Sasikiran and Nesterov join Aryan in the chase
The eighth round battles will be interesting as two out of the top three boards will be All-Indian clashes: GM Krishnan Sasikiran vs GM Aryan Chopra and GM Harsha Bharathakoti vs IM Ayush Sharma. The top board match will be between GM Leon Luke Mendonca and GM Arseniy Nesterov.
GM Aryan Chopra and GM Leon Luke Mendonca drew their game against each other | Photo: Biel Chess Festival
Bibisara - Sasikiran
Position after 24.b5?
24.b5? allowed Black to place his knight firmly on b4 and gain control of the b-file. 24...Nb4 25.Qc1 Qf6 26.f3 Na2 27.Nxa2 Rxa2 28.Rd2 Ra4 29.Kf2 Rda8 and Black soon converted his positional advantage into a win.
GM Krishnan Sasikiran en route his victory over IM Bibisara Assaubayeva (KAZ) | Photo: Biel Chess Festival
Top boards | Photo: Biel Chess Festival
Replay all MTO Round 7 games
Round 7 results
| Bo. | No. | Name | Rtg | Pts. | Result | Pts. | Name | Rtg | No. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | GM | Aryan, Chopra | 2632 | 5 | ½ - ½ | 5½ | GM | Mendonca, Leon Luke | 2615 | 2 | ||
| 2 | 13 | Xiao, Tong(Qd) | 2518 | 4½ | 0 - 1 | 4½ | GM | Nesterov, Arseniy | 2602 | 3 | |||
| 3 | 18 | IM | Assaubayeva, Bibisara | 2472 | 4½ | 0 - 1 | 4½ | GM | Sasikiran, Krishnan | 2581 | 6 | ||
| 4 | 30 | IM | Gan-Erdene, Sugar | 2407 | 4½ | ½ - ½ | 4½ | GM | Harsha, Bharathakoti | 2569 | 8 | ||
| 5 | 9 | GM | Jumabayev, Rinat | 2565 | 4½ | ½ - ½ | 4½ | IM | Materia, Marco | 2453 | 22 | ||
| 6 | 15 | IM | Madaminov, Mukhiddin | 2512 | 4½ | ½ - ½ | 4½ | GM | Gavrilescu, David | 2540 | 10 | ||
| 7 | 23 | Xue, Haowen | 2452 | 4½ | ½ - ½ | 4½ | GM | Koustav, Chatterjee | 2525 | 12 | |||
| 8 | 17 | IM | Macovei, Andrei | 2479 | 4 | ½ - ½ | 4½ | IM | Petkidis, Anthony | 2428 | 28 | ||
| 9 | 5 | GM | Sethuraman, S.P. | 2589 | 4 | ½ - ½ | 4 | IM | Ritviz, Parab | 2334 | 46 | ||
| 10 | 7 | GM | Moiseenko, Alexander | 2570 | 4 | ½ - ½ | 4 | FM | Dotzer, Lukas | 2375 | 38 |
Standings after Round 7
| Rk. | SNo | Name | sex | FED | RtgI | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | GM | Mendonca, Leon Luke | IND | 2615 | 6 | 0 | 24,00 | 25,5 | ||
| 2 | 1 | GM | Aryan, Chopra | IND | 2632 | 5,5 | 0 | 23,00 | 27,5 | ||
| 3 | 6 | GM | Sasikiran, Krishnan | IND | 2581 | 5,5 | 0 | 22,50 | 27 | ||
| 4 | 3 | GM | Nesterov, Arseniy | FID | 2602 | 5,5 | 0 | 20,50 | 24,5 | ||
| 5 | 9 | GM | Jumabayev, Rinat | KAZ | 2565 | 5 | 0 | 23,50 | 30 | ||
| 6 | 23 | Xue, Haowen | CHN | 2452 | 5 | 0 | 21,75 | 28,5 | |||
| 7 | 30 | IM | Gan-Erdene, Sugar | MGL | 2407 | 5 | 0 | 20,50 | 27,5 | ||
| 8 | 14 | GM | Sokolovsky, Yahli | ISR | 2516 | 5 | 0 | 20,00 | 27,5 | ||
| 9 | 8 | GM | Harsha, Bharathakoti | IND | 2569 | 5 | 0 | 20,00 | 27 | ||
| 10 | 12 | GM | Koustav, Chatterjee | IND | 2525 | 5 | 0 | 19,50 | 26 |
Round 8 pairings
| Bo. | No. | Name | Rtg | Pts. | Result | Pts. | Name | Rtg | No. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | GM | Mendonca, Leon Luke | 2615 | 6 | 5½ | GM | Nesterov, Arseniy | 2602 | 3 | |||
| 2 | 6 | GM | Sasikiran, Krishnan | 2581 | 5½ | 5½ | GM | Aryan, Chopra | 2632 | 1 | |||
| 3 | 8 | GM | Harsha, Bharathakoti | 2569 | 5 | 5 | IM | Ayush, Sharma | 2342 | 44 | |||
| 4 | 28 | IM | Petkidis, Anthony | 2428 | 5 | 5 | GM | Jumabayev, Rinat | 2565 | 9 | |||
| 5 | 10 | GM | Gavrilescu, David | 2540 | 5 | 5 | Xue, Haowen | 2452 | 23 | ||||
| 6 | 12 | GM | Koustav, Chatterjee | 2525 | 5 | 5 | IM | Madaminov, Mukhiddin | 2512 | 15 | |||
| 7 | 14 | GM | Sokolovsky, Yahli | 2516 | 5 | 5 | IM | Gan-Erdene, Sugar | 2407 | 30 | |||
| 8 | 22 | IM | Materia, Marco | 2453 | 5 | 4½ | Xiao, Tong(Qd) | 2518 | 13 | ||||
| 9 | 4 | GM | Ganguly, Surya Shekhar | 2592 | 4½ | 4½ | FM | Kalogridis, Antonios | 2391 | 33 | |||
| 10 | 32 | IM | Tahay, Alexis | 2392 | 4½ | 4½ | GM | Sethuraman, S.P. | 2589 | 5 |
