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6th Sharjah Masters 2023 R2: Praggnanandhaa and Wenjun win two in-a-row

by Shahid Ahmed - 19/05/2023

When the tournament has all Grandmasters as participants, a draw is a natural result and upsets are virtually non-existent. The second round of 6th Sharjah Masters 2023 witnessed only two decisive games out of the first 13 boards. It is not surprising at all as the field is quite strong. R Praggnanandhaa defeated his 44th Chess Olympiad teammate, Raunak Sadhwani when the latter went for a wrong exchange of minor pieces. It resulted in him arriving at a positionally lost endgame. The only other player at 2/2 is the reigning Women's World Champion, , Wenjun Ju. She defeated Vidit Gujrathi. Praggnanandhaa will inevitably face Wenjun in Round 3 which starts today at 3 p.m. local time, 4:30 p.m. IST. Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Aravindh misses against Esipenko

Aravindh Chithambaram had a fantastic opportunity to beat Andrey Esipenko once again in their second-ever Classical battle. Unfortunately for Aravindh, he missed his chance. Aravindh, D Gukesh, Nihal Sarin, S L Narayanan, Arjun Erigaisi and Sethuraman among the 25 players who are at 1.5/2 each.

GM R Praggnanandhaa scored a fine victory over GM Raunak Sadhwani | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Praggnanandhaa - Raunak: 1-0

GM R Praggnanandhaa (2688) has never lost a rated game against GM Raunak Sadhwani (2627). Last month, they drew against each other at 49th La Roda Open. The second round battle witnessed a deferred Ruy Lopez Exchange variation.

Position after 16...Nc2

Black made the incorrect decision of moving his knight twice, 15...Nd4 and 16...Nc2? Pragg felt that either Black missed 17.Bh6! or he underestimated it because 17...Rf7 18.Bh6 Rf7 19.Ne4 Qxd3 does not work due to 20.Rfd1. After 19...gxh6 20.Rxc2 Black is positionally lost after the knight was firmly placed on e4. He made a nice finish by offering his queen as a sacrifice, it's more of a tactical shot exploiting Black's back-rank weakness.

Final position after 37.Qa7
Final moments: GM R Praggnanandhaa vs GM Raunak Sadhwani | Video: ChessBase India
Praggnanandhaa inches closer to 2700 with his win over Raunak Sadhwani | Video: ChessBase India

GM R Praggnanandhaa 2/2 | Photo: Niklesh Jain
The longest game of Round 2 - Parham Maghsoodloo vs Anton Korobov | Video: ChessBase India
S L Narayanan holds 2729 rated Yangyi Yu , shows some deep lines | Video: ChessBase India

Aravindh - Esipenko: 0.5-0.5

The reigning three-time National Rapid and Blitz champion, Aravindh Chithambaram (2633) has faced Andrey Esipenko (2679) only once in a rated game which he won. He was on the verge of repeating the same feat.

Position after 46.Nd6

46.Nd6 forces Black to take it Bxd6 47.exd6 Kg7 48.d7. Even 48.h4 Qe4 49.Rg5+ Kf8 50.Rxh5 Qxf3+ 51.Kxf3 was also good. 48...Rd8 and now White needed to go 49.Rd6 Qe4 50.Rc6 and it would have been winning. However, he went for 49.Re2 Rc2 and the opportunity evaporated.

Final moments: GM Aravindh Chithambaram vs GM Andrey Esipenko | Video: ChessBase India

GM Aravindh Chithambaram had GM Andrey Esipenko on the ropes | Photo: Niklesh Jain

Vidit - Wenjun

Position after 31.g3?

After a missed opportunity, the reigning Women's World Champion, GM Wenjun Ju (CHN, 2550) was presented another opportunity. 31.g3 Nxd3 32.Re3 Nc1 here Nb2! would have been nicer as it activates the bishop and forces an exchange of knights 33.Nxb2 c4 34.Nh4 Rf2 35.Rf3 Rxb2. 33.Kg2 Bb8 34.Re1 Na2 35.Rb1 Bc7 36.Rb7 Kd7 and Black went on to win the game eventually.

Final moments: GM Vidit Gujrathi vs GM Wenjun Ju (CHN) | Video: ChessBase India

GM Wenjun Ju (CHN) 2/2 | Photo: Niklesh Jain

Sethuraman - Lucas

Position after 22...Bxd5??

22...Ra7 was the best way to defend the c7-pawn. 22...Bxd5 made GM Lucas van Foreest's (NED, 2556) king more vulnerable 23.cxd5+ Kd7 no matter wherever the king goes, there is always an exchange sacrifice which leads to GM Sethuraman S P (2626) winning the game. 24.Rxd4! cxd4 25.Rxc7+ Ke8 26.e5! dxe5 27.d6 Rb8 28.Ra7 and Black resigned.

GM Sethuraman S P 1.5/2 | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

The tournament hall at Sharjah Cultural & Chess Club | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Replay the Live stream

Replay Sharjah Masters Round 2 live commentary by Amruta Mokal | Video: ChessBase India

Replay Round 2 games

Round 2 results

Bo.No. NameRtgPts.ResultPts.NameRtg No.
11
GMMaghsoodloo, Parham27341½ - ½1GMKorobov, Anton2664
18
220
GMCheparinov, Ivan26601½ - ½1GMGukesh, D2732
2
321
GMNarayanan.S.L,26601½ - ½1GMYu, Yangyi2729
4
422
GMNguyen, Thai Dai Van26451½ - ½1GMNiemann, Hans Moke2708
6
523
GMYilmaz, Mustafa26411½ - ½1GMErigaisi, Arjun2701
8
69
GMPraggnanandhaa, R268811 - 01GMSadhwani, Raunak2627
32
711
GMSevian, Samuel26841½ - ½1GMKovalev, Vladislav2612
38
825
GMAravindh, Chithambaram Vr.26331½ - ½1GMEsipenko, Andrey2679
12
913
GMSalem, A.R. Saleh26771½ - ½1GMKadric, Denis2601
46
1027
GMSargsyan, Shant26301½ - ½1GMTabatabaei, M. Amin2677
14
1169
GMMchedlishvili, Mikheil25531½ - ½1GMNihal, Sarin2673
16
123
GMVidit, Santosh Gujrathi2731½0 - 11GMJu, Wenjun2550
70
135
GMSjugirov, Sanan2712½½ - ½½GMMurzin, Volodar2604
42
1463
GMCan, Emre2575½0 - 1½GMPredke, Alexandr2685
10
1515
GMMartirosyan, Haik M.2675½½ - ½½GMMendonca, Leon Luke2603
44

Details

Standings after Round 2

Rk.SNo NameFEDRtgPts. TB1  TB2  TB3 
19
GMPraggnanandhaa, RIND26882021,5
270
GMJu, WenjunCHN25502021
31
GMMaghsoodloo, ParhamIRI27341,5012,5
11
GMSevian, SamuelUSA26841,5012,5
25
GMAravindh, Chithambaram Vr.IND26331,5012,5
27
GMSargsyan, ShantARM26301,5012,5
72
GMGukesh, DIND27321,5012
4
GMYu, YangyiCHN27291,5012
6
GMNiemann, Hans MokeUSA27081,5012
13
GMSalem, A.R. SalehUAE26771,5012
14
GMTabatabaei, M. AminIRI26771,5012
16
GMNihal, SarinIND26731,5012
20
GMCheparinov, IvanBUL26601,5012
21
GMNarayanan.S.L,IND26601,5012
22
GMNguyen, Thai Dai VanCZE26451,5012

Details

Round 3 pairings

Bo.No. NameRtgPts.ResultPts.NameRtg No.
170
GMJu, Wenjun255022GMPraggnanandhaa, R2688
9
238
GMKovalev, Vladislav2612GMMaghsoodloo, Parham2734
1
32
GMGukesh, D2732GMNarayanan.S.L,2660
21
44
GMYu, Yangyi2729GMCheparinov, Ivan2660
20
56
GMNiemann, Hans Moke2708GMYilmaz, Mustafa2641
23
68
GMErigaisi, Arjun2701GMNguyen, Thai Dai Van2645
22
710
GMPredke, Alexandr2685GMAravindh, Chithambaram Vr.2633
25
846
GMKadric, Denis2601GMSevian, Samuel2684
11
912
GMEsipenko, Andrey2679GMSargsyan, Shant2630
27
1056
GMJumabayev, Rinat2590GMSalem, A.R. Saleh2677
13
1114
GMTabatabaei, M. Amin2677GMSethuraman, S.P.2626
33
1216
GMNihal, Sarin2673GMSuleymanli, Aydin2560
67
1318
GMKorobov, Anton2664GMMchedlishvili, Mikheil2553
69
1474
GMGalperin, Platon25281GMSjugirov, Sanan2712
5
1550
GMIvic, Velimir259511GMMartirosyan, Haik M.2675
15

Details

Links

Official site

Tournament details


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