29th Abu Dhabi Masters 2023 R7: Rathanvel's bravado against Artemiev
GM Vladimir Fedoseev (SLO) defeated GM Javokhir Sindarov (UZB) to maintain his sole lead 6/7 at 29th Abu Dhabi Masters 2023. GM-elect IM Rathanvel V S played the complex queen endgame bravely against GM Vladislav Artemiev. His courageous play earned him a draw. GM Aravindh Chithambaram got the better of GM Pranav Venkatesh. India's first and only triple crown champion showed some sharp play. He will face Fedoseev in the penultimate eighth round. Aravindh and GM Xiangyu Xu (CHN) are the only two players at 5.5/7 each. GM Prraneeth Vuppala defeated 44th Olympiad Gold medalist GM Jakhongir Vakhidov (UZB) to move to 5/7. Rathanvel, GM Aryan Chopra and GM S L Narayanan are also at 5/7 each. Round 8 starts today at 5 p.m. local time, 6:30 p.m. IST. Photos: Aditya Sur Roy
Can Aravindh stop the Fedoseev juggernaut?
Artemiev - Rathanvel: 0.5-0.5
IM Rathanvel V S (2491) did against GM Vladislav Artemiev (2698) what most would not even dare to do even if it is a necessity.
Where would you move your king in the above position - back or front? Black made a very bold and wise decision 51...Ka4 52.Qc2 Kb4+ 53.Qd2+ Kb3 54.Qc3+ Ka4 White is unable to go all in on his passed b-pawn because Black also has a threat on the kingside with his g and h-pawns. His well placed queen at g4 is protecting the e6-pawn and also making some threats on the kingside. Eventually Black managed to get a passed pawn on h3. However, the result ended in a draw. Despite the outcome, the endgame was fantastic as both side played intricately.
Pranav V - Aravindh
22...Nxb2! is an excellent move by GM Aravindh Chithambaram (2645). Computer refutes it 23.Rxb2 fxe4 24.Qxe4 Bxc3 25.Rxb6 cxd5 and the silicon monster says the position is equal which is a far cry from a human perspective. Thankfully, the game was played between two humans. So GM Pranav Venkatesh (2588) erred 23.Qc2? fxe4 24.Nd2 Nd3 25.dxc6 Nb4 26.Rxb4 axb4 27.Ncxe4 Kh8 28.Rb1 Rd4 29.Nb3 Rd5 30.Qc4 Be6 31.Qxb4 Qxc6 and Black won the game in another ten moves.
Jaime - Sandipan
The rook and same color bishop endgame lasted for a substantial amount of the endgame. It could have gone either player's way. After GM Jaime Santos Latasa (ESP, 2656) missed his opportunity. It was time for his opponent, GM Sandipan Chanda (2491) who is much stronger than his rating suggests, to seize his win. Unfortunately for him, he went 92...Rb4 and the game meandered into a draw. 92...Re4+ 93.Rxe4 fxe4 is completely winning for Black as he can use his bishop to fend off the connected b and c-passed pawns. The remaining kingside pawns are enough to win the game.
Vakhidov - Prraneeth
One tiny positional inaccuracy 31.Qc1? is all it took for GM Prraneeth Vuppala (2485) to grab his opportunity against the 44th Olympiad Gold medalist, GM Jakhongir Vakhidov (UZB, 2618). 31...Rb3 32.Re1 a5 33.a4 Qxa4 34.e6 White making an attempt to make things difficult fxe6 35.Qc2 Ra3 36.Qb2 e5 37.Qb1 Ra2 38.Rc1 Re2 39.Bxe5 Qc6 40.e4 Qxe4 41.Qxe4 Rxe4 and rest was just a matter of time which Prraneeth converted into a full point smoothly.
Muthaiah - Ethan
IM Muthiah Al (2458) made a beautiful smothered mate threat 27.Qxf7+. His opponent FM Ethan Vaz (2306) resigned as N/Rxf7 runs into 28.Ng6#
For more Round 7 photos, please click here.
Video Gallery
A total of 145 players including 41 GMs, 54 IMs, 6 WGMs and 3 WIMs are taking part from 22 countries across the world. The tournament is being organized by Abu Dhabi Chess Club & Mind Games from 16th to 24th August 2023 at Radisson Blu Hotel & Resort in Abu Dhabi Corniche Abu Dhabi, UAE. The nine-round Swiss league tournament has a time control of 90 minutes + 30 seconds increment from move no.1.
Replay Round 7 games
Round 7 results
Standings after Round 7
| Rk. | SNo | Rtg | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | |||
| 1 | 4 | Fedoseev, Vladimir | SLO | 2676 | 6 | 0 | 5 | 29,5 | |
| 2 | 18 | Xu, Xiangyu | CHN | 2608 | 5,5 | 0 | 4 | 30,5 | |
| 3 | 10 | Aravindh, Chithambaram Vr. | IND | 2645 | 5,5 | 0 | 4 | 27,5 | |
| 4 | 42 | Prraneeth, Vuppala | IND | 2485 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 26 | |
| 5 | 71 | Atakhan, Abtin | IRI | 2414 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 30 | |
| 6 | 2 | Anton Guijarro, David | ESP | 2693 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 30 | |
| 7 | 1 | Artemiev, Vladislav | RUS | 2698 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 29,5 | |
| 8 | 6 | Niemann, Hans Moke | USA | 2660 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 28,5 | |
| 9 | 59 | Abdisalimov, Abdimalik | UZB | 2438 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 31 | |
| 10 | 40 | Rathanvel, V S | IND | 2491 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 30,5 | |
| 11 | 11 | Aryan, Chopra | IND | 2641 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 30 | |
| 12 | 23 | Suleymanli, Aydin | AZE | 2586 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 28,5 | |
| 13 | 14 | Murzin, Volodar | FID | 2631 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 27,5 | |
| 14 | 19 | Lu, Shanglei | CHN | 2598 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 27,5 | |
| 15 | 3 | Matlakov, Maxim | RUS | 2677 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 27,5 | |
| 16 | 8 | Narayanan.S.L, | IND | 2656 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 25,5 | |
| 17 | 32 | Song, Raymond | TPE | 2512 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 24 | |
| 18 | 21 | Pranav, V | IND | 2588 | 4,5 | 0 | 4 | 30,5 | |
| 19 | 27 | Kobalia, Mikhail | FID | 2547 | 4,5 | 0 | 4 | 26,5 | |
| 50 | Urazayev, Arystanbek | KAZ | 2460 | 4,5 | 0 | 4 | 26,5 |
Round 8 pairings
| Rd. | Bo. | No. | Rtg | Pts. | Result | Pts. | Rtg | No. | ||||
| 8 | 1 | 10 | Aravindh Chithambaram Vr. | 2645 | 5½ | 6 | Fedoseev Vladimir | 2676 | 4 | |||
| 8 | 5 | 40 | Rathanvel V S | 2491 | 5 | 5 | Matlakov Maxim | 2677 | 3 | |||
| 8 | 7 | 8 | Narayanan.S.L | 2656 | 5 | 5 | Abdisalimov Abdimalik | 2438 | 59 | |||
| 8 | 8 | 42 | Prraneeth Vuppala | 2485 | 5 | 5 | Aryan Chopra | 2641 | 11 | |||
| 8 | 11 | 46 | Assaubayeva Bibisara | 2469 | 4½ | 4½ | Pranav V | 2588 | 21 | |||
| 8 | 12 | 24 | Karthik Venkataraman | 2562 | 4½ | 4½ | Muthaiah Al | 2458 | 51 | |||
| 8 | 15 | 34 | Pranesh M | 2503 | 4½ | 4½ | Rahman Ziaur | 2448 | 57 | |||
| 8 | 16 | 139 | Rakesh Kumar Jena | 2289 | 4½ | 4½ | Chanda Sandipan | 2491 | 39 | |||
| 8 | 18 | 67 | Rohith Krishna S | 2423 | 4 | 4 | Yakubboev Nodirbek | 2630 | 15 | |||
| 8 | 19 | 61 | Vantika Agrawal | 2430 | 4 | 4 | Vakhidov Jakhongir | 2618 | 17 | |||
| 8 | 22 | 68 | Hari Madhavan N B | 2418 | 4 | 4 | Raja Rithvik R | 2502 | 35 | |||
| 8 | 25 | 44 | Swapnil S. Dhopade | 2479 | 4 | 4 | Tarhan Adar | 2388 | 94 | |||
| 8 | 26 | 89 | Banh Gia Huy | 2391 | 4 | 4 | Stany G.A. | 2472 | 45 | |||
| 8 | 27 | 47 | Hakemi Arman | 2463 | 4 | 4 | Ajay Krishna S | 2388 | 93 | |||
| 8 | 28 | 48 | Faizrakhmanov Ramil | 2461 | 4 | 4 | Ayush Sharma | 2321 | 128 | |||
| 8 | 29 | 108 | Beydullayeva Govhar | 2355 | 4 | 4 | Swayams Mishra | 2452 | 53 | |||
| 8 | 30 | 56 | Ravi Teja S. | 2450 | 4 | 4 | Talibov Shiroghlan | 2337 | 120 | |||
| 8 | 31 | 125 | Dushyant Sharma | 2325 | 4 | 4 | Zhalmakhanov Ramazan | 2444 | 58 | |||
| 8 | 32 | 22 | Adhiban B. | 2587 | 3½ | 3½ | Abdurakhmonov Mukhammadali | 2384 | 98 | |||
| 8 | 33 | 38 | Davtyan Artur | 2497 | 3½ | 3½ | Divya Deshmukh | 2372 | 100 |
