieto

Champion Kirill Shevchenko 8.5/9 receives a beautiful trophy and €2000 cash prize | Photo: Ismael Nieto

Despite his opponent having a pair of bishops, Shevchenko kept maneuvering and waited for his opportunity.

Chen - Shevchenko, Round 9

Position after 45.Re2

Finally Shevchenko got an opportunity to invade white's king side. 45...Rg1 does not immediately win the game, however it certainly allows black to have some chances. Soon white lost the h4 pawn.

Which endgame is safer for white after 53...Be3 ?

The general assumption is opposite color bishop ending is relatively easier to defend. However it wasn't the case this time. White went with 54.Kxg2 Bxd2 55.bxa5 Bxc3 56.a6 bxa6 57.Bxa6 Kd6 and now Black has a completely winning position.

Position after 57...Kd6

Shevchenko got the win because he fought for one | Photo: Ismael Nieto

IM Arghyadip Das drew with GM Shanglei Lu where the first 15 moves were repeated of the game between Svidler and Grischuk in a Grand Prix. Shanglei repeated that position and the eleven year-old game continued beyond that before agreeing to a draw in a similar position. Arghyadip finished with 7.0/9, shared sixth, tenth position.

Shanglei Lu finished with 7.0/9 at shared sixth, seventh position | Photo: Ismael Nieto

Shardul made a comfortable draw with FM Daniel Barrish (RSA, 2352) and finished with 7.0/9 at shared 16th, 17th position.

Shardul started well but the last two rounds cost him dearly | Photo: Ismael Nieto

GM Swayams Mishra scored a comfortable victory against IM Leon Plasetski (CAN, 2219) in the final round to finish with 7.0/9 at shared sixth, ninth position.

Swayams only loss in the tournament was against the eventual champion of the tournament Kirill Shevchenko | Photo: Ismael Nieto

IM Ravi Teja S became the highest finisher among Indians as he scored 7.0/8, finished at shared sixth, eighth position. Ravi capitalized on his opponent FM Daniel Rengel's (BRA, 2269) mistake. However in the end the position became equal until he blunder again, only this time it was completely winning for Ravi.

Ravi would be quite happy with his performance | Photo: Ismael Nieto

Rengel - Ravi, Round 9

What is the best continuation for white after 48...Kg5 ?

White needs to play correctly to salvage a draw here which is not difficult. In a way, losing for white is a bit difficult here.

IM Padmini Rout defeated compatriot WIM Pratyusha Bodda in the final round after the latter made some unforced errors. Padmini scored 7.0/9, finished shared sixth, 14th position, the only woman to have finished in top 30 of the tournament.

Padmini scored 7.0/9, finished shared sixth at 14th position | Photo: Ismael Nieto

Among other Indian women, WIM Pratyusha Bodda, IM Nisha Mohota and WGM Soumya Swaminathan scored 6.0/9, while WIM Shalmali Gagare lost her last round game and finished at 5.0/9.

Part of the Indian contingent (L to R) - The Gagare siblings - Shalmali and Shardul, Arghyadip Das and Ravi Teja S | Photo: Ismael Nieto

The nine-round Swiss League tournament XLV Abierto Internacional "Ciudad de Sevilla" took place from 10th to 18th January 2020 at Sevilla, Spain.

Replay all games

Round 9 results

Brd.	White	Pts.	FIDE	Fed.	Res.	Black	Pts.	FIDE	Fed.
1	GM Li, Di	7.0	2562	CHN	0-1	GM Shevchenko, Kirill	7.5	2553	UKR
2	IM Chen, Qi B	7.0	2432	CHN	½-½	GM Grigoryan, Karen H.	7.0	2632	ARM
3	GM Lu, Shanglei	6.5	2611	CHN	½-½	IM Das, Arghyadip	6.5	2451	IND
4	GM Shariyazdanov, Andrey	6.5	2519	RUS	1-0	GM Campora, Daniel H.	6.5	2420	ARG
5	CM Pingin, Artem	6.5	2143	RUS	0-1	GM Matamoros Franco, Carlos S.	6.5	2487	ECU
6	GM Pridorozhni, Aleksei	6.0	2601	RUS	1-0	FM Gutierrez Olivares, Daniel	6.0	2358	ESP
7	FM Barrish, Daniel	6.0	2352	RSA	½-½	GM Gagare, Shardul	6.0	2481	IND
8	IM Piasetski, Leon	6.0	2219	CAN	0-1	GM Swayams, Mishra	6.0	2479	IND
9	GM Alsina Leal, Daniel	6.0	2465	ESP	1-0	GM Pogorelov, Ruslan	6.0	2377	UKR
10	FM Rangel, Daniel	6.0	2269	BRA	0-1	IM Ravi, Teja S.	6.0	2464	IND
11	CM Uribe, Jhonny Alberto	6.0	2149	VEN	0-1	GM Pap, Misa	6.0	2427	SRB
12	WIM Gu, Tianlu	6.0	2255	CHN	0-1	IM Bukal, Vladimir Jr.	6.0	2385	CRO
13	IM Padmini, Rout	6.0	2369	IND	1-0	WIM Pratyusha, Bodda	6.0	2267	IND
14	Morales Araujo, Francisco Javier	5.5	2103	ESP	0-1	GM Bernadskiy, Vitaliy	5.5	2588	UKR
15	Pindado Campos, Raul	5.5	2103	ESP	½-½	GM Harutyunian, Tigran K.	5.5	2533	ARM
16	Ordonez Torres, Maria Del Carmen	5.5	2061	ESP	0-1	IM Polivanov, Anatoliy	5.5	2420	UKR
17	IM Carrasco Martinez, Juan M.	5.5	2391	ESP	0-1	FM Silva Lucena, Cristian	5.5	2217	ESP
18	FM Pecnik, Leo	5.5	2357	CRO	½-½	IM Henni, Mohamed	5.5	2202	ALG
19	IM Estremera Panos, Sergio	5.5	2307	ESP	1-0	FM Krockenberger, Martin	5.5	2200	GER
20	Herrera Oliva, Enrique	5.5	1961	ESP	0-1	FM Chkhaidze, Nikoloz	5.5	2288	GEO
21	CM Munoz Martin, Pablo	5.5	2264	ESP	0-1	Perez Garcia, Roberto	5.5	2057	ESP
22	Gutierrez Valero, Mario	5.5	2260	ESP	1-0	Olivera Gutierrez, Albert **	5.5	2069	ESP
23	Manukonda Arun	5.5	1959	IND	½-½	Corbalan Gomez, Juan Jose	5.5	2243	ESP
24	FM Oragwu, Chukwunonso	5.5	2220	NGR	1-0	FM Van Hoolandt, Patrick	5.5	2034	MNC
25	WGM Soumya, Swaminathan	5.0	2384	IND	1-0	Linan Molina, Daniel	5.0	2001	ESP

Complete results

Final standings

Pos.	Ran.	Tit.	Sex.	Name	Fed.	Pts.	Buc2	Buc1	BucT	S-B	FIDE	Nat.	Origin
1	6	GM	m	Shevchenko, Kirill	UKR	8.5	46.5	51.5	56.5	52.75	2553	0	Ucrania
2	1	GM	m	Grigoryan, Karen H.	ARM	7.5	49.0	54.0	58.0	46.50	2632	0	Armenia
3	8	GM	m	Shariyazdanov, Andrey	RUS	7.5	47.0	52.0	57.0	46.50	2519	0	Rusia
4	16	IM	m	Chen, Qi B	CHN	7.5	44.5	49.0	53.5	43.25	2432	0	China
5	9	GM	m	Matamoros Franco, Carlos S.	ECU	7.5	44.0	49.0	52.5	42.25	2487	2511	Ecuador
6	5	GM	m	Li, Di	CHN	7.0	49.5	55.0	60.0	44.00	2562	0	China
7	2	GM	m	Lu, Shanglei	CHN	7.0	48.5	53.5	58.0	43.00	2611	0	China
8	13	IM	m	Ravi, Teja S.	IND	7.0	45.5	51.0	54.0	39.75	2464	0	India
9	11	GM	m	Swayams, Mishra	IND	7.0	45.5	50.5	55.5	40.75	2479	0	India
10	14	IM	m	Das, Arghyadip	IND	7.0	45.0	50.5	55.5	41.25	2451	0	India
11	12	GM	m	Alsina Leal, Daniel	ESP	7.0	43.0	48.0	51.5	38.00	2465	2481	Espana
12	3	GM	m	Pridorozhni, Aleksei	RUS	7.0	42.5	47.5	52.0	39.25	2601	0	Rusia
13	21	IM	m	Bukal, Vladimir Jr.	CRO	7.0	42.5	47.5	51.5	37.50	2385	0	Croacia
14	24	IM	f	Padmini, Rout	IND	7.0	42.0	47.5	52.0	40.00	2369	0	India
15	17	GM	m	Pap, Misa	SRB	7.0	41.0	46.5	51.0	38.25	2427	2466	Gran Dama Grancanari
16	4	GM	m	Bernadskiy, Vitaliy	UKR	6.5	48.5	53.5	57.5	38.00	2588	0	Ucrania
17	10	GM	m	Gagare, Shardul	IND	6.5	45.5	50.5	55.0	37.25	2481	0	India
18	18	GM	m	Campora, Daniel H.	ARG	6.5	45.5	50.5	54.0	35.25	2420	2445	Argentina
19	19	IM	m	Polivanov, Anatoliy	UKR	6.5	44.5	49.5	53.5	34.50	2420	0	Ucrania
20	27	FM	m	Barrish, Daniel	RSA	6.5	42.5	47.0	51.5	35.75	2352	0	Sudafrica
21	50	CM	m	Pingin, Artem	RUS	6.5	42.5	47.0	51.0	33.50	2143	0	Rusia
22	28	IM	m	Estremera Panos, Sergio	ESP	6.5	41.5	46.5	50.0	34.00	2307	2356	Espana
23	65		m	Perez Garcia, Roberto	ESP	6.5	41.5	45.5	48.5	31.50	2057	2084	Alekhine Espartinas
24	35		m	Gutierrez Valero, Mario	ESP	6.5	40.5	44.5	48.0	31.75	2260	2261	Alekhine Espartinas
25	31	FM	m	Chkhaidze, Nikoloz	GEO	6.5	40.0	45.0	49.0	32.75	2288	0	Georgia
26	40	FM	m	Silva Lucena, Cristian	ESP	6.5	40.0	44.5	49.0	33.75	2217	2229	San Jose
27	38	FM	m	Oragwu, Chukwunonso	NGR	6.5	39.5	43.5	47.5	31.50	2220	0	Nigeria
28	7	GM	m	Harutyunian, Tigran K.	ARM	6.0	46.0	51.0	56.0	35.75	2533	0	Armenia
29	43	IM	m	Henni, Mohamed	ALG	6.0	45.0	49.0	53.0	33.25	2202	0	Argelia
30	23	GM	m	Pogorelov, Ruslan	UKR	6.0	44.0	49.0	53.0	34.25	2377	2382	Ucrania

Complete pairings

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