5th Shenzhen Masters 2024 R4: Relentless Arjun Erigaisi conquers Qun, now World no.10

by Shahid Ahmed - 04/03/2024

Arjun Erigaisi scored his second win in-a-row in the fourth round of 5th Shenzhen Masters 2024. This win ensured that he breaks into World Top 10 for the first time in his career. His live rating is now 2754.6 which makes him World no.10. The game started with a knight sacrifice for two pawns against Qun Ma (CHN). The Chinese returned the piece and later sacrificed his queen for a rook and bishop. However, tenacious kept trying and eventually outplayed his opponent in the endgame. Xiangzhi Bu (CHN) handed Anish Giri (NED) his third consecutive loss. Thus, Xiangzhi and Arjun have joined Yangyi Yu (CHN) in the lead 3/4. Round 5 starts tomorrow at 2 p.m. local time, 11:30 a.m. IST. Photos: Organizer/Liang Ziming

Xiangzhi and Arjun join Yangyi in a three-way lead

Arjun Erigaisi entered into World Top 10 showcasing his relentless. Meanwhile, Anish Giri (NED) for the first time in a long while is outside of World Top 10, after suffering his third consecutive loss of the event against Xiangzhi Bu (CHN). Xiangzhi just outplayed Giri in a queen and minor piece endgame.

Arjun Erigaisi is now World no.10 in the live ratings

5th Shenzhen (Longgang) Chess Masters 2024 logo

Arjun - Qun: 1-0

Arjun Erigaisi (2748) sacrificed his knight for two pawns in Giuco Piano against Qun Ma (CHN, 2651).

Position after 16.Nxe5

16.Nxe5!? is an interesting sacrifice. White gets two pawns for the knight, moreover Black's king is stranded at the center of the board. That is another reason for the sacrifice. Soon Black decided to return the piece to get some activity and avoid immediate loss.

Position after 25...Bxd4+

Re8+ followed by Qg5# had to be stopped. So Black was forced to play 25...Bxd4+ 26.cxd4 Qxd4+ 27.Rf2 Ne6 and after a few moves Black gave up his queen for a rook and bishop.

Position after 34.a5

34.a5 Rxc4 35.Qd2 Qxf2+ 36.Qxf2 brought Black back in the game. However, Arjun showed his gritty side to eventually score a win. This win put himself in a shared lead with Xiangzhi Bu (CHN) and Yangyi Yu (CHN). He also became World no.10 in the live ratings.

Arjun Erigaisi played astoundingly to beat Qun Ma (CHN)

Arjun Erigaisi broke into World Top 10 in live ratings for the first time | Source: 2700chess.com

Xiangyu Xu (CHN) - Vladislav Artemiev: 0.5-0.5

Daniil Dubov - Yangyi Yu (CHN): 0.5-0.5

Xiangzhi Bu (CHN) - Anish Giri (NED): 1-0

Time Control

The time control is 90 minutes / 40 moves + 30 minutes / end and 30 seconds increment per move from move no.1

Schedule

Every day the round starts at 2 p.m. local time, 11:30 a.m. IST. Only the first round starts at 3 p.m. local time, 12:30 p.m. IST. Sunday 3rd March is a rest day.

Replay Round 4 games

Round 4 results

Bo.	No.	Rtg		Name	Result		Name	Rtg	No.	PGN
1	8	2623	GM	Xu, Xiangyu	½ - ½	GM	Artemiev, Vladislav	2711	6	PGN
2	7	2708	GM	Dubov, Daniil	½ - ½	GM	Yu, Yangyi	2720	5	PGN
3	1	2738	GM	Erigaisi, Arjun	1 - 0	GM	Ma, Qun	2651	4	PGN
4	2	2671	GM	Bu, Xiangzhi	1 - 0	GM	Giri, Anish	2762	3	PGN

Details

Standings after Round 4

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB2	TB3	TB4
1	2	GM	Bu, Xiangzhi	CHN	2671	3	5,75	1,5	2
2	5	GM	Yu, Yangyi	CHN	2720	3	4,25	0,5	2
3	1	GM	Erigaisi, Arjun	IND	2738	3	3,00	0	3
4	7	GM	Dubov, Daniil	RUS	2708	2,5	4,50	1	1
5	6	GM	Artemiev, Vladislav	RUS	2711	1,5	1,50	0	1
6	4	GM	Ma, Qun	CHN	2651	1	2,75	1	0
7	8	GM	Xu, Xiangyu	CHN	2623	1	2,25	0,5	0
8	3	GM	Giri, Anish	NED	2762	1	1,50	0	1

Details

Round 5 pairings

Bo.	No.	Rtg		Name	Result		Name	Rtg	No.	PGN
1	3	2762	GM	Giri, Anish		GM	Xu, Xiangyu	2623	8
2	4	2651	GM	Ma, Qun		GM	Bu, Xiangzhi	2671	2
3	5	2720	GM	Yu, Yangyi		GM	Erigaisi, Arjun	2738	1
4	6	2711	GM	Artemiev, Vladislav		GM	Dubov, Daniil	2708	7

Details

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