European Club Cup 2023 R2: Nihal Sarin perplexes Paulius, crosses 2700, now World no.35

by Shahid Ahmed - 03/10/2023

Nihal Sarin scored another scintillating win to cross 2700 in the live ratings. His second round win at European Chess Club Cup 2023 against the Lithuania no.1, GM Paulius Pultinevicius, made him the ninth Indian to surpass the 2700 barrier. This was certainly a long overdue and he did in an amazing manner. His team Tajfun SK Ljubljana won against MRU - ROSK Consulting 1.5-4.5. Magnus Carlsen played his first game of the event and he won it comfortably. Raunak Sadhwani playing next to the World no.1 on the same team Offerspill Sjakklubb also won his game. The Norwegian team defeated Wood Green 5-1. Armenia no.1 GM Haik Martirosyan also crossed 2700 in the very same round. Round 3 starts today at 3 p.m. local time, 6:30 p.m. IST. Photos: Niki Riga/ECCC 2023

Nihal becomes the ninth Indian to cross 2700

The 44th Chess Olympiad 2022 individual Gold medalist on Board no.2, GM Nihal Sarin fulfilled the prophecy of crossing 2700. For now, it is only in the live ratings. It is just a matter of time before he makes it permanent to be published in the official FIDE rating list.

GM Nihal Sarin finally crossed 2700 in the live ratings

Nihal Sarin is now India no.7 and World no.35 with a live rating of 2702.5 | Source: 2700chess.com

MRU - ROSK Consulting - Tajfun SK Ljubljana: 1.5-4.5

GM Nihal Sarin (2694), GM Andrei Volokitin (2664), GM Ivan Saric (2647) and GM Robert Markus (2578) won their respective games. GM Viktor Erdos (2559) was held to a draw by IM Vaidas Sakalauskas (2344). The only individual game loss suffered for Tajfun SK Ljubljana was by GM Matej Sebenik (2523) against Vaidas Setkauskas (2239). Nihal's victory over GM Paulius Pultinevicius (2586) pushed his live rating over 2700 for the first time.

Paulius - Nihal

Position after 25...Nxd4!

25.Rcc1 allowed Nihal to go for a nice tactic Nxd4! Black gains decisive advantage in all variations. The teenager, being a human and not a computer, misplayed slightly in the endgame which allowed his opponent to equalize. It seemed like the game was heading towards a draw.

Position after 48...Nc4+

49.Ka4 is the only way for White to save the game. Of course, it was not easy to find. White went for the obvious 49.Ka6?? which was a blunder. 49...f3 and Black won the game in another nine moves.

Nihal Sarin crosses 2700 Elo in classical chess! Becomes the 9th Indian to do so! | Video: ChessBase India

Nihal's twitter account tweeted (probably by his manager) a beautiful poem by Rudyard Kipling

MRU - ROSK Consulting - Tajfun SK Ljubljana: 1.5-4.5

Replay MRU - ROSK Consulting - Tajfun SK Ljubljana games

Offerspill Sjakklubb - Wood Green: 5-1

GM Magnus Carlsen (2839), GM Raunak Sadhwani (2641), GM Aryan Tari (2619), GM Frode Olav Olsen Urkedal (2519) and IM Benjamin Haldorsen (2454) won their respective games. Only GM Pranav Venkatesh (2579) lost his game against FM Borna Derakhshani (2358).

Magnus Carlsen's understanding of Harmony | Video: ChessBase India

Wadsworth - Raunak

Position after 26.c5?

IM Matthew Wadsworth's (2446) position was already in trouble. 26.c5? did not help his case. 26...Na4 27.Bd2 Nxc5 28.Qe3 Bxe2 29.Qxe2 Rxf3 30.Be3 Ne4 31.Rc1 Qg6 32.Ba7 Qg4 33.Qc4 R8f4 Black's attack on the kingside is too overwhelming for White.

Offerspill Sjakklubb - Wood Green: 5-1

GM Raunak Sadhwani scored a comfortable victory

Offerspill Sjakklubb en route their victory over Wood Green

GM Erald Dervishi, CEO of European Chess Union, made the ceremonial first move of Round 2 on Magnus Carlsen's board

Magnus Carlsen spectating GM Pranav Venkatesh in action

Replay Offerspill Sjakklubb - Wood Green games

Replay live stream

Replay European Chess Club Cup 2023 Round 2 Live Commentary by WIM Fiona Steil-Antoni (LUX) and GM David Howell (ENG) | Video: European Chess Union

Every day round starts at 3 p.m. local time, 6:30 p.m. IST from 1st to 7th October 2023. The final round on 7th October starts 2 p.m. local time, 5:30 p.m. IST. The seven-round Swiss system tournament has a time control of 90 minutes for 40 moves plus 30 minutes for the rest of the game with an increment of 30 seconds per move, starting from move one. The tournament will be taking place at Grand Blue FAFA Conference Hall in Durrës, Albania.

Replay Round 2 Open games

Replay Round 2 Women games

Round 2 Open results

No.	Team	Team	Res.	:	Res.
1	SK Rockaden	Superchess	1	:	5
2	Offerspill Sjakklubb *)	Wood Green	5	:	1
3	Novy Bor	SV Werder Bremen	4	:	2
4	Silla Chess Club	Asnieres - Le Grand Echiquier	½	:	5½
5	KSK Rochade	Schachclub Viernheim 1934 e.V.	½	:	5½
6	Turkish Airlines Sports Club	Paul Keres 1	4½	:	1½
7	MRU - ROSK Consulting	TAJFUN SK Ljubljana	1½	:	4½
8	CE Le Cavalier Differdange *)	Partizani	4½	:	1½
9	Sentimento Ajka BSK	SK Dunajska Streda	4½	:	1½
10	CE Gambit Bonnevoie	C' Chartres Echecs	1½	:	4½

Details

Standings after Round 2

Rk.	SNo	FED	Team	Games	+	=	-	TB1
1	1	ROU	Superchess	2	2	0	0	4
	2	CZE	Novy Bor	2	2	0	0	4
	3	FRA	Asnieres - Le Grand Echiquier	2	2	0	0	4
	4	NOR	Offerspill Sjakklubb	2	2	0	0	4
	5	GER	Schachclub Viernheim 1934 e.V.	2	2	0	0	4
	6	TUR	Turkish Airlines Sports Club	2	2	0	0	4
	7	SLO	TAJFUN SK Ljubljana	2	2	0	0	4
	8	HUN	Sentimento Ajka BSK	2	2	0	0	4
	9	FRA	C' Chartres Echecs	2	2	0	0	4
	10	AZE	Vugar Gashimov	2	2	0	0	4

Details

Round 3 Open pairings

No.	Team	Team	Res.	:	Res.
1	Superchess	Vugar Gashimov		:
2	SK Zmaj	Offerspill Sjakklubb *)		:
3	Beer Sheva Chess Club	Novy Bor		:
4	Asnieres - Le Grand Echiquier	Gokturk Chess Sport Club		:
5	Schachclub Viernheim 1934 e.V.	Schachgesellschaft Zurich		:
6	Elektroprivreda	Turkish Airlines Sports Club		:
7	TAJFUN SK Ljubljana	Schachgesellschaft Riehen		:
8	Gambit Asseco-SEE	CE Le Cavalier Differdange *)		:
9	SK Javes Modra	Sentimento Ajka BSK		:
10	C' Chartres Echecs	Wasa SK		:

Details

Links

Official site

Tournament Regulations

Related news:

	Magnus Carlsen wins his first major team event for Offerspill Sjakklubb at 38th European Club Cup 2023 @ 08/10/2023 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
	European Club Cup 2023 R6: Pranav Venkatesh saves the day for Offerspill Sjakklubb @ 07/10/2023 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
	European Club Cup 2023 R5: Offerspill Sjakklubb and Superchess set up a massive clash @ 06/10/2023 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
	European Club Cup 2023 R4: Carlsen and Raunak power Offerspill Sjakklubb's fourth win @ 05/10/2023 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
	European Club Cup 2023 R3: Offerspill Sjakklubb keeps winning by a huge margin @ 04/10/2023 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
	European Club Cup 2023 R1: Nihal baffles Bosiocic, moves to 2699 @ 02/10/2023 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
	Raunak and Pranav Venkatesh set to play on Carlsen's team Offerspill Sjakklubb at European Club Cup 2023 @ 01/10/2023 by Shahid Ahmed (en)