2nd Chennai GM R6: Aravindh Chithambaram astounds World no.2, Arjun Erigaisi
India's first and only triple crown National champion, Aravindh Chithambaram defeated the infallible, Arjun Erigaisi. Aravindh is known to be a difficult opponent for Arjun in recent times especially in Classical events. After making five draws, Aravindh was determined to break the streak. The World no.2 played the role of aggressor. However, he was unable to find anything substantial. His opponent found a beautiful which involved an optional bishop sacrifice. Arjun declined it and his position fell apart. Vidit Gujrathi missed a winning chance against Levon Aronian. Both Arjun and Aronian are now at 4/6 each, followed by Aravindh and M Amin Tabatabaei at 3.5/6 each. It goes without saying that the 2nd Chennai Grand Masters is going to have an exciting finish. Round 7 starts tomorrow at 11 a.m. IST. Photos: Anmol Bhargav and Himank Ghosh
Second edition is poised for an exciting finish
The penultimate round of the Challengers section was also an eventful one. Leon Luke Mendonca and Abhimanyu Puranik scored the wins over Karthikeyan Murali and R Vaishali respectively. Pranav V drew with Pranesh M. It resulted in Pranav maintaining his sole lead 5/6. Leon's win moved him closer to Pranav at 4.5/6. In the final round, they will face each other. A draw or a win makes Pranav a clear champion. Leon must win to become the winner and earn his place in the Masters next year.
Masters: Aravindh - Arjun: 1-0
Aravindh Chithambaram (2706) has not lost a Classical rated game against Arjun Erigaisi (2799) since 2018. Aravindh has been a tough opponent Arjun in recent times. He opted for the Trompowsky opening with the white pieces, the same line he prepared for Levon Aronian.
Black played aggressively 18...g4 19.hxg4 Nxg4 20.Bg3 Bg7 21.Rfe1 Nf8 22.Nh2 Nxh2 23.Bxh2 e5 the break only helped White 24.dxe5 Bxe5 25.Bxe5 Rxe5 26.Nf3 Re6 27.Rbd1 Bb7 28.Nd4 Rg6 29.Bh5 Rg5 30.Qe2 White is in full control.
34.e4 started a beautiful sequence Nxf4 35.exd5! playing like this against the World no.2 and the man in form, certainly shows Aravindh's confidence in his abilities. Of course 35...Nxh5 is not a good idea due to 36.Re7 Qc8 37.Qf2 and White would have won the game a bit earlier. The moves flowed harmoniously for White, although he was tense in time pressure. The finish was quite picturesque.
Vidit - Aronian: 0.5-0.5
Vidit Gujrathi has never beaten Levon Aronian in a Classical rated game. He had a good opportunity to improve that statistic.
White needed to gain control of the open e-file 27.Re1 Qg6 28.Qf4 and improve his pieces. Instead, he pushed a queenside pawn 27.b4 the fleeting opportunity went away and the game petered out to a draw.
Challengers: Leon - Karthikeyan: 1-0
This was the first time Leon Luke Mendonca (2631) facing Karthikeyan Murali (2625) in a Classical rated game. Karthikeyan did not respond correctly to Leon's prelude to his attack.
29...Kf7 30.Nxh7 Rxd4 is how Black needed to continue to survive slightly longer. Instead, 29...Kf8? just fell apart Black's position in a hurry 30.Rh3 h5 31.Nxh5! to open up the g and h-files gxh5 32.Qh8+ Kf7 33.Qxh5+ Kf6 34.Qh4+ Kf7 35.Qh7+ Kf8 36.Qh8+ Kf7 37.Rh7+ Kg6 38.Rh6+ Kf7 now White needed to play 39.Qe5 to finish things sooner. It was not easy to find it in time trouble. However, Leon went on to win the game without any difficulty.
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Masters Round 6 results
| Bo. | No. | Rtg | White | Result | Black | Rtg | No. | PGN | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8 | 2686 | GM | Tabatabaei, M. Amin | ½ - ½ | GM | Maghsoodloo, Parham | 2712 | 7 | PGN | ||
| 2 | 1 | 2706 | GM | Aravindh, Chithambaram Vr. | 1 - 0 | GM | Erigaisi, Arjun | 2799 | 6 | PGN | ||
| 3 | 2 | 2737 | GM | Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime | ½ - ½ | GM | Sarana, Alexey | 2679 | 5 | PGN | ||
| 4 | 3 | 2739 | GM | Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi | ½ - ½ | GM | Aronian, Levon | 2739 | 4 | PGN |
Standings after Round 6
| Rk. | SNo | Name | FED | RtgI | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | TB4 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 | GM | Erigaisi, Arjun | IND | 2799 | 4 | 0,5 | 10,75 | 3 | 3 | |
| 2 | 4 | GM | Aronian, Levon | USA | 2739 | 4 | 0,5 | 10,75 | 2 | 0 | |
| 3 | 1 | GM | Aravindh, Chithambaram Vr. | IND | 2706 | 3,5 | 0,5 | 11,00 | 1 | 0 | |
| 4 | 8 | GM | Tabatabaei, M. Amin | IRI | 2686 | 3,5 | 0,5 | 8,50 | 2 | 1 | |
| 5 | 2 | GM | Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime | FRA | 2737 | 2,5 | 1 | 6,25 | 1 | 0 | |
| 6 | 7 | GM | Maghsoodloo, Parham | IRI | 2712 | 2,5 | 0 | 6,75 | 1 | 0 | |
| 7 | 3 | GM | Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi | IND | 2739 | 2 | 0 | 6,75 | 0 | 0 | |
| 8 | 5 | GM | Sarana, Alexey | SRB | 2679 | 2 | 0 | 6,25 | 0 | 0 |
Round 7 pairings
| Bo. | No. | Rtg | White | Result | Black | Rtg | No. | PGN | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | 2739 | GM | Aronian, Levon | GM | Tabatabaei, M. Amin | 2686 | 8 | ||||
| 2 | 5 | 2679 | GM | Sarana, Alexey | GM | Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi | 2739 | 3 | ||||
| 3 | 6 | 2799 | GM | Erigaisi, Arjun | GM | Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime | 2737 | 2 | ||||
| 4 | 7 | 2712 | GM | Maghsoodloo, Parham | GM | Aravindh, Chithambaram Vr. | 2706 | 1 |
Challengers Round 6 results
| Bo. | No. | Rtg | White | Result | Black | Rtg | No. | PGN | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8 | 2631 | GM | Mendonca, Leon Luke | 1 - 0 | GM | Karthikeyan, Murali | 2625 | 7 | PGN | ||
| 2 | 1 | 2490 | GM | Vaishali, Rameshbabu | 0 - 1 | GM | Puranik, Abhimanyu | 2652 | 6 | PGN | ||
| 3 | 2 | 2677 | GM | Sadhwani, Raunak | ½ - ½ | GM | Dronavalli, Harika | 2493 | 5 | PGN | ||
| 4 | 3 | 2580 | GM | Pranesh, M | ½ - ½ | GM | Pranav, V | 2602 | 4 | PGN |
Standings after Round 6
| Rk. | SNo | Name | FED | RtgI | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | TB4 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | GM | Pranav, V | IND | 2602 | 5 | 0 | 11,25 | 4 | 2 | |
| 2 | 8 | GM | Mendonca, Leon Luke | IND | 2631 | 4,5 | 0 | 9,75 | 3 | 1 | |
| 3 | 2 | GM | Sadhwani, Raunak | IND | 2677 | 3,5 | 0 | 10,00 | 1 | 0 | |
| 4 | 6 | GM | Puranik, Abhimanyu | IND | 2652 | 3 | 1 | 7,00 | 2 | 2 | |
| 5 | 3 | GM | Pranesh, M | IND | 2580 | 3 | 0 | 8,75 | 1 | 0 | |
| 6 | 7 | GM | Karthikeyan, Murali | IND | 2625 | 2,5 | 0 | 6,00 | 2 | 1 | |
| 7 | 5 | GM | Dronavalli, Harika | IND | 2493 | 1,5 | 0 | 3,75 | 0 | 0 | |
| 8 | 1 | GM | Vaishali, Rameshbabu | IND | 2490 | 1 | 0 | 2,50 | 0 | 0 |
Round 7 pairings
| Bo. | No. | Rtg | White | Result | Black | Rtg | No. | PGN | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | 2602 | GM | Pranav, V | GM | Mendonca, Leon Luke | 2631 | 8 | ||||
| 2 | 5 | 2493 | GM | Dronavalli, Harika | GM | Pranesh, M | 2580 | 3 | ||||
| 3 | 6 | 2652 | GM | Puranik, Abhimanyu | GM | Sadhwani, Raunak | 2677 | 2 | ||||
| 4 | 7 | 2625 | GM | Karthikeyan, Murali | GM | Vaishali, Rameshbabu | 2490 | 1 |
Where to watch
The entire event will be live-streamed on ChessBase India youtube channel. You can also visit the venue by getting the tickets from Bookmyshow.
