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8th Sunway Sitges Open R1: Priyanka Nutakki and Sharan Rao score big upsets

by Shahid Ahmed - 14/12/2021

WIM Priyanka Nutakki and Sharan Rao were the only two Indian players to beat GMs Iniyan P and Arjun Kalyan respectively in the first round of 8th Sunway Sitges Open 2021 Group A. FM Alessio De Santis (ITA) also stunned GM Susanto Megaranto (INA) after the latter made tactical error, much like how Priyanka got the better of Iniyan. Nihal, Karthikeyan Murali, Arjun Erigaisi, Sethuraman, Abhimanyu Puranik, Vaishali, Mary, Soumya, Padmini and Nandhidhaa made a winning start among the top Indian men and women in the field. Round 2 starts tonight at 9 p.m. IST. Photo: Rupali Mullick

A smooth start for the top seeds

Vaibhav Jayant Raut, Namitbir Singh Walia, Atul Dahale and Kush Devnani beat IM Roberto Junio Brito (BRA), IM Milton Pantzar (SWE), IM Pauline Guichard (FRA) and IM Manish Anto Cristiano F. WIM Sakshi Chitlange drew with IM Liam Vrolijk (NED).

Priyanka Nutakki scored a big win | Photo: Rupali Mullick

Nihal - Tanmay: 1-0

Tanmay Chopra managed to equalize the position after the opening against Nihal Sarin. In the middlegame, the former made a positional mistake.

Position after 27...c5

27...Rac8 or Rec8 keeps the position fine for Black. 27...c5 creates a passed pawn on the c-file for White 28.dxc5 bxa4 29.Rd1 Be6 30.Rd4. White does not hurry in pushing the pawn because it might get captured easily. Instead, he activates his rook first, so that the a1-rook can also later join in the action. White won the game in another seven moves when Black had to concede huge material loss to prevent the c-pawn from being promoted.

Nihal scored a clinical victory in the first round | Photo: Rupali Mullick

Karthikeyan - Minko: 1-0

CM Dmitry Minko (RUS) went wrong early in the opening, GM Karthikeyan Murali rightly punished him for it.

Position after 9...cxd5

9...cxd5 is a big mistake. Find out why.

Karthikeyan Murali is in top form | Photo: Niklesh Jain

Iniyan - Priyanka: 0-1

WIM Priyanka Nutakki opted for the Petroff's Defence with the black pieces against GM Iniyan P. She got a comfortable position out of the opening.

Position after 29.Nf5

29.Nf5 self-pins the knight after 29...Qd7 30.Qf3 Ng7 and everything starts falling apart for White. Computer says 29...Ne7 is instantly winning for Black as Nxg3+ fork is looming large. 30.Qf3 does not save the day as 30...Nxf5 31.Bxf5 Nxg3+ 32.Qxg3 gxf5 gives Black the decisive advantage. However, the humane 29...Qd7 is also good for Black which was played in the game. 31.e6 Nxe6 32.Nh4 does not work either as 32...Ng5 33.Bxd7 Nxf3 34.Nxf3 Rxd7 leaves with White with broken pawn structure and also behind by two pawns. Soon, White blundered a piece and lost the game in another four moves.

Priyanka Nutakki made a perfect start | Photo: Rupali Mullick

Sharan Rao caused a big upset as he beat GM Arjun Kalyan | Photo: Rupali Mullick

WIM Sakshi Chitlange - IM Liam Vrolijk (NED): 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Rupali Mullick

IM Roberto Junio Brito Molina (BRA) - Vaibhav Jayant Raut (pictured): 0-1 | Photo: Club d'Escacs Barberà

Namitbir Singh Walia (pictured) - IM Milton Pantzar (SWE): 1-0 | Photo: Niklesh Jain

IM Pauline Guichard (FRA) - Atul Dahale (pictured): 0-1 | Photo: Niklesh Jain

IM Manish Anto Cristiano (pictured) - Kush Devnani: 0-1 | Photo: Rupali Mullick

The tournament hall | Photo: Niklesh Jain

For more photos, click here.

Replay Round 1 games

Round 1 results

Rd.Bo.No. NameRtgPts.ResultPts.NameRtg No.
133
GMNihal Sarin266201 - 00Tanmay Chopra2221
140
14141
WGMSrija Seshadri22190- - +0GMNiemann Hans Moke2645
4
177
GMKarthikeyan Murali263001 - 00CMMinko Dmitry2207
144
18145
CMRajarishi Karthi220700 - 10GMErigaisi Arjun2629
8
199
GMKollars Dmitrij262201 - 00CMMrithyunjay Mahadevan2206
146
110147
Ojas Kulkarni220600 - 10GMVocaturo Daniele2621
10
11111
GMSethuraman S.P.261301 - 00FMSaya Ethan2204
148
112149
WFMAlboredo Julia220000 - 10GMPuranik Abhimanyu2604
12
11717
GMIniyan Panneerselvam255500 - 10WIMPriyanka Nutakki2187
155
122160
Sharan Rao217901 - 00GMArjun Kalyan2537
22
12525
GMVan Foreest Lucas253001 - 00Dhananjay S2174
163
128166
FMLorscheid Gerhard216900 - 10GMKarthik Venkataraman2506
28
12929
IMSankalp Gupta250401 - 00WGMVarshini Velavan2165
167
132170
Fanninger Leon216000 - 10GMHarsha Bharathakoti2489
32
136174
Ruiz Buendia Miguel214100 - 10IMBharath Subramaniyam H2479
36
140178
WIMChitlange Sakshi21320½ - ½0IMVrolijk Liam2473
40
146184
Aniruddh Chatterjee211200 - 10GMRios Cristhian Camilo2460
46
14747
IMAditya Mittal245901 - 00Ezquerro Luque Albert2112
185
14949
IMAyats Llobera Gerard244801 - 00Nawin Jayaprakash Jayavalli2109
187
150188
FMCmiel Thorsten210700 - 10IMPranesh M2437
50

Details

Round 2 pairings

Rd.Bo.No. NameRtgPts.ResultPts.NameRtg No.
222
GMCheparinov Ivan266411IMSidhant Mohapatra2360
83
2380
IMMoksh Amit Doshi236811GMNihal Sarin2662
3
2782
Roebers Eline236511GMKarthikeyan Murali2630
7
288
GMErigaisi Arjun262911IMSalimova Nurgyul2353
89
2984
FMManu David Suthandram R236011GMKollars Dmitrij2622
9
21186
IMErvan Mohamad235611GMSethuraman S.P.2613
11
21212
GMPuranik Abhimanyu260411Grebeniuk Semen2346
93
21388
WGMGomes Mary Ann235411GMCornette Matthieu2583
13
21414
GMSafarli Eltaj257911IMPadmini Rout2345
95
21590
IMSoumya Swaminathan235111GMFier Alexandr2572
15
21616
GMKadric Denis257211IMSrijit Paul2340
97
22328
GMKarthik Venkataraman250611FMSamant Aditya S2318
107
224106
FMKapitanchuk Tomas232311IMSankalp Gupta2504
29
226108
WGMNandhidhaa P V231311GMPriasmoro Novendra2502
31
22732
GMHarsha Bharathakoti248911Ortega Serra Marc2292
113
228110
FMMohamed Anees M231211GMVasquez Schroeder Rodrigo2484
33
23036
IMBharath Subramaniyam H247911FMDalaud Dorian2275
117
236122
Utsab Chatterjee225511IMQuintiliano Pinto Renato R.2466
45
238124
WIMSihite Chelsie Monica Ignesias225211IMAditya Mittal2459
47
240126
FMSreyas Payyappat225011IMAyats Llobera Gerard2448
49

Details

Prizes

Total Prize fund - €27155. For the entire prize details, click here.

Schedule

13th - 22nd December - 9:00 p.m. IST

18th December - Rest day

23rd December - 1:30 p.m. IST

Links

Official site

Tournament rules


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