23rd Dubai Open 2023 R1-2: Aravindh, Abhijeet and Adhiban at 2/2

by Shahid Ahmed - 29/05/2023

Aravindh Chithambaram, B Adhiban and Abhijeet Gupta are the only three Indians among the 13 players at 2/2. The 23rd Dubai Open 2023 Category A (>2200) has a total of 81 players, 47 of them are GMs. That definitely speaks volumes about the strength of the tournament. Aravindh prevailed over Karthik Venkataraman in a battle of the reigning National champions. It seemed like Karthik should be able to hold a draw when he blundered in the final moments of the endgame. Abhimanyu Mishra (USA) attempted to provide a futile resistance in a rook and opposite color bishop endgame which seemed Abhijeet's win to be a matter of eventuality. Adhiban defeated WIM Tijana Mandura (SRB) comfortably. Round 3 starts today at 5 p.m. local time, 6:30 p.m. IST. Photos: Aditya Sur Roy

A strong start

When a tournament has a strong lineup, there are bound to be tough battles from the very beginning of the event. The total prize fund of the tournament is US$ 52000. Category A has a total prize fund of $39500. The top three prizes are $12000 + trophy, $8000 and $6000.

Aravindh Chithambaram got the better of Karthik Venkataraman

Arjun - Rithvik, Round 1

Position after 27.Bxe4

GM Raja Rithvik R's (2476) bold approach almost work against GM Arjun Erigaisi (2701) as he got himself a good position. 27...Qd6 would have forced the exchange of queens to keep the c4-pawn from getting captured. The key difference between a direct 27...Bxd2 and after Qd6 is, Bxd2 right now does not force a trade of another rook or queen, however, 27...Qd6 does. 27...Bxd2 28.Qxd2 now Black neither has Rxb1 nor Qd6. White turned things around and went on to win the game.

GM Arjun Erigaisi won an intriguing game against GM Raja Rithvik R

Karthik - Aravindh, Round 2

Position after 73...Rf5+

The back and forth game between the reigning National champion, GM Karthik Venkataraman (2528) and the current three-time National Rapid and Blitz champion, GM Aravindh Chithambaram (2633) reached a critical moment in the above position. White needs to move his king. Where should the king go - away or closer to the g3-pawn? If you are searching for the correct answer, it is away. 74.Kd4?? met with Nf4-+ and unfortunately White pieces do not have enough breathing space to avoid the exchange.

Battle of the National champions - Aravindh got his fifth win against Karthik in rated games

Battle of the 44th Olympiad Gold medalists: Round 1: IM Nataliya Buksa (UKR) - GM Jakhongir Vakhidov (UZB): 1-0

Round 2: GM Aditya Mittal - GM Shant Sargsyan (ARM): 0.5-0.5

Photo Gallery

Bird's eye view of the top board

Round 1 in progress

The tournament hall at Dubai Chess & Culture Club

For more Round 1 and Round 2 photos, please click here.

Final moments: GM Hans Niemann (USA) vs GM Vugar Asadli (AZE) | Video: ChessBase India

A total of 81 players including 47 GMs, 19 IMs, a WGM and 3 WIMs are taking part in the Category A (>2200) from 31 countries across the world. The tournament is being organized by Dubai Chess & Culture Club from 27th May to 4th June 2023 at Dubai Chess & Culture Club, UAE. The nine-round Swiss league tournament has a time control of 90 minutes + 30 seconds increment from move no.1.

Replay Round 1-2 games

Round 2 results

Rd.	Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.
2	3	28	GM	Mchedlishvili Mikheil	2553	1	½ - ½	1	GM	Erigaisi Arjun	2701	3
2	6	33	GM	Lalit Babu M R	2529	1	0 - 1	1	GM	Sindarov Javokhir	2661	7
2	7	34	GM	Karthik Venkataraman	2528	1	0 - 1	1	GM	Aravindh Chithambaram Vr.	2633	9
2	8	10	GM	Gupta Abhijeet	2630	1	1 - 0	1	GM	Mishra Abhimanyu	2550	29
2	9	36	GM	Aditya Mittal	2522	1	½ - ½	1	GM	Sargsyan Shant	2630	11
2	14	18	GM	Harsha Bharathakoti	2602	1	½ - ½	1	GM	Fawzy Adham	2495	41
2	18	86	WIM	Mandura Tijana	2203	1	0 - 1	1	GM	Adhiban B.	2589	24
2	24	64	FM	Laddha Shubh Jayesh	2397	½	0 - 1	½	GM	Sankalp Gupta	2504	39
2	26	62	IM	Al Qudaimi Basheer	2401	0	0 - 1	0	GM	Karthikeyan Murali	2627	13
2	31	46	GM	Raja Rithvik R	2476	0	½ - ½	0	FM	Movahed Sina	2359	71
2	34	50	GM	Chanda Sandipan	2460	0	1 - 0	0	GM	Ahmad Al Khatib	2344	73
2	35	52	IM	Panda Sambit	2436	0	1 - 0	0	IM	Saeed Ishaq	2303	77
2	40	60	IM	Anuj Shrivatri	2404	0	1 - 0	0	FM	Alothman Ali Layth Ahmed	2224	83

Details

Standings after Round 2

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	K	rtg+/-
1	25	GM	Asadli, Vugar	AZE	2584	2	2708	0	1	10	8,9
2	6	GM	Matlakov, Maxim	RUS	2662	2	2577	0	1	10	6,3
3	5	GM	Tabatabaei, M. Amin	IRI	2677	2	2550	0	1	10	5,6
	10	GM	Gupta, Abhijeet	IND	2630	2	2550	0	1	10	6,1
5	12	GM	Chigaev, Maksim	FID	2628	2	2545	0	1	10	6,1
6	7	GM	Sindarov, Javokhir	UZB	2661	2	2529	0	1	10	5,6
7	9	GM	Aravindh, Chithambaram Vr.	IND	2633	2	2528	0	1	10	6,1
8	14	GM	Indjic, Aleksandar	SRB	2618	2	2507	0	1	10	3,5
9	15	GM	Kovalev, Vladislav	FID	2612	2	2506	0	1	10	6
10	19	GM	Sanal, Vahap	TUR	2600	2	2408	0	1	10	4,9

Details

Round 3 pairings

Rd.	Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.
3	4	9	GM	Aravindh Chithambaram Vr.	2633	2		2	GM	Theodorou Nikolas	2591	23
3	5	19	GM	Sanal Vahap	2600	2		2	GM	Gupta Abhijeet	2630	10
3	6	24	GM	Adhiban B.	2589	2		2	GM	Chigaev Maksim	2628	12
3	8	3	GM	Erigaisi Arjun	2701	1½		1½	GM	Romanov Evgeny	2578	26
3	11	17	GM	Murzin Volodar	2604	1½		1½	GM	Aditya Mittal	2522	36
3	12	39	GM	Sankalp Gupta	2504	1½		1½	GM	Harsha Bharathakoti	2602	18
3	17	13	GM	Karthikeyan Murali	2627	1		1	GM	Chanda Sandipan	2460	50
3	18	52	IM	Panda Sambit	2436	1		1	GM	Vakhidov Jakhongir	2607	16
3	23	55	FM	Bai Adelard	2409	1		1	GM	Lalit Babu M R	2529	33
3	24	59	IM	Buksa Nataliya	2406	1		1	GM	Karthik Venkataraman	2528	34
3	25	35	GM	Vasquez Schroeder Rodrigo	2524	1		1	IM	Anuj Shrivatri	2404	60
3	31	69	IM	Farahat Ali	2361	½		½	GM	Raja Rithvik R	2476	46

Details

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