Bogdanovich takes sole lead after round 6 in 9th HDBank International Open 2019
Shahid Ahmed·7 min read
GM Stanislav Bogdanovic of Ukraine drew with overnight leader GM Eduardo Bonelli Iturrizaga of Venezuela in round 5, after Iturrizaga defended the endgame well despite being down by an exchange. In the following round Bogdanovic defeated GM Ivan Cheparinov of Georgia and took sole lead in 9th HDBank International Open 2019. Cheparinov went for a wrong chain exchange in Giuco Piano and his position became worse. Eventually rectifying that mistake cost him the game eventually. Among the Indians, IM Leon Mendonca Luke and GM Karthik Venkataraman are the most impressive so far. Photo: Shahid Ahmed
IM Leon Mendonca Luke and GM Karthik Venkataraman impressive among the Indians so far
Leon managed to equalize easily with Black pieces against GM Wen Yang in Sicilian Najdorf. However he got into a prolonged Queen and minor pieces endgame which became worse as time went by. However Leon is not the kind to give up. He shows his never-give-up and managed to walk away with a half-point from a terribly uncomfortable position.
12-year old showcased his tenacity and salvaged a draw after 4.5 hours + marathon game of 99 moves. Video: Shahid Ahmed
Leon defeated IM John Marvin Miciano of Philippines in round 6 | Photo: Shahid Ahmed
GM Karthik Venkataraman drew both of his games today against GM Loek Van Wely and GM Ivan Popov in round 5 and 6 respectively | Photo: Shahid Ahmed
In round 5, against Loek Van Wely, Karthik had an interesting draw arising out of Queen's Gambit Declined. Things could have gone sideways easily for Karthik but he made the right call to run his King away when the King's castle was on fire.
You gotta do what's necessary when required even if that means running your King away
Karthik made a quick draw in round 6 against GM Ivan Popov in just 22 moves in Queen's Gambit Accepted.
Bogdanovich missed a few winning chances in the endgame after Iturrizaga's exchange sacrifice went wrong | Photo: Shahid Ahmed
Bogdanovich found a few winning opportunities in a 107-move marathon game in round 5.
This was one of the final notable winning opportunity. Here Bogdanovich played 72. Rd3. What should he have played instead?
Cheparinov will rethink his chain exchange choices in Italian Opening after suffering defeat against Bogdanovic | Photo: Shahid Ahmed
Cheparinov just played 14.dxe5. Which piece should Black save here? Bishop at c4 or the Knight at f6?
Photo Gallery:
IM P Saravana Krishnan drew with GM Sandipan Chanda in round 5 | Photo: Shahid Ahmed
IM P Shyamnikhil drew with GM Anton Demchenko in round 6 | Photo: Shahid Ahmed