Baku Open 2023 R3: Prraneeth Vuppala beats Vahap Sanal

by Shahid Ahmed - 07/05/2023

IM Prraneeth Vuppala continues his good form as he defeated the Turkey no.2 GM Vahap Sanal. Currently GM Levan Pantsulaia (GEO) and GM Aleksandr Predke (SRB) are the only two players at 3/3 at the conclusion of the third round of Baku Open 2023. IM Aditya S Samant held Serbia no.2 GM Aleksandar Indjic to a short draw. 20 players including six Indians are at 2.5/3 each. They are - GM Sandipan Chanda, Prraneeth, GM Sethuraman S P, GM Harsha Bharathakoti, GM Leon Luke Mendonca and IM Aditya. The tournament leaders Levan and Predke will inevitably clash against each other on the top board in Round 4 which starts today at 3 p.m. local time, 4:30 p.m. IST. Photo: FA Lana Afandiyeva

Levan and Predke are coleaders

FM Nikhil Dixit held IM Khazar Babazada (AZE) to a draw.

GM-elect IM Prraneeth Vuppala is now at 2.5/3 | Photo: FA Lana Afandiyeva

IM Aditya S Samant - GM Aleksandar Indjic (SRB): 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Azerbaijan Chess Federation

GM Sandipan Chanda had an exciting draw against GM Harsha Bharathakoti | Photo: FA Lana Afandiyeva

GM Sethuraman S P defeated IM Arystanbek Urazayev (KAZ) to move to 2.5/3 | Photo: FA Lana Afandiyeva

Prraneeth - Vahap

Position after 17.Bxg6!

Unlike the previous round, IM Prraneeth Vuppala (2442) decided to take matters into his hands and create an opportunity himself against GM Vahap Sanal (TUR, 2600). 17.Bxg6! the only thing White is guaranteed is rook and two pawns for two minor pieces fxg6 18.Ne5 Qe6 19.Nxg6+ Kg7 20.Nxf8 Rxf8 Black's king is quite exposed too which became a crucial factor eventually.

Position after 27.e4

27.e4 dxe4 28.fxe4 c5 is how Black needed to react to the center break and free up his bishop. Instead 27...h4 just worsened his position 28.e5 Nh5 29.f4 Nxf4? while the knight might not fall, opening the c-file and inviting trouble was not a good idea 30.Rf1 Qh6 31.Qf2 Rf7 32.Kh1 Kg8 33.g3 hxg3 34.Qxg3+ Kh8 35.Rxb7 and White won.

IM Prraneeth Vuppala created his opportunity and defeated GM Vahap Sanal | Photo: FA Lana Afandiyeva

Replay Round 3 Live Commentary | Video: Azerbaijan Chess Federation

A total of 119 players including 32 GMs, 29 IMs, 11 WGMs and 7 WIMs are taking part from 14 countries across the world in Group A. The nine-day nine-round Swiss League tournament is organized by Azerbaijan Chess Federation and the Ministry of Youth & Sport of the Republic of Azerbaijan from 4th to 12th May 2023 at Baku Crystal Hall in Baku, Azerbaijan. The time control of the tournament is 90 minutes for 40 moves + 30 minutes + 30 seconds per move from the first move.

Replay Round 3 games

Round 3 results

Rd.	Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.
3	2	2	GM	Predke Alexandr	2685	2	1 - 0	2	GM	Aditya Mittal	2522	23
3	3	25	IM	Samant Aditya S	2501	2	½ - ½	2	GM	Indjic Aleksandar	2618	7
3	4	28	IM	Gokerkan Cem Kaan	2500	2	½ - ½	2	GM	Mendonca Leon Luke	2603	11
3	5	12	GM	Harsha Bharathakoti	2602	2	½ - ½	2	GM	Chanda Sandipan	2460	41
3	7	18	GM	Pantsulaia Levan	2570	2	1 - 0	2	IM	Ilamparthi A R	2388	57
3	10	6	GM	Sethuraman S.P.	2626	1½	1 - 0	1½	IM	Urazayev Arystanbek	2460	42
3	12	44	IM	Prraneeth Vuppala	2442	1½	1 - 0	1½	GM	Sanal Vahap	2600	13
3	18	70	WGM	Balajayeva Khanim	2327	1½	½ - ½	1½	GM	Raja Rithvik R	2476	35
3	25	22	GM	Muradli Mahammad	2531	1	1 - 0	1	FM	Mohamed Anees M	2315	75
3	26	24	GM	Bharath Subramaniyam H	2517	1	0 - 1	1	IM	Ansat Aldiyar	2311	77
3	30	90	FM	Kurmangaliyeva Liya	2268	1	0 - 1	1	IM	Manish Anto Cristiano F	2485	33
3	31	94	FM	Dixit Nikhil	2257	1	½ - ½	1	IM	Babazada Khazar	2474	37
3	32	96	FM	Chkhaidze Nikoloz	2253	1	1 - 0	1	IM	Jubin Jimmy	2455	43
3	35	52	IM	Moksh Amit Doshi	2401	1	1 - 0	1	WGM	Mamedjarova Turkan	2222	102
3	38	56		Kushko Dmitriy	2391	1	½ - ½	1	WGM	Srija Seshadri	2199	107

Details

Standings after Round 3

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	2	GM	Predke, Alexandr	SRB	2685	3	2489	0	3
2	18	GM	Pantsulaia, Levan	GEO	2570	3	2388	0	3
3	41	GM	Chanda, Sandipan	IND	2460	2,5	2602	0	2
4	44	IM	Prraneeth, Vuppala	IND	2442	2,5	2600	0	2
5	1	GM	Niemann, Hans Moke	USA	2708	2,5	2488	0	2
6	3	GM	Korobov, Anton	UKR	2664	2,5	2469	0	2
7	6	GM	Sethuraman, S.P.	IND	2626	2,5	2460	0	2
	10	GM	Safarli, Eltaj	AZE	2609	2,5	2460	0	2
9	12	GM	Harsha, Bharathakoti	IND	2602	2,5	2455	0	2
10	5	GM	Abasov, Nijat	AZE	2634	2,5	2432	0	2
11	20	GM	Petrov, Nikita	MNE	2547	2,5	2400	0	2
12	7	GM	Indjic, Aleksandar	SRB	2618	2,5	2399	0	2
13	11	GM	Mendonca, Leon Luke	IND	2603	2,5	2391	0	2
14	15	GM	Asadli, Vugar	AZE	2584	2,5	2387	0	2
15	38	IM	Nogerbek, Kazybek	KAZ	2474	2,5	2375	0	2

Det ails

Round 4 pairings

Rd.	Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.
4	4	5	GM	Abasov Nijat	2634	2½		2½	IM	Samant Aditya S	2501	25
4	5	26	IM	Samunenkov Ihor	2501	2½		2½	GM	Sethuraman S.P.	2626	6
4	7	41	GM	Chanda Sandipan	2460	2½		2½	GM	Safarli Eltaj	2609	10
4	8	11	GM	Mendonca Leon Luke	2603	2½		2½	GM	Sadikhov Ulvi	2489	30
4	9	36	GM	Sanikidze Tornike	2475	2½		2½	GM	Harsha Bharathakoti	2602	12
4	11	17	GM	Iskandarov Misratdin	2577	2½		2½	IM	Prraneeth Vuppala	2442	44
4	15	57	IM	Ilamparthi A R	2388	2		2	GM	Romanov Evgeny	2578	16
4	17	23	GM	Aditya Mittal	2522	2		2	IM	Moksh Amit Doshi	2401	52
4	20	33	IM	Manish Anto Cristiano F	2485	2		2	FM	Chkhaidze Nikoloz	2253	96
4	22	35	GM	Raja Rithvik R	2476	2		2	WGM	Divya Deshmukh	2372	62
4	25	21	GM	Guliyev Namig	2540	1½		1½	FM	Dixit Nikhil	2257	94
4	27	37	IM	Babazada Khazar	2474	1½		1½	FM	Aradhya Garg	2284	82
4	29	65	IM	Dushyant Sharma	2355	1½		1½	IM	Samadov Read	2469	40
4	32	47	IM	Madaminov Mukhiddin	2422	1½		1½	WIM	Mahalakshmi M	2210	106
4	36	107	WGM	Srija Seshadri	2199	1½		1½	FM	Manafov Vugar	2399	54

Details

Links

Official site

Tournament regulations

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