5th Stepan Avagyan Memorial R6: Arjun Erigaisi hunts Bluebaum's king, increases his sole lead
Arjun Erigaisi defeated Matthias Bluebaum (GER) to increase his sole lead by a full point at 5th Stepan Avagyan Memorial 2024. Arjun gobbled up two pawns in the middlegame and he managed to protect them. When the German declined the trade of queens, the World no.4 in live ratings, went for his opponent's king. Robert Hovhannisyan (ARM) scored the only other victory of the round. It was also his first win of the event and his opponent, Haik Martirosyan's (ARM) second loss. Haik misplayed in the sharp major piece endgame. It allowed his opponent to gain full control and liquidate into a favorable queen endgame. Arjun is at 4.5/6, followed by Samuel Sevian (USA), M Amin Tabatabaei (IRI) and Bogdan-Daniel Deac (ROU) at 3.5/6 each. Round 7 starts today at 3 p.m. local time, 4:30 p.m. IST. Photo: Chess Academy of Armenia
Hovhannisyan scores his first win of the event
Arjun Erigaisi's last three opponent at this event are - Bogdan-Daniel Deac (ROU), Volodar Murzin and Manuel Petrosyan (ARM).
Arjun - Bluebaum: 1-0
Arjun Erigaisi (2761) gained a couple of pawns in the middlegame against Matthias Bluebaum (GER, 2647). He used them to his advantage and eventually hunted his opponent's king after a queen exchange was declined. Trading the queens would not have changed the outcome of the game.
38...Qb2 allowed White to finish things early 39.Qf8+ Kf6 40.Qh8+ Kg5 41.f4+ Kf4 42.Qf6+ Rh5 43.Qh4+ and White won.
Haik - Hovhannisyan: 0-1
Haik Martirosyan (ARM, 2662) went wrong in the major piece endgame against Robert Hovhannisyan (ARM, 2611).
52.Qf3 was the best way to continue. The reason is it not only defends the g3-pawn but also threatens checkmate via Qf5. Instead, 52.Ra3? gave up the control on the back rank which means Black could move his queen freely Qh6 53.Ra7 Qg6 54.Ra3 Rh7 55.Ra1 Qf5 now Black has gained complete control 56.Rh1 Rxh1 57.Kxh1 Qh3+ 58.Kg1 Qxg3+ 59.Kf1 Ke7 and Black went on to win the game.
Replay Round 6 games
Round 6 results
| Bo. | No. | Rtg | Name | Result | Name | Rtg | No. | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 10 | 2662 | GM | Martirosyan Haik M. | 0 - 1 | GM | Hovhannisyan Robert | 2611 | 8 | |||
| 2 | 9 | 2639 | GM | Sargsyan Shant | ½ - ½ | GM | Petrosyan Manuel | 2625 | 7 | |||
| 3 | 1 | 2713 | GM | Tabatabaei M. Amin | ½ - ½ | GM | Murzin Volodar | 2650 | 6 | |||
| 4 | 2 | 2687 | GM | Sevian Samuel | ½ - ½ | GM | Deac Bogdan-Daniel | 2680 | 5 | |||
| 5 | 3 | 2761 | GM | Erigaisi Arjun | 1 - 0 | GM | Bluebaum Matthias | 2647 | 4 |
Standings after Round 6
| Rk. | SNo | Name | FED | Rtg | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | K | rtg+/- | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | GM | Erigaisi Arjun | IND | 2761 | 4,5 | 12,50 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 6,6 | |
| 2 | 2 | GM | Sevian Samuel | USA | 2687 | 3,5 | 11,00 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 4,7 | |
| 3 | 1 | GM | Tabatabaei M. Amin | IRI | 2713 | 3,5 | 10,25 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 2,3 | |
| 4 | 5 | GM | Deac Bogdan-Daniel | ROU | 2680 | 3,5 | 9,50 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 2,8 | |
| 5 | 10 | GM | Martirosyan Haik M. | ARM | 2662 | 3 | 8,50 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 1 | |
| 6 | 8 | GM | Hovhannisyan Robert | ARM | 2611 | 3 | 8,00 | 0 | 4 | 10 | 4,9 | |
| 7 | 9 | GM | Sargsyan Shant | ARM | 2639 | 2,5 | 6,75 | 0 | 3 | 10 | -1,9 | |
| 8 | 7 | GM | Petrosyan Manuel | ARM | 2625 | 2,5 | 6,50 | 0 | 4 | 10 | -3,1 | |
| 9 | 6 | GM | Murzin Volodar | FID | 2650 | 2 | 5,75 | 0 | 4 | 10 | -9,5 | |
| 10 | 4 | GM | Bluebaum Matthias | GER | 2647 | 2 | 5,75 | 0 | 3 | 10 | -7,8 |
Round 7 pairings
| Bo. | No. | Rtg | Name | Result | Name | Rtg | No. | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | 2647 | GM | Bluebaum Matthias | GM | Martirosyan Haik M. | 2662 | 10 | ||||
| 2 | 5 | 2680 | GM | Deac Bogdan-Daniel | GM | Erigaisi Arjun | 2761 | 3 | ||||
| 3 | 6 | 2650 | GM | Murzin Volodar | GM | Sevian Samuel | 2687 | 2 | ||||
| 4 | 7 | 2625 | GM | Petrosyan Manuel | GM | Tabatabaei M. Amin | 2713 | 1 | ||||
| 5 | 8 | 2611 | GM | Hovhannisyan Robert | GM | Sargsyan Shant | 2639 | 9 |
Time Control
90 minutes for the first 40 moves + 30 minutes for the rest of the game (with 30 seconds increment starting from move one).
Prizes
The total prize fund is 7450000 AMD (≈ US$ 18400). The top three prizes are 3100000 AMD (≈ US$ 7976), 1 850 000 AMD (≈ US$ 4760) and 1500000 (≈ US$ 3859). There are also Chessify prizes for all ten participants. The top three Chessify prizes are - bundles worth $350, $300 and $250 each.
Schedule
| Sunday | 9 June at 19:00 | Opening Ceremony |
| Monday | 10 June at 15:00 | Round 1 |
| Tuesday | 11 June at 15:00 | Round 2 |
| Wednesday | 12 June at 15:00 | Round 3 |
| Thursday | 13 June at 15:00 | Round 4 |
| Friday | 14 June at 15:00 | Round 5 |
| Saturday | 15 June at 15:00 | Round 6 |
| Sunday | 16 June at 15:00 | Round 7 |
| Monday | 17 June at 15:00 | Round 8 |
| Tuesday | 18 June at 11:00 | Round 9 |
| Tuesday | 18 June at 17:00 | Closing Ceremony |
