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RTU Open 2021 R7: Narayanan and Kovalenko in the lead 6.0/7

by Shahid Ahmed - 14/08/2021

Narayanan S L beat Budisavljevic and Kovalenko scored a win against Gukesh to share the lead 6.0/7 at the conclusion of the seventh round of Riga Technical University Open 2021. While Narayanan capitalized on his opponent's positional mistakes, the Latvia no.1 took advantage of his opponent's incorrect onslaught on his kingside. They will face each other in the penultimate round, which could possibly have huge implications for the championship. Arjun Kalyan provided staunch defence to make a 120-move long marathon draw against Aram Hakobyan. Round 8 starts today at 5:30 p.m. IST. Photo: Anna Shtourman/Riga Technical University Open 2021

Arjun and Arjun in pursuit

GMs Arjun Erigaisi and Arjun Kalyan are in pursuit 5.5/7 along with eight other players. They are - GMs Aram Hakobyan (ARM), Ilia Smirin (ISR), Nikita Meshkovs (LAT), Velimic Ivir (SRB), Gergely Kantor (HUN), Alexander Donchenko (GER), Vahap Sanal (TUR) and IM Tomas Laurusas (LTU).

GM Narayanan S L shares the lead with Kovalenko | Photo: Anna Shtourman/Riga Technical University Open 2021

Kovalenko - Gukesh: 1-0

Gukesh's ambitious attack did not work out the way he wanted against GM Igor Kovalenko (LAT).

Position after 24...g3

White took 25.fxg3 Nxg3 26.Rf3 and Black has no attack. A better approach would have been 22...Qf6 instead of 22...Ndf6.

Narayanan - Budisavljevic: 1-0

Narayanan S L scored a victory over GM Luka Budisavljevic (SRB) after he made positional mistakes.

Position after 22..Bd7

22...Bd7 is the first mistake made by Black. What should White do here?

Position after 24...Bf5

Black needed to defend the f7-pawn immediately, which means 24...Be6 would have been a better choice. Find out the best continuation for White.

Pranav - Praggnanandhaa: 0.5-0.5

IM Pranav Anand held GM R Praggnanandhaa to a draw. Pranav gained upper hand in the middlegame but practically it was not easy to convert it into a substantial one.

Highlights

Here are a few interesting finishes from Round 7:

GM Narayanan S L defeated GM Luka Budisavljevic (SRB)

GM Gergely Kantor (HUN) defeated IM Evgenios Ioannidis (GRE)

IM Cem Kaan Gokerkan (TUR) won against FM Siem Van Diel (NED)

Replay Round 7 games

Round 7 results

Bo.No. NameRtgPts.ResultPts.NameRtg No.
13
GMKovalenko Igor264451 - 05GMGukesh D2578
13
26
GMNarayanan.S.L262451 - 05GMBudisavljevic Luka2495
27
324
IMArjun Kalyan25035½ - ½5GMHakobyan Aram2612
7
410
GMKarthikeyan Murali2606½ - ½5GMErigaisi Arjun2597
11
526
GMKantans Toms25010 - 1GMDonchenko Alexander2657
1
62
GMNihal Sarin2655½ - ½GMGrigorov Grigor2507
23
738
FMStukan Martin2443½ - ½GMAravindh Chithambaram Vr.2641
5
88
GMSmirin Ilia26101 - 0IMRoshka Yevgeniy2476
31
914
GMIvic Velimir25711 - 0GMPultinevicius Paulius2528
21
1078
Kugler Florian22230 - 1GMMeshkovs Nikita2568
15
1116
GMSanal Vahap25571 - 0GMMiezis Normunds2468
33
1254
FMChukavin Kirill2370½ - ½GMYuffa Daniil2556
17
1318
IMLaurusas Tomas25491 - 0IMAditya Mittal2464
35
1420
GMKantor Gergely25331 - 0IMIoannidis Evgenios2422
44
1546
IMPranav Anand2417½ - ½4GMPraggnanandhaa R2608
9

Details

Round 8 pairings

Bo.No. NameRtgPts.ResultPts.NameRtg No.
16
GMNarayanan.S.L262466GMKovalenko Igor2644
3
21
GMDonchenko Alexander2657GMSanal Vahap2557
16
37
GMHakobyan Aram2612IMLaurusas Tomas2549
18
415
GMMeshkovs Nikita2568GMSmirin Ilia2610
8
511
GMErigaisi Arjun2597GMKantor Gergely2533
20
624
IMArjun Kalyan2503GMIvic Velimir2571
14
727
GMBudisavljevic Luka249555GMNihal Sarin2655
2
85
GMAravindh Chithambaram Vr.264155IMGokerkan Cem Kaan2466
34
936
IMDmitrenko Viktor244455GMKarthikeyan Murali2606
10
1013
GMGukesh D257855FMStukan Martin2443
38
1117
GMYuffa Daniil255655IMPranav Anand2417
46
1223
GMGrigorov Grigor250755FMChukavin Kirill2370
54
1337
IMPetkov Momchil2443GMSethuraman S.P.2644
4
149
GMPraggnanandhaa R2608IMRaja Rithvik R2433
41
1543
IMVignesh N R2428GMPuranik Abhimanyu2580
12

Details

Links

Official site

Tournament details