Serbia Open 2022 R2: Kushagra and Sakshi showcase endgame endurance

by Shahid Ahmed - 30/06/2022

CM Kushagra Mohan and WIM Sakshi Chitlange showed some fine endgame knowledge in Round 2 of Serbia Open 2022 Masters. Both of them are among Indian players at 2/2. GM B Adhiban, GM Abhimanyu Puranik, IM Padmini Rout, IM Anuj Shrivatri, IM P Shyam Nikhil and IM Aditya S Samant are the remaining Indians who have made a 100% start. FM Kashish Manoj Jain continues his momentum from the previous round. He had a significant advantage in the final position where he decided to draw with IM Yoav Milikow (ISR). Round 3 starts today at 7:30 p.m. IST. Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

32 players at 2/2

IM Muthaiah Al, WIM Arpita Mukherjee, FM Ram Aravind L N and IM V Saravanan drew with GM Aryan Chopra, IM Nitish Belurkar, IM Nurgyul Salimova (BUL) and GM Aydin Suleymanli (AZE) each respectively in the second round.

CM Kushagra Mohan seized his opportunity | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Kushagra - Alisher: 1-0

CM Kushagra Mohan (2343) seized his opportunity in the endgame against IM Alisher Suleymenov (KAZ, 2467).

Position after 51.Rc5

White has made an offer for a rook exchange. Shall Black take it? If your answer is no, like it happened in the game then it is incorrect. 51...Rb8 loses after 52.Rxa5. White's advanced pawns, well-placed rook combined with the fact that the king is not cut-off from rushing towards the center, helped White to convert it into a full point. Check out Kushagra's fine technique in scoring the win.

Sanjin - Shyam: 0-1

FM Sanjin Culum (BIH, 2287) made an inaccuracy in the queen ending. It made his position completely lost against IM P Shyam Nikhil (2443). However, Shyam made an inaccuracy at a crossroads which allowed his opponent to save the day.

Position after 26.Bf1

There is no doubt that Black is completely winning here as the b3-passed pawn is unstoppable. However, Black needs to be careful about the back rank, mostly perpetual check threats. 26...g6 or h6, which is correct way to proceed here? Black opted for the wrong one which White was unable to spot correctly. Shyam eventually went on to win the game. Try to find out which coffee house move Black should opt for and the reasoning behind it.

IM P Shyam Nikhil almost missed a half point | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Vignesh - Sakshi: 0-1

WIM Sakshi Chitlange (2216) made the most out of her opportunity in the endgame against IM Vignesh N R (2427).

Position after 41.d6

Black can still save the game after 41.d6 due to the fact that he still has a few pawns left, which can be a game changer. The natural and humane 41...Be8 was played in the game. White is winning in various ways after that. Find out what Black should have done instead to save the game.

WIM Sakshi Chitlange is well on her way to become India's next WGM | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Highlights

A few interesting finishes from Round 2

IM Pranav Anand (2467) - FM Panagiotis Hristodoulou (GRE, 2328): 0.5-0.5

IM Yoav Milikow (ISR, 2460) - FM Kashish Manoj Jain (2271): 0.5-0.5

IM Aditya S Samant (2433) - IM Raahil Mullick (2237): 1-0

A total of 263 players including 38 GMs, 68 IMs, 6 WGMs and 13 WIMs are taking part from 38 countries across the world including India. The tournament is being organized by Serbia Chess Federation from 28th June to 7th July 2022 at Novi Sad, Serbia. The nine-round Swiss league tournament has a time control of 90 minutes/40 moves + 15 minutes for whole game, 30 seconds increment from move no.1.

Replay Round 2 games

Round 2 results

Rd.	Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.
2	5	86		Utsab Chatterjee	2403	1	0 - 1	1	GM	Bernadskiy Vitaliy	2617	9
2	6	10	GM	Adhiban B.	2616	1	1 - 0	1	IM	Moksh Amit Doshi	2398	91
2	7	88	IM	Muthaiah Al	2401	1	½ - ½	1	GM	Aryan Chopra	2609	11
2	8	12	GM	Puranik Abhimanyu	2608	1	1 - 0	1	IM	Drnovsek Gal	2393	93
2	9	90	IM	Tania Sachdev	2399	1	0 - 1	1	GM	Can Emre	2599	13
2	12	16	GM	Mendonca Leon Luke	2562	1	0 - 1	1	FM	Erdogmus Yagiz Kaan	2388	97
2	14	98	WGM	Narva Mai	2385	1	½ - ½	1	GM	Harsha Bharathakoti	2547	19
2	23	118	IM	Padmini Rout	2357	1	1 - 0	1	IM	Koustav Chatterjee	2485	37
2	24	119	IM	Vardaan Nagpal	2357	1	½ - ½	1	IM	Pranav V	2481	39
2	26	120	IM	Anuj Shrivatri	2356	1	1 - 0	1	IM	Janzelj Tim	2470	45
2	27	46	GM	Chanda Sandipan	2467	1	0 - 1	1	FM	Karacsonyi Gellert	2338	131
2	29	48	IM	Pranav Anand	2467	1	½ - ½	1	FM	Hristodoulou Panagiotis	2328	138
2	30	126	CM	Kushagra Mohan	2343	1	1 - 0	1	IM	Suleymenov Alisher	2467	49
2	31	128	FM	Rohith Krishna S	2339	1	0 - 1	1	GM	Arnaudov G. Petar	2462	51
2	32	52	IM	Nitish Belurkar	2460	1	½ - ½	1	WIM	Arpita Mukherjee	2281	158
2	34	54	FM	Milikow Yoav	2460	1	½ - ½	1	FM	Jain Kashish Manoj	2271	166
2	35	130	IM	Souhardo Basak	2338	1	0 - 1	1	IM	Ioannidis Evgenios	2459	55
2	37	154	FM	Culum Sanjin	2287	1	0 - 1	1	IM	Shyaamnikhil P	2443	61
2	38	173		Adarsh Tripathi	2247	1	0 - 1	1	IM	Agmanov Zhandos	2436	65
2	40	68	FM	Samant Aditya S	2433	1	1 - 0	1	IM	Mullick Raahil	2237	183

Details

Round 3 pairings

Rd.	Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.
3	5	97	FM	Erdogmus Yagiz Kaan	2388	2		2	GM	Adhiban B.	2616	10
3	6	102	IM	Ceres Dragos	2380	2		2	GM	Puranik Abhimanyu	2608	12
3	11	51	GM	Arnaudov G. Petar	2462	2		2	IM	Padmini Rout	2357	118
3	12	55	IM	Ioannidis Evgenios	2459	2		2	IM	Anuj Shrivatri	2356	120
3	13	61	IM	Shyaamnikhil P	2443	2		2	CM	Kushagra Mohan	2343	126
3	14	65	IM	Agmanov Zhandos	2436	2		2	WIM	Chitlange Sakshi	2216	197
3	16	164	FM	Eren Ataberk	2273	2		2	FM	Samant Aditya S	2433	68
3	17	1	GM	Predke Alexandr	2688	1½		1½	IM	Srihari L R	2404	84
3	18	88	IM	Muthaiah Al	2401	1½		1½	GM	Ivic Velimir	2628	4
3	19	7	GM	Indjic Aleksandar	2620	1½		1½	IM	Harikrishnan.A.Ra	2396	92
3	20	11	GM	Aryan Chopra	2609	1½		1½	FM	Damjanovic Vuk	2393	94
3	24	19	GM	Harsha Bharathakoti	2547	1½		1½	IM	Maltsevskaya Aleksandra	2378	104
3	28	111	IM	Harshavardhan G B	2367	1½		1½	IM	Aditya Mittal	2485	36
3	30	39	IM	Pranav V	2481	1½		1½	IM	Tsolakidou Stavroula	2358	117
3	31	138	FM	Hristodoulou Panagiotis	2328	1½		1½	GM	Karthik Venkataraman	2480	40
3	32	43	GM	Arjun Kalyan	2477	1½		1½	IM	Vardaan Nagpal	2357	119
3	34	156	FM	Marn Jan	2282	1½		1½	IM	Pranav Anand	2467	48
3	35	166	FM	Jain Kashish Manoj	2271	1½		1½	IM	Nitish Belurkar	2460	52
3	36	158	WIM	Arpita Mukherjee	2281	1½		1½	FM	Milikow Yoav	2460	54
3	41	71	IM	Gan-Erdene Sugar	2428	1½		1½	FM	Ram Aravind L N	2138	233

Details

Links

Official site

Tournament Regulations

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