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RTU Open 2021 R1: Salna stuns Sethuraman

by Shahid Ahmed - 10/08/2021

They say even a world-class batsman is the most vulnerable when he faces the first ball, the same analogy can be applied to a goalkeeper who concedes a goal in the initial minutes or to a strong chess player who loses his first round game. Sethuraman lost his first round game against Aleksandras Salna (LTU). Nihal, Aravindh, Narayanan, Arjun Erigaisi and Abhimanyu Puranik made a winning start among the top Indian players. A total of 175 players including 27 Indians are taking part from 29 nations across the world in this nine-round Swiss league event which has a total prize fund of €17100 (approx. ₹14.92 lacs) with the first prize being €2500 (approx. ₹2.18 lacs). Round 2 starts today at 1:30 p.m. IST. Photo: Amruta Mokal

A tough start for Indians

Among the top seeds, Sethuraman is the only player who suffered a loss in the first round. Praggnanandhaa, Karthikeyan and Gukesh were held to a draw by their respective untitled opponents. Narayanan S L made a great escape and snatched a victory against Paulius Jukins.

Sethuraman can definitely bounce back from the early setback | Photo: Amruta Mokal

Nihal - Trisha: 1-0

Nihal scored a nice technical win over WIM Trisha Kanyamarala (IRL).

Position after 17...Rac8

Find out why 17...Rac8 is incorrect and what should be the correct plan for White.

Sethuraman - Salna: 0-1

Sethuraman made a big positional mistake which had a domino effect for the rest of the game.

Position after 15.g4

15.g4 forced Black to play 15...Nf4 which also forced White to trade the knights. After 16.Nxf4 gxf4 17.Kh2 Black broke the kingside wide open with 17...h5. Rest was just a matter of time for Black to score a win.

Narayanan - Juknis: 1-0

GM Narayanan S L was cruising towards victory but then he hit a speed bump and for a moment faced difficulties against Paulius Juknis (LTU).

Position after 37.Rxe7

37.Rxe7 allows Black to gain the upper hand 37...Kf8 38.Qe2 and now Qh1+ wins, even 38...Qg1+ is also winning. The game continued 39.Kh3 and Black blundered 39...Rg8

Position after 39...Rg8

Black needed to play Rg8 later but playing it right now has an adverse effect as now White can finish the game. Find out how.

Batashevs - Praggnanandhaa: 0.5-0.5

Praggnanandhaa had a small window of opportunity in the endgame to keep his chances.

Position after 34...Nd4

While 34...Nd4 is a good idea, Black needed to execute the idea of exf4 gxf4 a5 and then g5 break which would have given Black winning chances. The game continued 35.Bf1 Bd7 36.Nd3 Nf3 37.g4 and the game meandered into a draw.

Round 1 in progress | Photo: Anna Shtourman/Riga Technical University Open 2021

Highlights

Here are a few interesting finishes from Round 1:

Klavs Stabulneiks (LAT) lost to GM Alexander Donchenko (GER)

Pierre Theon (FRA) lost to GM Kaido Kulaots (EST)

Replay Round 1 games

Round 1 results

Bo.No. NameRtgPts.ResultPts.NameRtg No.
188
Stabulnieks Klavs218200 - 10GMDonchenko Alexander2657
1
22
GMNihal Sarin265501 - 00WIMKanyamarala Trisha2180
89
390
Torkkola Henri218000 - 10GMKovalenko Igor2644
3
44
GMSethuraman S.P.264400 - 10Salna Aleksandras2177
91
592
WIMRakshitta Ravi217200 - 10GMAravindh Chithambaram Vr.2641
5
66
GMNarayanan.S.L262401 - 00Juknis Paulius2172
93
794
FMLevchenkov Vitaly216800 - 10GMHakobyan Aram2612
7
88
GMSmirin Ilia261001 - 00Tanmay Chopra2166
95
996
Batashevs Arsens21530½ - ½0GMPraggnanandhaa R2608
9
1010
GMKarthikeyan Murali26060½ - ½0Borrmann Laurenz2152
97
1198
Stremavicius Pijus214600 - 10GMErigaisi Arjun2597
11
1212
GMPuranik Abhimanyu258001 - 00Brinkmann Fabian2144
99
13100
Bekasovs Rihards21400½ - ½0GMGukesh D2578
13
1414
GMIvic Velimir257101 - 00Stewart Ashley2131
101
15102
Kuhn Ulf212800 - 10GMMeshkovs Nikita2568
15

Details

Round 2 pairings

Bo.No. NameRtgPts.ResultPts.NameRtg No.
11
GMDonchenko Alexander265711IMIoannidis Evgenios2422
44
245
FMDudin Gleb242211GMNihal Sarin2655
2
33
GMKovalenko Igor264411IMPranav Anand2417
46
45
GMAravindh Chithambaram Vr.264111GMAkesson Ralf2395
48
547
IMDionisi Thomas241511GMNarayanan.S.L2624
6
67
GMHakobyan Aram261211IMBaskin Robert2390
50
749
FMJesse Ingemars239211GMSmirin Ilia2610
8
811
GMErigaisi Arjun259711IMBerzinsh Roland2373
52
951
FMVan Dael Siem239011GMPuranik Abhimanyu2580
12
1053
IMKrivonosov Oleg237111GMIvic Velimir2571
14
1115
GMMeshkovs Nikita256811FMChukavin Kirill2370
54
1256
FMTahay Alexis236411GMSanal Vahap2557
16
1317
GMYuffa Daniil255611IMSarkar Justin2338
60
1457
FMVetokhin Savva236411IMLaurusas Tomas2549
18
1519
GMKulaots Kaido254811FMKlabis Rokas2323
62

Details

Links

Official site

Tournament details