1st Maharashtra GM Open 2022 R5-6: Srihari L R shines

by Shahid Ahmed - 04/06/2022

Srihari L R is the sole IM among seven players who is in the lead 5/6 at 1st Maharashtra GM Open 2022. He started the day with a victory over GM Aleksej Aleksandrov. In the sixth round, he was substantially better against GM Deep Sengupta in the endgame. However, it was not easy to convert, the game ended in a draw. GM Deep Sengupta and GM Arjun Kalyan are the remaining two Indians in the lead. IM Bhakti Kulkarni is the highest scorer among female participants so far 4.5/6, followed by WGM Divya Deshmukh 4/6 and WGM Priyanka Nutakki 3.5/6. Round 7 starts today at 10:0 a.m. IST. Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Seven in the lead

Eleven players in pursuit of the leaders. They are trailing by a half point at 4.5/6 each. Out of them, only two untitled players are there - Utsab Chatterjee (2403) and Kaustuv Kundu (2327).

IM Srihari L R is playing well in this event so far | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Round 5: Aleksandrov - Srihari L R: 1-0

IM Srihari L R (2404) made the most out of his opponent GM Aleksej Aleksandrov's (2492) inaccurate play in the middlegame.

Position after 16.Qb1

A series of mistakes started with 14.dxe5 Qxe5 15.f4 Qc7 16.Qb1 Nb3 17.f5 Qb6. Precise play by Srihari earned him a full point and put him among the leaders.

GM Aleksej Aleksandrov arrived at a lost position in less than 20 moves against IM Srihari L R | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Venkatesh - Ameya: 0-1

IM Ameya Audi (2389) got a pleasant position out of the Scotch opening against GM Venkatesh M R (2490).

Position after 31.Bc3

While the computer might suggest 31...Qg6 to be the best continuation for Black, Ameya opted for the humane 31...Nxc3 which seems to be much better. However, after 32.bxc3 he made an error of playing Rc4. 32...Rdg4 and things would have been fine. Find out what did both players miss after 32...Rc4, the sole winning opportunity for White.

IM Ameya Audi (right) scored a convincing victory over GM Venkatesh M R | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Kaustuv Kundu - IM Nubairshah Shaikh: 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

GM Alexei Fedorov - FM Jubin Jimmy: 0-1 | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

FM Sharan Rao - GM Azer Mirzoev (AZE): 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

IM N Krishna Teja - Aanjaneya Phatak (pictured): 0-1 | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Round 6: IM Srihari L R - GM Deep Sengupta: 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

GM Venkatesh M R - WGM Priyanka Nutakki: 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

IM Ortik Nigmatov (UZB) - FM Sharan Rao: 0-1 | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

IM Raahul V S - Srihari L: 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

FM Kashish Manoj Jain (pictured) - GM Karthikeyan P: 1-0 | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

GM Deepan Chakkravarthy celebrates his birthday in presence of IA Rajendra Shidore, IA Paul Arokia Raj S and IM V Saravanan | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

"After trying twenty different games, I wanted to be a chess player" - Atharva Godbole | Video: ChessBase India

"My whole life is devoted to Chess" - The inspiring story of Milind B Naik | Video: ChessBase India

For more Round 5 and Round 6 photos, please click at the respective links.

A total of 141 players including 20 GMs, 29 IMs, 6 WGM and 9 WIMs are taking part from 13 countries across the world including India. The tournament is organized by Maharashtra Chess Association from 31st May to 8th June 2022 at Balewadi Sports Complex, Pune, Maharashtra. The eleven-round Swiss league tournament has a time control of 90 minutes + 30 seconds increment from move no.1.

Replay Round 5-6 games

Round 6 results

Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.
1	2	GM	Paichadze Luka	2567	4½	½ - ½	4½	GM	Arjun Kalyan	2477	13
2	24	IM	Srihari L R	2404	4½	½ - ½	4½	GM	Sengupta Deep	2526	5
3	6	GM	Savchenko Boris	2524	4	1 - 0	4½	GM	Nguyen Duc Hoa	2398	26
4	18	IM	Neelash Saha	2439	4	0 - 1	4	GM	Amonatov Farrukh	2622	1
5	19	GM	Vishnu Prasanna. V	2437	4	½ - ½	4	GM	Lalith Babu M R	2563	3
6	31	IM	Kulkarni Bhakti	2370	4	½ - ½	4	IM	Aditya Mittal	2490	9
7	28	IM	Audi Ameya	2389	4	0 - 1	4	GM	Nikitenko Mihail	2479	11
8	40	CM	Kushagra Mohan	2343	3½	0 - 1	3½	GM	Aleksandrov Aleksej	2492	7
9	10	GM	Karthik Venkataraman	2480	3½	1 - 0	3½	IM	Gusain Himal	2396	27
10	16	IM	Mohammad Nubairshah Shaikh	2443	3½	½ - ½	3½	IM	Anuj Shrivatri	2356	35
11	56	FM	Jubin Jimmy	2259	3½	0 - 1	3½	GM	Stupak Kirill	2440	17
12	20	FM	Samant Aditya S	2433	3½	0 - 1	3½		Kaustuv Kundu	2327	45
13	70	IM	Deshmukh Anup	2178	3½	0 - 1	3½	GM	Nguyen Van Huy	2405	23
14	81		Phatak Aanjaneya	2145	3½	0 - 1	3½		Utsab Chatterjee	2403	25
15	8	GM	Venkatesh M.R.	2490	3	½ - ½	3	WIM	Priyanka Nutakki	2303	52

Details

Round 7 pairings

Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.
1	1	GM	Amonatov Farrukh	2622	5		5	IM	Srihari L R	2404	24
2	11	GM	Nikitenko Mihail	2479	5		5	GM	Paichadze Luka	2567	2
3	5	GM	Sengupta Deep	2526	5		5	GM	Savchenko Boris	2524	6
4	13	GM	Arjun Kalyan	2477	5		4½	GM	Aleksandrov Aleksej	2492	7
5	3	GM	Lalith Babu M R	2563	4½		4½	GM	Nguyen Van Huy	2405	23
6	9	IM	Aditya Mittal	2490	4½		4½		Utsab Chatterjee	2403	25
7	45		Kaustuv Kundu	2327	4½		4½	GM	Karthik Venkataraman	2480	10
8	17	GM	Stupak Kirill	2440	4½		4½	IM	Kulkarni Bhakti	2370	31
9	26	GM	Nguyen Duc Hoa	2398	4½		4½	GM	Vishnu Prasanna. V	2437	19
10	41	FM	Panesar Vedant	2337	4		4	GM	Deepan Chakkravarthy J.	2478	12
11	47	WGM	Divya Deshmukh	2317	4		4	GM	Mirzoev Azer	2476	14
12	50	FM	Aaryan Varshney	2308	4		4	IM	Mohammad Nubairshah Shaikh	2443	16
13	54	FM	Jain Kashish Manoj	2271	4		4	IM	Neelash Saha	2439	18
14	53	FM	Sharan Rao	2274	4		4	GM	Hossain Enamul	2413	22
15	103		Aakash Sharadchandra Dalvi	2074	4		4	IM	Audi Ameya	2389	28

Details

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