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Abhimanyu Puranik wins Riga Technical University 2021 Rapid Open

by Shahid Ahmed - 09/08/2021

Abhimanyu Puranik won the Riga Technical University 2021 Rapid Open in a spectacular fashion. His no-draw approach worked out in his favor. He beat compatriot Narayanan in a must-win situation since he was a half point behind the sole leader. Puranik won €360 (approx. ₹31424). Indian players claimed five out of top ten places in the Rapid. Karthikeyan Murali scored 8.5/11 to finish third in the Opening Blitz event. He earned €110 (approx. ₹9607) for his efforts. 34 Indians are taking part in the A tournament which is the main event in Classical format. It starts today from 7:30 p.m. IST. Photo: Rupali Mullick

Indian domination in the Rapid

Indian players claimed five out of top ten places in the Riga Technical University 2021 Rapid Open. Abhimanyu Puranik played a wild game against compatriot Narayanan to beat him and become a clear champion 8.0/9. He took a no-draw approach and scored eight wins. The only loss came against the top seed, Latvia no.1 and eventual runner-up Igor Kovalenko. Narayanan S L was placed second 7.5/9.

Champion in Rapid Open - GM Abhimanyu Puranik 8.0/9 | Photo: Rupali Mullick

Abhimanyu scored eight wins and lost only one

Abhimanyu - Narayanan: 1-0

Abhimanyu played very boldly in the final round against Narayanan and it paid off handsomely for him.

Position after 11.Rxh5

When you are down by a half point and need a win in the final round to become champion, perhaps Abhimanyu's approach of an exchange sacrifice 11.Rxh5 is the right way. The position became convoluted and the balance kept shifting between the players.

Position after 31.Ng5

31.Ng5 is a fantastic move, it is a clearance for White's rook and also a blockade for the h5-rook. Find out the best defence for Black. The knight cannot be capture as White will just checkmate the black king. With the clock counting down, Narayanan was unable to find the defence and blundered 31...Qd6 which allowed Abhimanyu to score a victory and win the Rapid event. Narayanan had to settle for the third place according to the tie-breaks.

3rd GM Narayanan S L 7.5/9

4th Aravindh Chithambaram 7.0/9 | Photo: Niklesh Jain

6th Arjun Erigaisi 7.0/9 | Photo: Puneet Jaiswal

8th Visakh N R 6.5/9 | Photo: Amruta Mokal

Karthikeyan finishes third in the Opening Blitz event

Karthikeyan Murali scored 8.5/11 to finish third in the F Opening Blitz Open. There will be another blitz tournament which is named H Closing Blitz Open. It will take place on 15th August.

3rd Karthikeyan Murali 8.5/11 | Photo: Niklesh Jain

Karthikeyan's one of the losses was against his coach GM R B Ramesh

6th R B Ramesh 8.0/11 | Photo: Shahid Ahmed

7th Arjun Kalyan 8.0/11 | Photo: Amruta Mokal

Replay all Rapid games

Final standings in G Rapid Open

Rk.SNo NameTypsexFEDRtgPts. TB1  TB2  TB3 Krtg+/-
110
GMPuranik AbhimanyuIND24408,049,041,525562035,0
21
GMKovalenko IgorLAT27007,554,046,02584200,2
311
GMNarayanan.S.LIND24367,552,544,525952047,8
44
GMAravindh Chithambaram Vr.IND25867,049,042,0244320-11,8
57
GMDonchenko AlexanderGER25167,048,541,025382021,2
617
GMErigaisi ArjunU18IND22897,048,541,023552038,8
76
GMPultinevicius PauliusLTU25347,046,039,0233220-13,0
813
GMVisakh N RIND23716,549,542,023972021,6
914
FMYurovskykh OleksandrUKR23696,549,042,023682019,2
109
GMKantor GergelyHUN24766,548,040,5228520-18,6
1122
IMVignesh N RIND22266,548,040,023212032,0
128
GMNihal SarinU18IND24816,546,038,5227020-13,6
1312
IMRoshka YevgeniyUKR24336,545,538,5227520-13,0
1424
Kretainis KristapsLAT22126,544,537,0209620-6,6
1541
Laimins LaurisLAT20516,049,042,024412081,6
165
GMYuffa DaniilRUS25416,048,540,5217620-34,0
1758
GMGukesh DU16IND19276,047,040,023282084,0
183
GMSethuraman S.P.IND25886,047,039,5233320-29,2
192
IMLaurusas TomasLTU25896,046,539,5228520-33,6
2015
IMPavlov SergeyUKR23636,046,539,5221220-14,2
2127
FMSamunenkov IhorU12UKR22036,045,538,52170204,2
2216
FMKlabis RokasLTU23076,045,538,5216420-16,0
2329
IMPlotkin MarkCAN21916,045,038,5213520-0,6
2484
Shturman ArseniyU14RUS17366,045,037,521932083,8
2530
FMDudin GlebU18RUS21766,044,037,02139203,4

Details

Final standings in F Opening Blitz Open

Rk.SNo NameTypsexFEDRtgPts. TB1  TB2  TB3 Krtg+/-
11
GMKovalenko IgorLAT26529,074,566,0250220-3,4
23
IMLaurusas TomasLTU25428,576,067,02476209,2
32
GMKarthikeyan MuraliIND25648,572,564,0250820-1,6
48
IMPavlov SergeyUKR23418,074,565,524012032,6
54
GMYuffa DaniilRUS25098,074,065,02392204,0
612
GMRamesh R BIND23028,073,564,523362029,4
77
IMArjun KalyanU20IND23488,069,061,0224620-6,2
814
FMKlabis RokasLTU22758,066,058,0212520-16,0
917
FMDudin GlebU18RUS22397,574,565,522812026,8
105
GMPultinevicius PauliusU20LTU24797,572,063,0234220-6,6
1110
FMYurovskykh OleksandrUKR23187,570,562,0222720-3,0
126
IMRoshka YevgeniyU20UKR24597,568,559,5229120-17,6
1313
FMKozusek DanielCZE22947,566,057,5211220-20,2
1452
IMPetkov MomchilU16BUL18247,072,563,5225920100,6
1550
Shturman ArseniyU14RUS18367,069,061,022422098,4
1654
Bazilius AugustinasU12LTU18127,065,557,522022098,2
1719
Kugler FlorianGER22237,065,557,0212720-11,6
1856
Povilaitis TomasU16LTU17837,065,056,521852084,0
1916
Laimins LaurisLAT22577,063,555,5202920-33,0
2058
AIMGreicius PijusU16LTU17737,062,554,521532085,4
2115
Batashevs ArsensU20LAT22677,061,553,5202220-34,2
2247
Golsta MadaraU18wLAT18807,059,051,519612036,4
2360
Aarav DenglaU12IND17347,057,049,019692055,0
2411
IMAntoms GuntarsS60LAT23127,056,048,5196920-41,0
2522
Kretainis KristapsLAT21996,568,059,5205320-16,4

Details

Links

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Tournament details