Mr.Commonwealth Abhijeet Gupta wins 18th Delhi GM Open 2020

by Shahid Ahmed - 17/01/2020

Reigning and five-time Commonwealth Champion Abhijeet Gupta beat Aleksej Aleksandrov in the final round to clinch the championship in 18th Delhi International GM Open 2020. He finished at 8.5/10, a half point ahead of the field, won a huge trophy and ₹650000 cash prize. Aleksej Aleksandrov secured the runner-up position with a score of 8.0/10 according to the tie-break score, he received a huge trophy and ₹550000 cash prize. Pavel Ponkratov also finished with 8.0/10, he was placed third and won ₹450000 cash prize. The Category 'C' event was won by Bishwajit Singh Khagokpam of Manipur, he scored an unbeaten 9.5/10, followed by Shaurya Kumaria and Chiranjit Manna who finished second and third respectively. Photo: Niklesh Jain

Abhijeet Gupta wins the biggest prize money in India

Aleksej Aleksandrov enjoyed the sole lead from round 7 to 10, Abhijeet Gupta stayed in the title hunt during the entire chase. Sometimes chasing the championship is a bigger motivation to hunt the leader eventually when the time is right. That is exactly what happened with the five-time Commonwealth champion Abhijeet Gupta who stayed in the hunt and beat Aleksandrov when it mattered the most.

Podium finishers (L to R) - Second Runner-up Pavel Ponkratov, Champion Abhijeet Gupta and Runner-up Aleksej Aleksandrov | Photo: Niklesh Jain

Champion Abhijeet Gupta received the signature huge trophy and ₹650000 cash prize | Photo: Niklesh Jain

Abhijeet Gupta talks about final round game, winning the tournament and much more (Hindi audio) | Video: Niklesh Jain

Abhijeet - Aleksandrov

Playing a dubious sideline like 6...Nh5 in a crucial game is definitely not a good idea

Well sidelines may work against weaker players and in a less important game, however playing it against five-time Commonwealth champion and someone who is bent on going for a win in the final round is certainly not the ideal start for someone who was leading the tournament for the past few rounds.

Black's queen is menacing at e3 preventing the castle

Now on a regular day, Abhijeet might have considered playing 14.Qd2 or Qd3 instead of the 14.Qc2 but of course it was not just any other match.

Position after 17.Rae1

White is getting ready to launch an attack and now the queen at e3 is proving to be a liability for black and he hasn't devloped all his pieces properly.

Position after 21.Rh5

White has made his intent absolutely clear that he is going for a king side attack while black is yet to figure out what to do.

Position after 23.Ng4

Now the knight has also joined the party to attack and black should have used his knight to provide some kind of futile resistance with 23...Nf5 but he played the inexplicable 23...Qe8 instead.

Position after 26...h5

Black's positioned is doomed as white got his way with pieces and all the time to plan the assault on black's king side. Now it is just matter of time for white to convert it into a full point.

Aleksandrov needed a draw in the final round to clinch the championship, however a loss meant that he is guaranteed to secure the second position as his tie-break was much better than the rest at 8.0/10.

Runner-up Aleksej Aleksandrov scored 8.0/10, received a huge trophy and ₹550000 cash prize | Photo: Niklesh Jain

IM P Shyamnikhil had a fantastic unbeaten run in the tournament till the final round. Even in the final round, he had a huge advantage against GM Pavel Ponkratov.

Shyamnikhil - Ponkratov

Ponkratov's bluff 19...e4

Ponkratov bluffed with 19...e4 where actually nothing was happening. Shyam called his bluff and took the pawn with 20.Bxe4 f5 21.Bd5+ Be6 22.Ncxd4 and he got a huge advantage.

Position after 18.f3

It is quite evident that things are in White's favor and Shyam is playing absolutely perfect and white is in no trouble at all.

Position after 40...Qe8

Almost anything seems to be winning for white. White continued here with 41.Rc1 but white should have simple taken the pawn with 41.axb6, that would have made white four pawns ahead.

Position after 42...Qf8

White continued with 43.Rh6+ instead white missed an easier win. Can you find it?

Ponkratov explains his lucky win against Shyamnikhil | Video: Niklesh Jain

Second runner-up GM Pavel Ponkratov scored 8.0/10, won a trophy and ₹450000 cash prize | Photo: Niklesh Jain

Delhi Open defending champion Levan Pantsulaia scored a comfortable win against Stupak Kirill in the final round.

Fourth - Levan Pantsulaia scored 8.0/10 and got ₹350000 cash prize | Photo: Niklesh Jain

FM Pranesh M played the tournament of his life and finished it on a high note by defeating GM Visakh N R with a fine game.

Fifth - Pranesh received his maiden GM-norm, second IM-norm and also ₹250000 cash prize | Photo: Niklesh Jain

Pranesh performed at 2645, scored his second IM-norm and first GM-norm and increased his Elo rating by 88 points

FM Ameya Audi receives his final IM-norm, thus becoming the latest IM of the country | Photo: Niklesh Jain

FM Ameya Audi drew with GM Sahaj Grover in the final round. Ameya became the latest IM of the country.

Ameya Audi explains his win over GM Stanislav Bogdanovich in round 8 | Video: Niklesh Jain

Bishwajit Singh Khagokpam wins Category 'C'

Podium finishers (L to R) - 2nd Shaurya Kumaria 9.0/10, 3rd Chiranjit Manna 9.0/10 and Champion Bishwajit Singh Khagokpam | Photo: Niklesh Jain

Bishwajit Singh Khagokpam scored an unbeaten 9.5/10, increased his Elo rating by 90 points to win 18th Delhi International Open 2020 Category 'C'. He received a huge trophy and ₹300000 cash prize for his efforts. Runner-up Shaurya Kumaria of Chandigarh scored 9.0/10 and he had the best tie-break among the three players who finished with the same score. He won a huge trophy and ₹250000 cash prize. Chiranjit Manna of West Bengal also scored 9.0/10, he secured second runner-up position according to his tie-break score. He bagged home ₹200000 cash prize and a trophy.

The Category 'C' witnessed a total participation of 1260 players from six different countries which makes the total participation in the tournament 2347 in this year's edition.

Final Standings in Category 'C'

Rk.	SNo	Name	Typ	sex	FED	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	47	Khagokpam Bishwajit Singh			IND	1532	NEMan	9,5	0,0	64,5	69,5
2	358	Shaurya Kumaria			IND	1359	Cha	9,0	0,0	64,0	68,5
3	71	Manna Chiranjit			IND	1512	Wes	9,0	0,0	61,0	66,0
4	517	Sushant Tiwari			IND	1278	Del	9,0	0,0	57,0	60,5
5	1	Adalja Vanssh A	U15		IND	1599	Guj	8,5	0,0	69,0	75,0
6	1162	Rahul N Kamath			IND	0	Mah	8,5	0,0	65,0	70,5
7	145	Srihari K R	U15		IND	1464	TN	8,5	0,0	62,5	67,5
8	100	Vishnu Ram M			IND	1492	TN	8,5	0,0	62,0	66,5
9	33	Ritabrata Chakraborty	U15		IND	1543	Wes	8,5	0,0	60,5	65,5
10	118	Shahab Uddin			IND	1479	MP	8,5	0,0	60,0	64,5
11	308	Vinoth Kumar M			IND	1383	TN	8,5	0,0	60,0	62,0
12	22	Gopinath P			IND	1567	TN	8,5	0,0	58,5	63,5
13	3	Avhad Prajwal			IND	1599	Mah	8,5	0,0	54,5	59,5
14	10	Karthik E			IND	1582	TN	8,0	0,0	64,5	69,5
15	68	Narvekar Pruthviraj			IND	1513	Mah	8,0	0,0	64,5	69,0
16	246	Ghouse Kamardeen D			IND	1415	TN	8,0	0,0	63,5	68,5
17	17	Gabriel B M			IND	1572	Ker	8,0	0,0	62,0	66,0
18	190	Mohammad Mudassir			IND	1442	Tel	8,0	0,0	61,0	65,5
19	18	Piyush Kumar			IND	1572	Bih	8,0	0,0	59,0	64,0
20	54	Hriday Panchal	U15		IND	1527	Del	8,0	0,0	58,5	62,5
21	58	Sahil Bheron			IND	1525	Har	8,0	0,0	57,5	60,0
22	127	Sparsh Yadav			IND	1474	UP	8,0	0,0	57,5	60,0
23	134	Harsh Pareshbhai Ruparel			IND	1470	Guj	8,0	0,0	57,0	62,0
24	173	Priyank	U12		IND	1450	Del	8,0	0,0	57,0	60,5
25	272	Vasudevan K E			IND	1402	Ker	8,0	0,0	56,5	61,0
26	206	Sarvaliya Niraj			IND	1436	Guj	8,0	0,0	56,0	60,0
27	258	Vineesh P S			IND	1409	Ker	8,0	0,0	55,0	59,5
28	455	Dhiraj Patil			IND	1310	Mah	8,0	0,0	55,0	57,0
29	208	Aragonda Mohan			IND	1435	Tel	8,0	0,0	54,5	58,5
30	254	Rajendra Singh Rana			IND	1411	Utt	8,0	0,0	53,5	57,5

Complete standings

Replay all games

Round 10 results

Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.
1	5	GM	Gupta Abhijeet	2603	7½	1 - 0	8	GM	Aleksandrov Aleksej	2592	8
2	36	IM	Shyaamnikhil P	2458	7	0 - 1	7	GM	Ponkratov Pavel	2622	2
3	23	GM	Stupak Kirill	2506	7	0 - 1	7	GM	Pantsulaia Levan	2598	6
4	7	GM	Yakubboev Nodirbek	2597	7	½ - ½	7	GM	Fedorov Alexei	2562	14
5	21	GM	Visakh N R	2518	7	0 - 1	7	FM	Pranesh M	2317	59
6	3	GM	Karthikeyan Murali	2606	6½	1 - 0	6½	IM	Kaczur Florian	2485	27
7	37	GM	Lugovskoy Maxim	2453	6½	½ - ½	6½	GM	Martinez Alcantara Jose Eduardo	2606	4
8	29	GM	Vishnu Prasanna. V	2474	6½	0 - 1	6½	GM	Mchedlishvili Mikheil	2578	10
9	13	GM	David Alberto	2562	6½	½ - ½	6½	GM	Karthik Venkataraman	2479	28
10	15	GM	Lalith Babu M R	2558	6½	1 - 0	6½	IM	Nguyen Van Huy	2463	32
11	57	IM	Rathnakaran K.	2329	6½	1 - 0	6½	GM	Ghosh Diptayan	2550	16
12	17	GM	Tukhaev Adam	2548	6½	0 - 1	6½	IM	Krishna C R G	2436	38
13	19	GM	Debashis Das	2523	6½	1 - 0	6½	IM	Gusain Himal	2401	45
14	154		Vaibhav Jayant Raut	1969	6½	0 - 1	6½	GM	Harsha Bharathakoti	2502	24
15	25	GM	Rios Cristhian Camilo	2498	6½	1 - 0	6½		Jain Kashish Manoj	1962	158
16	1	GM	Amonatov Farrukh	2631	6	1 - 0	6½	IM	Neelash Saha	2356	54
17	9	GM	Goganov Aleksey	2583	6	1 - 0	6		Sammed Jaykumar Shete	2398	46
18	11	GM	Rozum Ivan	2573	6	½ - ½	6	IM	Abdisalimov Abdimalik	2381	48
19	12	GM	Bogdanovich Stanislav	2562	6	0 - 1	6		Sahoo Utkal Ranjan	2348	56
20	53	FM	Audi Ameya	2359	6	½ - ½	6	GM	Grover Sahaj	2521	20
21	64	IM	Sangma Rahul	2291	6	½ - ½	6	GM	Yudin Sergei	2508	22
22	26	GM	Vasquez Schroeder Rodrigo	2487	6	0 - 1	6	FM	Srihari L R	2302	61
23	65	FM	Rohith Krishna S	2289	6	½ - ½	6	IM	Vignesh N R	2472	30
24	31	IM	Nigmatov Ortik	2467	6	0 - 1	6		Pranav V	2265	70
25	33	IM	Taher Yoseph Theolifus	2462	6	1 - 0	6	FM	Wagh Suyog	2219	80

Complete results

Final standings

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	5	GM	Gupta Abhijeet	IND	2603	Del	8,5	0,0	61,0	65,0
2	8	GM	Aleksandrov Aleksej	BLR	2592	BLR	8,0	0,0	62,5	67,0
3	2	GM	Ponkratov Pavel	RUS	2622	RUS	8,0	0,0	58,5	63,5
4	6	GM	Pantsulaia Levan	GEO	2598	GEO	8,0	0,0	57,0	62,0
5	59	FM	Pranesh M	IND	2317	TN	8,0	0,0	57,0	60,5
6	7	GM	Yakubboev Nodirbek	UZB	2597	UZB	7,5	0,0	62,0	67,0
7	10	GM	Mchedlishvili Mikheil	GEO	2578	GEO	7,5	0,0	59,5	65,5
8	14	GM	Fedorov Alexei	BLR	2562	BLR	7,5	0,0	59,0	63,0
9	38	IM	Krishna C R G	IND	2436	AP	7,5	0,0	57,5	61,5
10	19	GM	Debashis Das	IND	2523	Ori	7,5	0,0	56,5	62,0
11	3	GM	Karthikeyan Murali	IND	2606	TN	7,5	0,0	56,5	60,5
12	57	IM	Rathnakaran K.	IND	2329	S Rlys	7,5	0,0	55,5	60,5
13	25	GM	Rios Cristhian Camilo	COL	2498	COL	7,5	0,0	55,5	60,0
14	15	GM	Lalith Babu M R	IND	2558	AP	7,5	0,0	54,5	59,5
15	24	GM	Harsha Bharathakoti	IND	2502	Tel	7,5	0,0	53,5	58,0
16	4	GM	Martinez Alcantara Jose Eduardo	PER	2606	PER	7,0	0,0	62,0	68,0
17	23	GM	Stupak Kirill	BLR	2506	BLR	7,0	0,0	61,5	66,0
18	37	GM	Lugovskoy Maxim	RUS	2453	RUS	7,0	0,0	61,0	66,5
19	28	GM	Karthik Venkataraman	IND	2479	AP	7,0	0,0	60,5	65,5
20	36	IM	Shyaamnikhil P	IND	2458	TN	7,0	0,0	59,5	65,0
21	21	GM	Visakh N R	IND	2518	TN	7,0	0,0	59,0	63,0
22	1	GM	Amonatov Farrukh	TJK	2631	TJK	7,0	0,0	58,5	64,0
23	41	IM	Das Sayantan	IND	2424	Wes	7,0	0,0	58,5	64,0
24	33	IM	Taher Yoseph Theolifus	INA	2462	INA	7,0	0,0	57,5	62,5
25	13	GM	David Alberto	ITA	2562	ITA	7,0	0,0	57,5	61,5
26	42	GM	Dzhumaev Marat	UZB	2422	UZB	7,0	0,0	57,0	62,0
27	9	GM	Goganov Aleksey	RUS	2583	RUS	7,0	0,0	56,0	60,5
28	43	IM	Khusenkhojaev Muhammad	TJK	2420	TJK	7,0	0,0	54,0	59,0
29	70		Pranav V	IND	2265	TN	7,0	0,0	54,0	58,0
30	61	FM	Srihari L R	IND	2302	TN	7,0	0,0	53,0	58,0

Complete pairings

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