6th Stepan Avagyan Memorial R4: Aravindh beats Jonas, emerges sole leader
Aravindh Chithambaram got the better Jonas Buhl Bjerre (DEN) in Round 4 of 6th Stepan Avagyan Memorial 2025. Jonas made a positional mistake in the middlegame. Aravindh took advantage of it. However, the Denmark no.1 managed to get back in the game, only to falter in the end and it cost him the game. In a battle of Olympiad Gold medalists, R Praggnanandhaa defeated Nodirbek Yakubboev (UZB) for the first time in a Classical rated game. Yakubboev misplayed in a complex queen endgame. Aravindh has emerged sole leader 3/4. He is closely followed by Dmitrij Kollars (GER), Praggnanandhaa and Aram Hakobyan (ARM) at 2.5/4 each. Round 5 starts today at 3 p.m. local time, 4:30 p.m. IST. Photo: Chess Academy of Armenia
Aravindh and Praggnanandhaa score a win each
Aravindh - Bjerre: 1-0
Aravindh Chithambaram (2749) played only one Classical rated game against Jonas Buhl Bjerre (DEN, 2651). It was at Bundesliga last November. Aravindh won that game and this time also he repeated the same result. Jonas made a positional mistake 19...Rfd8?
Aravindh had no trouble seizing his opportunity 20.d5! e5 21.Nxe5 Nexd5 22.Nxf7 Kxf7 23.cxd5 Bxd5 24.Bc4 computer might evaluate the position as equal. However, Black's vulnerable king is a long-term weakness. Black eventually made a mistake and lost the game.
Praggnanandhaa - Yakubboev: 1-0
R Praggnanandhaa (2767) faced Nodirbek Yakubboev (UZB, 2659) twice in Classical rated games. He lost one and drew the other. It was about time for the 45th Olympiad Gold medalist to beat the 44th Olympiad Gold medalist.
56...Qe8+ 57.Qg6 Qe2+ is what Black needed to play to stay in the game. Instead, 56...Qh1+ 57.Kg6 Qe4+ 58.Qf5+ ended things in a hurry for Black. Sure neither side can afford to trade queens right away but Black cannot avoid a loss.
Replay Round 4 live stream
Time Control
90 minutes for the first 40 moves + 30 minutes for the rest of the game (with 30 seconds increment starting from move one).
Prizes
The total prize fund is 7450000 AMD (≈ US$ 19325). The top three prizes are 3100000 AMD (≈ US$ 8041), 1 850 000 AMD (≈ US$ 4799) and 1500000 (≈ US$ 3891).
Round 4 results
| Bo. | No. | Rtg | White | Result | Black | Rtg | No. | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 10 | 2623 | GM | Xu Xiangyu | ½ - ½ | GM | Gledura Benjamin | 2663 | 7 | |||
| 2 | 8 | 2620 | GM | Hakobyan Aram | ½ - ½ | GM | Kollars Dmitrij | 2625 | 6 | |||
| 3 | 9 | 2758 | GM | Praggnanandhaa R | 1 - 0 | GM | Yakubboev Nodirbek | 2665 | 5 | |||
| 4 | 1 | 2635 | GM | Hovhannisyan Robert | ½ - ½ | GM | Sevian Samuel | 2694 | 4 | |||
| 5 | 2 | 2749 | GM | Aravindh Chithambaram Vr. | 1 - 0 | GM | Bjerre Jonas Buhl | 2641 | 3 |
Standings after Round 4
| Rk. | SNo | Name | FED | Rtg | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | GM | Aravindh Chithambaram Vr. | IND | 2749 | 3 | 5,50 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2 | 6 | GM | Kollars Dmitrij | GER | 2625 | 2,5 | 4,25 | 3 | 0 | |
| 3 | 9 | GM | Praggnanandhaa R | IND | 2758 | 2,5 | 4,25 | 2 | 0 | |
| 4 | 8 | GM | Hakobyan Aram | ARM | 2620 | 2,5 | 4,00 | 2 | 0 | |
| 5 | 4 | GM | Sevian Samuel | USA | 2694 | 2 | 4,00 | 2 | 0 | |
| 6 | 10 | GM | Xu Xiangyu | CHN | 2623 | 2 | 3,50 | 2 | 0 | |
| 7 | 3 | GM | Bjerre Jonas Buhl | DEN | 2641 | 1,5 | 3,25 | 2 | 0 | |
| 8 | 1 | GM | Hovhannisyan Robert | ARM | 2635 | 1,5 | 3,25 | 1 | 0 | |
| 9 | 7 | GM | Gledura Benjamin | HUN | 2663 | 1,5 | 2,50 | 3 | 0 | |
| 10 | 5 | GM | Yakubboev Nodirbek | UZB | 2665 | 1 | 2,00 | 2 | 0 |
Round 5 pairings
| Bo. | No. | Rtg | White | Result | Black | Rtg | No. | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | 2641 | GM | Bjerre Jonas Buhl | GM | Xu Xiangyu | 2623 | 10 | ||||
| 2 | 4 | 2694 | GM | Sevian Samuel | GM | Aravindh Chithambaram Vr. | 2749 | 2 | ||||
| 3 | 5 | 2665 | GM | Yakubboev Nodirbek | GM | Hovhannisyan Robert | 2635 | 1 | ||||
| 4 | 6 | 2625 | GM | Kollars Dmitrij | GM | Praggnanandhaa R | 2758 | 9 | ||||
| 5 | 7 | 2663 | GM | Gledura Benjamin | GM | Hakobyan Aram | 2620 | 8 |
Schedule
| Wednesday | 28 May at 19:00 | Opening Ceremony |
| Thursday | 29 May at 15:00 | Round 1 |
| Friday | 30 May at 15:00 | Round 2 |
| Saturday | 31 May at 15:00 | Round 3 |
| Sunday | 1 June at 15:00 | Round 4 |
| Monday | 2 June at 15:00 | Round 5 |
| Tuesday | 3 June at 15:00 | Round 6 |
| Wednesday | 4 June at 15:00 | Round 7 |
| Thursday | 5 June at 15:00 | Round 8 |
| Friday | 6 June at 11:00 | Round 9 |
| Friday | 6 June at 18:00 | Closing Ceremony |
