1st Maharashtra GM Open 2022 R2-3: An epic king hunt by Anup Deshmukh

by Shahid Ahmed - 02/06/2022

Revered veteran IM Anup Deshmukh scored an amazing victory over GM Azer Mirzoev (AZE) in the third round of 1st Maharashtra International GM Open 2022. The artist hunted his opponent's king which resulted in a picturesque checkmate. GM Venkatesh M R, GM Karthik Venkataraman and GM Arjun Kalyan are the remaining three Indians who started with a hat-trick of victories. Reigning National Junior Girls champion, WGM Priyanka Nutakki scored an impressive win over GM Mihail Nikitenko in Round 2. She was on the verge of another triumph against GM Karthik Venkataraman in the following round too. However, she could not seize her decisive advantage. Round 4 starts today at 10 a.m. IST. Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

A good day for Sharan Rao

FM Sharan Rao (2274) drew with the reigning National Junior Open champion IM Neelash Saha (2439) in Round 2. The IM-norm holder, Sharan put on a clinic in the third round as he defeated GM Deepan Chakkravarthy (2478).

IM Anup Deshmukh painted beautifully on the canvas of 64-squares | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Round 2: Priyanka Nutakki - Nikitenko: 1-0

GM Mihail Nikitenko (2479) made a thematic mistake in the Semi-Slav against the reigning National Junior Girls champion, WGM Priyanka Nutakki (2303).

Position after 14...c5

There was not a lot of good choices for Black. However, 14...c5 was certainly not the best as it invites d5, Nxf6 and a barrage of attack on the kingside. 15.Nxf6+ Nxf6 16.d5 h6 17.Bd3 Rce8 18.Nh4 Nh5?? instead Nxd5 would have allowed Black to restore the balance to the position. 19.Nf5 Qg5 20.h4 Qd8 21.dxe6 Rxe6 22.Rxe6 fxe6 23.Nxg7 and it's all over for Black. He resigned in another seven moves.

WGM Priyanka Nutakki scored an emphatic victory over GM Mihail Nikitenko | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Atharva Godbole - Stupak: 1-0

Atharva Godbole (2210) at one point was in a lost position. However, he did not give up just because he was playing against a Grandmaster. He kept creating chances for himself, waited for his opponent, GM Stupak Kirill (2440) to make a mistake and seize it.

Position after 30...e5

30...e5 is the game losing mistake by Black. Find out the winning continuation for White which Atharva executed on the board.

Atharva Godbole's fighting spirit earned him a full point | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

IM Neelash Saha - FM Sharan Rao: 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

FM Ram Aravind L N - GM Nguyen Van Huy (VIE): 1-0 | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Nilsu Pattnayak defeated IM P Saravana Krishnan at the second consecutive tournament | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Round 3: Azer - Anup: 0-1

IM Anup Deshmukh (2178) is a very strong and creative player. When he sees there is an opportunity to create some chances, he takes it, irrespective of who the opponent is at that time. GM Azer Mirzoev (AZE, 2476) felt Anup's wrath.

Position after 12...exd4

Anup offered a piece sacrifice 11...e5. White grabbed his opportunity 12.e4 exd4 13.exf5 d3!? a very interesting move. The idea is to ensure White loses his castling rights on the kingside. 14.Rc1 Re8+ 15.Kd1 N7b6 16.Nc4 Nxc4 17.Rxc4 Nb6 18.Rxc6 Na4 19.b3?? and everything fell apart for White.

Position after 19.b3

19.f6 Bxf6 20.Rxf6 Qxf6 21.Be5 would have saved the day for White. However, 19.b3 completely loses the game for White. Find out the winning continuation for Black. Find out how.

The man who wants to become world's oldest GM, drags his opponents king to b5 and checkmates him! | Video: ChessBase India

Artist IM Anup Deshmukh scored a beautiful victory over GM Azer Mirzoev | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Sharan - Deepan: 1-0

Having a balanced position and then the art of doing nothing is quite challenging. Since you cannot pass a move, sometimes trying to create something can backfire. GM Deepan Chakkravarthy (2478) in a relatively equal position tried to create some chances against FM Sharan Rao (2274).

Position after 18...Qb6

First Black went 15...e6 16.Rac1 then b5 17.Na5 Ba8 18.Ba3 Qb6?? was the final decisive mistake by Black. Find out the correct continuation. There is more than one way for White to seize the advantage.

FM Sharan Rao scored a clinical victory over GM Deepan Chakkravarthy | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

FM Aditya Samant survived 50 moves with his Rook and Bishop against the top seed GM Farrukh Amonatov's two rooks | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Final moments: GM Farrukh Amonatov vs FM Aditya S Samant | Video: ChessBase India

GM Deep Sengupta - IM Ameya Audi: 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

IM Anuj Shrivatri - Kumar Gaurav (pictured): 0-1 | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

IM Shota Azaladze (GEO) - Aanjaneya Phatak (pictured): 0-1 | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Final moments: Ritviz Parab - GM Deep Sengupta, Round 2 | Video: ChessBase India

Final moments: GM Karthik Venkataraman - FM Mukhammadali Abdurakhmonov (UZB), Round 2 | Video: ChessBase India

For more Round 2 and Round 3 photos, please click at the respective links.

A total of 141 players including 20 GMs, 29 IMs, 6 WGM and 9 WIMs are taking part from 13 countries across the world including India. The tournament is organized by Maharashtra Chess Association from 31st May to 8th June 2022 at Balewadi Sports Complex, Pune, Maharashtra. The eleven-round Swiss league tournament has a time control of 90 minutes + 30 seconds increment from move no.1.

Replay Round 2-3 games

Round 3 results

Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.
1	1	GM	Amonatov Farrukh	2622	2	½ - ½	2	FM	Samant Aditya S	2433	20
2	15	IM	Nigmatov Ortik	2463	2	0 - 1	2	GM	Paichadze Luka	2567	2
3	3	GM	Lalith Babu M R	2563	2	½ - ½	2	GM	Nguyen Duc Hoa	2398	26
4	5	GM	Sengupta Deep	2526	2	½ - ½	2	IM	Audi Ameya	2389	28
5	31	IM	Kulkarni Bhakti	2370	2	0 - 1	2	GM	Savchenko Boris	2524	6
6	7	GM	Aleksandrov Aleksej	2492	2	1 - 0	2	IM	Viani Antonio Dcunha	2364	32
7	38	WGM	Gomes Mary Ann	2349	2	0 - 1	2	GM	Venkatesh M.R.	2490	8
8	52	WIM	Priyanka Nutakki	2303	2	0 - 1	2	GM	Karthik Venkataraman	2480	10
9	13	GM	Arjun Kalyan	2477	2	1 - 0	2		Godbole Atharva	2210	64
10	14	GM	Mirzoev Azer	2476	2	0 - 1	2	IM	Deshmukh Anup	2178	70
11	4	GM	Fedorov Alexei	2529	1½	1 - 0	2	FM	Ram Aravind L N	2116	96
12	9	IM	Aditya Mittal	2490	1½	1 - 0	1½	FM	Deshpande Aniruddha	2238	58
13	53	FM	Sharan Rao	2274	1½	1 - 0	1½	GM	Deepan Chakkravarthy J.	2478	12
14	61		Barath Kalyan M	2232	1½	½ - ½	1½	IM	Mohammad Nubairshah Shaikh	2443	16
15	65	FM	Ayush Sharma	2208	1½	½ - ½	1½	IM	Neelash Saha	2439	18

Details

Round 4 pairings

Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.
1	2	GM	Paichadze Luka	2567	3		3	GM	Venkatesh M.R.	2490	8
2	6	GM	Savchenko Boris	2524	3		3	GM	Arjun Kalyan	2477	13
3	10	GM	Karthik Venkataraman	2480	3		3	GM	Aleksandrov Aleksej	2492	7
4	70	IM	Deshmukh Anup	2178	3		2½	GM	Amonatov Farrukh	2622	1
5	27	IM	Gusain Himal	2396	2½		2½	GM	Lalith Babu M R	2563	3
6	26	GM	Nguyen Duc Hoa	2398	2½		2½	GM	Fedorov Alexei	2529	4
7	30	IM	Raahul V S	2371	2½		2½	GM	Sengupta Deep	2526	5
8	28	IM	Audi Ameya	2389	2½		2½	IM	Aditya Mittal	2490	9
9	126		Kumar Gaurav	1998	2½		2½	GM	Vishnu Prasanna. V	2437	19
10	20	FM	Samant Aditya S	2433	2½		2½	IM	Krishna Teja N	2374	29
11	24	IM	Srihari L R	2404	2½		2½	FM	Sharan Rao	2274	53
12	46	IM	Saravanan V.	2324	2		2	GM	Nikitenko Mihail	2479	11
13	14	GM	Mirzoev Azer	2476	2		2	FM	Abdurakhmonov Mukhammadali	2308	51
14	15	IM	Nigmatov Ortik	2463	2		2	WIM	Priyanka Nutakki	2303	52
15	16	IM	Mohammad Nubairshah Shaikh	2443	2		2	WGM	Srija Seshadri	2241	57

Details

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