Chessable Sunway Sitges Open R5: Alekseenko and Karthikeyan Murali share the lead

by Shahid Ahmed - 17/12/2022

GM Kirill Alekseenko and GM Karthikeyan Murali are the coleaders after the fifth round of Chessable Sunway Sitges Open 2022 Group A. While Alekseenko defeated GM Abhimanyu Puranik, Karthikeyan halted IM Aditya S Samant's fantastic momentum. Abhimanyu had to find a difficult resource to save his kingside from crumbling. Aditya needed to use his knight more in the endgame before it became a liability. The tournament leaders will inevitably face each other in the sixth round. GM Aravindh Chithambaram and GM Sankalp Gupta drew with GM Jorden van Foreest (NED) and GM Anton Korobov (UKR). Round 6 starts tonight at 9 p.m. IST. Photo: Shahid Ahmed

Nine Indians at 4/5

IM Jubin Jimmy, IM Sidhant Mohapatra and CM Md. Imran defeated GM Daniel Alsina Leal (ESP), GM Paul Velten (FRA) and GM Marc Narciso Dublan (ESP). IM Ulviyya Fataliyeva (AZE) is currently highest scorer 4/5 among female players.

GM Karthikeyan Murali is one of the coleaders 5/5 | Photo: Shahid Ahmed

Aditya Samant - Karthikeyan: 0-1

GM Karthikeyan Murali (2620) showed a very good understanding of the endgame to defeat IM Aditya S Samant (2470).

Position after 24...c5

While both king might seem to be vulnerable and prone to opponent's attacks, it is White who needs to be more concerned about the b7-bishop sitting on the long diagonal. Getting the knight away from d5-square and not giving any further pawns should be the priority for White here. 25.Nf4 Rf8 26.Rf1 Rf6 27.Rxf4 Qxf4 28.Qxd7 is one of the ways White could have opted. Instead, 25.Qf4 Qxb2 26.Qf5 Bc6 27.g3? created more weakness and gave Black some new targets. 27...Re8 28.Qf3 Qe5 29.Qf7 a5 30.Qf3 d6 31.Qf7 White ran out of choices to do much and things fell in favor of Black.

Abhimanyu - Alekseenko: 0-1

GM Kirill Alekseenko (2672) launched a devastating attack on GM Abhimanyu Puranik's (2616) kingside.

Position after 26...Nh5

Black sacrificed his bishop at h3 on the previous move, 25...Bxh3 26.gxh3 Nh5. It created the only opportunity for White to get back in the game. It was not easy to find. 27.Qg4 Nf3+ 28.Kh1 Qxg4 29.hxg4 Nxe1 30.Ne2 Nf3 31.gxh5 is how White could have turned the tables. The game continued 27.Ne2 Nf3+ 28.Kg2 Ng5 and Black went on to win the game.

13-year-old Md. Imran plays a brilliant game against Spanish GM Marc Narciso Dublan (ESP) | Video: ChessBase India

Replay Chessable Sunway Chess Festival Round 5 Live commentary with GM Jan Gustafsson and GM Peter Svidler | Video: chess24

Replay Round 5 games

Round 5 results

Rd.	Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.
5	2	18	GM	Puranik Abhimanyu	2616	4	0 - 1	4	GM	Alekseenko Kirill	2672	8
5	3	40	IM	Samant Aditya S	2470	4	0 - 1	4	GM	Karthikeyan Murali	2620	14
5	5	3	GM	Van Foreest Jorden	2690	3½	½ - ½	3½	GM	Aravindh Chithambaram Vr.	2607	23
5	7	9	GM	Korobov Anton	2662	3½	½ - ½	3½	GM	Sankalp Gupta	2485	35
5	8	11	GM	Demchenko Anton	2632	3½	1 - 0	3½	IM	Aditya Mittal	2479	37
5	10	75	IM	Tahay Alexis	2400	3½	½ - ½	3½	GM	Aryan Chopra	2618	16
5	13	63	IM	Prraneeth Vuppala	2427	3	½ - ½	3	GM	Cheparinov Ivan	2688	4
5	18	21	GM	Adhiban B.	2611	3	1 - 0	3	IM	Willow Jonah B	2409	72
5	24	84	FM	Jubin Jimmy	2376	3	1 - 0	3	GM	Alsina Leal Daniel	2527	30
5	26	32	GM	Arjun Kalyan	2505	3	1 - 0	3	FM	Mathieu Phileas	2367	87

Details

Round 6 pairings

Rd.	Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.
6	1	8	GM	Alekseenko Kirill	2672	5		5	GM	Karthikeyan Murali	2620	14
6	7	6	GM	Esipenko Andrey	2678	4		4	GM	Arjun Kalyan	2505	32
6	11	16	GM	Aryan Chopra	2618	4		4	IM	Samant Aditya S	2470	40
6	12	35	GM	Sankalp Gupta	2485	4		4	GM	Puranik Abhimanyu	2616	18
6	14	55	IM	Abdisalimov Abdimalik	2447	4		4	GM	Adhiban B.	2611	21
6	16	23	GM	Aravindh Chithambaram Vr.	2607	4		4	IM	Rendle Thomas E	2381	82
6	17	24	GM	Dardha Daniel	2606	4		4	FM	Jubin Jimmy	2376	84
6	19	104	IM	Sidhant Mohapatra	2337	4		4	GM	Kraemer Martin	2583	27
6	21	70	IM	Moksh Amit Doshi	2414	3½		3½	GM	Ivanchuk Vasyl	2673	7
6	23	37	IM	Aditya Mittal	2479	3½		3½	FM	Kanov Nikola	2377	83

Details

Prizes

Total Prize fund - €27775. For the entire prize details, click here.

Schedule

12th - 21st December - 9:00 p.m. IST

18th December - Rest day

22nd December - 2 p.m. IST

Links

Official site

Tournament rules

Related news:

	Kirill Alekseenko wins Chessable Sunway Sitges Open 2022 @ 24/12/2022 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
	Kirill Alekseenko inches away from clinching Chessable Sunway Sitges Open 2022 @ 22/12/2022 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
	Chessable Sunway Sitges Open R8: Andrey Esipenko grinds a Knight endgame for 66 moves @ 21/12/2022 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
	Raja Rithvik decimates 9th Chessable Sunway Sitges Blitz 18/12, Adhiban third @ 20/12/2022 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
	Chessable Sunway Sitges Open R6-7: Aravindh defeats Esipenko @ 20/12/2022 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
	Chessable Sunway Sitges Open R4: Aditya Samant sensational against Adhiban @ 16/12/2022 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
	Chessable Sunway Sitges Open R1-3: 17-year-old Kushal makes a superb start @ 15/12/2022 by Shahid Ahmed (en)