18th Delhi GM Open 2020: Aleksandrov maintains sole lead, Himal in the fray

by Shahid Ahmed - 14/01/2020

Belarusian GM Alexej Aleksandrov maitained his sole lead by making a draw with Ukrainian GM Adam Tukhaev. He is currently leading with a score of 6.5/7. IM Himal Gusain beat GM Visakh N R and became the only Indian who is a half point behind the leader at 5.5/7. Currently seven Indians are at 5.5/7 and they are - GM Karthik Venkataraman, GM Diptayan Ghosh, FM Pranesh M, GM Abhijeet Gupta, IM Neelash Saha and untitled Lokesh N. While the top board on the eighth round witnesses an All-Belarussian battle between Aleksej Aleksandrov and Alexei Fedorov, the second board witnesses a match between two Indians, Himal Gusain and Abhijeet Gupta. Photo: Niklesh Jain

Himal at a half point behind the sole leader

Overnight leader Belarusian GM Aleksej Aleksandrov (2592) maintained his sole lead by making a draw against Ukrainian GM Adam Tukhaev (2548).

Tukhaev did not give any chances to Aleksandrov | Photo: Niklesh Jain

In Modern Defence Averbakh variation, Tukhaev thwarted all attempts of Aleksandrov to stir up any kind of trouble.

IM Florian Kaczur (2485) made a short draw in just 31 moves against Jose Eduardo Martinez (2606) after pieces got exchanged at a regular interval.

GM Karthik Venkataraman (2479) had a hard fought draw with GM Ivan Rozum (2573) in a game arising out of English opening.

GM Alexei Fedorov (2562) beat IM Ortik Nigmatov (2467) using sharp tactics to setup an All-Belarussian clash in the eighth round against the tournament leader GM Aleksej Aleksandrov.

GM Alexei Fedorov beat IM Ortik Nigmatov | Photo: Niklesh Jain

Fedorov - Nigmatov

Black made a mistake with 21...Rb7. Find out the correct continuation for white

IM Himal Gusain (2401) got a decent advantage out of the opening against GM Visakh N R (2518) which he had no trouble converting into a full point.

Himal is the only Indian who is at 6.0/7 | Photo: Niklesh Jain

14-year old FM Pranesh M (2317) continued his impressive run as he held GM Stupak Kirill (2506) to a draw. He is well on the verge of scoring his maiden GM-norm.

IM P Shyamnikhil (2458) held GM Farrukh Amonatov (2631) to a hard fought draw.

Reigning Commonwealth champion GM Abhijeet Gupta (2603) made a short work of IM C R G Krishna (2436) in just 26 moves.

Abhijeet scored a fine victory over Krishna in just 26 moves | Photo: Niklesh Jain

IM Neelash Saha (2356) defeated GM Cristhian Camilo Rios (2498) with a brilliant display of attack.

Neelash showcased his brilliant attacking skill against Cristhian | Photo: Niklesh Jain

Neelash - Cristhian

Find out why 14...f5 is a blunder

How should white continue the attack after 23...Kg8

White is completely winning here. Find out the best continuation for white after 26...e5

Untitled Lokesh N (2264) played a fine game to beat GM Valeriy Neverov (2460).

Lokesh scored his first win against a GM in the tournament | Photo: ChessBase India archives

Replay all games

Round 7 results

Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.
1	8	GM	Aleksandrov Aleksej	2592	6	½ - ½	5	GM	Tukhaev Adam	2548	17
2	27	IM	Kaczur Florian	2485	5	½ - ½	5	GM	Martinez Alcantara Jose Eduardo	2606	4
3	28	GM	Karthik Venkataraman	2479	5	½ - ½	5	GM	Rozum Ivan	2573	11
4	14	GM	Fedorov Alexei	2562	5	1 - 0	5	IM	Nigmatov Ortik	2467	31
5	16	GM	Ghosh Diptayan	2550	5	½ - ½	5	GM	Lugovskoy Maxim	2453	37
6	45	IM	Gusain Himal	2401	5	1 - 0	5	GM	Visakh N R	2518	21
7	59	FM	Pranesh M	2317	5	½ - ½	5	GM	Stupak Kirill	2506	23
8	36	IM	Shyaamnikhil P	2458	4½	½ - ½	4½	GM	Amonatov Farrukh	2631	1
9	38	IM	Krishna C R G	2436	4½	0 - 1	4½	GM	Gupta Abhijeet	2603	5
10	41	IM	Das Sayantan	2424	4½	0 - 1	4½	GM	Yakubboev Nodirbek	2597	7
11	42	GM	Dzhumaev Marat	2422	4½	½ - ½	4½	GM	David Alberto	2562	13
12	18	IM	Gholami Aryan	2541	4½	½ - ½	4½	FM	Audi Ameya	2359	53
13	48	IM	Abdisalimov Abdimalik	2381	4½	½ - ½	4½	GM	Debashis Das	2523	19
14	22	GM	Yudin Sergei	2508	4½	½ - ½	4½	FM	Rohith Krishna S	2289	65
15	24	GM	Harsha Bharathakoti	2502	4½	½ - ½	4½		Saurabh Anand	2269	69
16	54	IM	Neelash Saha	2356	4½	1 - 0	4½	GM	Rios Cristhian Camilo	2498	25
17	70		Pranav V	2265	4½	0 - 1	4½	GM	Vishnu Prasanna. V	2474	29
18	34	GM	Neverov Valeriy	2460	4½	0 - 1	4½		Lokesh N.	2264	71
19	6	GM	Pantsulaia Levan	2598	4	1 - 0	4½	WGM	Srija Seshadri	2225	79
20	2	GM	Ponkratov Pavel	2622	4	1 - 0	4	FM	Navalgund Niranjan	2246	75
21	74		Souhardo Basak	2254	4	0 - 1	4	GM	Karthikeyan Murali	2606	3
22	78	FM	Vatsal Singhania	2230	4	½ - ½	4	GM	Goganov Aleksey	2583	9
23	10	GM	Mchedlishvili Mikheil	2578	4	1 - 0	4	WIM	Arpita Mukherjee	2211	81
24	80	FM	Wagh Suyog	2219	4	0 - 1	4	GM	Bogdanovich Stanislav	2562	12
25	96		Dhananjay S	2144	4	½ - ½	4	GM	Lalith Babu M R	2558	15

Complete results

Round 8 pairings

Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.
1	8	GM	Aleksandrov Aleksej	2592	6½		6	GM	Fedorov Alexei	2562	14
2	5	GM	Gupta Abhijeet	2603	5½		6	IM	Gusain Himal	2401	45
3	29	GM	Vishnu Prasanna. V	2474	5½		5½	GM	Martinez Alcantara Jose Eduardo	2606	4
4	7	GM	Yakubboev Nodirbek	2597	5½		5½	IM	Kaczur Florian	2485	27
5	11	GM	Rozum Ivan	2573	5½		5½	IM	Neelash Saha	2356	54
6	71		Lokesh N.	2264	5½		5½	GM	Ghosh Diptayan	2550	16
7	17	GM	Tukhaev Adam	2548	5½		5½	FM	Pranesh M	2317	59
8	23	GM	Stupak Kirill	2506	5½		5½	GM	Karthik Venkataraman	2479	28
9	37	GM	Lugovskoy Maxim	2453	5½		5	GM	Ponkratov Pavel	2622	2
10	1	GM	Amonatov Farrukh	2631	5		5	GM	Hesham Abdelrahman	2429	40
11	3	GM	Karthikeyan Murali	2606	5		5	GM	Dzhumaev Marat	2422	42
12	43	IM	Khusenkhojaev Muhammad	2420	5		5	GM	Pantsulaia Levan	2598	6
13	44	GM	Karthikeyan P.	2416	5		5	GM	Mchedlishvili Mikheil	2578	10
14	53	FM	Audi Ameya	2359	5		5	GM	Bogdanovich Stanislav	2562	12
15	13	GM	David Alberto	2562	5		5		Sammed Jaykumar Shete	2398	46
16	57	IM	Rathnakaran K.	2329	5		5	IM	Gholami Aryan	2541	18
17	19	GM	Debashis Das	2523	5		5	IM	Muthaiah Al	2367	51
18	21	GM	Visakh N R	2518	5		5	IM	Abdisalimov Abdimalik	2381	48
19	61	FM	Srihari L R	2302	5		5	GM	Yudin Sergei	2508	22
20	65	FM	Rohith Krishna S	2289	5		5	GM	Harsha Bharathakoti	2502	24
21	69		Saurabh Anand	2269	5		5	GM	Vasquez Schroeder Rodrigo	2487	26
22	31	IM	Nigmatov Ortik	2467	5		5	IM	Sangma Rahul	2291	64
23	33	IM	Taher Yoseph Theolifus	2462	5		5	FM	Aaryan Varshney	2287	66
24	123		Mota Pankit	2060	5		5	IM	Shyaamnikhil P	2458	36
25	39	GM	Rahman Ziaur	2434	5		5	FM	Manish Anto Cristiano F	2280	68

Complete pairings

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