7th Sharjah Masters R2: Hans Niemann hunts Jakhongir Vakhidov's king

by Shahid Ahmed - 16/05/2024

GM Nikolas Theodorou scored the biggest upset of the second round of 7th Sharjah Masters 2024. The Greece no.2 defeated the top seed GM Arjun Erigaisi with ease after the latter misjudged the intensity of his opponent's attack. Neglecting the proper defense of a key pawn led to his king's demise in the next four moves. GM Aravindh Chithambaram is the sole Indian to have won both of his games. He disposed GM Mahammad Muradli (AZE) without much difficulty. GM Sankalp Gupta seized his opportunity when his opponent, GM Shant Sargsyan (ARM) blundered in the endgame. GM Abhimanyu Puranik, GM Aditya Mittal and Sankalp are at 1.5/2 each. In the Challengers, Kush Devnani won a back and forth battle when GM Hesham Abdelrahman (EGY) blundered a mate in two. Round 3 starts today at 3 p.m. local time, 4:30 p.m. IST. Photos: Aditya Sur Roy

Theodorou topples top seed Arjun

GM Hans Niemann (USA) quite possibly played one of the best games of his career as he hunted his opponent's king all the way to d2. The 44th Olympiad Gold medalist, GM Jakhongir Vakhidov (UZB) would definitely like to put this game behind him as his king had to venture from c7 to d2, before he succumbed to defeat.

GM Hans Niemann (USA) scored a fantastic win in Round 2

Theodorou - Arjun: 1-0

Greece no.2 GM Nikolas Theodorou (2616) faced GM Arjun Erigaisi (2761) only once in a Classical rated game at 23rd Dubai Open last year. Arjun checkmated him in 28 moves. This time Theodorou got his revenge in exactly 28 moves.

Position after 24...a5?

24...a5? ignoring the attack on e6-pawn proved to be fatal for Black. 25.Nxe6 Nxe6 26.Rxe6 Rd7 27.Qg4 Rf8 28.Qg6 now the threat of Bc2, Qh7+ and Bg6# can only be stopped by giving up a lot of material.

GM Nikolas Theodorou vs GM Arjun Erigaisi - Full game | Video: ChessBase India

Nikolas Theodorou (GRE) scored a comfortable win over Arjun Erigaisi

Niemann - Vakhidov

Position after 26.Rxc5+!

26.Rxc5+! begins the king hunt Bxc5 try to calculate the other lines and find out why 26.Rxc5+ works. 27.Rc1 Kb6 28.Bxf6 Qh6 29.Nd7+ Bxd7 30.a5+ Kxa5 31.Qc7+ Bb6 32.Ra1+ Kb4 33.Qxb6 Kxb3 34.Qxd4 Rhc8 35.Qxd5+ Kc2 36.Bg5+ and it's over. A beautiful king hunt which extracted the king from c7 to d2 via b6-a5-b4-b3-c2-d2.

GM Hans Niemann (USA) scored a fantastic win over 44th Olympiad Gold medalist GM Jakhongir Vakhidov (UZB)

GM Aravindh Chithambaram scored a comfortable win over GM Mahammad Muradli (AZE)

B Adhiban - Raunak Sadhwani: 0.5-0.5

Shant - Sankalp

Position after 33.Rg5??

GM Sankalp Gupta (2531) correctly capitalized on his opponent GM Shant Sargsyan's (ARM, 2637) blunder 33.Rg5?? Rxd2!-+ 34.Rxe5+ dxe5 35.Kxd2 Kd6 and Black is winning the resultant pawn endgame.

GM Sankalp Gupta made a good start 1.5/2

GM Raja Rithvik R - GM Leon Luke Mendonca: 0.5-0.5

Challengers: GM blunders mate in two against Kush Devnani

Kush Devnani (2249) won a back and forth game against GM Hesham Abdelrahman (EGY, 2391) when the latter blundered a mate in two.

For more Round 2 photos, please click here.

7th Sharjah Masters 2024 Round 2 starting moments | Video: ChessBase India

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Replay Sharjah Masters Round 2 live commentary by FI Niklesh Jain (Hindi) | Video: Hindi ChessBase India

Replay Round 2 Masters games

Replay Round 2 Challengers games

Round 2 Masters results

Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.	PGN
1	37	GM	Theodorou, Nikolas	2616	1	1 - 0	1	GM	Erigaisi, Arjun	2761	1	PGN
2	38	GM	Ivanchuk, Vasyl	2609	1	0 - 1	1	GM	Tabatabaei, M. Amin	2707	5	PGN
3	42	GM	Kuybokarov, Temur	2600	1	0 - 1	1	GM	Fedoseev, Vladimir	2701	9	PGN
4	14	GM	Niemann, Hans Moke	2688	1	1 - 0	1	GM	Vakhidov, Jakhongir	2599	43	PGN
5	56	GM	Muradli, Mahammad	2560	1	0 - 1	1	GM	Aravindh, Chithambaram Vr.	2670	19	PGN
6	68	GM	Kacharava, Nikolozi	2527	1	½ - ½	1	GM	Nguyen, Thai Dai Van	2649	23	PGN
7	69	GM	Krzyzanowski, Marcin	2526	1	1 - 0	1	GM	Mishra, Abhimanyu	2634	27	PGN
8	28	GM	Murzin, Volodar	2631	1	1 - 0	1	GM	Iniyan, Pa	2493	84	PGN
9	30	GM	Salem, A.R. Saleh	2629	1	1 - 0	1	IM	Royal, Shreyas	2463	88	PGN
10	2	GM	Maghsoodloo, Parham	2732	½	1 - 0	½	GM	Sethuraman, S.P.	2588	48	PGN
11	51	GM	Moroni, Luca Jr	2580	½	0 - 1	½	GM	Yu, Yangyi	2728	3	PGN
12	4	GM	Radjabov, Teimour	2723	½	½ - ½	½	GM	Vokhidov, Shamsiddin	2591	46	PGN
13	6	GM	Sarana, Alexey	2706	½	1 - 0	½	GM	Gurel, Ediz	2578	52	PGN
14	47	GM	Nesterov, Arseniy	2589	½	½ - ½	½	GM	Artemiev, Vladislav	2705	7	PGN
15	8	GM	Esipenko, Andrey	2703	½	0 - 1	½	GM	Daneshvar, Bardiya	2581	50	PGN

Details

Standings after Round 2

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB2
1	69	GM	Krzyzanowski, Marcin	POL	2526	2	1
2	5	GM	Tabatabaei, M. Amin	IRI	2707	2	1
3	9	GM	Fedoseev, Vladimir	SLO	2701	2	1
4	14	GM	Niemann, Hans Moke	USA	2688	2	1
5	19	GM	Aravindh, Chithambaram Vr.	IND	2670	2	1
6	28	GM	Murzin, Volodar	FID	2631	2	1
7	30	GM	Salem, A.R. Saleh	UAE	2629	2	1
8	37	GM	Theodorou, Nikolas	GRE	2616	2	1
9	50	GM	Daneshvar, Bardiya	IRI	2581	1,5	1,5
10	66	GM	Sankalp, Gupta	IND	2531	1,5	1,5
11	68	GM	Kacharava, Nikolozi	GEO	2527	1,5	1,5
12	6	GM	Sarana, Alexey	SRB	2706	1,5	1,5
13	23	GM	Nguyen, Thai Dai Van	CZE	2649	1,5	1,5
14	22	GM	Ter-Sahakyan, Samvel	ARM	2650	1,5	1,5
15	3	GM	Yu, Yangyi	CHN	2728	1,5	1

Details

Round 3 pairings

Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.
1	5	GM	Tabatabaei, M. Amin	2707	2	2	GM	Murzin, Volodar	2631	28
2	9	GM	Fedoseev, Vladimir	2701	2	2	GM	Salem, A.R. Saleh	2629	30
3	14	GM	Niemann, Hans Moke	2688	2	2	GM	Theodorou, Nikolas	2616	37
4	19	GM	Aravindh, Chithambaram Vr.	2670	2	2	GM	Krzyzanowski, Marcin	2526	69
5	29	GM	Puranik, Abhimanyu	2629	1½	1½	GM	Maghsoodloo, Parham	2732	2
6	3	GM	Yu, Yangyi	2728	1½	1½	GM	Maurizzi, Marc`andria	2617	34
7	35	GM	Yuffa, Daniil	2617	1½	1½	GM	Sarana, Alexey	2706	6
8	15	GM	Sindarov, Javokhir	2684	1½	1½	GM	Petrosyan, Manuel	2616	36
9	39	GM	Aditya, Mittal	2607	1½	1½	GM	Shankland, Sam	2671	18
10	66	GM	Sankalp, Gupta	2531	1½	1½	GM	Yakubboev, Nodirbek	2665	20
11	50	GM	Daneshvar, Bardiya	2581	1½	1½	GM	Ter-Sahakyan, Samvel	2650	22
12	23	GM	Nguyen, Thai Dai Van	2649	1½	1½	IM	Siddharth, Jagadeesh	2508	77
13	1	GM	Erigaisi, Arjun	2761	1	1½	GM	Kacharava, Nikolozi	2527	68
14	45	GM	Safarli, Eltaj	2594	1	1	GM	Radjabov, Teimour	2723	4
15	7	GM	Artemiev, Vladislav	2705	1	1	GM	Pranav, V	2587	49

Details

Round 2 Challengers results

Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.	PGN
1	1	IM	Pang, Tao	2496	1	½ - ½	1	FM	Hakobyan, Erik	2335	27	PGN
2	2	GM	Delgado Ramirez, Neuris	2483	1	1 - 0	1	FM	Laddha, Shubh Jayesh	2324	31	PGN
3	26	IM	Ezat, Mohamed	2340	1	½ - ½	1	GM	Burmakin, Vladimir	2480	3	PGN
4	30	IM	Farahat, Ali	2327	1	1 - 0	1	IM	Movahed, Sina	2463	5	PGN
5	6	IM	Nitish, Belurkar	2449	1	½ - ½	1	IM	Kanyamarala, Tarun	2301	35	PGN
6	34	WGM	Heinemann, Josefine	2303	1	0 - 1	1	FM	Lashkin, Jegor	2449	7	PGN
7	8	IM	Divya, Deshmukh	2440	1	1 - 0	1	FM	Nagarkatte, Vedant	2299	37	PGN
8	36	FM	Lopez Rayo, Santiago	2299	1	½ - ½	1	IM	Mohammad Fahad, Rahman	2431	9	PGN
9	10	IM	Garifullina, Leya	2430	1	1 - 0	1	IM	George Micheal, Kevin	2258	41	PGN
10	40	WIM	Kanyamarala, Trisha	2263	1	+ - -	1	IM	Harsh, Suresh	2414	13
11	42		Devnani, Kush	2249	1	1 - 0	1	GM	Hesham, Abdelrahman	2391	15	PGN
12	16	IM	Viani, Antonio Dcunha	2386	1	1 - 0	1	FM	Jaiveer, Mahendru	2244	43	PGN
13	45	FM	Mulenga, Prince Daniel	2220	1	½ - ½	1	IM	Aradhya, Garg	2385	17
14	18	IM	Sammed Jaykumar, Shete	2383	1	1 - 0	1	WFM	Kaliakhmet, Elnaz	2202	46
15	47	WIM	Aydin, Gulenay	2195	1	0 - 1	1	FM	Piliposyan, Robert	2364	21

Details

Standings after Round 2

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB2
1	2	GM	Delgado Ramirez, Neuris	PAR	2483	2	1
2	7	FM	Lashkin, Jegor	MDA	2449	2	1
3	30	IM	Farahat, Ali	USA	2327	2	1
4	8	IM	Divya, Deshmukh	IND	2440	2	1
5	10	IM	Garifullina, Leya	FID	2430	2	1
6	16	IM	Viani, Antonio Dcunha	IND	2386	2	1
	42		Devnani, Kush	IND	2249	2	1
8	18	IM	Sammed Jaykumar, Shete	IND	2383	2	1
9	21	FM	Piliposyan, Robert	ARM	2364	2	1
10	23		Dhruva, Thota	IND	2349	2	1
11	24	IM	Anwesh, Upadhyaya	IND	2345	2	1
12	40	WIM	Kanyamarala, Trisha	IRL	2263	2	1
13	59		Ankit, Ray	IND	2102	1,5	1,5
14	26	IM	Ezat, Mohamed	EGY	2340	1,5	1,5
15	6	IM	Nitish, Belurkar	IND	2449	1,5	1,5

Details

Round 3 pairings

Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.
1	21	FM	Piliposyan, Robert	2364	2	2	GM	Delgado Ramirez, Neuris	2483	2
2	7	FM	Lashkin, Jegor	2449	2	2	IM	Anwesh, Upadhyaya	2345	24
3	23		Dhruva, Thota	2349	2	2	IM	Divya, Deshmukh	2440	8
4	30	IM	Farahat, Ali	2327	2	2	IM	Garifullina, Leya	2430	10
5	40	WIM	Kanyamarala, Trisha	2263	2	2	IM	Viani, Antonio Dcunha	2386	16
6	42		Devnani, Kush	2249	2	2	IM	Sammed Jaykumar, Shete	2383	18
7	33	FM	Mendes, Aaron Reeve	2306	1½	1½	IM	Pang, Tao	2496	1
8	3	GM	Burmakin, Vladimir	2480	1½	1½	FM	Lopez Rayo, Santiago	2299	36
9	27	FM	Hakobyan, Erik	2335	1½	1½	GM	Rios Gomez, Cristhian Camilo	2466	4
10	38	FM	Peycheva, Gergana	2295	1½	1½	IM	Nitish, Belurkar	2449	6
11	9	IM	Mohammad Fahad, Rahman	2431	1½	1½	FM	Mulenga, Prince Daniel	2220	45
12	5	IM	Movahed, Sina	2463	1	1	FM	Kazarian, Anna-Maja *)	2181	51
13	35	IM	Kanyamarala, Tarun	2301	1½	1½	GM	Grivas, Efstratios	2396	14
14	17	IM	Aradhya, Garg	2385	1½	1½		Ankit, Ray	2102	59
15	22	IM	Liyanage, Ranindu Dilshan	2352	1½	1½		Mukund, Hemant Agarwal	2096	62

Details

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