6th Sharjah Masters 2023 R3: Nihal superb against Suleymanli

by Shahid Ahmed - 20/05/2023

The top board encounter between R Praggnanandhaa and Wenjun Ju (CHN) ended in a draw. Both players tested their opponent and neither one made any mistake. A draw was agreed after 40th move in an equal queen and rook endgame. S L Narayanan seemed to have a slight edge over D Gukesh. However, it was not enough to gain anything substantial. Nihal Sarin scored a fantastic win against Aydin Suleymanli (AZE). He joined Praggnanandhaa, Wenjun and M Amin Tabatabaei (IRI) in a four-way lead 2.5/3. Praggnanandhaa will be up against Nihal, while the reigning Women's World Champion, Wenjun will face Tabatabaei in Round 4 which starts today at 3 p.m. local time, 4:30 p.m. IST. Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Harsha scores a 16-move miniature

Apart from Nihal Sarin, Aryan Chopra and Harsha Bharathakoti were the only two Indians to score a victory each in Round 3. Aryan defeated GM Peter Acs (HUN) and Harsha got the better of GM Lucas van Foreest (NED) in just 16 moves. GM Aditya Mittal had a well contested draw against the 44th Chess Olympiad Gold medalist, GM Javokhir Sindarov (UZB).

GM Nihal Sarin is one of the four leaders at 2.5/3 | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Nihal - Suleymanli

Position after 33...Qe6

The 44th Chess Olympiad individual Gold and team Bronze medalist, GM Nihal Sarin (2673) seized his opportunity against GM Aydin Suleymanli (AZE, 2560). 33.Rxa6 helped White create an outside passed pawn. 33...Qxe6? sealed Black's fate as 34.Bc6 forced the exchange of bishops which also meant less resistance in pushing the a-pawn and also for the aid of the black king. 34...Bxc6 35.Rxc6 Qd7 36.Qb2+ Kg8 37.Qb7 Qe6 38.Rxc7 Bxf2+ 39.Kxf2 and it's over.

Nihal Sarin on his brilliant win against Aydin Suleymanli | Video: ChessBase India

Nihal Sarin's exquisite play in the Ruy Lopez against Aydin Suleymanli | Video: ChessBase India

Final moments: GM Wenjun vs GM Praggnanandhaa | Video: ChessBase India

GM Wenjun Ju (CHN) - GM R Praggnanandhaa: 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Niklesh Jain

Final moments: GM D Gukesh vs GM S L Narayanan | Video: ChessBase India

GM D Gukesh - GM S L Narayanan: 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Niklesh Jain

GM Peter Acs (HUN) - GM Aryan Chopra (pictured): 0-1 | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

GM Aditya Mittal (pictured) - GM Shamsiddin Vokhidov (UZB): 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Lucas - Harsha

Position after 16.Bxd5??

Find out why 16.Bxd5?? is a blunder and what White should have done instead.

GM Harsha Bharathakoti on his 16-move against GM Lucas van Foreest (NED) | Video: ChessBase India

Ceremonial first move of Round 3 | Photo: Niklesh Jain

Praggnanandhaa and Wenjun arrive for their third round game | Video: ChessBase India

The reigning Women's World Champion, Wenjun Ju ensures she writes her opponent's name correctly | Video: ChessBase India

Replay the Live stream

Replay Sharjah Masters Round 3 live commentary by Amruta Mokal | Video: ChessBase India

Replay Round 3 games

Round 3 results

Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.
1	70	GM	Ju, Wenjun	2550	2	½ - ½	2	GM	Praggnanandhaa, R	2688	9
2	38	GM	Kovalev, Vladislav	2612	1½	½ - ½	1½	GM	Maghsoodloo, Parham	2734	1
3	2	GM	Gukesh, D	2732	1½	½ - ½	1½	GM	Narayanan.S.L,	2660	21
4	4	GM	Yu, Yangyi	2729	1½	½ - ½	1½	GM	Cheparinov, Ivan	2660	20
5	6	GM	Niemann, Hans Moke	2708	1½	½ - ½	1½	GM	Yilmaz, Mustafa	2641	23
6	8	GM	Erigaisi, Arjun	2701	1½	½ - ½	1½	GM	Nguyen, Thai Dai Van	2645	22
7	10	GM	Predke, Alexandr	2685	1½	½ - ½	1½	GM	Aravindh, Chithambaram Vr.	2633	25
8	46	GM	Kadric, Denis	2601	1½	½ - ½	1½	GM	Sevian, Samuel	2684	11
9	12	GM	Esipenko, Andrey	2679	1½	½ - ½	1½	GM	Sargsyan, Shant	2630	27
10	56	GM	Jumabayev, Rinat	2590	1½	½ - ½	1½	GM	Salem, A.R. Saleh	2677	13
11	14	GM	Tabatabaei, M. Amin	2677	1½	1 - 0	1½	GM	Sethuraman, S.P.	2626	33
12	16	GM	Nihal, Sarin	2673	1½	1 - 0	1½	GM	Suleymanli, Aydin	2560	67
13	18	GM	Korobov, Anton	2664	1½	½ - ½	1½	GM	Mchedlishvili, Mikheil	2553	69
14	74	GM	Galperin, Platon	2528	1½	0 - 1	1	GM	Sjugirov, Sanan	2712	5
15	50	GM	Ivic, Velimir	2595	1	0 - 1	1	GM	Martirosyan, Haik M.	2675	15

Details

Standings after Round 3

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	9	GM	Praggnanandhaa, R	IND	2688	2,5	0	2	5
2	14	GM	Tabatabaei, M. Amin	IRI	2677	2,5	0	2	5
	16	GM	Nihal, Sarin	IND	2673	2,5	0	2	5
4	70	GM	Ju, Wenjun	CHN	2550	2,5	0	2	4
5	40	GM	Yoo, Christopher Woojin	USA	2607	2	0	2	3,5
6	69	GM	Mchedlishvili, Mikheil	GEO	2553	2	0	1	6
7	1	GM	Maghsoodloo, Parham	IRI	2734	2	0	1	6
8	27	GM	Sargsyan, Shant	ARM	2630	2	0	1	5,5
9	6	GM	Niemann, Hans Moke	USA	2708	2	0	1	5,5
	20	GM	Cheparinov, Ivan	BUL	2660	2	0	1	5,5
	23	GM	Yilmaz, Mustafa	TUR	2641	2	0	1	5,5
	25	GM	Aravindh, Chithambaram Vr.	IND	2633	2	0	1	5,5
13	2	GM	Gukesh, D	IND	2732	2	0	1	5
	8	GM	Erigaisi, Arjun	IND	2701	2	0	1	5
	11	GM	Sevian, Samuel	USA	2684	2	0	1	5

Details

Round 4 pairings

Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.
1	9	GM	Praggnanandhaa, R	2688	2½		2½	GM	Nihal, Sarin	2673	16
2	70	GM	Ju, Wenjun	2550	2½		2½	GM	Tabatabaei, M. Amin	2677	14
3	1	GM	Maghsoodloo, Parham	2734	2		2	GM	Nguyen, Thai Dai Van	2645	22
4	23	GM	Yilmaz, Mustafa	2641	2		2	GM	Gukesh, D	2732	2
5	25	GM	Aravindh, Chithambaram Vr.	2633	2		2	GM	Yu, Yangyi	2729	4
6	5	GM	Sjugirov, Sanan	2712	2		2	GM	Abasov, Nijat	2634	24
7	27	GM	Sargsyan, Shant	2630	2		2	GM	Niemann, Hans Moke	2708	6
8	35	GM	Aryan, Chopra	2617	2		2	GM	Erigaisi, Arjun	2701	8
9	39	GM	Vakhidov, Jakhongir	2607	2		2	GM	Predke, Alexandr	2685	10
10	11	GM	Sevian, Samuel	2684	2		2	GM	Yakubboev, Nodirbek	2630	28
11	58	GM	Vokhidov, Shamsiddin	2586	2		2	GM	Esipenko, Andrey	2679	12
12	13	GM	Salem, A.R. Saleh	2677	2		2	GM	Kovalev, Vladislav	2612	38
13	15	GM	Martirosyan, Haik M.	2675	2		2	GM	Yoo, Christopher Woojin	2607	40
14	17	GM	Oparin, Grigoriy	2667	2		2	GM	Murzin, Volodar	2604	42
15	78	GM	Asis Gargatagli, Hipolito	2519	2		2	GM	Korobov, Anton	2664	18

Details

Links

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Tournament details

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