Satty Zhuldyz Rapid R5-8: Arjun Erigaisi is on a roll, now World no.25

by Shahid Ahmed - 22/04/2023

Arjun Erigaisi continues his momentum from the previous day at Satty Zhuldyz Rapid and Blitz 2023. He started the day with a convincing victory over GM Jakhongir Vakhidov (UZB). Then he showcased positional prowess against the reigning two-time World Blitz Women's champion, IM Bibisara Assaubayeva (KAZ). The teenager registered his third victory of the day against the legend, GM Boris Gelfand (ISR), who ran out of time in an equal knight endgame. Arjun finished the day with a draw against the Germany no.1 GM Vincent Keymer. He is now a full point ahead of Levon Aronian at 7/8. They will meet each other in the penultimate round. Round 9 starts today at 5 p.m. local time, 4:30 p.m. IST. Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Only Arjun and Aronian undefeated so far

A new chapter is waiting to be written today between Arjun Erigaisi and the only two-time World Cup winner in history, Levon Aronian (USA). They are the only two who are unbeaten till Round 8. Their penultimate round clash could very well be Arjun's final hurdle towards his triumph in the Rapid portion of the event.

GM Arjun Erigaisi is the sole leader 3.5/4 | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Arjun Erigaisi is now World no.25 in Rapid live ratings | Source: 2700chess.com

Round 5: London System strikes

The only time GM Arjun Erigaisi (2685) faced GM Jakhongir Vakhidov (UZB, 2513) in a rated game, was at World Rapid 2021. It ended in a draw. This time, Arjun had the white pieces. He got a winning position out of the London System opening within the first 15 moves.

Arjun - Vakhidov

Position after 18.Ng5!

18.Ng5! is fantastic move. 18...hxg5 leads to a checkmate via 19.Qh5+ using the queen and rook. 18...Bxe5 does not alter the course either 19.dxe5 f6 20.Qh5 Qg7 21.exf6 Rxf6 22.0-0-0 Bd7 23.Nxe4 Be8 24.Rxg7 and Black resigned.

Full game: GM Arjun Erigaisi vs GM Jakhongir Vakhidov (UZB) | Video: ChessBase India

GM Arjun Erigaisi started his second day with an emphatic victory over GM Jakhongir Vakhidov (UZB) | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Final moments: GM Vladimir Kramnik vs GM Boris Gelfand (ISR): 0.5-0.5 | Video: ChessBase India

Audience view of Round 5 | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Round 6: Positional squeeze

GM Arjun Erigaisi (2685) faced the reigning two-time World Blitz Women's champion, IM Bibisara Assaubayeva (KAZ, 2359) for the first time in a rated game. He got a pleasant position in the middlegame once the queens were off the board.

Bibisara - Arjun

Position after 25...f6

25...f6 forced the queen exchange. 26.Qxd6 Bxd6 and Black made the most out of his space advantage. Eventually Black created a lot of pressure on the b-file, which led to White making an error which cost her the point.

IM Bibisara Assaubayeva (KAZ) and GM Arjun Erigaisi analyze their game | Video: ChessBase India

GM Arjun Erigaisi displayed his fantastic positional understanding | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

An aerial view of Round 6 | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Round 7: Six decisive games

GM Arjun Erigaisi faced the legendary GM Boris Gelfand (ISR, 2626) only once in a rated game in World Rapid 2021 which ended in a draw. This time the color got reversed and Arjun had the white pieces. The game was fairly balanced throughout, until Gelfand ran out of time in an equal knight endgame and lost the game.

Final moments: GM Arjun Erigaisi vs GM Boris Gelfand (ISR) | Video: ChessBase India

GM Arjun Erigaisi played a great game against GM Boris Gelfand (ISR) | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Full game: GM Javokhir Sindarov (UZB) vs GM Jakhongir Vakhidov (UZB) | Video: ChessBase India

All Uzbek battle: GM Javokhir Sindarov lost in a 16-move miniature against his Olympiad teammate GM Jakhongir Vakhidov | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Round 7 from a little kid's perspective | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Full game: GM Vincent Keymer (GER) vs GM Arjun Erigaisi | Video: ChessBase India

Round 8: GM Vincent Keymer (GER) - GM Arjun Erigaisi: 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Autographs for fans by - GM Vincent Keymer (GER) and... | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

...the World no.1 woman - GM Yifan Hou (CHN) | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

For more Round 5-8 photos, please click here.

GMs Levon Aronian and Kateryna Lagno make the ceremonial moves at Bibisara Assaubayeva Cup | Video: ChessBase India

Traditional and Authentic Kazakh menu for players at the Satty Zhuldyz Chess Festival 2023| Video: ChessBase India

Satty Zhuldyz 2023 Rapid Round 5-8 Live commentary by IM and WGM Jovanka Houska, FM James Canty | Video: ChessBase India

Replay Round 5-8 games

Round 5-8 results

Round 5 on 2023/04/21
Bo.	No.	Rtg		Name	Result		Name	Rtg	No.
1	3	2630	GM	Keymer, Vincent	½ - ½	GM	Lagno, Kateryna	2485	12
2	4	2756	GM	Kramnik, Vladimir	½ - ½	GM	Gelfand, Boris	2626	2
3	5	2720	GM	Aronian, Levon	1 - 0	IM	Assaubayeva, Bibisara	2359	1
4	6	2685	GM	Erigaisi, Arjun	1 - 0	GM	Vakhidov, Jakhongir	2513	11
5	7	2587	GM	Martirosyan, Haik M.	1 - 0	GM	Grischuk, Alexander	2731	10
6	8	2578	GM	Sindarov, Javokhir	½ - ½	GM	Hou, Yifan	2618	9
Round 6 on 2023/04/21
Bo.	No.	Rtg		Name	Result		Name	Rtg	No.
1	12	2485	GM	Lagno, Kateryna	1 - 0	GM	Hou, Yifan	2618	9
2	10	2731	GM	Grischuk, Alexander	1 - 0	GM	Sindarov, Javokhir	2578	8
3	11	2513	GM	Vakhidov, Jakhongir	½ - ½	GM	Martirosyan, Haik M.	2587	7
4	1	2359	IM	Assaubayeva, Bibisara	0 - 1	GM	Erigaisi, Arjun	2685	6
5	2	2626	GM	Gelfand, Boris	0 - 1	GM	Aronian, Levon	2720	5
6	3	2630	GM	Keymer, Vincent	0 - 1	GM	Kramnik, Vladimir	2756	4
Round 7 on 2023/04/21
Bo.	No.	Rtg		Name	Result		Name	Rtg	No.
1	4	2756	GM	Kramnik, Vladimir	1 - 0	GM	Lagno, Kateryna	2485	12
2	5	2720	GM	Aronian, Levon	1 - 0	GM	Keymer, Vincent	2630	3
3	6	2685	GM	Erigaisi, Arjun	1 - 0	GM	Gelfand, Boris	2626	2
4	7	2587	GM	Martirosyan, Haik M.	1 - 0	IM	Assaubayeva, Bibisara	2359	1
5	8	2578	GM	Sindarov, Javokhir	0 - 1	GM	Vakhidov, Jakhongir	2513	11
6	9	2618	GM	Hou, Yifan	0 - 1	GM	Grischuk, Alexander	2731	10
Round 8 on 2023/04/21
Bo.	No.	Rtg		Name	Result		Name	Rtg	No.
1	12	2485	GM	Lagno, Kateryna	½ - ½	GM	Grischuk, Alexander	2731	10
2	11	2513	GM	Vakhidov, Jakhongir	½ - ½	GM	Hou, Yifan	2618	9
3	1	2359	IM	Assaubayeva, Bibisara	½ - ½	GM	Sindarov, Javokhir	2578	8
4	2	2626	GM	Gelfand, Boris	½ - ½	GM	Martirosyan, Haik M.	2587	7
5	3	2630	GM	Keymer, Vincent	½ - ½	GM	Erigaisi, Arjun	2685	6
6	4	2756	GM	Kramnik, Vladimir	½ - ½	GM	Aronian, Levon	2720	5

Details

Standings after Round 8

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	6	GM	Erigaisi, Arjun	IND	2685	7	0	22,75	6
2	5	GM	Aronian, Levon	USA	2720	6	0	19,00	4
3	4	GM	Kramnik, Vladimir	RUS	2756	5	0	17,25	3
4	7	GM	Martirosyan, Haik M.	ARM	2587	4,5	1	14,50	3
5	10	GM	Grischuk, Alexander	RUS	2731	4,5	0	16,75	2
6	11	GM	Vakhidov, Jakhongir	UZB	2513	4	0	15,00	2
7	2	GM	Gelfand, Boris	ISR	2626	3,5	0,5	13,25	1
8	12	GM	Lagno, Kateryna	RUS	2485	3,5	0,5	11,50	1
9	3	GM	Keymer, Vincent	GER	2630	3	0	12,50	0
10	9	GM	Hou, Yifan	CHN	2618	2,5	0	10,50	1
11	1	IM	Assaubayeva, Bibisara	KAZ	2359	2,5	0	8,50	0
12	8	GM	Sindarov, Javokhir	UZB	2578	2	0	6,00	1

Details

Round 9-11 pairings

Round 9 on 2023/04/22
Bo.	No.	Rtg		Name	Result		Name	Rtg	No.
1	5	2720	GM	Aronian, Levon		GM	Lagno, Kateryna	2485	12
2	6	2685	GM	Erigaisi, Arjun		GM	Kramnik, Vladimir	2756	4
3	7	2587	GM	Martirosyan, Haik M.		GM	Keymer, Vincent	2630	3
4	8	2578	GM	Sindarov, Javokhir		GM	Gelfand, Boris	2626	2
5	9	2618	GM	Hou, Yifan		IM	Assaubayeva, Bibisara	2359	1
6	10	2731	GM	Grischuk, Alexander		GM	Vakhidov, Jakhongir	2513	11
Round 10 on 2023/04/22
Bo.	No.	Rtg		Name	Result		Name	Rtg	No.
1	12	2485	GM	Lagno, Kateryna		GM	Vakhidov, Jakhongir	2513	11
2	1	2359	IM	Assaubayeva, Bibisara		GM	Grischuk, Alexander	2731	10
3	2	2626	GM	Gelfand, Boris		GM	Hou, Yifan	2618	9
4	3	2630	GM	Keymer, Vincent		GM	Sindarov, Javokhir	2578	8
5	4	2756	GM	Kramnik, Vladimir		GM	Martirosyan, Haik M.	2587	7
6	5	2720	GM	Aronian, Levon		GM	Erigaisi, Arjun	2685	6
Round 11 on 2023/04/22
Bo.	No.	Rtg		Name	Result		Name	Rtg	No.
1	6	2685	GM	Erigaisi, Arjun		GM	Lagno, Kateryna	2485	12
2	7	2587	GM	Martirosyan, Haik M.		GM	Aronian, Levon	2720	5
3	8	2578	GM	Sindarov, Javokhir		GM	Kramnik, Vladimir	2756	4
4	9	2618	GM	Hou, Yifan		GM	Keymer, Vincent	2630	3
5	10	2731	GM	Grischuk, Alexander		GM	Gelfand, Boris	2626	2
6	11	2513	GM	Vakhidov, Jakhongir		IM	Assaubayeva, Bibisara	2359	1

Details

Links

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Tournament Regulations

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