25th Dubai Open R2: Vedant Panesar and Nitish Belurkar score upsets
GM Nihal Sarin scored his second win in Round 2 against GM Prraneeth Vuppala at 25th Dubai Open 2025. Tactically alert Nihal spotted his opponent's mistake by calculating the winning line with ease. IM Md. Imran held the reigning National Rapid 2025 champion, GM Iniyan Pa to a draw. FM Vedant Panesar and IM Nitish Belurkar scored two big wins over GM Aditya Mittal and GM Nikolozi Kacharava (GEO) respectively. Aditya dropped a pawn in a multi-piece endgame. Nikolozi misplayed in a sharp middlegame. Former Asian Junior champion, IM Raahul V S missed a few great opportunities to win against former European Individual champion, GM Aleksandar Indjic (SRB). Round 3 starts today at 5 p.m. local time, 6:30 p.m. IST. Photo: Dubai Chess & Culture Club
Raahul misses winning chances against Indjic
The Category A (>2300) has a strong field of 82 players including 31 GMs, 37 IMs and 4 WGMs from 22 countries with an average rating of 2463 and average age of 21. That certainly speaks volumes about the strength of the field. FM Sahib Singh held GM S L Narayanan to a solid draw. IM Jubin Jimmy defeated GM Momchil Petkov (BUL).
Nihal - Prraneeth: 1-0
The sole Classical rated game between GM Nihal Sarin (2693) and GM Prraneeth Vuppala (2474) occurred a little over 1.5 years ago at Qatar Masters 2023. Prraneeth won that battle but this time he faltered.
16...cxd4?? Nihal is very sharp. He does not miss these opportunities 17.Qxd4+- Qb6 18.Qxb6 Nxb6 19.Bf2 Nc4 20.Bc5 a5 21.Bxe7 Rf7 22.exf6 Bxf6 23.Bxb4 axb4 24.Nxd5 and White won the game as Black cannot avoid material loss.
Vedant - Aditya
GM Aditya Mittal (2547) blundered 27...Qd8?? His opponent, FM Vedant Panesar (2455) had no trouble spotting 28.Ne7+ Kh8 29.Rxd6 cxd6 30.Qxd6+- Qa8 31.h4 Ne6 32.Nxe5 and White went on to convert his advantage into a win comfortably.
Nitish - Nikolozi
GM Nikolozi Kacharava (GEO, 2516) should have played 21...Qb2. Perhaps to avoid complication, he opted for 21...Bxh6 which is not wrong either. 22.Nf6+ now Black had to go Kh8. However, he blundered 22...Kg7?? and dropped an exchange 23.Nxe8+ Rxe8 24.Qc3+ Kf7 25.Ra1 forcing the queen exchange and recover material too Bg7 26.Qxg7+ Kxg7 27.Rxa2 White converted his material advantage into a win without great difficulty.
Indjic - Raahul
IM Raahul V S (2378) got himself a great position after 18...d4 He gained material in the next few moves 19.exd4 Nf4 20.0-0-0 b4 21.Rde1 bxc3 22.dxc3 Kf8 and White had sufficient counterplay for the lost knight.
GM Aleksandar Indjic (SRB, 2637) played a flashy move 28.Qf6+?? However, it does not work due to Nd3+! 29.Kb1 now Black misplayed Qxe5 30.Ba3+ Ke8 31.Qxh4 Qe4 32.Qh8+ Kd7 33.Qxg7 is still winning for Black. However, he missed all of his opportunities and the game eventually ended in a draw. Find out what Black should have played instead of 29...Qxe5 to win comfortably.
Jubin - Momchil
In a sharp rook and double bishop endgame, GM Momchil Petkov (BUL, 2524) blundered 42...Re2?? Find out the winning continuation which IM Jubin Jimmy (2449) played in the game and also what Black should have done instead to stay in the fight.
A total of 82 players including 31 GMs, 37 IMs and 4 WGMs are taking part from 22 countries across the world in Category A (>2300). The ninee-day nine round Rating Open tournament is being organized by and at Dubai Chess & Culture Club in Dubai, United Arab Emirates from 27th May to 4th June 2025. The time control of the event was 90 minutes + 30 seconds increment per move.
Replay Round 2 games
Round 2 results in Category A
| Bo. | No. | White | FED | Rtg | Pts. | Result | Pts. | Black | FED | Rtg | No. | PGN | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | GM | Nihal, Sarin | IND | 2693 | 1 | 1 - 0 | 1 | GM | Prraneeth, Vuppala | IND | 2474 | 32 | PGN | ||
| 2 | 29 | IM | Muthaiah, Al | IND | 2487 | 1 | 0 - 1 | 1 | GM | Muradli, Mahammad | AZE | 2603 | 4 | PGN | ||
| 3 | 9 | GM | Iniyan, Pa | IND | 2573 | 1 | ½ - ½ | 1 | IM | Md, Imran | IND | 2472 | 34 | PGN | ||
| 4 | 33 | GM | Siddharth, Jagadeesh | SGP | 2472 | 1 | ½ - ½ | 1 | GM | Can, Emre | TUR | 2568 | 10 | PGN | ||
| 5 | 36 | IM | Srihari, L R | IND | 2468 | 1 | ½ - ½ | 1 | GM | Gorshtein, Ido | ISR | 2560 | 12 | PGN | ||
| 6 | 13 | GM | Bharath, Subramaniyam H | IND | 2556 | 1 | ½ - ½ | 1 | GM | Shyam, Sundar M. | IND | 2462 | 38 | PGN | ||
| 7 | 37 | IM | Harikrishnan.A.Ra, | IND | 2467 | 1 | 0 - 1 | 1 | GM | Grebnev, Aleksey | FID | 2556 | 14 | PGN | ||
| 8 | 39 | IM | Dotzer, Lukas | AUT | 2455 | 1 | 1 - 0 | 1 | GM | Sanal, Vahap | TUR | 2555 | 16 | PGN | ||
| 9 | 40 | FM | Panesar, Vedant | IND | 2455 | 1 | 1 - 0 | 1 | GM | Aditya, Mittal | IND | 2547 | 18 | PGN | ||
| 10 | 41 | IM | Nitish, Belurkar | IND | 2454 | 1 | 1 - 0 | 1 | GM | Kacharava, Nikolozi | GEO | 2516 | 22 | PGN |
Standings after Round 2
| Rk. | SNo | Name | Typ | sex | FED | Rtg | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | TB4 | TB5 | K | rtg+/- | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | GM | Nihal, Sarin | IND | 2693 | 2 | 2453 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 4,2 | |||
| 2 | 4 | GM | Muradli, Mahammad | AZE | 2603 | 2 | 2443 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 6,3 | |||
| 3 | 14 | GM | Grebnev, Aleksey | FID | 2556 | 2 | 2424 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 7 | |||
| 4 | 28 | IM | Rohith, Krishna S | IND | 2490 | 2 | 2387 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 7,3 | |||
| 5 | 39 | IM | Dotzer, Lukas | AUT | 2455 | 2 | 2299 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 9,3 | |||
| 6 | 40 | FM | Panesar, Vedant | IND | 2455 | 2 | 2277 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 9 | |||
| 7 | 41 | IM | Nitish, Belurkar | IND | 2454 | 2 | 2222 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 8 | |||
| 8 | 24 | GM | Parkhov, Yair | ISR | 2514 | 2 | 0,0 | 0 | 1,5 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 4 | |||
| 9 | 43 | IM | Jubin, Jimmy | IND | 2449 | 1,5 | 2524 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 8,8 | |||
| 10 | 58 | IM | Talibov, Shiroghlan | AZE | 2423 | 1,5 | 2514 | 0 | 1,5 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 8 |
Round 3 pairings
| Bo. | No. | White | FED | Rtg | Pts. | Result | Pts. | Black | FED | Rtg | No. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 28 | IM | Rohith, Krishna S | IND | 2490 | 2 | 2 | GM | Nihal, Sarin | IND | 2693 | 1 | |||
| 2 | 4 | GM | Muradli, Mahammad | AZE | 2603 | 2 | 2 | IM | Dotzer, Lukas | AUT | 2455 | 39 | |||
| 3 | 14 | GM | Grebnev, Aleksey | FID | 2556 | 2 | 2 | FM | Panesar, Vedant | IND | 2455 | 40 | |||
| 4 | 41 | IM | Nitish, Belurkar | IND | 2454 | 2 | 2 | GM | Parkhov, Yair | ISR | 2514 | 24 | |||
| 5 | 26 | GM | Boruchovsky, Avital | ISR | 2513 | 1½ | 1½ | GM | Pichot, Alan | ESP | 2587 | 7 | |||
| 6 | 27 | GM | Royal, Shreyas | ENG | 2493 | 1½ | 1½ | GM | Iniyan, Pa | IND | 2573 | 9 | |||
| 7 | 10 | GM | Can, Emre | TUR | 2568 | 1½ | 1½ | IM | Ilamparthi, A R | IND | 2469 | 35 | |||
| 8 | 33 | GM | Siddharth, Jagadeesh | SGP | 2472 | 1½ | 1½ | GM | Zemlyanskii, Ivan | RUS | 2563 | 11 | |||
| 9 | 12 | GM | Gorshtein, Ido | ISR | 2560 | 1½ | 1½ | IM | Jubin, Jimmy | IND | 2449 | 43 | |||
| 10 | 34 | IM | Md, Imran | IND | 2472 | 1½ | 1½ | GM | Bharath, Subramaniyam H | IND | 2556 | 13 |
Links
Dubai Chess: fb, twitter, instagram and youtube
|
25th Dubai Open R3: Rohith Krishna defies Nihal Sarin
@ 30/05/2025 by Shahid Ahmed (en) |
|
25th Dubai Open R1: Harshavardhan and Mayank stun Jingyao Tin and Abhijeet Gupta
@ 28/05/2025 by Shahid Ahmed (en) |