chessbase india logo

Abu Dhabi 2019 Final Round: Triumph of the Georgian genius

by Satanick Mukhuty - 11/08/2019

The 26th Abu Dhabi Masters 2019 came to conclusion on the 10th of August. The Georgian Grandmaster Baadur Jobava dominated the field scoring an unbeaten 8.0/9 points with a phenomenal performance rating of 2908. Among Indians, the best finisher was Aryan Chopra who secured 11th place with a score of 6.0/9. Karthikeyan Murali, Deep Sengupta, Aravindh Chithambaram, and Vaibhav Suri also scored 6.0/9 and came within the top 20. Apart from this, seven players, namely FM Rathanvel V S, CM Raahil Mullick, WIM Nandhidhaa P V, CM Aronyak Ghosh, FM Nitish Belurkar, Senthil Maran K, and WIM Mahalakshmi M successfully made their norms from the event. In this final report we bring you the games and photos from the last round and also an overview of performances of all the Indian participants.

Baadur Jobava - the sole victor of the event!

Not many years ago Baadur Jobava from Georgia was sending ripples across the world of chess by defeating likes of Veselin Topalov, Ruslan Ponomariov, and even World no.1 Magnus Carlsen. In 2012 he reached a peak rating of 2734 but on the 2nd of August when he came to play the 26th Abu Dhabi Masters his rating was just 2584. Everyone knew that this number didn't reflect the true playing strength of this world class player but was only an evidence of a temporary drop in form. What no one knew was how or when this 35-year-old chess genius would make a comeback!

Jobava suffered an abysmal drop in form in recent years that brought his Elo rating from 2700s down into the 2500s but with this stunning comeback the former Georgian no.1 has proven his mettle beyond doubt | Photo: 26th Abu Dhabi Chess Festival (Twitter) 

Baadur Jobava scored a whopping 8.0/9 points to dominate the entire field and finish a full point ahead of Nodirbek Yakubboev who came sole second with 7.0/9. Thus achieving a stratospheric performance rating of 2908, the three times champion of Georgia returned back home gaining 32.6 Elo points and 13000 US Dollar! His last game against the Uzbek GM Nodirbek Yakubboev was a solid 28 moves draw with the black pieces.

An overview of Jobava's stellar run in the event!

One hopes that this great player keeps up his form and regains his rightful place in the World of Chess | Photo: 26th Abu Dhabi Chess Festival (Twitter)

Aryan Chopra - the best among Indians!

Aryan Chopra defeated Andrei Volokitin in the penultimate round and drew Alexander Zubov in the final round to secure 11th place in the event with a score of 6.0/9 | Photo: Rupali Mullick


An overview of Aryan's performance in the event

The top-seeded Indian player Karthikeyan Murali was paired up against compatriot Deep Sengupta in the final round of the event. The game was agreed to a draw in just 18 moves which led to both the players finishing with 6.0/9 | Photo: Rupali Mullick

India's triple-crown champion Aravindh Chithambaram remained unbeaten in the entire event and finished with a score 6.0/9. In the last round he drew against Emre Can | Photo: Rupali Mullick

Vaibhav Suri finished 20th also with a score of 6.0/9. In the last round he defeated IM Mahammad Muradli with the black pieces| Photo: Rupali Mullick

Praggnananddhaa R. drew the event's top-seed Yuriy Kryvoruchko in the last round, finishing with 5.5/9 points | Photo: Rupali Mullick

IM Shyamnikhil P also put up a commendable performance scoring 5.5/9. In the last round he drew GM Nikita Petrov | Photo: Rupali Mullick

The Norm makers of the event

FM Rathanvel V S played some solid bit of chess, made his fourth IM norm and also fulfilled the rating requirements to become the latest International Master of India. In the last round he drew against GM Aleksej Aleksandrov | Photo: Rupali Mullick

Here is an overview of Rathanvel's performance. He already had three IM norms prior to this event. But here with his performance he gained 42.8 Elo points, thus crossing the 2400 Elo criteria to become the latest IM of the country.

Mahalakshmi M beat IM Krishna C.R.G in the final round to finish with a commendable 5.5/9. She became the best female performer of the event and also clinched an IM norm through her performance | Photo: Rupali Mullick

An overview of Mahalakshmi's performance

Nandhidhaa P V made her final WGM norm to become the newest Women Grandmaster of the country. She finished with a score of 4.5/9 and gained 16.4 Elo points | Photo: Rupali Mullick 

Raahil Mullick started off the event by defeating the strong Armenian Grandmaster Samvel Ter-Sahakyan, in the last round he caused another upset by beating Mustafa Yilmaz! In the process he made his second IM norm | Photo: Rupali Mullick

Below is the game Raahil played in the last round against the strong Turkish Grandmaster. Interestingly, his choice of opening was the same as in the first round!

FM Nitish Belurkar lost to GM Iniyan P in the last round but overall played some very standard chess thus making an IM norm in the process | Photo: Rupali Mullick

CM Aronyak Ghosh made an IM norm in the event | Photo: Rupali Mullick

Senthil Maran K drew Divya Deshmukh in the last round. He also made an IM norm through his excellent results against strong GMs like Kirill Shevchenko and Temur Kuybokarov | Photo: Rupali Mullick

India dominates in the Juniors Event

The performances of Indians in the juniors section of the event was particularly notable as the top five places were all secured by Indians. Pranesh M became the sole juniors champion with a score of 8.0/9 | Photo: Rupali Mullick

13-year-old IM Leon Mendonca was the top-seed in the juniors event and secured an overall fifth place after the completion of nine rounds | Photo: Rupali Mullick

Final standings in the junior event

Rk.SNo NameTypsexFEDRtgPts. TB1  TB2  TB3 
13
FMPranesh MU14IND22968,00,053,045,50
25
CMKushagra MohanU16IND22527,50,056,545,50
36
FMSrihari L RU14IND22277,50,056,545,25
44
FMAaryan VarshneyU14IND22727,50,056,045,25
51
IMMendonca Leon LukeU14IND24017,00,057,042,00
625
Assylov MirasU12KAZ15357,00,045,535,00
726
Gu XianghanU14CHN15237,00,044,533,75
89
Hamad EssamU16UAE19066,50,057,538,25
92
Pranav VU14IND23166,50,055,537,75
1010
CMSindarov IslombekU12UZB18306,50,054,035,00
1120
Mukumov ArjinU14UZB16176,50,051,534,50
1224
Satybaldy AdilU10KAZ15426,50,049,531,75
1321
Singh GurmeherU14IND16056,50,049,032,75
1419
Aditya RamanathanU12IND16196,50,047,533,25
1527
Raji Sayel Abu AzizahU14PLE14996,50,047,532,50
1622
Hamad BaderU16UAE15816,50,043,529,50
1718
Krishnan RitvikU12IND16536,00,053,033,00
1816
Sabirov RasulU16KAZ16696,00,052,031,00
1912
Al Darmaky SultanU16UAE17766,00,052,030,00
2011
Satybaldy AmirU16KAZ17816,00,051,032,00

Results of the final round (Masters)

Bo.No. NameRtgPts. ResultPts. NameRtg No.
128GMYakubboev Nodirbek 2574 ½ - ½ GMJobava Baadur 258426
22GMNi Hua 26686 ½ - ½6 GMMaghsoodloo Parham 26564
311GMIndjic Aleksandar 26176 ½ - ½6 GMSocko Bartosz 262510
43GMSalem A.R. Saleh 2668 1 - 0 GMAntipov Mikhail Al. 259918
523GMPetrosyan Manuel 2592 1 - 0 GMTer-Sahakyan Samvel 26328
69GMEsipenko Andrey 2625 ½ - ½ GMAbdusattorov Nodirbek 259421
713GMBartel Mateusz 2612 1 - 0 GMYuffa Daniil 257130
814GMKarthikeyan Murali 2612 ½ - ½ GMSengupta Deep 254637
915GMAravindh Chithambaram Vr. 2607 ½ - ½ GMCan Emre 259322
1036GMAryan Chopra 2553 ½ - ½ GMZubov Alexander 260716
1117GMTabatabaei M.Amin 2601 1 - 0 GMSanal Vahap 253538
1232GMPraggnanandhaa R 25695 ½ - ½5 GMKryvoruchko Yuriy 26861
1331GMPaichadze Luka 25705 ½ - ½5 GMAkopian Vladimir 26505
1445GMSindarov Javokhir 25075 ½ - ½5 GMBai Jinshi 259919
1553IMShyaamnikhil P 24575 ½ - ½5 GMPetrov Nikita 259520
1655IMMuradli Mahammad 24545 0 - 15 GMVaibhav Suri 259124
1725GMSantos Latasa Jaime 25865 1 - 05 GMKuybokarov Temur 251144
1827GMIdani Pouya 25815 ½ - ½5 IMNguyen Anh Khoi 252940
1929GMAleksandrov Aleksej 25715 ½ - ½5 FMRathanvel V S 236778
2039GMXu Yi 25315 ½ - ½ GMVolokitin Andrei 26367

Standings after the final round (Masters)

Rk.SNo NameFEDRtgPts. TB1  TB2  TB3 
126
GMJobava BaadurGEO25848,00,0259154,5
228
GMYakubboev NodirbekUZB25747,00,0259152,0
34
GMMaghsoodloo ParhamIRI26566,50,0258654,5
410
GMSocko BartoszPOL26256,50,0257351,0
511
GMIndjic AleksandarSRB26176,50,0256552,0
63
GMSalem A.R. SalehUAE26686,50,0256252,5
723
GMPetrosyan ManuelARM25926,50,0256151,0
813
GMBartel MateuszPOL26126,50,0254352,5
92
GMNi HuaCHN26686,50,0254152,5
1017
GMTabatabaei M.AminIRI26016,50,0253146,0
1136
GMAryan ChopraIND25536,00,0255445,5
1216
GMZubov AlexanderUKR26076,00,0255147,0
1314
GMKarthikeyan MuraliIND26126,00,0254948,5
1437
GMSengupta DeepIND25466,00,0253747,5
1522
GMCan EmreTUR25936,00,0253647,5
1621
GMAbdusattorov NodirbekUZB25946,00,0253247,5
179
GMEsipenko AndreyRUS26256,00,0252748,0
1825
GMSantos Latasa JaimeESP25866,00,0252645,5
1915
GMAravindh Chithambaram Vr.IND26076,00,0251348,0
2024
GMVaibhav SuriIND25916,00,0246646,5

An overview of all Indian performances in the Masters event

SNoNameRtgFED123456789Pts.Rk.Group
14GMKarthikeyan Murali2612IND1½½111½0½6,013Masters
15GMAravindh Chithambaram Vr.2607IND1½1½½1½½½6,019Masters
24GMVaibhav Suri2591IND½1½1½10½16,020Masters
32GMPraggnanandhaa R2569IND½1½1½0½1½5,531Masters
36GMAryan Chopra2553IND½1½1½101½6,011Masters
37GMSengupta Deep2546IND11½½011½½6,014Masters
41GMIniyan P2517IND1½½½0½1½15,543Masters
47IMSadhwani Raunak2493IND1½010½1½15,542Masters
48IMArjun Kalyan2482IND½1½½½01½04,582Masters
50GMVenkatesh M.R.2480IND10011010½4,580Masters
52IMVignesh N R2466IND1½01½10½15,530Masters
53IMShyaamnikhil P2457IND½½½1½1½½½5,541Masters
57IMKrishna C R G2444IND1½½0110½04,565Masters
58IMAkash Pc Iyer2443IND1½0101½½04,567Masters
61IMAditya Mittal2429IND10½1½0½1½5,052Masters
62GMLaxman R.R.2426IND½1½0101½½5,056Masters
65Sammed Jaykumar Shete2416IND100110½½15,062Masters
66Sankalp Gupta2416IND01½½0½0013,5127Masters
67WGMVaishali R2411IND1½0½1½0104,571Masters
70IMMendonca Leon Luke2401IND010½½1½115,546Masters
72WGMSoumya Swaminathan2377IND10101000½3,5111Masters
73IMRakesh Kumar Jena2375IND½½10100½03,5121Masters
75FMManush Shah2373IND½½½½½½00½3,5124Masters
76IMViani Antonio Dcunha2371IND1½½01½0½04,089Masters
77FMRajdeep Sarkar2367IND½001100002,5138Masters
78FMRathanvel V S2367IND011½1½01½5,525Masters
79IMRaja Rithvik R2364IND00½110½115,061Masters
80IMKulkarni Rakesh2360IND0½10½10014,0101Masters
81WIMDivya Deshmukh2360IND10100½1½½4,572Masters
82FMDixit Nikhil2358IND½010½01104,095Masters
83CMMullick Raahil2355IND10½½½01½15,047Masters
84FMPranav Anand2347IND001½10½1½4,585Masters
85Moksh Amit Doshi2343IND0½10001114,587Masters
86WIMNandhidhaa P V2332IND0101½01104,569Masters
87CMAronyak Ghosh2332IND01½1½1½0½5,048Masters
88IMKathmale Sameer2326IND01½01½0104,092Masters
89FMKrishnater Kushager2324IND001½1½½0½4,098Masters
91Pranav V2316IND011½001003,5108Masters
92FMMithil Ajgaonkar2314IND01000½1103,5126Masters
93Srijit Paul2304IND½010001114,581Masters
94FMGajwa Ankit2302IND00½1½½½½14,588Masters
95FMPranesh M2296IND½010101014,577Masters
96Samant Aditya S2295IND0011½½0115,058Masters
98Bhambure Shantanu2288IND½010½½1½½4,579Masters
99WIMVantika Agrawal2287IND01½½10½003,5107Masters
100WGMGomes Mary Ann2286IND0½0½½0½114,0106Masters
101WIMSrija Seshadri2284IND0½010011½4,0105Masters
103Ajay Krishna S2280IND01½0½101½4,573Masters
105FMAaryan Varshney2272IND½0½10½½½½4,099Masters
106FMNitish Belurkar2271IND½01½½1½½04,566Masters
107IMSiva Mahadevan2270IND0½100½½114,575Masters
108WIMPriyanka Nutakki2259IND000110½1½4,0104Masters
109FMWagh Suyog2253IND0½0½101½03,5110Masters
110CMKushagra Mohan2252IND½010½½10½4,091Masters
113WIMAakanksha Hagawane2244IND00½½1½½0½3,5120Masters
114FMDeshpande Aniruddha2234IND10½0011½½4,570Masters
115WIMPujari Rucha2232IND00½1100½03,0129Masters
117FMSrihari L R2227IND00011½½104,097Masters
118Senthil Maran K2222IND110½½0½½½4,564Masters
120FMAjay Karthikeyan2213IND0½00½1½0½3,0132Masters
124Priyanka K2201IND0½00110013,5122Masters
126Soham Datar2192IND000½½½0102,5143Masters
128WCMMrudul Dehankar2188IND½½000½½114,0100Masters
130WIMMahalakshmi M2173IND10½1½10½15,532Masters
131Arjun C Krishnamachari2172IND0½0½00½½02,0146Masters
132Utsab Chatterjee2163IND010½0100½3,0130Masters
134WIMChitlange Sakshi2147IND001½100½03,0131Masters
137Panda Sambit2126IND½01½0½0013,5116Masters
143Panesar Vedant2102IND0½½½½½0013,5123Masters
144Srihari L2101IND0½00011103,5125Masters
145FMVatsal Singhania2087IND10010½½½03,5114Masters
146WCMSharma Isha2078IND0100½½0013,0136Masters
147Thrish Karthik2075IND000½0½½½02,0147Masters
148WFMSalonika Saina2068IND½½½00½0½02,5139Masters
149Soham Kamotra2061IND1½00½½0½½3,5112Masters
150WFMTarini Goyal2038IND½½0½½10½14,583Masters