8th Sunway Sitges Open R8: Arjun Erigaisi, Sethuraman and Abhimanyu Puranik in the title fray

by Shahid Ahmed - 22/12/2021

Top two boards ending in draws ensured more people can catch up with the leaders in Round 8 of 8th Sunway Sitges Open 2021 Group A. Arjun Erigaisi, Sethuraman and Abhimanyu Puranik are the only three Indians among the eight-pack leaders 6.5/8. They are closely followed by a dozen players at 6.0/8. The Indian players among them are - Nihal Sarin, Harsha Bharathakoti, Sankalp Gupta and IM Pranav Anand. WIM Sakshi Chitlange scored her third consecutive victory to be at the top among the women participants at 5.5/8. The penultimate round 9 starts today at 9 p.m. IST. Photo: Rupali Mullick

Nihal, Harsha, Sankalp and Pranav Anand in the chase

WIM Sakshi Chitlange completed a hat-trick including wins over two IMs and a WGM. She is currently the highest scoring woman 5.5/8.

Arjun Erigaisi joins the lead 6.5/8 | Photo: Rupali Mullick

Abdusattorov - Abhimanyu: 0-1

Whenever an opportunity is presented, Abhimanyu Puranik always tries to make the most out of it. He struck at the first chance he got to wreck his opponent Nodirbek Abdusattorov's (UZB) kingside.

Position after 18...Nxg2

18...Nxg2 is an interesting sacrifice. There is no immediate win for Black but it creates nagging long-term issues for White. 19.Kxg2 Qh3+ 20.Kg1 Qxf3 21.dxc5 Bh3 22.Ne3 Rxe4 23.Bg3 f5 24.Bc7 f4 25.Qd1 Rxe3 26.Qxf3 Rxf3 and White may have reduced the intensity of the attack but it is certainly far from over.

Position after 44.Be5

Black's best chance was after 44.Be5. While 44...Rxf2+ is also fine, practically things become difficult for Black to convert which is what happened in the game. Find out what Black should have done instead to push for a win.

Abdusattorov managed to get away from Abhimanyu's grasp | Photo: Niklesh Jain

Arjun - Muradli: 1-0

Arjun Erigaisi scored a clinical victory over IM Muradli Mahammad (AZE).

Position after 21.Nd5

The f6-knight is in a nasty pin which is a clear indication of things going terribly wrong for Black. Arjun had no trouble seizing his opportunity.

Arjun Erigaisi has joined the lead 6.5/8 | Photo: Rupali Mullick

Matthias - Sethuraman: 0-1

IM Matthias Dann (GER) made an incorrect sacrifice which completely turned things in Sethuraman's favor.

Position after 29.Rxd6

Computer recommends 29.a4 as the best move for White. 29.Rxd6 Bxd6 30.Qxg5 Qxb6 31.Qxh4 Qxf2 leaves White with very little material to make a dent on black king, moreover it increases the vulnerability of the white king. Sethuraman converted his advantage comfortably into a win.

Sethuraman is back in the lead | Photo: Niklesh Jain

GM Harsha Bharathakoti - GM Alexandr Fier (BRA): 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Niklesh Jain

IM Thomas Dionisi (FRA) - GM Nihal Sarin: 0-1 | Photo: Niklesh Jain

Cristhian - Karthikeyan: 0.5-0.5

Karthikeyan was completely winning the rook and many pawns endgame. However, in the final moments, he made a small inaccuracy which allowed his opponent Cristhian Camilo Rios (COL) to salvage a draw.

Position after 73.Kxg6

Find out the winning continuation for Black after 73.Kxg6.

Cristhian fought well in the end to save the game | Photo: Niklesh Jain

GM Sankalp Gupta turned the tables in the final moments to beat GM Neelotpal Das in an exciting game | Photo: Niklesh Jain

Pranav - Novendra: 1-0

IM Pranav Anand beat his first GM of the event, Novendra Priasmoro (INA) in a fantastic manner.

Position after 29.Nxg5

Try to think like Pranav and find out the winning continuation for White, if Black accepts the sacrifice 29...fxg5.

Pranav played amazing to beat Novendra | Photo: Rupali Mullick

FM Manu David Suthandram R - IM Aditya Mittal: 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Rupali Mullick

Sharan Rao - IM Pedro Antonio Gines Esteo (ESP): 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Rupali Mullick

WIM Sakshi Chitlange - IM Muhammad Lutfi Ali (INA): 1-0 | Photo: Rupali Mullick

Utsab Chatterjee - IM Pere Garriga Cazorla (ESP): 1-0 | Photo: Rupali Mullick

WIM Priyanka Nutakki - IM Deimante Daulyte-Cornette (FRA): 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Rupali Mullick

IM Moksh Amit Doshi - CM Rajarishi Karthi: 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Rupali Mullick

Nawin Jayaprakash Jayavalli - IM Padmini Rout: 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Rupali Mullick

For more photos, click here.

Replay Round 8 games

Round 8 results

Rd.	Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.
8	2	6	GM	Abdusattorov Nodirbek	2633	6	½ - ½	6	GM	Puranik Abhimanyu	2604	12
8	4	8	GM	Erigaisi Arjun	2629	5½	1 - 0	5½	IM	Muradli Mahammad	2503	30
8	6	34	IM	Dann Matthias	2482	5½	0 - 1	5½	GM	Sethuraman S.P.	2613	11
8	8	32	GM	Harsha Bharathakoti	2489	5½	½ - ½	5½	GM	Fier Alexandr	2572	15
8	9	70	IM	Dionisi Thomas	2396	5½	0 - 1	5	GM	Nihal Sarin	2662	3
8	12	46	GM	Rios Cristhian Camilo	2460	5	½ - ½	5	GM	Karthikeyan Murali	2630	7
8	13	16	GM	Kadric Denis	2572	5	1 - 0	5	IM	Mohammad Nubairshah Shaikh	2429	51
8	14	19	IM	Livaic Leon	2547	5	½ - ½	5	IM	Pranesh M	2437	50
8	18	62	GM	Neelotpal Das	2410	5	0 - 1	5	IM	Sankalp Gupta	2504	29
8	19	58	IM	Pranav Anand	2416	5	1 - 0	5	GM	Priasmoro Novendra	2502	31
8	20	42	IM	Kacharava Nikolozi	2469	5	1 - 0	5	IM	Srijit Paul	2340	97
8	21	71	FM	Papadiamandis Elliot	2396	4½	1 - 0	4½	GM	Iniyan Panneerselvam	2555	17
8	22	18	GM	Megaranto Susanto	2548	4½	1 - 0	4½	CM	Prraneeth Vuppala	2377	77
8	25	28	GM	Karthik Venkataraman	2506	4½	1 - 0	4½	WGM	Gomes Mary Ann	2354	88
8	27	40	IM	Vrolijk Liam	2473	4½	½ - ½	4½	IM	Soumya Swaminathan	2351	90
8	29	84	FM	Manu David Suthandram R	2360	4½	½ - ½	4½	IM	Aditya Mittal	2459	47
8	30	48	IM	Taher Yoseph Theolifus	2455	4½	1 - 0	4½	IM	Manish Anto Cristiano F	2336	99
8	33	160		Sharan Rao	2179	4½	½ - ½	4½	IM	Gines Esteo Pedro Antonio	2413	59
8	35	163		Dhananjay S	2174	4½	½ - ½	4½	FM	Hess Max	2404	65
8	36	178	WIM	Chitlange Sakshi	2132	4½	1 - 0	4½	IM	Ali Muhammad Lutfi	2399	68

Details

Round 9 pairings

Rd.	Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.
9	1	11	GM	Sethuraman S.P.	2613	6½		6½	GM	Cheparinov Ivan	2664	2
9	3	12	GM	Puranik Abhimanyu	2604	6½		6½	GM	Erigaisi Arjun	2629	8
9	6	3	GM	Nihal Sarin	2662	6		6	GM	Harsha Bharathakoti	2489	32
9	9	29	IM	Sankalp Gupta	2504	6		6	GM	Kadric Denis	2572	16
9	10	58	IM	Pranav Anand	2416	6		6	GM	Dardha Daniel	2533	24
9	11	7	GM	Karthikeyan Murali	2630	5½		5½	IM	Taher Yoseph Theolifus	2455	48
9	13	50	IM	Pranesh M	2437	5½		5½	GM	Megaranto Susanto	2548	18
9	17	173	IM	Tarigan Gilbert Elroy	2149	5½		5½	GM	Karthik Venkataraman	2506	28
9	19	33	GM	Vasquez Schroeder Rodrigo	2484	5½		5½	WIM	Chitlange Sakshi	2132	178
9	24	27	GM	Narciso Dublan Marc	2519	5		5	FM	Manu David Suthandram R	2360	84
9	27	90	IM	Soumya Swaminathan	2351	5		5	IM	Bharath Subramaniyam H	2479	36
9	30	47	IM	Aditya Mittal	2459	5		5	FM	Macias Pino Diego	2324	104
9	31	51	IM	Mohammad Nubairshah Shaikh	2429	5		5	FM	Luque Saiz Andres	2288	114
9	32	52	FM	Garcia Ramos Daniel	2428	5		5		Utsab Chatterjee	2255	122
9	33	53	IM	Boyer Mahel	2427	5		5		Dhananjay S	2174	163
9	36	97	IM	Srijit Paul	2340	5		5	GM	Neelotpal Das	2410	62
9	37	65	FM	Hess Max	2404	5		5		Sharan Rao	2179	160
9	38	103	WGM	Fataliyeva Ulviyya	2324	5		5	IM	Vaishali R	2401	66
9	41	17	GM	Iniyan Panneerselvam	2555	4½		5		Vaibhav Jayant Raut	2097	193
9	42	41	GM	Stefanova Antoaneta	2469	4½		4½	FM	Samant Aditya S	2318	107

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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