Vishy Anand inaugurates Chennai Grand Masters 2023
Vishy Anand inaugurated Chennai Grand Masters 2023 by making the first move on D Gukesh and Arjun Erigaisi's board. They had a relatively calm draw. Alexandr Predke (SRB) had good chances against Pentala Harikrishna. However, he blundered away his advantage. The endgame expert, Harikrishna does not miss these chances to secure a half point. Pavel Eljanov (UKR) made an incorrect offer of queen trades which resulted in him losing an exchange. The already difficult endgame turned worse for him and his opponent Sanan Sjugirov (HUN) scored his first-ever Classical win over his opponent. Parham Maghsoodloo (IRI) was determined to push for a win but draw is the maximum result he could get. Round 3 starts tomorrow at 3 p.m. IST. Photos: Shahid Ahmed
Sanan scores the sole victory
Predke - Harikrishna: 0.5-0.5
GM Pentala Harikrishna (2696) faced GM Aleksandr Predke (SRB, 2689) for the first time in a rated game.
White blundered in the endgame 26.Kf3?? It allowed Ng4 27.h3 Rxa3+! if White takes Bxa3 then Ne5+ forks the king and rook, Black has managed to avert a difficult endgame.
Eljanov - Sanan: 0-1
The sole Classical rated game between GM Sanan Sjugirov (HUN, 2703) and GM Pavel Eljanov (UKR, 2691) ended in a draw earlier this summer in Budapest, Hungary.
34.Qd6 was probably the final mistake by White. Trading queens only helps Black to push his c-pawn faster with little to no resistance. 34...Qxd6 35.Rxd6 c4 36.Rxb6 c3 37.Rxb7 Rc8 38.Ra7 c2 39.Ra1 c1Q 40.Rxc1 Rxc1 the resultant exchange down endgame was practically difficult to defend. Soon, White misplayed and went on to lose the game.
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Round 2 results
| Bo. | No. | Rtg | Name | Result | Name | Rtg | No. | PGN | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8 | 2720 | GM | Gukesh, D | ½ - ½ | GM | Erigaisi, Arjun | 2727 | 5 | PGN | ||
| 2 | 6 | 2689 | GM | Predke, Alexandr | ½ - ½ | GM | Harikrishna, Pentala | 2696 | 4 | PGN | ||
| 3 | 7 | 2691 | GM | Eljanov, Pavel | 0 - 1 | GM | Sjugirov, Sanan | 2703 | 3 | PGN | ||
| 4 | 1 | 2723 | GM | Aronian, Levon | ½ - ½ | GM | Maghsoodloo, Parham | 2742 | 2 | PGN |
Standings after Round 2
| Rk. | SNo | Name | FED | Rtg | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | TB4 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | GM | Sjugirov, Sanan | HUN | 2703 | 1,5 | 0 | 1,50 | 1 | 1 | |
| 2 | 4 | GM | Harikrishna, Pentala | IND | 2696 | 1,5 | 0 | 1,00 | 1 | 0 | |
| 3 | 6 | GM | Predke, Alexandr | SRB | 2689 | 1 | 0 | 1,50 | 0 | 0 | |
| 4 | 1 | GM | Aronian, Levon | USA | 2723 | 1 | 0 | 0,75 | 0 | 0 | |
| 8 | GM | Gukesh, D | IND | 2720 | 1 | 0 | 0,75 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 6 | 7 | GM | Eljanov, Pavel | UKR | 2691 | 1 | 0 | 0,50 | 1 | 1 | |
| 7 | 2 | GM | Maghsoodloo, Parham | IRI | 2742 | 0,5 | 0 | 0,50 | 0 | 0 | |
| 5 | GM | Erigaisi, Arjun | IND | 2727 | 0,5 | 0 | 0,50 | 0 | 0 |
Round 3 pairings
| Bo. | No. | Rtg | Name | Result | Name | Rtg | No. | PGN | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 2742 | GM | Maghsoodloo, Parham | GM | Gukesh, D | 2720 | 8 | ||||
| 2 | 3 | 2703 | GM | Sjugirov, Sanan | GM | Aronian, Levon | 2723 | 1 | ||||
| 3 | 4 | 2696 | GM | Harikrishna, Pentala | GM | Eljanov, Pavel | 2691 | 7 | ||||
| 4 | 5 | 2727 | GM | Erigaisi, Arjun | GM | Predke, Alexandr | 2689 | 6 |
