Seven-way lead after round 7 of 12th Chennai GM Open 2020

by Shahid Ahmed - 23/01/2020

Seven players are in the lead with 6.0/7 at the conclusion of round 7 of 12th Chennai GM Open 2020. Top seed Pavel Ponkratov, second seed Jose Eduardo Martinez, Visakh N R, Sergei Yudin, Aleksey Goganov, Stanislav Bogdanovich and Vishnu Prasanna are in a seven-way lead. Only three rounds left and with seven players in the lead, there is no clear favorite to win the tournament, it is still open for anyone to win. PDS Girinath used element of surprise to beat Karthik Venkataraman, Jubin Jimmy kept his norm hopes alive by beating Sayantan Das. Round 7 report with games, photos and analysis. Photo: R Anantharam

Visakh and Vishnu among the leaders

Seven players are in the lead with a score of 6.0/7. Top seed of the tournament GM Pavel Ponkratov drew with second seed GM Jose Eduardo Martinez, GM Visakh N R drew with GM Sergei Yudin, GM Aleksey Goganov defeated IM Anup Deshmukh, Aditya Samant lost to GM Stanislav Bogdanovich and Kunal M lost to GM Vishnu Prasanna in of round 7 of 12th Chennai GM Open 2020.

Top 3 boards ended in draws

In a battle between top seed GM Pavel Ponkratov (RUS, 2622) and second seed GM Jose Eduardo Martinez (PER, 2606), pieces got exchanged at regular interval. The game liquidated into a double bishop vs bishop and knight endgame in just 25 moves.

Battle between top two seeds ended up in a draw| Photo: R Anantharam

GM Visakh N R (2518) had a hard-fought draw with GM Sergei Yudin (RUS, 2508)

Visakh maintained his lead | Photo: R Anantharam

GM Aleksej Aleksandrov (BLR, 2592) was held to a draw in 35 moves with IM Taher Yoseph Theolifus (INA, 2462).

Aleksandrov was held to a short draw by Taher | Photo: R Anantharam

GM Aleksey Goganov (RUS, 2583) defeated IM Anup Deshmukh (2163) to join the leaders.

Goganov defeated the gentleman of the game - Anup Deshmukh | Photo: R Anatharam

Stanislav Bogdanovich (UKR, 2562) overcame his rough form by beating Aditya Samant (2296) to join the leaders.

Bogdanovich is back in the title picture | Photo: R Anantharam

Harshavardhan G B (2343) survived a massive scare and managed to salvage a draw against GM Rodrigo Schroeder Vasquez (CHI, 2487).

Harshavardhan managed to salvage a draw in a completely lost position | Photo: R Anantharam

Harshavardhan - Rodrigo, Round 7

Position after 33.Bxc2

Find out the correct continuation for black after 33.Bxc2

Position after 35.f5

How should black continue after 35.f5 to go for a win?

GM Vishnu Prasanna (2474) beat Kunal M (2288) to join the leaders.

Vishnu is back at the top | Photo: R Anantharam

IM Al Muthaiah (2367) held GM Alexei Fedorov (BLR, 2562) to a draw after the game reached to an equal double bishop ending in just 27 moves.

Muthaiah made a solid draw with Alexei | Photo: R Anantharam

IM PDS Girinath (2340) surprised GM Karthik Venkataraman (2479) with the Schliemann variation of Ruy Lopez and Karthik was not able to get into the game.

Girinath's element of surprise helped him score a win over Karthik | Photo: R Anantharam

FM Pranesh M (2317) held GM Valeriy Neverov (UKR, 2460) after the liquidated into an opposite color bishop ending in just 31 moves. Another 30 moves were played where draw seemed to be the obvious result.

Pranesh held Neverov to a draw | Photo: R Anantharam

FM Jubin Jimmy (2193) kept his norm hopes alive by winning against IM Sayantan Das (2424).

Jubin is still undefeated and well on his way to score an IM-norm | Photo: Niklesh Jain

Among other upsets, Indrajeet Mahindrakar (2066) held GM Karthikeyan P (2416) to a draw, FM Vinoth Kumar (2012) defeated GM Saptarshi Roy (2460) and IM V Saravanan (2325) held to a draw by Ilamparthi A R (1880).

Replay all games

Round 7 results

Bo.	No.		Name	Bdld	FED	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Bdld	FED	Rtg	No.
1	1	GM	Ponkratov Pavel		RUS	2622	5½	½ - ½	5½	GM	Martinez Alcantara Jose Eduardo		PER	2606	2
2	11	GM	Visakh N R		IND	2518	5½	½ - ½	5½	GM	Yudin Sergei		RUS	2508	12
3	4	GM	Aleksandrov Aleksej		BLR	2592	5	½ - ½	5	IM	Taher Yoseph Theolifus		INA	2462	20
4	5	GM	Goganov Aleksey		RUS	2583	5	1 - 0	5	IM	Deshmukh Anup		IND	2163	64
5	51		Samant Aditya S		IND	2296	5	0 - 1	5	GM	Bogdanovich Stanislav		UKR	2562	8
6	43		Harshavardhan G B		IND	2343	5	½ - ½	5	GM	Vasquez Schroeder Rodrigo		CHI	2487	16
7	53		Kunal M.		IND	2288	5	0 - 1	5	GM	Vishnu Prasanna. V		IND	2474	18
8	55		Pranav V		IND	2265	5	0 - 1	4½	GM	Mchedlishvili Mikheil		GEO	2578	6
9	7	GM	Rozum Ivan		RUS	2573	4½	1 - 0	4½	GM	Manik Mikulas		SVK	2378	36
10	9	GM	David Alberto		ITA	2562	4½	0 - 1	4½	IM	Eraschenkov Denis		RUS	2370	37
11	38	IM	Muthaiah Al		IND	2367	4½	½ - ½	4½	GM	Fedorov Alexei		BLR	2562	10
12	13	GM	Stupak Kirill		BLR	2506	4½	1 - 0	4½	IM	Sidhant Mohapatra		IND	2346	42
13	41	IM	Nitin S.		IND	2347	4½	0 - 1	4½	GM	Venkatesh M.R.		IND	2501	14
14	17	GM	Karthik Venkataraman		IND	2479	4½	0 - 1	4½	IM	Girinath P.D.S.		IND	2340	44
15	48	FM	Pranesh M		IND	2317	4½	½ - ½	4½	GM	Neverov Valeriy		UKR	2460	21
16	50	FM	Srihari L R		IND	2302	4½	0 - 1	4½	IM	Mitrabha Guha		IND	2448	24
17	25	IM	Harikrishnan.A.Ra		IND	2444	4½	½ - ½	4½	FM	Rohith Krishna S		IND	2289	52
18	67		Priyanka K		IND	2124	4½	0 - 1	4½	GM	Neelotpal Das		IND	2436	26
19	29	IM	Das Sayantan		IND	2424	4½	0 - 1	4½	FM	Jubin Jimmy		IND	2193	60
20	74		Mahindrakar Indrajeet		IND	2066	4½	½ - ½	4½	GM	Karthikeyan P.		IND	2416	32
21	33	GM	Sundararajan Kidambi		IND	2414	4½	½ - ½	4½	WGM	Kiran Manisha Mohanty		IND	2133	66
22	79	FM	Chilukuri Sai Varshith		IND	2045	4	0 - 1	4	GM	Pantsulaia Levan		GEO	2598	3
23	19	IM	Vignesh N R		IND	2472	4	1 - 0	4		Dahale Atul		IND	2025	81
24	83	FM	Vinoth Kumar M.		IND	2012	4	1 - 0	4	GM	Saptarshi Roy		IND	2460	22
25	23	GM	Lugovskoy Maxim		RUS	2453	4	1 - 0	4		Sri Sai Baswanth P		IND	2008	84

Complete results

Round 8 pairings

Bo.	No.		Name	Bdld	FED	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Bdld	FED	Rtg	No.
1	12	GM	Yudin Sergei		RUS	2508	6		6	GM	Ponkratov Pavel		RUS	2622	1
2	2	GM	Martinez Alcantara Jose Eduardo		PER	2606	6		6	GM	Goganov Aleksey		RUS	2583	5
3	8	GM	Bogdanovich Stanislav		UKR	2562	6		6	GM	Visakh N R		IND	2518	11
4	18	GM	Vishnu Prasanna. V		IND	2474	6		5½	GM	Aleksandrov Aleksej		BLR	2592	4
5	6	GM	Mchedlishvili Mikheil		GEO	2578	5½		5½	IM	Mitrabha Guha		IND	2448	24
6	26	GM	Neelotpal Das		IND	2436	5½		5½	GM	Rozum Ivan		RUS	2573	7
7	44	IM	Girinath P.D.S.		IND	2340	5½		5½	GM	Stupak Kirill		BLR	2506	13
8	14	GM	Venkatesh M.R.		IND	2501	5½		5½	IM	Eraschenkov Denis		RUS	2370	37
9	16	GM	Vasquez Schroeder Rodrigo		CHI	2487	5½		5½	FM	Jubin Jimmy		IND	2193	60
10	20	IM	Taher Yoseph Theolifus		INA	2462	5½		5½		Harshavardhan G B		IND	2343	43
11	40	IM	Ravichandran Siddharth		IND	2358	5		5	GM	Pantsulaia Levan		GEO	2598	3
12	10	GM	Fedorov Alexei		BLR	2562	5		5	FM	Pranesh M		IND	2317	48
13	49	IM	Saravana Krishnan P.		IND	2313	5		5	IM	Vignesh N R		IND	2472	19
14	21	GM	Neverov Valeriy		UKR	2460	5		5		Samant Aditya S		IND	2296	51
15	53		Kunal M.		IND	2288	5		5	GM	Lugovskoy Maxim		RUS	2453	23
16	54	IM	Navin Kanna T.U.		IND	2265	5		5	IM	Harikrishnan.A.Ra		IND	2444	25
17	52	FM	Rohith Krishna S		IND	2289	5		5	GM	Rahman Ziaur		BAN	2434	27
18	28	GM	Hesham Abdelrahman		EGY	2429	5		5		Pranav V		IND	2265	55
19	30	IM	Khusenkhojaev Muhammad		TJK	2420	5		5	IM	Murali Krishnan B T		IND	2202	57
20	66	WGM	Kiran Manisha Mohanty		IND	2133	5		5	IM	Viani Antonio Dcunha		IND	2417	31
21	32	GM	Karthikeyan P.		IND	2416	5		5		Balkishan A.		IND	2079	71
22	64	IM	Deshmukh Anup		IND	2163	5		5	GM	Sundararajan Kidambi		IND	2414	33
23	34	IM	Bharath Subramaniyam H		IND	2413	5		5		Mahindrakar Indrajeet		IND	2066	74
24	70		Anadkat Kartavya		IND	2082	5		5	IM	Muthaiah Al		IND	2367	38
25	9	GM	David Alberto		ITA	2562	4½		5	FM	Vinoth Kumar M.		IND	2012	83

Complete pairings

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