2nd Chennai GM R4: Arjun Erigaisi plays outstanding to trounce Tabatabaei, emerges sole leader
Arjun Erigaisi is not showing any intention of slowing down after becoming World no.2 in live ratings. He played his signature swashbuckling chess, throwing M Amin Tabatabaei (IRI) off the track early in the middlegame. He made a very nice practical bishop sacrifice. It did not yield him the point immediately, that's obvious at that level. However, eventually his opponent cracked under pressure in the endgame and lost the game. This win moved Arjun's live rating to 2809.3. Aravindh Chithambaram made a quick 17-move draw against Levon Aronian (USA). Vidit Gujrathi had a well contested draw against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (FRA). Pranav Venkatesh defeated R Vaishali to maintain perfect score 4/4. He is now a full point ahead of the competition. Round 5 starts tomorrow at 3 p.m. IST. Photos: Anmol Bhargav
Challengers: Pranav wins four in-a-row, extends his lead by a full point
Arjun Erigaisi defeated his coleader, M Amin Tabatabaei to gain sole lead 3.5/4. Tabatabaei and Levon Aronian are the only two player in pursuit at 2.5/4 each. In the Challengers section, Pranav Venkatesh also increased his sole lead by a full point 4/4. At a little over halfway mark, it seems that Arjun and Pranav will run away with the first place, until their remaining opponents have something to say in the last three rounds.
Masters: Tabatabaei - Arjun: 0-1
M Amin Tabatabaei (2686) and Arjun Erigaisi (2799) played four Classical rated games. The only decisive game was won by Arjun, a little over two years ago. Earlier this year, they drew their sole rated game of the year in Armenia. Arjun is playing at a different level at this event and he made it evident early in the game as he went for an all out attack.
If you check the move 18..g3 with an engine, it will be very difficult to comprehend. However, for attacking players, this is quite natural, just sacrifice the pawn to open lines. 19.fxg3 hxg3 20.h3 Nbd7 21.c5 Nf8 22.cxd6 cxd6 23.Qc1 the position demanded and Arjun sacrificed his bishop at h3 23...Bxh3!
White had to accept the sacrifice 24.gxh3 Ng6 since Qxh3 does not lead to an instant win. Thus, he brought more pieces in the fray 25.Rxg3 Nf4 26.Qe3 Nxh3+ 27.Rxh3 Qxh3 28.Qxh3 Rxh3 So White gave up his rook to make it two minor piece for a rook.
Tabatabaei cracked under pressure 46.Bf1?? fxe4-+ Arjun found all precise moves 47.Bc4 Rc2 48.Rd7 Rh3 49.Ke3 exf3 and went on to win the game.
Challengers: Vaishali - Pranav: 0-1
Pranav Venkatesh (2602) opted for the Norwegian variation in the Ruy Lopez against R Vaishali (2490). He equalized easily out of the opening. In the endgame, he advanced his king which gave him an edge.
33.cxb5 Kxb5 34.gxf5 gxf5 35.Ke1 Nd3+ 36.Kd2 Nf4 Black started attacking White's weakness 37.h4 Kc4 Black advanced his king a bit more 38.Be5 Ne6 39.h5 a5 40.h6 a4 fixing White's queenside pawns. 41.f4?? turned out to be Black's decisive mistake Nd4-+ 42.Ke3 Kb3 and Black converted his advantage comfortably.
Karthikeyan - Harika
Karthikeyan Murali (2625) played a nice move 32.e6! sacrificing his knight because it begins a winning combination. Harika Dronavalli (2493) accepted it 32...Qxd6 33.Qf6+ Kg8 34.Qxf7+ Kh8 35.Qf6+ Kg8 36.Re5 Be4 37.Rg5+ Bg6 38.Rxg6+ hxg6 39.Qxg6+ Kh8 40.Qxh5+ Kg7 41.Qg5+ Kh7 42.Qh4+ Kg7 43.Qg3+ and it's over as Rh4# in the next move is unstoppable.
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Masters Round 4 results
| Bo. | No. | Rtg | White | Result | Black | Rtg | No. | PGN | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8 | 2686 | GM | Tabatabaei, M. Amin | 0 - 1 | GM | Erigaisi, Arjun | 2799 | 6 | PGN | ||
| 2 | 7 | 2712 | GM | Maghsoodloo, Parham | ½ - ½ | GM | Sarana, Alexey | 2679 | 5 | PGN | ||
| 3 | 1 | 2706 | GM | Aravindh, Chithambaram Vr. | ½ - ½ | GM | Aronian, Levon | 2739 | 4 | PGN | ||
| 4 | 2 | 2737 | GM | Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime | ½ - ½ | GM | Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi | 2739 | 3 | PGN |
Standings after Round 4
| Rk. | SNo | Name | FED | RtgI | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | TB4 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 | GM | Erigaisi, Arjun | IND | 2799 | 3,5 | 0 | 5,75 | 3 | 3 | |
| 2 | 4 | GM | Aronian, Levon | USA | 2739 | 2,5 | 0 | 4,75 | 1 | 0 | |
| 3 | 8 | GM | Tabatabaei, M. Amin | IRI | 2686 | 2,5 | 0 | 4,00 | 2 | 1 | |
| 4 | 1 | GM | Aravindh, Chithambaram Vr. | IND | 2706 | 2 | 0,5 | 4,00 | 0 | 0 | |
| 5 | 2 | GM | Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime | FRA | 2737 | 2 | 0,5 | 3,00 | 1 | 0 | |
| 6 | 7 | GM | Maghsoodloo, Parham | IRI | 2712 | 1,5 | 0 | 1,50 | 1 | 0 | |
| 7 | 3 | GM | Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi | IND | 2739 | 1 | 0 | 2,00 | 0 | 0 | |
| 5 | GM | Sarana, Alexey | SRB | 2679 | 1 | 0 | 2,00 | 0 | 0 |
Round 5 pairings
| Bo. | No. | Rtg | White | Result | Black | Rtg | No. | PGN | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | 2739 | GM | Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi | GM | Tabatabaei, M. Amin | 2686 | 8 | ||||
| 2 | 4 | 2739 | GM | Aronian, Levon | GM | Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime | 2737 | 2 | ||||
| 3 | 5 | 2679 | GM | Sarana, Alexey | GM | Aravindh, Chithambaram Vr. | 2706 | 1 | ||||
| 4 | 6 | 2799 | GM | Erigaisi, Arjun | GM | Maghsoodloo, Parham | 2712 | 7 |
Challengers Round 4 results
| Bo. | No. | Rtg | White | Result | Black | Rtg | No. | PGN | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8 | 2631 | GM | Mendonca, Leon Luke | ½ - ½ | GM | Puranik, Abhimanyu | 2652 | 6 | |||
| 2 | 7 | 2625 | GM | Karthikeyan, Murali | 1 - 0 | GM | Dronavalli, Harika | 2493 | 5 | |||
| 3 | 1 | 2490 | GM | Vaishali, Rameshbabu | 0 - 1 | GM | Pranav, V | 2602 | 4 | |||
| 4 | 2 | 2677 | GM | Sadhwani, Raunak | ½ - ½ | GM | Pranesh, M | 2580 | 3 |
Standings after Round 4
| Rk. | SNo | Name | FED | RtgI | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | TB4 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | GM | Pranav, V | IND | 2602 | 4 | 0 | 4,50 | 4 | 2 | |
| 2 | 8 | GM | Mendonca, Leon Luke | IND | 2631 | 3 | 0 | 3,25 | 2 | 1 | |
| 3 | 2 | GM | Sadhwani, Raunak | IND | 2677 | 2,5 | 0 | 4,25 | 1 | 0 | |
| 4 | 6 | GM | Puranik, Abhimanyu | IND | 2652 | 2 | 1 | 3,75 | 1 | 1 | |
| 5 | 3 | GM | Pranesh, M | IND | 2580 | 2 | 0 | 2,50 | 1 | 0 | |
| 6 | 7 | GM | Karthikeyan, Murali | IND | 2625 | 1,5 | 0 | 1,50 | 1 | 0 | |
| 7 | 1 | GM | Vaishali, Rameshbabu | IND | 2490 | 0,5 | 0 | 1,25 | 0 | 0 | |
| 8 | 5 | GM | Dronavalli, Harika | IND | 2493 | 0,5 | 0 | 1,00 | 0 | 0 |
Round 5 pairings
| Bo. | No. | Rtg | White | Result | Black | Rtg | No. | PGN | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | 2580 | GM | Pranesh, M | GM | Mendonca, Leon Luke | 2631 | 8 | ||||
| 2 | 4 | 2602 | GM | Pranav, V | GM | Sadhwani, Raunak | 2677 | 2 | ||||
| 3 | 5 | 2493 | GM | Dronavalli, Harika | GM | Vaishali, Rameshbabu | 2490 | 1 | ||||
| 4 | 6 | 2652 | GM | Puranik, Abhimanyu | GM | Karthikeyan, Murali | 2625 | 7 |
Where to watch
The entire event will be live-streamed on ChessBase India youtube channel. You can also visit the venue by getting the tickets from Bookmyshow.
