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8th Sunway Sitges Open R4: Sethuraman in a three-way lead 4.0/4

by Shahid Ahmed - 17/12/2021

Sethuraman beat compatriot Harsha Bharathakoti to emerge as one of the three leaders at the conclusion of the fourth round of 8th Sunway Sitges Open 2021 Group A. The other two co-leaders are Denis Kadric (BIH) and Cristhian Rios Camilo (COL). IM Soumya Swaminathan continues her good form as she put her opponent GM Nihal Sarin in quite a bit of a pickle. However, Nihal managed to escape with a draw. Among the Indian players, GM Abhimanyu Puranik, GM Sankalp Gupta, GM Neelotpal Das and IM Soumya Swaminathan are at 3.5/4 each. Neelotpal outplayed Karthikeyan Murali right out of the opening to score a victory. Round 5 starts tonight at 9 p.m. IST. Photo: Niklesh Jain

Soumya misses her chance against Nihal

Only three games ended decisively out of the top ten boards. IM Pranesh M, FM Manu David Suthandram R, IM Padmini Rout, FM Aditya S Samant, Utsab Chatterjee, Tanmay Chopra, Barath Kalyan M and Ojas Kulkarni drew with GM M Amin Tabatabaei (IRI), GM Andreas Kelires (GRE), IM Nikolozi Kacharava (GEO), IM Roberto Junio Brito Molin (BRA), IM Guillen Ernesto J Fernandez (CUB), IM Hampus Sorensen (SWE) and GM Susanto Megaranto (INA) each respectively. Sharan Rao and WIM Priyanka Nutakki defeated IM Dinara Saduakassova (KAZ) and IM Yovann Gatineau (FRA) respectively.

GM Sethuraman S P is one of the three leaders 4.0/4 | Photo: Rupali Mullick

Harsha - Sethuraman: 0-1

Harsha Bharathakoti decided to sacrifice an exchange for a protected center passed pawn as a compensation against Sethuraman.

Position after 20.Rxe4

20.Bxe4 would have been fine. 20.Rxe4 gives White some compensation but not enough in the long term. 20...Bxe4 21.Bxe4 Rc8 22.d5 c4 23.d6 Nb3 24.Ra7 Bxd6 and now White went for an ambitious 25.Ng5

Position after 25.Ng5

It is quite possible White went for this in time scramble, because 25.Ng5 does not yield anything for White. Although it might look promising. 25...Bc7 26.Qh5 Qd7 and Black managed to win the game in another eight moves.

Harsha has had better days | Photo: Niklesh Jain

Soumya - Nihal: 0.5-0.5

The game started with a messy line of King's Indian Classical. Generally, Soumya thrives on slightly volatile positions.

Position after 15...e3

There are over 100 games in this variation and the results are favorable for White. The game continued 16.fxe3 fxg3 17.Ng6 Re8 18.Rg1 and so on. After a few moves, White got herself in a very good position.

Position after 24...Qh4

White correctly spotted 25.Ng6+. Black is forced to take it 25...Bxg6 26.Rxg6 Rg8 and now White needed to play 27.Qg4. The difference between 27.Rxh6+ and Qg4 is, White gets to exchange the rook on her terms and the black king continues his search for a safe haven. Nihal eventually managed to equalize to escape with a draw.

Soumya created a very good opportunity for herself against Nihal | Photo: Rupali Mullick

Pranesh - Tabatabaei: 0.5-0.5

To get an idea of how strong IM Pranesh M is, take a look at the following position from his game against GM M Amin Tabatabaei.

Position after 29...c5

Put yourself in White's shoes and try to find out what White should do here. If you find 30.Rxd5, you are tactically alert like Pranesh. 30...exd5 31.Bxd5 and now Black has to play 31...Qb4 as there is no other way to defend Qg7 checkmate threat after e6. 32.e6 Qxc3 33.exf7+ Kf8 34.Rxe8+ Rxe8 35.fxe8Q+ Kxe8 36.bxc3 exf5 and now White has a very good chance in the same color bishop endgame.

Position after 36...gxf5

Can White push for a win here? Most certainly yes. Find out the correct plan. White played 37.Bg8, probably under time pressure which allowed Black to get back in the game and salvage a draw.

IM Pranesh M has made a very good start | Photo: Niklesh Jain

Neelotpal - Karthikeyan: 1-0

GM Karthikeyan Murali went wrong in the opening and could not make a comeback for the rest of the game against GM Neelotpal Das.

Position after 26...Ng3

The knight fork is ineffective as 27.Qg4 Nf5 28.Rf1 g6 29.h5 and Black has zero defense or counterplay against White's onslaught on the kingside.

GM Neelotpal Das scored a fine victory 3.5/4 | Photo: Niklesh Jain

Manu David - Stefanova: 1-0

FM Manu David Suthandram R got himself a fantastic position against former women's world champion, GM Antoaneta Stefanova (BUL).

Position after 25...Ng5

Both 26.Rd8+ and 26.Bxe6 are a winning continuation for White. However, the game continued 26.Nf5 which is not bad either, 26...Nxe4 27.Bxe6+ Kc7 28.Rd7+ Kb6 29.Qe7 Qxe7 30.Nxe7 Nf2+ 31.Kg2 Nxd1 and the game meandered into a draw. Even after 27...Kc7, White still could have gone for a win with 28.b4. The complexity of the position combined with less time on the clock can make anyone err.

Manu certainly would have liked to make the most out of his opportunity | Photo: Rupali Mullick

GM Andreas Kelires - IM Padmini Rout: 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Niklesh Jain

IM Nikolozi Kacharava - FM Aditya S Samant: 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Rupali Mullick

Utsab Chatterjee - IM Roberto Junio Brito Molina: 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Rupali Mullick

Tanmay Chopra - IM Guillen Ernesto J Fernandez: 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Rupali Mullick

IM Hampus Sorensen - Barath Kalyan M: 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Rupali Mullick

GM Susanto Megaranto - Ojas Kulkarni: 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Rupali Mullick

IM Dinara Saduakassova - Sharan Rao: 0-1 | Photo: Rupali Mullick

WIM Priyanka Nutakki - IM Yovann Gatineau: 1-0 | Photo: Rupali Mullick

For more photos, click here.

Replay Round 4 games

Round 4 results

Rd.Bo.No. NameRtgPts.ResultPts.NameRtg No.
4410
GMVocaturo Daniele26213½ - ½3IMSankalp Gupta2504
29
4532
GMHarsha Bharathakoti248930 - 13GMSethuraman S.P.2613
11
4612
GMPuranik Abhimanyu26043½ - ½3GMPriasmoro Novendra2502
31
41090
IMSoumya Swaminathan23513½ - ½GMNihal Sarin2662
3
41150
IMPranesh M2437½ - ½GMTabatabaei M. Amin2643
5
4126
GMAbdusattorov Nodirbek26331 - 0IMMohammad Nubairshah Shaikh2429
51
41362
GMNeelotpal Das24101 - 0GMKarthikeyan Murali2630
7
4148
GMErigaisi Arjun2629½ - ½IMBaenziger Fabian2409
63
41980
IMMoksh Amit Doshi2368½ - ½IMDi Berardino Diego Rafael2480
35
42084
FMManu David Suthandram R2360½ - ½GMStefanova Antoaneta2469
41
422239
Devnani Kush19340 - 12GMFier Alexandr2572
15
42398
FMDomingo Nunez Alejandro234020 - 12GMIniyan Panneerselvam2555
17
42420
GMKelires Andreas25432½ - ½2IMPadmini Rout2345
95
42522
GMArjun Kalyan253721 - 02IMSrijit Paul2340
97
42626
GMKulaots Kaido251921 - 02IMManish Anto Cristiano F2336
99
42836
IMBharath Subramaniyam H247921 - 02FMVitenberg Noam Aviv2327
101
43042
IMKacharava Nikolozi24692½ - ½2FMSamant Aditya S2318
107
431108
WGMNandhidhaa P V23132½ - ½2IMAditya Mittal2459
47
437122
Utsab Chatterjee22552½ - ½2IMMolina Roberto Junio Brito2420
55
44058
IMPranav Anand241621 - 02WIMFernandez Maria Florencia2229
133

Details

Round 5 pairings

Rd.Bo.No. NameRtgPts.ResultPts.NameRtg No.
5111
GMSethuraman S.P.261344GMKadric Denis2572
16
5429
IMSankalp Gupta2504GMNiemann Hans Moke2645
4
5837
IMGarriga Cazorla Pere2477GMPuranik Abhimanyu2604
12
51023
GMSuleymanli Aydin2537GMNeelotpal Das2410
62
51190
IMSoumya Swaminathan2351GMDardha Daniel2533
24
5123
GMNihal Sarin266233IMPranesh M2437
50
5135
GMTabatabaei M. Amin264333IMPranav Anand2416
58
51453
IMBoyer Mahel242733GMErigaisi Arjun2629
8
51515
GMFier Alexandr257233IMVaishali R2401
66
51617
GMIniyan Panneerselvam255533IMDionisi Thomas2396
70
51963
IMBaenziger Fabian240933GMArjun Kalyan2537
22
52178
Bhambure Shantanu237733GMHarsha Bharathakoti2489
32
52233
GMVasquez Schroeder Rodrigo248433IMMoksh Amit Doshi2368
80
52335
IMDi Berardino Diego Rafael248033FMManu David Suthandram R2360
84
52481
IMAulia Medina Warda236733IMBharath Subramaniyam H2479
36
52645
IMQuintiliano Pinto Renato R.246633WGMGomes Mary Ann2354
88
5287
GMKarthikeyan Murali2630FMKenneskog Theodor2307
111
53447
IMAditya Mittal2459FMAranha Filho Alvaro Z.2283
116
53651
IMMohammad Nubairshah Shaikh2429Utsab Chatterjee2255
122
54157
IMCuhendi Sean Winshand2419WIMRakshitta Ravi2240
130

Details

Prizes

Total Prize fund - €27155. For the entire prize details, click here.

Schedule

13th - 22nd December - 9:00 p.m. IST

18th December - Rest day

23rd December - 1:30 p.m. IST

Links

Official site

Tournament rules



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