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Grandmaster Diego Flores of Argentina upset tournament leader GM Surya Shekhar Ganguly of India to finish alone with 7.5 points and win the Dubai Open Chess Championship at the Dubai Chess Club in Dubai, UAE. He won the top prize of $13,000 and the Sheikh Rashid Bin Hamdan Al Maktoum Cup.
Flores, 36, 4-time Argentine champion and 2012 American Continental co-champion, used the English opening and gave the exchange sacrifice early on the 14th move. He parried Black’s kingside attack and gained three pawns in compensation which he deftly escorted to the 7th rank. Unable to prevent promotion, Ganguly resigned on the 58th move.
It was a heartbreaking loss for the Indian GM who had led throughout the tournament but lost in the last two rounds. Flores, seeded 21st with a rating of 2601, was unbeaten in the 9 round tournament and had won against GMs Mustafa Yilmaz of Turkey and Parham Maghsoodloo of Iran. He drew with GMs Iturrizaga and Laxman of India.
Three players finished with 7 points each to tie for 2nd to 4th, namely GM Eduardo Iturrizaga Bonelli of Venezuela, S.P. Sethuraman of India and Ahmed Adly of Egypt. Iturrizaga drew with Adly in 34 moves of an Open Catalan. Sethuraman drew with GM Gawain Jones of England in a marathon 89 moves of the British player’s King’s Indian Defense.
Ganguly finished with 6.5 points in a tie for 5th-11th places for a share of the $50,000 prize fund together with Jones, top seed Yuriy Kryvoruchko of Ukraine, Vladislav Kovalev of Belarus, Eltaj Safarli of Azerbaijan and Emre Can of Turkey.
IM Ibrahim Sultan, who drew with Flores in the first round, won the prize for best Dubai player followed by FM Othman Mousa. IM Omar Noaman won the prize for best UAE player while GM Amin Bassem won the Best Arab prize. IM Sarasadat Khademalsharieh of Iran won the prize for Best Female.
Category prizes were won by IM Dinesh Sharma of India for under 2300, CM Kumar Pradeep Karthik of India for under 2200, WCM Song Yuxin of China for under 2100 and Nutakki Priyanka of India for under 2000.
Visit official site www.dubaichess.ae or find full results and standings in chess-results.com.
GM Diego Flores of Argentina (left) vs. GM Surya Shekhar Ganguly of India
GM Ahmed Adly of Egypt (left) vs. GM Eduardo Iturrizaga Bonelli of Venezuela
GM Gawain Jones of England (left) vs. GM S.P. Sethuraman of India
Round 8: Iturrizaga Beats Ganguly to Force 5-way tie for lead
Grandmaster Eduardo Iturrizaga Bonelli of Venezuela beat erstwhile solo leader Surya Shekhar Ganguly of India in the penultimate 8th round to force a tense 5-way tie for the lead in the Dubai Open Chess Championship at the Dubai Chess Club in Dubai, UAE.
Iturrizaga used the Caro Kann Defense and won two pawns converting to the endgame to force Ganguly to resign on the 39th move. The lone grandmaster from Venezuela, 29, was the 2010 Dubai Open champion.
Iturrizaga, Ganguly and three others share the lead with 6.5 points each, namely S.P. Sethuraman of India, Diego Flores of Argentina and Ahmed Adly of Egypt. Sethuraman crushed the Petroff Defense of Alexander Zubov of Ukraine in 58 moves. Adly smashed the Gruenfeld defense of Emre Can of Turkey in 41 moves. Flores used the English Opening to demolish Parham Maghsoodloo of Iran in 40 moves.
Top seed Yuriy Kryvoruchko of Ukarine, GM Gawain Jones of England and Vladislav Kovalev of Belarus follow with 6 points each in the race for $50,000 in cash prizes with a top prize of $13,000 and the Sheikh Rashid Bin Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Cup.
A record 164 players from 33 countries are seeing action in the strong tournament including 36 Grandmasters, 24 International Masters, 5 Woman Grandmasters, 7 Woman International Masters, 16 FIDE Masters and 4 Woman FIDE Masters.
Visit official site www.dubaichess.ae or find full results and standings in chess-results.com.
Chief Arbiter Mahdi Abdulrahim starts the top board match between Surya Shekhar Ganguly of India (left) and Eduardo Iturrizaga Bonelli of Venezuela.
Round 7: Indian GM Ganguly Beats Top Seed, Widens Lead in Dubai Open Chess
Grandmaster Surya Shekhar Ganguly of India beat top seed Yuriy Kryvoruchko of Ukraine to widen his lead with 6.5 points out of 7 rounds in the homestretch of the Dubai Open Chess Championship at the Dubai Chess Club in Dubai, UAE.
Ganguly, 35, essayed the English opening against Kryvoruchko, 31 and outmaneuvered the former Ukrainian champion in an opposite-colored Bishop endgame. Kryvoruchko resigned after a marathon 84 moves facing an unstoppable pawn promotion.
Ganguly, former Asian Continental champion in 2009, hails from Kolkata. He was gold medalist in the 2007 Asian Indoor Games and gold medalist at the 2010 World Chess Team Championship.
Seven Grandmasters are a full point behind with 5.5 points each, namely S.P. Sethuraman of India, Alexander Zubov of Ukraine, Eduardo Iturrizaga Bonelli of Venezuela, Ahmed Adly of Egypt, Diego Flores of Argentina, Emre Can of Turkey and Parhgam Maghsodloo of Iran.
Kryvoruchko and eight others follow with 5 points each in the race for $50,000 in cash prizes. The tournament is held under the Patronage of Sheikh Rashid Bin Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum.
A record 164 players from 33 countries are seeing action in the strong tournament including 36 Grandmasters, 24 International Masters, 5 Woman Grandmasters, 7 Woman International Masters, 16 FIDE Masters and 4 Woman FIDE Masters.
Visit official site www.dubaichess.ae or find full results and standings in chess-results.com.
Solo leader GM Surya Shekhar Ganguly of India (left) vs. top seed GM Yuriy Kryvoruchko of Ukraine (photo by Moheb Serag)
Rounds 5 & 6: Indian GM Ganguly Grabs Solo Lead in Dubai Open Chess
In the battle of Indian leaders, Grandmaster Surya Shekhar Ganguly of India beat Abhijeet Gupta and S.P. Sethuraman in back to back rounds Saturday to grab solo lead with 5.5 points out of 6 rounds of the Dubai Open Chess Championship at the Dubai Chess Club in Dubai, UAE.
In the morning round 5, Ganguly used the English opening to beat Gupta in a Bishop endgame. He was about to promote a pawn when Gupta resigned on the 48th move.
In the afternoon round 6, Ganguly turned back the Catalan Opening of Sethuraman and in a Queen and pawn endgame escorted his pawn to the second rank forcing Sethuraman to resign on the 50th move.
Ganguly, 35, former Asian Continental champion in 2009, hails from Kolkata. He was gold medalist in the 2007 Asian Indoor Games and gold medalist at the 2010 World Chess Team Championship.
Six players are tied for second slot at 5 points each, namely top seed Yuriy Kryvoruchko and Alexander Zubov of Ukraine, S.L. Narayanan of India, Eduardo Iturrizaga Bonelli of Venezuela, Diego Flores of Argentina and Parham Maghsoodloo of Iran.
Sethuraman and Gupta follow with 4.5 points each together with six others, namely GM Prasanna Vishnu and IM Bharathakoti Harsha of India, GMs Gawain Jones of England, David Anton Guijarro of Spain, Adly Ahmed of Egypt and Emre Can of Turkey.
A record 164 players from 33 countries are seeing action in the strong tournament including 36 Grandmasters, 24 International Masters, 5 Woman Grandmasters, 7 Woman International Masters, 16 FIDE Masters and 4 Woman FIDE Masters.
Under the Patronage of Sheikh Rashid Bin Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the tournament is a 9-round Swiss system with games scheduled 5:30 pm daily. Top games are broadcast live on the internet. Visit official site www.dubaichess.ae or find full results and standings in chess-results.com.
Match between Indians Abhijeet Gupta (left) and Surya Shekhar Ganguly (photo by Mahdi Abdulrahim)
Match between Eduardo Iturrizaga Bonelli of Venezuela (left) and S.P. Sethuraman of India (photo by Mahdi Abdulrahim)
GM S.P. Sethuraman (left) vs. Surya Shekhar Ganguly (photo by Mahdi Abdulrahim)
Round 4: Sethuraman, Iturrizaga Share Lead in Dubai Open
Indian Grandmaster S.P. Sethuraman beat compatriot S.L. Narayanan to share the lead with GM Edurado Iturrizaga Bonelli of Venezuela at 4 points each after 4 rounds of the 20th Dubai Open Chess Championship at the Dubai Chess Club in Dubai, UAE.
Sethuraman, 25, 2016 Asian Continental champion, transposed to an English Opening to outwit Narayanan, 24, three-time Asian junior champion, in 33 moves by inevitable mate. Iturrizaga, 29, the only Venezuelan Grandmaster and former American continental co-champion, beat top seed Yuriy Kryvoruchko of Ukraine in 41 moves. Iturrizaga was about to promote a pawn or win a Rook in the endgame.
Indian GMs Surya Shekhar Ganguly and Abhijeet Gupta follow a half point behind the leaders with 3.5 points each together with Alexander Zubov of Ukraine and Aleksandr Rakhmanov of Russia.
Ganguly, former Asian continental champion, and Zubov drew a Guioco Piano game in 37 moves while Gupta, 2011 Dubai Open champion, crushed the King’s Indian defense of compatriot M.R. Venkatesh in 30 moves. Rakhmanov smased the Queen’s Gambit Declined of Petr Kiriakov of Russia in 50 moves.
Thirty-five players follow with 3 points each in the race for a total of $50,000 in cash prizes with a top prize of $13,000 for the champion.
A record 164 players from 33 countries are seeing action in the strong tournament including 36 Grandmasters, 24 International Masters, 5 Woman Grandmasters, 7 Woman International Masters, 16 FIDE Masters and 4 Woman FIDE Masters.
Under the Patronage of Sheikh Rashid Bin Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the tournament is a 9-round Swiss system with games scheduled 5:30 pm daily except for Saturday, 7 April, when two rounds are scheduled 10am and 6pm. Top games are broadcast live on the internet. Visit official site www.dubaichess.ae or find full results and standings in chess-results.com.
On top board are GM Edurado Iturrizaga Bonelli of Venezuela (left) and GM Yuriy Kryvoruchko of Ukraine (photo by Moheb Serag)
Round 3: Indian Grandmasters Set Pace in Dubai Open
Indian Grandmasters Surya Shekhar Ganguly, S. L. Narayanan and S.P. Sethuraman beat their respective opponents to maintain the lead with three others after 3 rounds of the 20th Dubai Open Chess Championship at the Dubai Chess Club in Dubai, UAE. The Indian trio are tied with 3 points each together with top seed GM Yuriy Kryvoruchko and GM Alexander Zubov of Ukraine and GM Edurado Iturrizaga Bonelli of Venezuela.
Ganguly smashed the Sicilian Najdorf of compatriot GM Debashis Das in 29 moves. Narayanan crushed the Semi Slav defense of GM David Anton Guijarro of Spain in 49 moves. Sethuraman destroyed the Semi Slav defense of compatriot GM Shardul Gagare in 33 moves.
Kryvoruchko wrecked the Caro Kann defense of GM Levon Pantsulaia of Georgia in 51 moves. Zubov use the Gruenfeld Defense to turn back IM P. Iniyan in 31 moves. Iturrizaga used the Sicilian Defense to make short work of IM P. Karthikeyan, threatening mate in 29 moves.
Nineteen players are tied for 7th to 25th slots with 2.5 points each in the race for a total of $50,000 in cash prizes with a top prize of $13,000 for the champion.
A record 164 players from 33 countries are seeing action in the strong tournament including 36 Grandmasters, 24 International Masters, 5 Woman Grandmasters, 7 Woman International Masters, 16 FIDE Masters and 4 Woman FIDE Masters. Under the Patronage of Sheikh Rashid Bin Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the tournament is a 9-round Swiss system with games scheduled 5:30 pm daily except for Saturday, 7 April, when two rounds are scheduled 10am and 6pm. Top games are broadcast live on the internet. Visit official site www.dubaichess.ae or find full results and standings in chess-results.com.
Surya Shekhar Ganguly
S. L. Narayanan
Round 2: Indian GMs Lead Dubai Open
Grandmaster Surya Sekhar Ganguly of India and eleven other Indian Grandmasters and International Masters maintained the lead with two points after two rounds of the 20th Dubai Open Chess Championship at the Dubai Chess Club in Dubai.
Tied for the lead are Indian GMs S.P. Sethuraman, S.I. Narayanan, Debashis Das, Prasanna Vishnu, Abhijeet Gupta, Shardul Gagare, Kidambi Sundararajan, P. Iniyan, P. Karthikeyan and International Masters Reddy Chakfavarthi and Venkataraman Karthik.
Top seed Grandmaster Yuriy Kryvoruchko of Ukraine beat Ravi Haria of England in 35 moves of a Reti Opening to set the pace. Kryvoruchko, 32, a former Ukrainian champion, has two points together with Grandmasters, David Anton Guijarro of Spain, Aleksandr Rakhmanov, Sergey Volkov and Petr Kiriakov of Russia, Sandro Mareco of Argentina, Ahmed Adly of Egypt, Mustafa Yilmaz of Turkey, Eduardo Iturrrizaga Bonelli of Venezuela, Alexander Zubov of Ukarine, Levan Pantulaia of Georgia, Sebastian Chistiansen Johan of Norway and Ehsan Ghaem Maghami and Arash Tahbaz of Iran.
A record 164 players from 33 countries are seeing action in the strong tournament including 36 Grandmasters, 24 International Masters, 5 Woman Grandmasters, 7 Woman International Masters, 16 FIDE Masters and 4 Woman FIDE Masters.
Under the Patronage of Sheikh Rashid Bin Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the tournament is a 9-round Swiss system with games scheduled 5:30 pm daily except for Saturday, 7 April, when two rounds are scheduled 10am and 6pm. At stake is a total of $50,000 in cash prizes with a top prize of $13,000 for the champion. Top games are broadcast live on the internet. Visit official site www.dubaichess.ae or find full results and standings in chess-results.com.
GM Debasihis Das of India
GM Gagare Shardul of India
GM S.P. Sethuraman of India
GM Kidambi Sundararajan of India
GM Vishna Prassana of India
Round 1
Top seed GM Yuriy Kryvoruchko of Ukraine beat FM Othman Mousa of the UAE as favorites hurdled their opening round assignments in the 20th Dubai Open Chess Championship at the Dubai Chess Club in Dubai.
A record 164 players from 33 countries are seeing action in the strong tournament including 36 Grandmasters, 24 International Masters, 5 Woman Grandmasters, 7 Woman International Masters, 16 FIDE Masters and 4 Woman FIDE Masters.
Kryvoruchko, 32, a former Ukrainian champion, is rated 2703. Also winning as expected in the first round were Grandmasters rated over 2600, namely Amin Bassem (2700) of Egypt, Gawain Jones (2675) of England, Vladimir Akopian (2667) of Armenia, David Anton Guijarro (2653) of Spain, Eltaj Safarli (2653) of Azerbaijan, Aleksandr Rakhmanov (2652) of Russia, Vladislav Kovalev (2648) of Belarus, Sandro Mareco (2645) of Argentina, Surya Sekhar Ganguly (2642) of India, S.P. Sethuraman (2631) of India, Ahmed Adly (2626) of Egypt, Mustafa Yilmaz (2626) of Turkey, Eduardo Iturrizaga Bonelli of Venezuela, Mykhailo Oleksiyenko (2621) of Ukraine, Aghijeet Gupta (2617) of India, Alexander Zubov (2606) of Ukraine, Amin Tabatabaei (2605) of Iran.
Under the Patronage of Sheikh Rashid Bin Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the tournament is a 9-round Swiss system with games scheduled 5:30 pm daily except for Saturday, 7 April, when two rounds are scheduled 10am and 6pm. At stake is a total of $50,000 in cash prizes with a top prize of $13,000 for the champion. Top games are broadcast live on the internet. Visit official site www.dubaichess.ae or find full results and standings in chess-results.com.
On top board between Yuriy Kryvoruchko (left) and Othman Mussa, making the ceremonial opening moves are, from left Dubai Chess Club Vice President Ahmed K. Al Thani, Sharjah Chess Club president Saud Almualla, Assistant General Secretary of Sport and Youth General Authority Khaled Almidfaa, Dubai Chess Club president Ibrahim Albannai, UAE Chess Federation president Sarhan Almuaini, Dubai Sports Council Assistant General Secretary Naser al Rahma, UAE Chess Federation General Secretary Hussein Alshamsi and Dubai Chess Club General Secretary Jamal Al Abdouli.
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