Silver Lake Open R4: Raunak's beautiful bishop sacrifice

by Shahid Ahmed - 26/06/2021

Raunak Sadhwani made a beautiful bishop sacrifice against IM Zhandos Agmanov to score a victory in Round 4 of Silver Lake Open 2021. Nihal Sarin capitalized on his opponent GM Ulvi Sadikhov's blunder in the endgame to join the lead with Raunak 4.0/4. Based on their present form, it was inevitable that Nihal and Raunak will face each other in the tournament. Their fourth round battle could play a crucial role in deciding the winner of the tournament eventually. GM Abhimanyu Puranik is steadily moving forward 3.5/4. WIM Isha Sharma held GM Thal Abergel to a draw. Round 5 starts today at 8:30 p.m. IST. Photo: Rupali Mullick

Nihal and Raunak share the lead 4.0/4

Both Nihal and Raunak have won all their respective games to share the lead 4.0/4 at the conclusion of the fourth round. GM Abhimanyu Puranik stays in the hunt as he scored a win and moved to 3.5/4.

Nihal is the only player among top five seeds to have 3.0/3 | Photo: Rupali Mullick

Nihal - Sadikhov: 1-0

Nihal capitalized on his opponent GM Ulvi Sadikhov's blunder in a seemingly equal endgame.

Position after 32...Ra3

32...Ra3 completely disregards the intention behind 32.Qe4. Find out why it is a blunder and what Black should have played instead.

Nihal Sarin swindles his 2490 rated GM opponent | Nihal vs Sadikhov | Video: Sagar Shah

Nihal maintained his lead 4.0/4 | Photo: Rupali Mullick

Agmanov - Raunak: 0-1

IM Zhandos Agmanov had an opportunity to trade the knights but he declined it, eventually the knight caused nightmare for the white pieces.

Position after 41...Bc5

While the computer suggests 41...Qc6 or h4 to be better for Black, only humans will appreciate the sacrifice 41...Bc5. Sure there is nothing concrete for Black immediately but you know it's not easy for a human to defend the position over the board in a tournament.

Position after 47...Ne4

Surprisingly there is a defense for White in the above diagram but it is not so easy to find. White had to play 48.Rd8 Rf1+ 49.Bf2 Rxf2 50.Ke3 Qxg2 and now white goes for a perpetual 51.Qg8+ and salvages a draw. Of course Black is not forced to play 48...Rf1+. Nf6 is also there but then again there is nothing substantial in that variation either. So it proves the that sacrifice 41...Bc5 was absolutely a correct practical approach.

Now it's Raunak Sadhwani's turn to switch on the Tal Mode! | Video: Sagar Shah

Raunak scored another fantastic victory | Photo: Rupali Mullick

Boskovic - Puranik: 0-1

GM Abhimanyu Puranik kept munching pawns and his opponent IM Drasko Boskovic did not do much about it.

Position after 20.Rfb1

The game continued 20..Rxd3 21.R3b2 Qa3 22.Nxg6 hxg6 23.c5 and now Black was forced to play 23...Rxe3. Practically it worked out great. It is not necessary to play the best move always like 20...Bxd3, sometimes practical decisions work out well.

Abhimanyu scored a very nice victory 3.5/4 | Photo: Rupali Mullick

IM Zoran S Markovic defeated IM Harshit Raja | Photo: Rupali Mullick

WIM Isha Sharma held GM Thal Abergel to a draw | Photo: Rupali Mullick

FM Nadya Toncheva lost to IM Raahil Mullick | Photo: Rupali Mullick

IM Goran Arsovic won against WIM Rakshitta Ravi | Photo: Rupali Mullick

For more photos, click here.

Replay Round 4 games

Round 4 results

Rd.	Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.
4	1	3	GM	Nihal Sarin	2620	3	1 - 0	3	GM	Sadikhov Ulvi	2490	9
4	2	18	IM	Agmanov Zhandos	2404	3	0 - 1	3	GM	Sadhwani Raunak	2555	6
4	6	14	IM	Boskovic Drasko	2451	2½	0 - 1	2½	GM	Puranik Abhimanyu	2589	4
4	10	36	IM	Markovic Zoran S	2315	2½	1 - 0	2½	IM	Raja Harshit	2459	13
4	13	50	WIM	Sharma Isha	2237	2	½ - ½	2	GM	Abergel Thal	2420	17
4	15	56	FM	Toncheva Nadya	2201	2	0 - 1	2	IM	Mullick Raahil	2386	22
4	16	23	IM	Arsovic Goran	2381	2	1 - 0	2	WIM	Rakshitta Ravi	2190	58
4	48	70	CM	Kanov Nikola	2140	1	1 - 0	1		Devnani Kush	1855	114
4	51	123		Phatak Aanjaneya	1769	1	1 - 0	1		Rolic Gojko	2118	75
4	63	113		Muskinja Luka	1876	½	1 - 0	½		Rajveer Pinkesh Nahar	1598	131
4	36	72		Anaishaa Pinkesh Nahar	1155	1	0 - 1	1		Andric Nikola	1511	54

Details

Round 5 pairings

Rd.	Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.
5	1	6	GM	Sadhwani Raunak	2555	4		4	GM	Nihal Sarin	2620	3
5	3	4	GM	Puranik Abhimanyu	2589	3½		3½	IM	Markovic Zoran S	2315	36
5	11	22	IM	Mullick Raahil	2386	3		3	FM	Krasteva Beloslava	2305	39
5	15	8	GM	Damljanovic Branko	2501	2½		2½	WIM	Sharma Isha	2237	50
5	17	13	IM	Raja Harshit	2459	2½		2½		De Vleeschauwer Maarten	2198	57
5	34	58	WIM	Rakshitta Ravi	2190	2		2		Yakimenko Alexander A.	2058	90
5	39	37	GM	Dimitrov Vladimir	2314	1½		2		Phatak Aanjaneya	1769	123
5	57	89		Tonic Milos	2073	1		1		Devnani Kush	1855	114
5	62	131		Rajveer Pinkesh Nahar	1598	½		½		Katic Goran	1963	100
5	41	86		Mitic Aleksandar	0	1		1		Anaishaa Pinkesh Nahar	1155	72

Details

Links

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