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Abu Dhabi 2019 R02+03: A day of epic survivals and impossible reversals!

by Satanick Mukhuty - 04/08/2019

Chess is a difficult game, from time to time even the strongest of players lose their way in its fathomless depths! Day two of 26th Abu Dhabi Masters had double rounds and saw quite a few encounters of dizzying ups and downs. In the second round Raunak Sadhwani escaped a sure loss by the skin of his teeth as his opponent Andrey Esipenko missed his footing in what was a decisive attack. Elsewhere, in the same round, IM Akash Pc Iyer gave the newly crowned Biel Master champion M.amin Tabatabaei a massive scare before himself blundering into a draw. But the most topsy-turvy battle of the day was in store for the next round, between the 13-year-old talent Pranav V. and Grandmaster Venkatesh M.R. In this report we bring to you all the excitements.

Raunak Sadhwani's lucky bullet dodge!

In the second round of the event Raunak Sadhwani (2493) was up against the under-18 World no. 1, Andrey Esipenko (2625) | Photo: Rupali Mullick

Beginning with the exchange variation of Ruy Lopez, the game entered uncharted territory as early as move ten. The 14-year-old Indian IM pushed hard and even created some chances against his higher rated Russian opponent but somehow failed to capitalize on them. After twenty-eight moves quite a double-edged position was reached where kings of both sides felt a bit exposed.

Raunak Sadhwani - Andrey Esipenko, Round 2

Position after 28...Qxa2: The b3 knight is en prise, what should White play?

In the above position 29.Nd2, threatening to go Ra1 next, is a fine move. Black can't capture the b2 pawn as then Rb1 pins the queen. Hence, after something like 29...Qa4 30.Ra1 Bd7 31.Qd5 Qc6 we get a position which is roughly balanced. In the game however, Raunak played the move 29.Re3?! supporting the knight on b3 and this was the first critical mistake that allowed Black to seize a serious advantage.

Can you see why 29.Re3 is a bad move?

Esipenko correctly realized his opponent's mistake and went 29...Bd6! threatening to play Rxe3 and pick up the knight on b3 next. Once again, Nd2 would have been the best move in the position, even though after 30.Nd2 Bxf4 31.Qxf4 Qa4 Black has a strong initiative. The game continuation 30.Rxe8+ Rxe8 31.Nxc5 Rg8+ 32.Kf2 Qxb2+ only worsened White's position.

Position after 32...Qxb2+: With the menacing bishop pair, the rook on the open g-file, and the queen on the second rank, Black is completely winning!

But as they say, a won game is the most difficult to win! Things took a strange turn at this point when White played the move 33.Rd2 as Black simply lost the thread of the attack and went 33...Qa1

33...Qa1, supporting the pawn on a6, is one of those moves which looks sensible at first glance. But this allows the simple 34.Bg3 which takes away most of Black's initiative.

The right move would have been 33...Qc1 keeping the f4 bishop to the defense of the white rook and preventing Bg3. Nxa6+ isn't an issue as Qg1+ followed by Rg2 is a much bigger threat! 34.Bg3 Qc3 was played and now White found a nice way to even things out once and for all.

Position after 34...Qc3: It is White to move and equalize!

Fortune favours the brave! Raunak was spot on to find 35.Nxa6+ Kb7 36.Rxd6 cxd6 37.Qxh7+ Kxa6 38.Qxg8 and this immediately brought everything to perfect balance! The game ended with a perpetual after 57 moves.

M.Amin Tabatabaei survives a scare!

The recently crowned champion of Biel Masters 2019, Mohammad Amin Tabatabaei survived a massive scare in round two against IM Akash Pc Iyer in a topsy-turvy semi-slav encounter! Now it's time to see the highlights of this game!

Akash Pc Iyer - M.Amin Tabatabaei, Round 2

In an already less known structure Black played the move 13.f3 and a completely new position was on board!

13.Be2, 13.a4, 13.Nb5 etc have been played before and they all give Black a slight edge. The new move 13.f3 wasn't any improvement rather it only incurred more weaknesses on the kingside.

Position after 17.Bxf3: Black has a tangible edge with his control of h-file and bishop pair nicely cutting across the board. But he has to be careful, any premature liquidation in the center will bring his king undue harassment.   

A good way for Black to consolidate in the above position would have been 17...Bh2 18.Rh1 a6 19.Nc3 Rh3 pushing White backwards. But Black played the move 17...Rh4 instead and this allowed White exactly what he needed.

17...Rh4 looks natural, pressurizing the g4 pawn but do you see what Black missed here?

Perhaps the most difficult thing in chess is keeping track of opponent's counter-resources. 17...Rh4 allowed White to break with 18.e4, after 18...Bh2 19.Re1 things turned in favour of White.

With White's rook eying the e-file and and the b5 knight hitting c7, Black suddenly seems to have gone on the back foot.

After going through some more ups and downs; this was the position, when Black played 26...Nh3 threatening Rf2#, that the moment of truth arrived.

White is thoroughly crushing here. The mate threat on f2 can be simply thwarted with 27.Re2 but what White did was a nasty the blunder. The game followed 27.Qf6+ Ke8 28.Qh8+?? Nf8 and White's initiative vanished in thin air.

Can you see what has gone wrong for White with 28.Qh8+ Nf8 ?? 

29.Ne6+ isn't a threat as White is still facing Rf2#, hence 29.Re2 instead seems like a reasonable try but now comes 29...Qf5! with the deadly threat of Qxf3+ and this forces White to end things with Nf6+ Ke7 Nd5+ Ke8 perpetual - a sad miss by the Indian IM!

Round 3: Pranav V causes a crazy upset!

13-year-old Pranav V. faced compatriot GM Venkatesh M.R. in round 3, what ensued was a wildly chaotic skirmish! | Photo: Rupali Mullick

The amount of complications this game saw is reflected in the following position where White has his pair of rooks doubled on the seventh rank and Black his on the f-file. But the matter of fact is, White's rooks on the seventh isn't really hitting a weakness while Black's provision of infiltrating the white king is very real.

Pranav V - Venkatesh M.R., Round 3

White has just played 52.Ke1 - Can you guess the move Black played here?

Yes, Venkatesh M.R. blasted the kingside with 52.Nxg3+ hxg3 53.Rxf3 - this was decisive but in only the next three moves came an impossible reversal!

Position after 55.Qd3

It is hard to find a move that is not winning for Black here, but the Indian Grandmaster suffered an unfortunate brain fade moment and played 53...Rg2?? 

Do you see why 53...Rg2 is a horrifying blunder?

White immediately stopped Black's attack along f-file with 54.Rf7! and now Black was just left down a knight! The struggle continued till move 77 and it was in the following position Black gave up.

Position after 77.d6

The game overall underwent several other ups and downs apart from the one shown above. Replay the full encounter below:

Photo Gallery

Karthikeyan Murali was held to draw by IM Krishna C.R.G in the second round of the event | Photo: Rupali Mullick

In round 3, the encounter between Iniyan P and Karthikeyan Murali was much looked forward to. The game was agreed to a draw in thirty moves | Photo: Rupali Mullick


Praggnanandhaa won against compatriot Kushagra Mohan in the second round but was held to a draw by IM Oliver Dimakiling in round 3 | Photo: Rupali Mullick

Vaishali R. drew GM Jaime Santos Latasa in the second round but lost to GM Luka Paichadze in round 3 | Photo: Rupali Mullick

Divya Deshmukh lost to GM Yakubboev Nodirbek in round 2 and beat compatriot Tarini Goyal in the third round | Photo: Rupali Mullick


Vantika Agrawal drew IM Mihnea Costachi in the third round | Photo: Rupali Mullick

Results of round 2

Bo.No. NameRtgPts. ResultPts. NameRtg No.
143
GMKiriakov Petr 25141 0 - 11 GMSalem A.R. Saleh 2668
3
24
GMMaghsoodloo Parham 26561 1 - 01 GMSindarov Javokhir 2507
45
346
GMVasquez Schroeder Rodrigo 24961 ½ - ½1 GMAkopian Vladimir 2650
5
447
IMSadhwani Raunak 24931 ½ - ½1 GMEsipenko Andrey 2625
9
510
GMSocko Bartosz 26251 1 - 01 IMTahbaz Arash 2482
49
650
GMVenkatesh M.R. 24801 0 - 11 GMIndjic Aleksandar 2617
11
712
GMYilmaz Mustafa 26141 1 - 01 IMCostachi Mihnea 2471
51
852
IMVignesh N R 24661 ½ - ½1 GMBartel Mateusz 2612
13
914
GMKarthikeyan Murali 26121 ½ - ½1 IMKrishna C R G 2444
57
1056
IMGaponenko Inna 24461 ½ - ½1 GMAravindh Chithambaram Vr. 2607
15
1116
GMZubov Alexander 26071 1 - 01 FMLee Jun Hyeok 2437
59
1258
IMAkash Pc Iyer 24431 ½ - ½1 GMTabatabaei M.Amin 2601
17
1360
GMSocko Monika 24361 ½ - ½1 GMBai Jinshi 2599
19
1461
IMAditya Mittal 24291 0 - 11 GMAbdusattorov Nodirbek 2594
21
1522
GMCan Emre 25931 ½ - ½1 IMDimakiling Oliver 2418
63
1665
Sammed Jaykumar Shete 24161 0 - 11 GMPetrosyan Manuel 2592
23
1767
WGMVaishali R 24111 ½ - ½1 GMSantos Latasa Jaime 2586
25
1826
GMJobava Baadur 25841 1 - 01 IMAgmanov Zhandos 2402
69
1968
WGMNi Shiqun 24091 0 - 11 GMIdani Pouya 2581
27
2028
GMYakubboev Nodirbek 25741 1 - 01 WIMDivya Deshmukh 2360
81

Results of round 3

Bo.No. NameRtgPts. ResultPts. NameRtg No.
13
GMSalem A.R. Saleh 26682 ½ - ½2 GMYakubboev Nodirbek 2574
28
227
GMIdani Pouya 25812 0 - 12 GMMaghsoodloo Parham 2656
4
329
GMAleksandrov Aleksej 25712 1 - 02 GMSocko Bartosz 2625
10
411
GMIndjic Aleksandar 26172 1 - 02 GMYuffa Daniil 2571
30
534
GMIstratescu Andrei 25612 ½ - ½2 GMYilmaz Mustafa 2614
12
637
GMSengupta Deep 25462 ½ - ½2 GMZubov Alexander 2607
16
721
GMAbdusattorov Nodirbek 25942 1 - 02 GMSanal Vahap 2535
38
823
GMPetrosyan Manuel 25922 1 - 02 GMBajarani Ulvi 2515
42
939
GMXu Yi 25312 0 - 12 GMJobava Baadur 2584
26
102
GMNi Hua 2668 1 - 02 Senthil Maran K 2222
118
115
GMAkopian Vladimir 2650 ½ - ½ GMAryan Chopra 2553
36
127
GMVolokitin Andrei 2636 1 - 0 GMVasquez Schroeder Rodrigo 2496
46
139
GMEsipenko Andrey 2625 ½ - ½ IMArjun Kalyan 2482
48
1413
GMBartel Mateusz 2612 1 - 0 IMSadhwani Raunak 2493
47
1541
GMIniyan P 2517 ½ - ½ GMKarthikeyan Murali 2612
14
1615
GMAravindh Chithambaram Vr. 2607 1 - 0 IMVignesh N R 2466
52
1717
GMTabatabaei M.Amin 2601 1 - 0 IMAlavi Sayed Javad 2454
54
1856
IMGaponenko Inna 2446 0 - 1 GMAntipov Mikhail Al. 2599
18
1919
GMBai Jinshi 2599 1 - 0 IMAkash Pc Iyer 2443
58
2057
IMKrishna C R G 2444 ½ - ½ GMPetrov Nikita 2595
20

Standings after round 3

Rk.SNo NameFEDRtgPts. TB1  TB2  TB3 
14
GMMaghsoodloo ParhamIRI26563,00,025444,5
211
GMIndjic AleksandarSRB26173,00,025264,0
329
GMAleksandrov AleksejBLR25713,00,025015,5
421
GMAbdusattorov NodirbekUZB25943,00,024824,0
526
GMJobava BaadurGEO25843,00,024674,0
623
GMPetrosyan ManuelARM25923,00,024664,0
73
GMSalem A.R. SalehUAE26682,50,025446,0
812
GMYilmaz MustafaTUR26142,50,025165,5
928
GMYakubboev NodirbekUZB25742,50,025145,5
1016
GMZubov AlexanderUKR26072,50,024926,5
1113
GMBartel MateuszPOL26122,50,024804,5
1215
GMAravindh Chithambaram Vr.IND26072,50,024564,5
1317
GMTabatabaei M.AminIRI26012,50,024494,0
1419
GMBai JinshiCHN25992,50,024403,5
1534
GMIstratescu AndreiROU25612,50,024374,0
1622
GMCan EmreTUR25932,50,024274,5
177
GMVolokitin AndreiUKR26362,50,024274,0
1837
GMSengupta DeepIND25462,50,024265,0
1925
GMSantos Latasa JaimeESP25862,50,024144,5
2018
GMAntipov Mikhail Al.RUS25992,50,024073,5

An overview of results of all Indian players after round 3

SNoNameRtgFED123Pts.Rk.Group
14GMKarthikeyan Murali2612IND1½½2,036Masters
15GMAravindh Chithambaram Vr.2607IND1½12,512Masters
24GMVaibhav Suri2591IND½1½2,050Masters
32GMPraggnanandhaa R2569IND½1½2,052Masters
36GMAryan Chopra2553IND½1½2,037Masters
37GMSengupta Deep2546IND11½2,518Masters
41GMIniyan P2517IND1½½2,041Masters
47IMSadhwani Raunak2493IND1½01,561Masters
48IMArjun Kalyan2482IND½1½2,045Masters
50GMVenkatesh M.R.2480IND1001,0108Masters
52IMVignesh N R2466IND1½01,562Masters
53IMShyaamnikhil P2457IND½½½1,597Masters
57IMKrishna C R G2444IND1½½2,027Masters
58IMAkash Pc Iyer2443IND1½01,566Masters
61IMAditya Mittal2429IND10½1,587Masters
62GMLaxman R.R.2426IND½1½2,051Masters
65Sammed Jaykumar Shete2416IND1001,0115Masters
66Sankalp Gupta2416IND01½1,598Masters
67WGMVaishali R2411IND1½01,571Masters
70IMMendonca Leon Luke2401IND0101,0122Masters
72WGMSoumya Swaminathan2377IND1012,053Masters
73IMRakesh Kumar Jena2375IND½½12,057Masters
75FMManush Shah2373IND½½½1,599Masters
76IMViani Antonio Dcunha2371IND1½½2,024Masters
77FMRajdeep Sarkar2367IND½000,5123Masters
78FMRathanvel V S2367IND0112,040Masters
79IMRaja Rithvik R2364IND00½0,5131Masters
80IMKulkarni Rakesh2360IND0½11,582Masters
81WIMDivya Deshmukh2360IND1012,026Masters
82FMDixit Nikhil2358IND½011,564Masters
83CMMullick Raahil2355IND10½1,565Masters
84FMPranav Anand2347IND0011,0112Masters
85Moksh Amit Doshi2343IND0½11,586Masters
86WIMNandhidhaa P V2332IND0101,0100Masters
87CMAronyak Ghosh2332IND01½1,572Masters
88IMKathmale Sameer2326IND01½1,570Masters
89FMKrishnater Kushager2324IND0011,0114Masters
91Pranav V2316IND0112,029Masters
92FMMithil Ajgaonkar2314IND0101,0103Masters
93Srijit Paul2304IND½011,559Masters
94FMGajwa Ankit2302IND00½0,5135Masters
95FMPranesh M2296IND½011,568Masters
96Samant Aditya S2295IND0011,0116Masters
98Bhambure Shantanu2288IND½011,569Masters
99WIMVantika Agrawal2287IND01½1,577Masters
100WGMGomes Mary Ann2286IND0½00,5138Masters
101WIMSrija Seshadri2284IND0½00,5140Masters
103Ajay Krishna S2280IND01½1,578Masters
105FMAaryan Varshney2272IND½0½1,0102Masters
106FMNitish Belurkar2271IND½011,573Masters
107IMSiva Mahadevan2270IND0½11,560Masters
108WIMPriyanka Nutakki2259IND0000,0144Masters
109FMWagh Suyog2253IND0½00,5124Masters
110CMKushagra Mohan2252IND½011,574Masters
113WIMAakanksha Hagawane2244IND00½0,5125Masters
114FMDeshpande Aniruddha2234IND10½1,575Masters
115WIMPujari Rucha2232IND00½0,5130Masters
117FMSrihari L R2227IND0000,0146Masters
118Senthil Maran K2222IND1102,025Masters
120FMAjay Karthikeyan2213IND0½00,5132Masters
124Priyanka K2201IND0½00,5133Masters
126Soham Datar2192IND0000,0147Masters
128WCMMrudul Dehankar2188IND½½01,0110Masters
130WIMMahalakshmi M2173IND10½1,580Masters
131Arjun C Krishnamachari2172IND0½00,5136Masters
132Utsab Chatterjee2163IND0101,0113Masters
134WIMChitlange Sakshi2147IND0011,0118Masters
137Panda Sambit2126IND½011,583Masters
143Panesar Vedant2102IND0½½1,0120Masters
144Srihari L2101IND0½00,5142Masters
145FMVatsal Singhania2087IND1001,0109Masters
146WCMSharma Isha2078IND0101,0121Masters
147Thrish Karthik2075IND0000,0150Masters
148WFMSalonika Saina2068IND½½½1,585Masters
149Soham Kamotra2061IND1½01,576Masters
150WFMTarini Goyal2038IND½½01,0119Masters