Former National Champion International Master G Akash shared the lead with 4.0 points after the fourth round of the 11th Chennai Open International Grandmaster Chess tournament 2019 for Sakthi Group Dr N Mahalingam Trophy at Novotel IBIS OMR Hotel, Chennai here today. GM Norm holder Akash scored over Grandmaster Ziatdinov Raset of USA. In the top board GM Paichadze Luka of Georgia scored over defending Champion, Grandmaster Laxman R R of India.



From left to right: Top seed GM Alexandr Predke, P Stephen Balasamy, Gen Secy, TNSCA, B Murugavel, Vice President, TNSCA, GM Elect D Gukesh, D V Sundar, Vice President, FIDE, Frederic Friedel, Co-founder, ChessBase, IM Manuel Aaron

Sharing the lead at 4.0 points with Paichadze Luka (Georgia) were Tran Tuan Minh, Nguyen Van Huy (both Vietnam), Lugovskoy Maxim (Russia), Akash G, Karthik Venkataraman, Shyamnikhil P, Harikrishnan A Ra and Girish A Koushik (all India). Half a point behind at 3.5 points were 11 players including GMs Popov Ivan (Russia) and Aleksandrov Aleksej (Belarus) among others.

Top seeded Russian Grandmaster Alexandr Predke shed his second half a point, against Chennai based International Master T U Navin Kanna and remains at 3.0 points.

GM Norm holder Akash put it across GM Ziatdinov Raset of USA in a Ruy Lopez game that lasted 46 moves. An early exchange sacrifice showed the Indian's will to go all out for win. Shattering both sides of the board, Akash kept the Ziatdinov's king in the centre and finished the game in a flourish giving his rook thereby forcing the queening of his pawn.


GM Manik Mikulas (Slovakia) playing Aleksandrov Aleksej (Belarus)

Earlier, IM Norm holder G B Harshavardhan (Velammal School, Chennai) scored the biggest win of his career defeating third seeded Russian Grandmaster Rozum Ivan (ELO 2589) in the third round that concluded late yesterday. Rozum side stepped a draw by repetition on the 20th move, but went into an inferior rook ending that Chennai boy fully used to his advantage securing the win after 56 moves. Further, Harsha came up with a steady show today holding International Master N R Vignesh to a draw and is scheduled to meet Grandmaster Stupak Kirill (Belarus) in the next round.

The third round also witnessed upset wins for Sai Vishwesh C and Senthil Maran K over Grandmasters Deviatkin Andrei and Sundararajan Kidambi respectively. Six rounds remain in this Rupees 15 lakhs (Euros 18460) prize money tournament that concludes on Friday, 25th January, 2019.

Earlier, the inauguration was preceded by a felicitation for the achievement of second youngest Grandmaster title in the history of chess by Chennai boy D Gukesh (DOB 29th May, 2006). Achieving the final GM Norm in the recently concluded Delhi Open, Gukesh, who is our current World Under 12 Champion, made it on his 12th year, 7th month and 17th day. The Velammal School boy fell short of world record holder Russian Sergey Karjakin by 17 days. Karjakin (DOB 12th Jan, 1990) had completed the GM title in 12 years and 7 months in 2002.

Speaking on the felicitation of GM Elect Gukesh, Mr D V Sundar, Vice President FIDE said, "This boy, Gukesh, is bound to go far, bringing more laurels to himself and the country".

Mr Frederic Friedel, Co-founder, ChessBase added, "Gukesh shows profound understanding for chess and I see the rising of another Magnus Carlsen in him".

IM Norm holder Harshavardhan G B

Mr S Kailasanathan, CEO of Microsense - official sponsor of Gukesh - added, "We could see the talent in Gukesh and were too happy to be of support to him during his great achievement". M/s Microsense gave a cash award of Rs. 100000 (Rupees one lakh only) to the young achiever.

A cash award of Rs 30000 (Rupees thirty thousand only) was awarded to Master Gukesh on behalf of Tamil Nadu State Chess Association. Also present in the dais were, International Master Manuel Aaron, the Chief Guest, Shri P Stephen Balasamy, Gen. Secretary, TNSCA, Shri B Murugavel, Organising Secretary, Shri Rohan, General Manager, Novotel IBIS OMR Hotel, Shri V Hariharan, former Secretary AICF & TNSCA.


World Under 12 Girls Champion Savitha Shri B

Round 4 results (Indians unless specified): Paichadze Luka (GEO) 4 bt Laxman R R (3), Manik Mikulas (SVK) 3.5 drew with Aleksandrov Aleksej (BLR) 3.5, Girish A Koushik (4) bt Deepan Chakkravarthy J (3), Stupak Kirill (BLR) 3.5 drew with Muthaiah A L (3.5), Rathanakaran K (3) lost to Tran Tuan Minh (VIE) 4, Tran Minh Thang (VIE) 3 lost to Karthik Venkataraman (4), Vignesh N R (3.5) drew with Harshavardhan G B (3.5), Akash G (4) bt Ziatdinov Raset (USA) 3, Sai Vishwesh C (3) lost to Nguyen Van Huy (VIE) 4.

Round 3 results (Indians unless specified): Pantsulaia Levan (GEO) 2 lost to Tran Minh Thang (VIE) 3, Harshavardhan G B (3) bt Rozum Ivan (RUS) 2, Popov Ivan (RUS) 2.5 drew with Saravanan V (2.5), Srihari L R (2) lost to Paichadze Luka (GEO) 3, Aleksandrov Aleksej (BLR) 3 bt Ameir Moheb (EGY) 2, Ziatdinov Raset (USA) 3 bt Erigaisi Arjun (2), Deepan Chakkravarthy J (3) bt Konguvel Ponnuswamy (2), Suvrajit Saha (2) lost to Stupak Kirill (BLR) 3. 

Round 2 Results (Indians unless specified): Saranya J (1) lost to Pantsulaia Levan (GEO) 2, Rozum Ivan (RUS) 2 bt Rajarishi Karthi (1), Rathneesh R (1) lost to Popov Ivan (RUS) 2, Paichadze Luka (GEO) 2 bt Shiva Pavan Teja Sharma U (1), Bala Kannamma P (1) lost to Aleksandrov Aleksej (BLR) 2, Erigaisi Arjun (2) bt Md. Abzid Rahman (BAN) 1, Dahale Atul (1) lost to Deepan Chakkravarthy J (2).

Round 1 Results (Indians unless specified) Sathish Chandra G drew with Predke Alexandr (RUS), Pantsulaia Levan (GEO) bt Adireddy Tarun, Dharani Kumar M S lost to Rozum Ivan (RUS), Popov Ivan (RUS) bt Adarsh Tripathi, Evrin Selvam lost to Paichadze Luka (GEO), Aleksandro Aleksej (BLR) bt Aakash G, Badri Narayan B lost to Erigaisi Arjun, Deepan Chakkravarthy J bt Niharika Ch, Divyan T lost to Stupak Kirill (BLR), Tran Tuan Minh (VIE) bt Tejes Suresh Kumar, Giri Abhishek lost to Megaranto Susanto (INA), Karthik Venkataraman bt Chirag Mudraje.



From left to right: Mr S Kailasanathan, CEO, Microsense, GM Elect D Gukesh, International Master Manuel Aaron, Mr D V Sundar, Vice President, FIDE


Akash G - Ziatdinov Raset

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 d6 5. Bxc6+ bxc6 6. d4 f6 7. Nc3 g6 8. Be3 Nh6 9. Qe2 Ng4 10. O-O-O Nxe3 11. Qxe3 Bg7 12. h4 Bg4 13. h5 Bxh5 14. Rxh5 gxh5 15. Nh4 Qd7 16. Nf5 Bf8 17. d5 c5 18. Ne2 Rg8 19. Rh1 Rg5 20. Neg3 Qf7 21. Qb3 Kd8 22. Qb7 Rc8 23. Qxa6 Qg6 24. Qe2 c6 25. dxc6 Qe8 26. Nxh5 Qxc6 27. Nxf6 Ra8 28. Qc4 Rxf5 29. exf5 Qxg2 30. Qd5 Qg5+ 31. Kb1 Ra7 32. Qe6 Be7 33. Nd5 Qg2 34. Rd1 Qg4 35. Ne3 Qf3 36. f6 Bf8 37. a3 Qxf2 38. Nf5 Qf3 39. Rd3 Qg4 40. f7 Rd7 41. Rb3 Kc7 42. Ka2 Qg6 43. Rb7+ Kxb7 44. Qxd7+ Ka6 45. Qc8+ Kb6 46. Qxf8 1-0


Saranya J - Pantsulaia Levan

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 a6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Bd3 e5 6. Nb3 Nc6 7. c4 Bb4+ 8. Nc3 Bxc3+ 9. bxc3 d6 10. O-O O-O 11. h3 Be6 12. f4 exf4 13. Bxf4 Rc8 14. Bg5 Qb6+ 15. Kh1 Nd7 16. Be2 h6 17. Bf4 Nce5 18. Nd4 Nxc4 19. Rb1 Qc7 20. Bxc4 Qxc4 21. Bxd6 Rfd8 22. Rxb7 Nf6 23. Nxe6 Rxd6 24. Qxd6 Qxf1+ 25. Kh2 Re8 26. Qf4 Qxf4+ 27. Nxf4 Rxe4 28. Rb4 a5 29. Rd4 Kf8 30. Nd3 Rxd4 31. cxd4 Ne4 32. a4 Ke8 33. Ne5 Nd6 34. Kg3 Nf5+ 35. Kf4 Nxd4 36. Ke4 Ne6 37. Nc6 Nc5+ 38. Kd4 Nxa4 39. Nxa5 Kd7 40. Nc4 Ke6 41. Ke4 Nc3+ 42. Kf3 Nb5 43. Ne3 Nd6 44. g4 Ke5 45. Ng2 Ne4 46. Ne3 g6 47. h4 Nd2+ 48. Ke2 Nb3 49. Kf3 Nd4+ 50. Kg3 Ke4 51. Nc4 Nb5 52. Nd2+ Ke3 53. Nc4+ Kd4 54. Nb6 Ke4 55. Nc4 Kd4 56. Nb6 Nd6 57. Kf4 Ne4 58. Nd7 Nc3 59. Nb8 Nd5+ 60. Kf3 Nb4 61. Nd7 Nd3 62. Nf6 Ke5 63. Ng8 h5 64. g5 Ne1+ 65. Kg3 Nc2 66. Nf6 Nd4 67. Nd7+ Ke4 68. Nf6+ Ke5 69. Nd7+ Kd6 70. Nf6 Nf5+ 71. Kh3 Ke5 72. Nd7+ Kf4 73. Nf6 Nd6 74. Ng8 Nc4 75. Nh6 Ne5 76. Kg2 Ke4 77. Kg3 Kd5 78. Ng8 Nd7 79. Ne7+ Kd6 80. Nc8+ Ke6 81. Kf4 Ne5 82. Nb6 Nc6 83. Nc4 Ne7 84. Kg3 Nf5+ 85. Kh3 Kd5 86. Nb6+ Ke4 87. Nd7 Kf4 88. Nf6 Ne3 89. Ng8 Kf3 90. Nf6 Ng2 91. Nd7 Nf4+ 92. Kh2 Kg4 93. Ne5+ Kxh4 94. Nxf7 Kg4 95. Kg1 Nh3+ 96. Kg2 Nxg5 97. Nh6+ Kf4 98. Ng8 Nf3 99. Ne7 g5 100. Nd5+ Ke5 101. Ne3 Nh4+ 102. Kh3 Nf5 103. Ng2 g4+ 104. Kh2 Ke4 105. Ne1 h4 106. Ng2 h3 107. Ne1 Nd4 108. Kg3 Ke5 0-1

Rozum Ivan - Rajarishi Karthi

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Bg5 Be7 6. e3 c6 7. Bd3 O-O 8. Qc2 h6 9. Bh4 Re8 10. Nge2 Nbd7 11. O-O-O b5 12. Kb1 a5 13. f3 Nb6 14. Bf2 a4 15. a3 b4 16. axb4 Ba6 17. Bxa6 Rxa6 18. Na2 Nc4 19. Nec1 a3 20. b3 Nb2 21. Rdg1 Qb8 22. g4 Bxb4 23. h4 Nd7 24. g5 h5 25. g6 f6 26. Ka1 Qb5 27. e4 c5 28. exd5 cxd4 29. Nxb4 Qxb4 30. Re1 Ne5 31. f4 d3 32. Qc7 Qe7 33. Qc3 Qb7 34. fxe5 fxe5 35. Nxd3 Rxg6 36. Nxe5 Rf6 37. Nc6 Rxe1+ 38. Rxe1 Nd1 39. Rxd1 Rxf2 40. d6 1-0

Rathneesh R - Popov Ivan

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 g6 4. Bxc6 dxc6 5. d3 Bg7 6. h3 b6 7. a4 a5 8. Na3 e5 9. Nc4 f6 10. Be3 Nh6 11. b4 cxb4 12. Bxb6 Qe7 13. Nxa5 Rxa5 14. Bxa5 Qc5 15. Bc7 Kd7 16. a5 Kxc7 17. a6 Qb6 18. a7 Ba6 19. Qd2 Ra8 20. O-O Rxa7 21. Rfb1 Bf8 22. d4 Nf7 23. dxe5 fxe5 24. Ng5 Nxg5 25. Qxg5 Qc5 26. Rd1 Be7 27. Qg3 Kb6 28. Ra2 Be2 29. Rxa7 Bxd1 30. Ra8 Qc3 31. Qxc3 bxc3 32. Ra2 Bg5 33. Kf1 Bd2 34. Kg1 Kb5 35. Kf1 Kb4 36. f3 Bxc2 37. Ke2 Bb3 38. Ra8 Bc4+ 39. Kd1 Kb3 40. Ra1 Kb2 0-1

Bala Kannamma P - Aleksandrov, Aleksej

1. g3 d5 2. Nf3 c6 3. Bg2 Nf6 4. d3 h6 5. Nbd2 Bf5 6. b3 a5 7. a3 e6 8. Bb2 Be7 9. O-O O-O 10. Qe1 Bh7 11. e4 Na6 12. e5 Nd7 13. Qe2 b5 14. Ne1 Qb6 15. Kh1 a4 16. b4 c5 17. bxc5 Ndxc5 18. d4 Nb7 19. c3 Na5 20. Nd3 Rfc8 21. f4 Nc4 22. Nxc4 bxc4 23. Nf2 Rcb8 24. Bc1 Qa5 25. Qd2 Rb3 26. Nd1 Nc7 27. g4 Bd3 28. Rg1 Nb5 29. f5 Nxc3 30. f6 Bf8 31. fxg7 Bxg7 32. Nxc3 Qxc3 33. Qxc3 Rxc3 34. Bd2 Rb3 35. Bb4 Bf8 36. Bxf8 Kxf8 37. Rgd1 Rab8 38. h3 Rb2 39. Kg1 R8b3 40. Kh1 Rf2 41. Kg1 Rbb2 42. Bh1 Rh2 0-1

Harikrishnan A Ra - Gokhale Rishabh Chandrashekhar

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Qe7 5. O-O Nf6 6. d4 Bb6 7. Re1 d6 8. h3 O-O 9. Bb3 a6 10. Bc2 h6 11. Be3 Ba7 12. Nbd2 Kh7 13. Nf1 g6 14. Ng3 Ng8 15. Nh2 Qf6 16. Nf3 Nge7 17. Qd2 Qg7 18. Rad1 b5 19. Nh2 Na5 20. b3 Nb7 21. Ne2 f5 22. dxe5 Bxe3 23. Qxe3 dxe5 24. f4 fxe4 25. Bxe4 exf4 26. Nxf4 Nf5 27. Qc1 Rb8 28. Nf3 Nbd6 29. Bb1 Re8 30. g4 Bb7 31. gxf5 Bxf3 32. fxg6+ Kh8 33. Rd3 Be4 34. Rxd6 Bxb1 35. Nh5 1-0