Lakecity GM R08: Hesham Abdelrahman takes sole lead
Hesham Abdelrahman of Egypt defeated the Chilean Grandmaster Rodrigo Vásquez Schroder in the eighth round of Lakecity GM Open to register his fourth consecutive victory and take sole lead in the event. The much anticipated match-up between the in-form Indians Mitrabha Guha and Sayantan Das ended in a draw after a 73-move long battle. Elsewhere, Deepan Chakkravarthy too held top seed Ivan Rozum with the black pieces. Grandmaster Ziaur Rahman of Bangladesh suffered yet another shock as 2124 rated Maharashtrian player Pranav Shetty got the better of him with white pieces. In this report we bring you the games, analysis, and more.
A topsy-turvy skirmish between Hesham and Rodrigo!
The Hesham versus Rodrigo encounter in round eight of the event was one where fortunes kept changing hands till the very last moments of the game. The 26-year-old Egyptian had the White pieces and opted for a rather unusual line in the symmetrical English. Soon the position gained charge with imbalances and entered into wildly complex tactical terrain where both Grandmasters ended up losing their way. But ultimately it was the one to make the next-to-last mistake who emerged triumphant.
Hesham Abdelrahman - Rodrigo Vásquez Schroder, Round 8
Instead of 43.g5 White could have maintained a clear edge simply with 43.Rc2 Rxa3 44.Qe1 etc. But after 43.g5 Black had the chance to turn the tables completely on White with 43...Re4!! the point is, white queen doesn't have too many places to go to as leaving the h4-e1 diagonal runs into Re1 mate. And after something like 44.Qg3 Rc4 45.Re2 Rf3 46.Re7+ Ka6 47.Qe1 Rg4+ also White must give up his queen to prevent getting checkmated! In the game 43.g5? Rxa3? was played and with 44.Qe1 Rf4 45.Qe7+ Black unfortunately had to resign. It is surprising how the evaluation of the game kept fluctuating till the very last moment of the game!
Results of round eight
Bo. | No. | Name | Typ | Rtg | Club/City | Pts. | Result | Pts. | Name | Typ | Rtg | Club/City | No. | ||||
1 | 1 | GM | Rozum Ivan | 2596 | RUS | 6 | ½ - ½ | 6 | GM | Deepan Chakkravarthy J. | 2539 | RLYS | 2 | ||||
2 | 13 | GM | Hesham Abdelrahman | 2396 | EGY | 6 | 1 - 0 | 6 | GM | Vasquez Schroeder Rodrigo | 2476 | CHI | 6 | ||||
3 | 11 | FM | Mitrabha Guha | 2414 | WB | 6 | ½ - ½ | 6 | IM | Das Sayantan | 2434 | WB | 8 | ||||
4 | 7 | GM | Laxman R.R. | 2437 | ICF | 5½ | ½ - ½ | 5½ | IM | Konguvel Ponnuswamy | 2374 | TN | 17 | ||||
5 | 9 | GM | Neelotpal Das | 2433 | WB | 5½ | 1 - 0 | 5½ | Nayak Rajesh | 2227 | ODI | 25 | |||||
6 | 10 | GM | Lugovskoy Maxim | 2422 | RUS | 5½ | 1 - 0 | 5½ | Sahoo Utkal Ranjan | 2329 | ODI | 20 | |||||
7 | 19 | IM | Sidhant Mohapatra | 2357 | ODI | 5½ | 1 - 0 | 5½ | IM | Eraschenkov Denis | 2390 | RUS | 14 | ||||
8 | 3 | GM | Swapnil S. Dhopade | 2501 | RLYS | 5 | 1 - 0 | 5 | Zia Tahsin Tajwar | U15 | 2142 | BAN | 32 | ||||
9 | 33 | Pranav Shetty | 2124 | MAH | 5 | 1 - 0 | 5 | GM | Rahman Ziaur | 2492 | BAN | 4 | |||||
10 | 5 | GM | Saptarshi Roy | 2480 | WB | 5 | ½ - ½ | 5 | Dahale Atul | 2097 | MAH | 36 |
Standings after round eight
Rk. | SNo | Name | Typ | sex | FED | Rtg | Club/City | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | TB4 | TB5 | ||
1 | 13 | GM | Hesham Abdelrahman | EGY | 2396 | EGY | 7,0 | 0,0 | 38,5 | 42,5 | 36,00 | 7 | |||
2 | 2 | GM | Deepan Chakkravarthy J. | IND | 2539 | RLYS | 6,5 | 0,0 | 42,5 | 46,5 | 36,75 | 5 | |||
3 | 11 | FM | Mitrabha Guha | IND | 2414 | WB | 6,5 | 0,0 | 40,0 | 45,0 | 35,50 | 5 | |||
4 | 8 | IM | Das Sayantan | IND | 2434 | WB | 6,5 | 0,0 | 40,0 | 44,0 | 34,50 | 5 | |||
5 | 1 | GM | Rozum Ivan | RUS | 2596 | RUS | 6,5 | 0,0 | 39,5 | 42,5 | 33,00 | 5 | |||
6 | 10 | GM | Lugovskoy Maxim | RUS | 2422 | RUS | 6,5 | 0,0 | 38,5 | 42,0 | 32,75 | 6 | |||
7 | 9 | GM | Neelotpal Das | IND | 2433 | WB | 6,5 | 0,0 | 36,0 | 39,5 | 31,00 | 6 | |||
8 | 19 | IM | Sidhant Mohapatra | IND | 2357 | ODI | 6,5 | 0,0 | 35,0 | 39,0 | 31,75 | 5 | |||
9 | 6 | GM | Vasquez Schroeder Rodrigo | CHI | 2476 | CHI | 6,0 | 0,0 | 41,5 | 45,5 | 32,00 | 5 | |||
10 | 17 | IM | Konguvel Ponnuswamy | IND | 2374 | TN | 6,0 | 0,0 | 38,5 | 42,0 | 29,75 | 5 |
Check complete results and standings here.