19th Delhi GM Open R9: Abhijeet and Sethuraman in the title fray

by Shahid Ahmed - 29/03/2022

19th Delhi International GM Open 2022 is certainly heading for an exciting finish. Five players are in the lead 7.5/9 heading into the final round. They are - Arjun Erigaisi, Sethuraman, Gukesh, Harsha Bharathakoti and Abhijeet Gupta. While Arjun has the best tie-break among the lot, a final round draw will allow any of the remaining to clinch the championship. He must beat Karthik Venkataraman in the final round to increase his odds. Abhijeet will face Gukesh and Sethuraman against Harsha in the final round, where everyone will go for full point to increase their chances to win the tournament. Round 10 starts today at 10:00 a.m. IST. Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Himal and Utsab impressive against Visakh and Masoud

IM Himal Gusain completely dominated his opponent GM Visakh N R. Utsab Chatterjee beat his first GM of the event, Masoud Mosadeghpour (IRI).

The highly anticipated match between Gukesh and Arjun Erigaisi was a well contested draw | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

IM Neelash Saha saved a slightly difficult endgame against GM Harsha Bharathakoti | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Kian - Abhijeet: 0-1

FM Seyed Poormosavi Kian (IRI, 2229) played the endgame a bit inaccurately against GM Abhijeet Gupta (2628). Eventually he landed himself in a relatively equal same color bishop endgame which was not easy to play.

Position after 38.Ke4

38.Ke4 loses the game for White. However, 38.Ke5 saves the day. Find out the key difference between these two.

GM Abhijeet Gupta is back in the title fray | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Ponkratov - Sethuraman: 0-1

GM Pavel Ponkratov (2641) suffered his second consecutive loss. He went terribly wrong in a pawn race in major piece endgame.

Position after 35.Rg5

Black is completely winning here. Find out the finish for Black after 35.Rg5.

Sethuraman's cute queen sacrifice to queen his pawn against Pavel Ponkratov | Video: ChessBase India

Visakh - Himal: 0-1

IM Himal Gusain (2408) made a short work of GM Visakh N R (2522) in just 23 moves.

Position after 17...Nd3+

17...Nd3+ is a deadly blow to an already dwindling position for White. 18.exd3 exd3+ 19.Kf1 Qxd4 and White resigned after four more moves.

IM Himal Gusain scored an emphatic victory against GM Visakh N R | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

GM Iniyan P - IM Viani Antonio D'cunha: 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Azer - Divya: 0.5-0.5

GM Azer Mirzoev (AZE, 2476) was completely lost in the final moments of the game against WGM Divya Deshmukh (2301). Unfortunately she could not find the precise winning continuation.

Position after 38.Bf1

38...Rxf2 allowed White to escape with a draw by perpetual check 39.Qg8+ Kg6 40.Qe8+ Kh7 41.Qg8+. Find out the winning continuation for Black after 38.Bf1

WGM Divya Deshmukh had a very good opportunity to win against GM Azer Mirzoev (AZE) | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

FM Rohith Krishna S - IM Vignesh N R: 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

FM Aradhya Garg - GM Deepan Chakkravarthy: 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Utsab Chatterjee - GM Masoud Mosadeghpour (IRI): 1-0 | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

What it takes to beat a GM | Utsab Chatterjee vs GM Masoud Mosadeghpour | Video: ChessBase India

FM Aaryan Varshney - GM Mitrabha Guha: 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Bharat Kumar Reddy Potluri - IM Sayantan Das: 1-0 | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Cerebral Palsy cannot stop Udit Sharma's dream of becoming a world class chess player | Video: ChessBase India

For more Round 9 photos, please click here.

A total of 298 players including 21 GMs, 26 IMs, 3 WGMs and 6 WIMs are taking part from 13 federations across the world including India. The tournament is organized by Delhi Chess Association from 22nd to 29th March 2022 at Tivoli Grand Resort Hote, New Delhi. The ten-round Swiss league tournament has a time control of 90 minutes + 30 seconds increment from move no.1. Accelerated pairings are used in the first three rounds.

Replay Round 9 games

Round 9 results

Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.
1	6	GM	Gukesh D	2614	7	½ - ½	7	GM	Erigaisi Arjun	2660	1
2	23	IM	Neelash Saha	2445	6½	½ - ½	7	GM	Harsha Bharathakoti	2499	14
3	60	FM	Poormosavi Seyed Kian	2229	6½	0 - 1	6½	GM	Gupta Abhijeet	2628	3
4	2	GM	Ponkratov Pavel	2641	6	0 - 1	6½	GM	Sethuraman S.P.	2619	5
5	7	GM	Lalith Babu M R	2558	6	1 - 0	6	IM	Abdisalimov Abdimalik	2435	27
6	8	GM	Visakh N R	2522	6	0 - 1	6	IM	Gusain Himal	2408	31
7	10	GM	Iniyan P	2516	6	½ - ½	6	IM	Viani Antonio Dcunha	2397	37
8	32	GM	Saptarshi Roy	2402	6	0 - 1	6	GM	Karthik Venkataraman	2485	16
9	18	GM	Mirzoev Azer	2476	6	½ - ½	6	WGM	Divya Deshmukh	2301	47
10	36	GM	Karthikeyan P.	2397	6	0 - 1	6	IM	Tahbaz Arash	2469	19
11	24	IM	Nigmatov Ortik	2445	6	1 - 0	6		Borgaonkar Akshay	1985	95
12	46	FM	Rohith Krishna S	2304	6	½ - ½	6	IM	Vignesh N R	2444	25
13	58	FM	Aradhya Garg	2236	6	½ - ½	5½	GM	Deepan Chakkravarthy J.	2520	9
14	4	GM	Delgado Ramirez Neuris	2622	5½	1 - 0	5½	FM	Liyanage Ranindu Dilshan	2340	41
15	42		Utsab Chatterjee	2324	5½	1 - 0	5½	GM	Mosadeghpour Masoud	2511	11
16	51	FM	Aaryan Varshney	2277	5½	½ - ½	5½	GM	Mitrabha Guha	2510	12
17	49	IM	Sangma Rahul	2286	5½	0 - 1	5½	GM	Arjun Kalyan	2506	13
18	20	IM	Krishna C R G	2466	5½	1 - 0	5½	FM	Phadke Sohan	2233	59
19	54		Bharat Kumar Reddy Poluri	2263	5½	1 - 0	5½	IM	Das Sayantan	2459	21
20	22	GM	Rios Cristhian Camilo	2449	5½	1 - 0	5½	WGM	Srija Seshadri	2219	63

Details

Round 10 pairings

Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.
1	3	GM	Gupta Abhijeet	2628	7½		7½	GM	Gukesh D	2614	6
2	5	GM	Sethuraman S.P.	2619	7½		7½	GM	Harsha Bharathakoti	2499	14
3	1	GM	Erigaisi Arjun	2660	7½		7	GM	Karthik Venkataraman	2485	16
4	31	IM	Gusain Himal	2408	7		7	GM	Lalith Babu M R	2558	7
5	19	IM	Tahbaz Arash	2469	7		7	IM	Nigmatov Ortik	2445	24
6	10	GM	Iniyan P	2516	6½		7	IM	Neelash Saha	2445	23
7	34	IM	Shahil Dey	2400	6½		6½	GM	Delgado Ramirez Neuris	2622	4
8	13	GM	Arjun Kalyan	2506	6½		6½	IM	Srihari L R	2400	35
9	33	IM	Harshavardhan G B	2402	6½		6½	GM	Mirzoev Azer	2476	18
10	37	IM	Viani Antonio Dcunha	2397	6½		6½	IM	Krishna C R G	2466	20
11	42		Utsab Chatterjee	2324	6½		6½	GM	Rios Cristhian Camilo	2449	22
12	25	IM	Vignesh N R	2444	6½		6½		Bharat Kumar Reddy Poluri	2263	54
13	47	WGM	Divya Deshmukh	2301	6½		6½	GM	Laxman R.R.	2429	28
14	29	IM	Nitin S.	2427	6½		6½	FM	Rohith Krishna S	2304	46
15	58	FM	Aradhya Garg	2236	6½		6½		Gholami Orimi Mahdi	2420	30
16	8	GM	Visakh N R	2522	6		6½	FM	Poormosavi Seyed Kian	2229	60
17	53		Saurabh Anand	2276	6		6	GM	Ponkratov Pavel	2641	2
18	9	GM	Deepan Chakkravarthy J.	2520	6		6	IM	Sharma Dinesh K.	2283	50
19	73	CM	Singh Ojasva	2141	6		6	GM	Mitrabha Guha	2510	12
20	15	GM	Fawzy Adham	2490	6		6	FM	Aaryan Varshney	2277	51

Details

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