1st Guwahati GM Open R6: The GM Slayers - Kaustuv Kundu and Aradhya Garg

by Shahid Ahmed - 18/03/2022

IM Sayantan Das had a great opportunity to win against IM Ratnakaran K in the sixth round of 1st Guwahati International GM Open 2022. The Indian Tal managed to make a great escape and salvage a draw from a completely lost endgame. Iniyan and Ponkratov drew their game. Neuris Delgado Ramirez (PAR) and Cristhian Camilo Rios (COL) defeated Azer Mirzoev (AZE) and Stany G A to join the four-way lead 5.5/6. Kaustuv Kundu and FM Aradhya Garg registered big victories against GM Visakh N R and GM Karthik Venkataraman respectively. A dozen players in pursuit at 5.0/6 each. Round 7 starts today at 9:30 a.m. IST. Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Neuris, Ratnakaran, Sayantan and Cristhian in the lead 5.5/6

Assam's very own, 11-year-old Mrinmoy Rajkhowa (1634) held IM Sai Agni Jeevitesh J (2316) to a draw. Arpan Das and Siddhant Tamhankar drew with IM P Shyam Nikhil and IM Rahul Sangma respectively. WCM Bristy Mukherjee defeated IM Manish Anto Cristiano F.

Kaustuv Kundu and FM Aradhya Garg are at 5.0/6 each | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Sayantan - Ratnakaran: 0.5-0.5

IM Sayantan Das (2459) got a significant advantage out of the opening against IM Ratnakaran K (2316).

Position after 21...Qe8

22.Rxf8 Rxf8 23.Rxf8 Qxf8 24.Qxe6+ Kb7/8 25.Bxd8 Qxd8 26.Qxg6 should have been good enough for White to push for a win. However, White opted for the relatively safer 22.Ne2, 23.Nf4 maneuvering. Ratnakaran eventually fought back in the endgame and managed to escape with a draw by perpetual check.

Ratnakaran's great escape against Sayantan | Video: ChessBase India

Sayantan had a real chance to win this game and take sole lead | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

GM Iniyan P - GM Pavel Ponkratov: 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

How Grandmasters analyze | Video: ChessBase India

Neuris - Mirzoev: 1-0

GM Neuris Delgado Ramirez (PAR, 2622) beat GM Azer Mirzoev (AZE, 2476) with a very nice attack on the kingside.

Position after 20...Qh4

Find out the winning combination for White after 20...Qh4.

GM Neuris Delgado Ramirez (PAR) is one of the four leaders 5.5/6 | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Cristhian - Stany: 1-0

GM Stany G A (2517) was substantially better for the majority of the game against GM Cristhian Camilo Rios (COL, 2449).

Position after 32.Qh2

What Stany needed to do but didn't was to seize his advantage in the game. For e.g. 32...h4 is completely winning here for Black. After shuffling pieces for a few moves, he exchanged the queens and then the bishops which evaporated his advantage. In the final moments of the game, Stany tried too hard to win in an equal position, resulting in a blunder probably time pressure and lost.

GM Cristhian Camilo Rios (COL) is one of the leaders 5.5/6 | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Visakh - Kaustuv: 0-1

Kaustuv Kundu (2281) opted for a line where he sacrificed a piece in the opening against GM Visakh N R (2522).

Position after 12...d4

It shows that Black was certainly well-prepared in this line. Eventually, the pawn mass at the center of the board played a crucial role.

Position after 29.Bxb7

Exchanging the light square bishops only helped Black. 29.Bxb7 Rxb7 30.Nf3 c3 31.Re1 Rb8 Back rank is now covered. 32.Re4 f5 33.Re5 Nd3 34.Rxf5 Since Black had four pawns for a piece, he could afford giving up an insignificant double pawn. It only helped in his king safety. 34...Rb6 35.Rg5+ Rg6 36.Rxg6+ fxg6 now that the rooks are exchanged, only Black can go for a win here and that is exactly what he did.

Kaustuv Kundu is certainly in a great form | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Deepan - Kian: 1-0

GM Deepan Chakkravarthy (2520) won a very nice opposite color bishop endgame against FM Seyed Kian Poormosavi (IRI, 2229).

Position after 52...Re1+

White was completely winning with the rooks present on the board. Black thought it might be possible to defend the position after the exchange of rooks. Well, he was facing the mighty Deepan for whom these wins are just cakewalks. Find out the winning plan for White after 53.Kxe1 Bxf3.

Deepan shows his endgame mastery against Kian | Video: ChessBase India

GM Deepan Chakkravarthy moves to 5.0/6 | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Dhananjay S - GM Masoud Mosadeghpour (IRI): 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Aradhya - Karthik: 1-0

FM Aradhya Garg (2236) had a back and forth game against GM Karthik Venkataraman (2485). The latter initially missed a couple of opportunities. Then his opponent got some and probably could have finished the game much earlier.

Position after 29...Qc3

30.Bh6 followed by Bd5 keeps pressing Black. The game continued 30.Bg5 Qd4+ 31.Rf2 and White won the game in another 31 moves.

FM Aradhya Garg is now 5.0/6 | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Arpan Das - IM P Shyam Nikhil: 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

IM Rahul Sangma - Sidhant Tamhankar: 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

WCM Bristy Mukherjee - IM Manish Anto Cristiano F: 1-0 | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Highlights

A few interesting finishes from Round 6

GM Deepan Chakkravarthy - FM Seyed Kian Poormosavi (IRI): 1-0

FM Aradhya Garg - GM Karthik Venkataraman: 1-0

GM P Karthikeyan - Soram Rahul Singh: 1-0

For more Round 6 photos, please click here.

A total of 254 players including 13 GMs, 16 IMs, 2 WGMs and 3 WIMs are taking part from 11 federations across the world including India. The tournament is organized by All Assam Chess Association from 14th to 20th March 2022 at Guwahati, Assam. The ten-round Swiss league tournament has a time control of 90 minutes + 30 seconds increment from move no.1

Replay Round 6 games

Round 6 results

Bo.	No.		Name	Gr	Typ	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Gr	Typ	Rtg	No.
1	14	IM	Das Sayantan			2459	5	½ - ½	5	IM	Ratnakaran K.			2316	26
2	6	GM	Iniyan P			2516	4½	½ - ½	4½	GM	Ponkratov Pavel			2641	1
3	2	GM	Delgado Ramirez Neuris			2622	4½	1 - 0	4½	GM	Mirzoev Azer			2476	11
4	15	GM	Rios Cristhian Camilo			2449	4½	1 - 0	4½	GM	Stany G.A.			2517	5
5	3	GM	Visakh N R			2522	4	0 - 1	4		Kaustuv Kundu			2281	31
6	4	GM	Deepan Chakkravarthy J.			2520	4	1 - 0	4	FM	Poormosavi Seyed Kian			2229	35
7	28		Dhananjay S			2310	4	½ - ½	4	GM	Mosadeghpour Masoud			2511	7
8	8	GM	Fawzy Adham			2490	4	1 - 0	4		Imocha Laishram	NE		2049	47
9	34	FM	Aradhya Garg			2236	4	1 - 0	4	GM	Karthik Venkataraman			2485	9
10	12	IM	Tahbaz Arash			2469	4	1 - 0	4	FM	Gaikwad Siddhant			2016	51
11	38	WIM	Priyanka K			2215	4	0 - 1	4	IM	Krishna C R G			2466	13
12	40		Arpan Das			2166	4	½ - ½	4	IM	Shyaamnikhil P			2442	17
13	42	IM	Mohota Nisha			2147	4	½ - ½	4	IM	Nitin S.			2427	19
14	46		Sri Sai Baswanth P			2057	4	0 - 1	4	IM	Gusain Himal			2408	21
15	48		Praloy Sahoo			2047	4	0 - 1	4	IM	Shahil Dey	NE	U15	2400	23
16	24	GM	Karthikeyan P.			2397	4	1 - 0	4		Singh Soram Rahul	NE		2006	53
17	52		Arnav Maheshwari		U15	2010	4	0 - 1	4	IM	Sidhant Mohapatra			2359	25
18	103		Mrinmoy Rajkhowa	NE	U15	1634	4	½ - ½	4	IM	Sai Agni Jeevitesh J			2316	27
19	16	IM	Nigmatov Ortik			2445	3½	1 - 0	4		Borgaonkar Akshay		U15	1985	56
20	18	IM	Abdisalimov Abdimalik			2435	3½	1 - 0	3½		Pradip Ghosh			1974	59

Details

Round 7 pairings

Bo.	No.		Name	Gr	Typ	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Gr	Typ	Rtg	No.
1	26	IM	Ratnakaran K.			2316	5½		5½	GM	Delgado Ramirez Neuris			2622	2
2	14	IM	Das Sayantan			2459	5½		5½	GM	Rios Cristhian Camilo			2449	15
3	1	GM	Ponkratov Pavel			2641	5		5	GM	Karthikeyan P.			2397	24
4	23	IM	Shahil Dey	NE	U15	2400	5		5	GM	Deepan Chakkravarthy J.			2520	4
5	25	IM	Sidhant Mohapatra			2359	5		5	GM	Iniyan P			2516	6
6	21	IM	Gusain Himal			2408	5		5	GM	Fawzy Adham			2490	8
7	31		Kaustuv Kundu			2281	5		5	IM	Tahbaz Arash			2469	12
8	13	IM	Krishna C R G			2466	5		5	FM	Aradhya Garg			2236	34
9	5	GM	Stany G.A.			2517	4½		4½		Dhananjay S			2310	28
10	7	GM	Mosadeghpour Masoud			2511	4½		4½	FM	Aaryan Varshney			2277	32
11	11	GM	Mirzoev Azer			2476	4½		4½		Arpan Das			2166	40
12	27	IM	Sai Agni Jeevitesh J			2316	4½		4½	IM	Nigmatov Ortik			2445	16
13	17	IM	Shyaamnikhil P			2442	4½		4½	IM	Mohota Nisha			2147	42
14	29	WGM	Divya Deshmukh			2301	4½		4½	IM	Abdisalimov Abdimalik			2435	18
15	19	IM	Nitin S.			2427	4½		4½	WCM	Bristy Mukherjee			1788	74
16	39		Vaibhav Jayant Raut			2198	4½		4½		Gholami Orimi Mahdi			2420	20
17	22	GM	Saptarshi Roy			2402	4½		4½		Mrinmoy Rajkhowa	NE	U15	1634	103
18	53		Singh Soram Rahul	NE		2006	4		4	GM	Visakh N R			2522	3
19	9	GM	Karthik Venkataraman			2485	4		4		Borgaonkar Akshay		U15	1985	56
20	58	CM	Thapa Krishna			1979	4		4	IM	Raahul V S			2478	10

Details

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