Sensational Nihal clinches Silver Lake Open 2021

by Shahid Ahmed - 01/07/2021

Nihal Sarin scored a victory in the last round to win Silver Lake Open 2021 with an unbeaten 8.0/9, a full point ahead of the competition. Nihal performed at 2807, gained 17 Elo rating points. He needed to win the last round to become a clear champion because a draw meant Raunak's result would decide his fate. Both runner-up Raunak Sadhwani and second runner-up Abhimanyu Puranik scored 7.0/9 each and they were also undefeated. They were placed second and third respectively according to their tie-breaks. IM Harshit Raja scored 6.5/9 and he secured tenth position. IM Raahil Mullick finished at 16th position with 6.0/9. Photo: Rupali Mullick

Invincible Indians claim top three places

Top three places were claimed by Indian players at Silver Lake Open 2021. Nihal Sarin, Raunak Sadhwani and Abhimanyu Puranik secured first, second and third place. Harshit Raja secured tenth place and Raahil Mullick was placed 16th.

Nihal Sarin is the winner of Silver Lake Open 2021 | Photo: Rupali Mullick

Top three finishers (L to R): Raunak Sadhwani - 3rd, Nihal Sarin - 1st and Abhimanyu Puranik - 2nd | Photo: Rupali Mullick

Nihal performed at 2807 and gained 17 Elo rating points

Round 8: Nihal - Puranik: 0.5-0.5

Nihal made a short 17-move draw with compatriot Abhimanyu Puranik.

Nihal Sarin vs Abhimanyu Puranik - Round 8 | Video: ChessBase India

Nihal faced Abhimanyu Puranik in the penultimate round | Photo: Rupali Mullick

Perunovic - Harshit: 0.5-0.5

IM Harshit Raja had an interesting draw with GM Milos Perunovic.

Harshit moved to 6.0/8 | Photo: Rupali Mullick

Boskovic - Raunak: 0-1

IM Drasko Boskovic's king was already dangling in danger. Then he made a tactical error which Raunak capitalized.

Position after 27.Qf3

27.Qf3 is a big mistake, as after 27...Qc4+ White is forced to play 28.Bd3 Rxe1+ 29.Kxe1 Qxb2 and it is all over. White went 29.Kg2 fxg4 and it is all over.

Raunak moved to 6.5/8 | Photo: Rupali Mullick

Stamatis - Raahil: 1-0

IM Raahil Mullick needed to go all-in with his plan against IM Stamatis Kourkoulos-Arditis.

Position after 28.a3

Instead of the text 28...Rh4, find out where Black should have moved the rook to maintain threats on White king?

Raahil suffered his third loss of the event | Photo: Rupali Mullick

GM Aleksa Strikovic defeated WIM Rakshitta Ravi | Photo: Rupali Mullick

WIM Isha Sharma drew with Dimitrios Papaioannou | Photo: Rupali Mullick

For more photos, click here.

Round 9: Damljanovic - Nihal: 0-1

Nihal got a good position out of the opening against GM Branko Damljanovic. He had to go for a win because a draw meant if Raunak wins then he may become champion because of better tie-breaks.

Position after 13...h5

It is evident from 13...h5 that Nihal is ready to maximize the opportunity that was presented.

Position after 27...b5

Now that all ideas on the kingside is exhausted, Black shifts his focus to the queenside. White's response of 28.a4 bxc4 29.Nxc4 Bxc4 30.bxc4 Rxb1 31.Rxb1 Nb4 gave Black the complete control. Soon Nihal gained a couple of pawns and rest was just a matter of technique.

Nihal Sarin wins Silver Lake Open 2021 with a full point ahead | Video: ChessBase India

Nihal scored a fantastic win in the final round | Photo: Rupali Mullick

Raunak - Stamatis: 0.5-0.5

Raunak made a solid draw with IM Stamatis Kourkoulos-Arditis in the final round.

Raunak Sadhwani gains 12 Elo points, moves to 2567 after 2nd place finish at the Silver Lake Open | Video: ChessBase India

Raunak remained undefeated in the entire tournament | Photo: Rupali Mullick

Puranik - Radovanovic: 1-0

GM Abhimanyu Puranik beat IM Nikola Radovanovic convincingly in the final round to secure third place.

Position after 24...Qb8

24...Qb8 is a mistake. Can you find out why?

"2600 is just a mental barrier for me" - Abhimanyu Puranik after 3rd place at the Silver Lake Open | Video: ChessBase India

Abhimanyu also had an unbeaten run | Photo: Rupali Mullick

Harshit - Sadikhov: 0.5-0.5

IM Harshit Raja had a relatively quiet draw with GM Ulvi Sadikhov.

IM Harshit Raja on beating 2519 rated GM in just 26 moves and balancing chess with education | Video: ChessBase India

Harshit moves closer to 2500 | Photo: Rupali Mullick

IM Raahil Mullick won his final round game against Nikolaos Koutlas | Photo: Rupali Mullick

FM Luka Ristic defeated WIM Rakshitta Ravi | Photo: Rupali Mullick

Prize distribution ceremony

Runner-up - GM Raunak Sadhwani 7.0/9 | Photo: Rupali Mullick

Second Runner-up - GM Abhimanyu Puranik 7.0/9 | Photo: Rupali Mullick

10th - IM Harshit Raja 6.5/9 | Photo: Rupali Mullick

Top five Indian finishers (L to R) - Raunak, Harshit, Nihal, Abhimanyu and Raunak | Photo: Rupali Mullick

For more photos, click here.

Replay Round 8-9 games

Round 8 results

Rd.	Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.
8	1	3	GM	Nihal Sarin	2620	6½	½ - ½	5½	GM	Puranik Abhimanyu	2589	4
8	3	5	GM	Perunovic Milos	2567	5½	½ - ½	5½	IM	Raja Harshit	2459	13
8	4	14	IM	Boskovic Drasko	2451	5½	0 - 1	5½	GM	Sadhwani Raunak	2555	6
8	6	10	IM	Kourkoulos-Arditis Stamatis	2485	5	1 - 0	5	IM	Mullick Raahil	2386	22
8	11	12	GM	Strikovic Aleksa	2469	4½	1 - 0	4½	WIM	Rakshitta Ravi	2190	58
8	34	50	WIM	Sharma Isha	2237	3½	½ - ½	3½		Papaioannou Dimitrios	1924	106
8	51	88		Parkajic Branislav	2078	2½	1 - 0	2½		Rajveer Pinkesh Nahar	1598	131
8	54	123		Phatak Aanjaneya	1769	2½	1 - 0	2½		Tomic Stjepan	1928	103
8	58	114		Devnani Kush	1855	2	1 - 0	2		Tisma Ivan	2055	92
8	19	72		Anaishaa Pinkesh Nahar	1155	4	0 - 1	4		Milunovic Sasa	1865	25

Details

Round 9 results

Rd.	Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.
9	1	8	GM	Damljanovic Branko	2501	6½	0 - 1	7	GM	Nihal Sarin	2620	3
9	2	6	GM	Sadhwani Raunak	2555	6½	½ - ½	6	IM	Kourkoulos-Arditis Stamatis	2485	10
9	3	4	GM	Puranik Abhimanyu	2589	6	1 - 0	6	IM	Radovanovic Nikola	2395	19
9	5	13	IM	Raja Harshit	2459	6	½ - ½	6	GM	Sadikhov Ulvi	2490	9
9	13	22	IM	Mullick Raahil	2386	5	1 - 0	5		Koutlas Nikolaos	2078	87
9	20	40	FM	Ristic Luka	2300	4½	1 - 0	4½	WIM	Rakshitta Ravi	2190	58
9	40	123		Phatak Aanjaneya	1769	3½	1 - 0	3½		Horvat Damjan	2167	66
9	45	84		Herega Nejc	2099	3	- - +	3		Devnani Kush	1855	114
9	52	131		Rajveer Pinkesh Nahar	1598	2½	+ - -	2½		Anacoglu Cisel	1924	105
9	66	50	WIM	Sharma Isha	2237	4	0			not paired
9	25	36		Jankovic Igor	1765	4	0 - 1	4		Anaishaa Pinkesh Nahar	1155	72

Details

Final Standings

Rk.	SNo		Name	Typ	sex	Gr	FED	Rtg	TB1	TB2	TB3	Rp	n	w	we	w-we	K	rtg+/-
1	3	GM	Nihal Sarin	U18			IND	2620	8,0	49,5	0,0	2807	9	8	6,26	1,74	10	17,4
2	6	GM	Sadhwani Raunak	U18			IND	2555	7,0	51,0	0,0	2660	9	7	5,75	1,25	10	12,5
3	4	GM	Puranik Abhimanyu				IND	2589	7,0	48,5	0,0	2581	9	7	6,92	0,08	10	0,8
4	11	IM	Makhnev Denis				KAZ	2480	7,0	44,5	0,0	2562	9	7	6,02	0,98	10	9,8
5	9	GM	Sadikhov Ulvi				AZE	2490	6,5	47,0	0,0	2516	9	6,5	6,05	0,45	10	4,5
6	1	GM	Ter-Sahakyan Samvel				ARM	2644	6,5	46,0	0,0	2559	9	6,5	7,17	-0,67	10	-6,7
7	18	IM	Agmanov Zhandos				KAZ	2404	6,5	46,0	0,0	2460	9	6,5	5,73	0,77	10	7,7
8	10	IM	Kourkoulos-Arditis Stamatis				GRE	2485	6,5	45,5	0,0	2508	9	6,5	6,13	0,37	10	3,7
9	14	IM	Boskovic Drasko				SRB	2451	6,5	45,5	0,0	2514	9	6,5	5,60	0,90	10	9,0
10	13	IM	Raja Harshit				IND	2459	6,5	44,5	0,0	2508	9	6,5	5,78	0,72	10	7,2
11	7	GM	Sedlak Nikola				SRB	2519	6,5	44,0	0,0	2516	9	6,5	6,37	0,13	10	1,3
12	31	FM	Vetokhin Savva	U18			RUS	2324	6,5	41,5	0,0	2470	9	6,5	4,71	1,79	20	35,8
13	8	GM	Damljanovic Branko	S60			SRB	2501	6,5	39,0	0,0	2467	9	6,5	6,48	0,02	10	0,2
14	19	IM	Radovanovic Nikola				SRB	2395	6,0	48,0	0,0	2557	9	6	4,02	1,98	10	19,8
15	5	GM	Perunovic Milos				SRB	2567	6,0	45,0	0,0	2469	8	5,5	6,25	-0,75	10	-7,5
16	22	IM	Mullick Raahil	U18			IND	2386	6,0	44,0	0,0	2445	9	6	5,21	0,79	20	15,8
17	34	FM	Pasti Aron	U18			HUN	2318	6,0	39,5	1,0	2260	9	6	6,50	-0,50	20	-10,0
18	76	WFM	Balabayeva Xeniya	U18	w		KAZ	2116	6,0	39,5	0,0	2390	9	6	2,82	3,18	40	127,2
19	102		Erdogmus Yagiz Kaan	U18			TUR	1955	6,0	39,0	0,0	2303	8	5	1,53	3,47	40	138,8
20	20	IM	Megalios Konstantinos				GRE	2390	5,5	46,0	0,0	2416	9	5,5	5,06	0,44	10	4,4

Details

Links

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