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Serbia Open R4: Pranav stuns Perunovic

by Shahid Ahmed - 05/07/2021

The number of leaders thinned to one-third from the previous round at the conclusion of Round 4 at Serbia Open 2021. Shevchenko, Petrosyan and Serbia's very own Indjic are among the leaders who are still unscathed. Nihal, Arjun, Raunak and Pranav - all four of them won their respective games to move to 3.5/4. Pranav continues his fantastic momentum as he beat GM Milos Perunovic in this round. He is well on his way to score his final IM-norm and perhaps a GM-norm too in the process. An action packed report of Round 4 with photos, game videos and highlights. Round 5 starts today at 8:30 p.m. IST. Photo: Rupali Mullick

Petrosyan, Indjic and Shevchenko in a three-way lead 4.0/4

18-year-old GM Kirill Shevchenko (UKR) displaced top seed GM Vladimir Fedoseev (RUS) from the leaderboard, as he joined GM Manuel Petrosyan (ARM) and GM Aleksandar Indjic (SRB) to lead with a 100% score of 4.0/4.

Pranav continues his fantastic form 3.5/4 | Photo: Rupali Mullick

Nihal - Gharibyan: 1-0

The game arrived to a rook-knight vs. rook-bishop endgame with only two pawns traded in just 18 moves.

Position after 59.a5

Black can still save the game after 59.a5. It is important to know the theory, so that if you have less time on the clock, you do not have to spend a lot of time figuring out the correct plan.

Nihal Sarin vs Gharibyan Mamikon - Nail biting endgame | Video: ChessBase India

Nihal showcased his engame prowess | Photo: Rupali Mullick

Schreiner - Arjun: 0-1

IM Peter Schreiner (AUT) made an incorrect break which allowed Arjun to gain the upper hand.

Position after 32.d5

After 32.d5 exd5 33.exd5 cxd5 is what Black should have played, instead Arjun opted for 33...c5. 33...cxd5 34.Nxd5 Qh7 leads to some interesting variations.

Position after 55.Kf1

55...Rd1 threat was unstoppable. Thus, White needed to play 55.Ra5 with his own threat of a7 but White blundered 55.Kf1 and immediately lost the game because of 55...Rd1+

That was quick! | Video: ChessBase India

Arjun Erigaisi seized his opportunity | Photo: Rupali Mullick

Perunovic - Pranav: 0-1

Untitled Pranav Venkatesh has two IM-norms and with this victory against GM Milos Perunovic (SRB), he crossed 2400 in the live ratings.

Position after 23.f3

23.f3 is uncalled-for. It unnecessarily makes White's king vulnerable. 23.Ra7 would have been a better choice.

Position after 31...Nf4

While getting a good position is important, what's more important is executing the correct idea at the right time. That's exactly what Pranav did with 31...Nf4. White is forced to take it 32.Nxf4 exf4 and it is safe to say that Black has got a decisive advantage.

Pranav V beats 2567 rated GM Perunovic | Video: ChessBase India

Both Arjun and Pranav are in tremendous form | Photo: Rupali Mullick

Raunak - Baglan: 1-0

Raunak Sadhwani showed fantastic positional play which made his opponent FM Esat Baglan (TUR) crumble eventually.

Position after 28...f6

Black had to defend the b5-pawn. 28...Nb6 and Black is doing fine but the text 28...f6 just implodes the position for Black. Both b5 and a5 falls and the a3-pawn become a menacing one which eventually decided the fate of the game.

Raunak displayed his positional prowess | Photo: Rupali Mullick

Petkidis - Puranik: 0-1

Untitled Anthony Petkidis had a better position, but a strange retreat allowed Abhimanyu Puranik to pounce at the opportunity and snatch things in his favor.

Position after 24.Bg2

24.Bg2 did not help White in any way, in fact it only worsened things. Find out how. 24.Rd2 and White would have remained fine.

Abhimanyu Puranik is very alert tactically | Photo: Rupali Mullick

For more photos, click here.

Highlights

Here are a couple of interesting finishes from Round 4

GM Kirill Shevchenko (UKR) beat top seed GM Vladimir Fedoseev (RUS)

Final position - GM Manuel Petrosyan (ARM) and GM Pier Luigi Basso (ITA)

Final position - GM Samvel Ter-Sahakyan (ARM) and GM Arkadiusz Leniart (POL)

Replay Round 4 games

Round 4 results

Rd.Bo.No. NameFEDRtgPts.ResultPts.NameFEDRtg No.
488
GMNihal SarinIND26201 - 0IMGharibyan MamikonARM2464
56
41462
IMSchreiner PeterAUT24410 - 1GMErigaisi ArjunIND2567
21
41522
GMPerunovic MilosSRB25670 - 1Pranav VIND2366
113
41826
GMSadhwani RaunakIND25551 - 0FMBaglan EsatTUR2359
117
42790
Petkidis AnthonyGER240120 - 12GMPuranik AbhimanyuIND2589
15
43338
IMCaspi IsraelISR251020 - 12IMVardaan NagpalIND2366
111
43440
IMErenberg ArielISR250621 - 02Souhardo BasakIND2364
115
43948
IMRaja HarshitIND248421 - 02FMKowalski IgorPOL2349
125
44972
IMBharath Subramaniyam HIND242621 - 02CMTrost EdvinSWE2184
232
455261
FMLundin JanSWE21142½ - ½2IMRaja Rithvik RIND2408
85
45864
IMAditya MittalIND24381 - 0IMKlasan VladimirSRB2297
161
45966
IMMohammad Nubairshah ShaikhIND2436½ - ½FMMarn JanSLO2280
171
460174
Tanmay ChopraIND2273½ - ½IMSankalp GuptaIND2429
71
465184
FMCvitan EnaCRO22551 - 0IMAkshat KhampariaIND2406
86
469208
WGMVarshini VIND2226½ - ½FMTadic StefanSRB2390
99
470209
WIMBlagojevic TijanaSRB2222½ - ½IMMullick RaahilIND2386
101
471214
WIMSharma IshaIND2213½ - ½FMMaerevoet SimBEL2384
103
474223
WFMMehmed ElifBUL2199½ - ½FMVatsal SinghaniaIND2371
107
476229
Kosmas-Lekkas DimitriosGRE21861 - 0WGMNandhidhaa P VIND2365
114
494116
FMMeissner FelixGER23621½ - ½1Ojas KulkarniIND2216
211
498146
FMPasti AronHUN231811 - 01WIMRakshitta RaviIND2190
228
4104250
Ljepic AndrejSRB213611 - 01CMDev ShahIND2270
175

Details

Round 5 pairings

Rd.Bo.No. NameFEDRtgPts.ResultPts.NameFEDRtg No.
5429
GMAleksandrov AleksejBLR2535GMNihal SarinIND2620
8
58113
Pranav VIND2366GMAsadli VugarAZE2574
18
5921
GMErigaisi ArjunIND2567IMAgmanov ZhandosKAZ2404
88
511133
IMOzenir Ekin BarisTUR2331GMSadhwani RaunakIND2555
26
5121
GMFedoseev VladimirRUS269633IMRaja HarshitIND2484
48
51715
GMPuranik AbhimanyuIND258933GMDiermair AndreasAUT2455
58
51923
GMKadric DenisBIH256433IMBharath Subramaniyam HIND2426
72
527111
IMVardaan NagpalIND236633IMBlohberger FelixAUT2490
46
547216
Stoinev MetodiBUL2212IMAditya MittalIND2438
64
55285
IMRaja Rithvik RIND2408CMUnat Can HaktanTUR2130
254
555153
FMKalogeris IoannisGRE230722IMMohammad Nubairshah ShaikhIND2436
66
55771
IMSankalp GuptaIND242922FMKukelko AlexeyUKR2304
156
56493
IMCan IsikTUR239822Tanmay ChopraIND2273
174
568101
IMMullick RaahilIND238622Ivanovic MarkoSRB2245
192
573107
FMVatsal SinghaniaIND237122WGMVarshini VIND2226
208
576115
Souhardo BasakIND236422WIMSharma IshaIND2213
214
59586
IMAkshat KhampariaIND2406CMSitnic AdnanBIH2231
204
596114
WGMNandhidhaa P VIND2365FMStrugnell CarlWLS2229
206
598211
Ojas KulkarniIND2216GMZhukova NataliaUKR2336
130
5116228
WIMRakshitta RaviIND219011GMDimitrov VladimirBUL2314
150
5124175
CMDev ShahIND227011WIMSrdanovic JovanaSRB2126
256

Details

Links

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