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28th Abu Dhabi Masters 2022 R8: Arjun Erigaisi vanquishes Hao, now India no.3 and World no.27

by Shahid Ahmed - 25/08/2022

Arjun Erigaisi defeated the top seed Hao Wang (CHN) to regain his sole lead 6.5/8 at 28th Abu Dhabi Masters 2022. He will face Spain no.4 GM David Anton Guijarro in the final round. Nine players are trailing by a half point at 6/8 each. Nihal Sarin, Sethuraman S P and Aryan Chopra are the three Indians among them. IM Aditya Samant drew with Argentina no.1, GM Sandro Mareco. Ajay Krishna S who became an IM last year at the age of 22 years, outplayed GM Iniyan P. IM Shyam Nikhil vs GM Raunak Sadhwani is the sole All-Indian clash among top 20 boards in the final round. The ninth round starts today at 10 a.m. local time, 11:30 a.m. IST. Photo: Rupali Mullick

Can Arjun win the tournament?

GM Arjun Erigaisi does not have the best tie-breaks. So a draw will create an opportunity for the other players to catch up with him. So, he is almost in a must-win situation if he wants to clinch the tournament. Reigning Asian Junior champion, IM Raahul V S defeated GM Shardul Gagare. FM Jubin Jimmy, FM Kashish Manoj Jain and FM Ayush Sharma defeated IM Husain Aziz (QAT), IM Saeed Ishaq (UAE) and IM Vardaan Nagpal respectively.

Arjun Erigaisi is certainly eyeing to win the tournament | Photo: Rupali Mullick

Hao - Arjun Erigaisi: 0-1

GM Arjun Erigaisi (2689) showed his tenacity against the China no.2 and World no.19, GM Hao Wang (2735).

Position after 29.b5

29.b5 is a mistake. A careful inspection reveals that the mobility of the a6-knight is limited, bishop's path is blocked too. White is not going to have it easy to promote the b-pawn. 29...Rc8 30.e4 dxe4 31.fxe4 Bxe4 32.Qd4 f5 33.Nc7 Qe7 34.b6 Nd7. Black is not fazed with the presence of the pawn at b6. For almost 15 moves, White kept offering a queen exchange which Arjun declined and waited for his opponent to make a mistake which he did eventually and lost the game.

Starting moments: GM Hao Wang (CHN) - GM Arjun Erigaisi | Video: ChessBase India

Arjun Erigaisi is now India no.3 and World no.27 | Source: 2700chess.com

Spain no.1 GM Francisco Vallejo Pons complemented GM Arjun Erigaisi

Sethuraman - Salem: 1-0

GM Sethuraman S P (2625) responded correctly to UAE no.1 GM Salem Saleh's (2679) attack on his king and then launched an onslaught of his own.

Position after 35...Ne2+

Black does not get the desired effect after 35...Ne2+ as 36.Rxe2 is the only move Bxe2 37.Rf2 Bg4 after a repetition 40.Nf6+ now Black should not have taken the knight at f6. Instead, 40...Kh8 is the only other choice which is the best defense. It is certainly not easy to find the counter-intuitive move. 40...Bxf6 41.Rxf6 Rb8 42.Nb5 Ra8 43.Na3 Bh5 44.Be6 Rxf6 45.Bxh3 and it's over.

GM Sethuraman S P is unbeaten 6/8 | Photo: Rupali Mullick
Final moments: GM Shamsiddin Vokhidov (UZB) vs Nihal Sarin | Video: ChessBase India

Iniyan - Ajay Krishna S: 0-1

IM Ajay Krishna S (2367) got a better position out of the opening against GM Iniyan P (2556). He had no trouble converting his advantage into a win.

Position after 18.Be4

It was possible for Black to go for 18...Ncxd4 right here 19.cxd4 Qxd4 followed by c3 no matter what White opts. Instead, Black went for the solid 18...b4 19.Rd1 b3 20.Bc1 Qe7 21.Qh3 Ncxd4! 22.cxd4 Qb4+ 23.Ke2 c3 24.Bxf5 exf5 25.Rd3 b2 well it's over for White. The game went for another 14 moves before White called it a day.

IM Ajay Krishna S became an IM last year | Photo: Rupali Mullick

For more Round 8 photos, please click here.

Replay the live stream

Replay 28th Abu Dhabi International Chess Festival Round 8 Live Commentary by GM Viorel Iordăchescu | Video: ADChess

A total of 148 players including 43 GMs, 35 IMs, 7 WGMs and 3 WIMs are taking part from 31 countries across the world including India. The tournament is being organized by Abu Dhabi Chess Club & Mind Games from 17th to 25th August 2022 at Abu Dhabi, UAE. The nine-round Swiss league tournament has a time control of 90 minutes + 30 seconds increment from move no.1.

Replay Round 8 games

Round 8 results

Rd.Bo.No. NameRtgPts.ResultPts.NameRtg No.
831
GMWang Hao273550 - 1GMErigaisi Arjun2689
4
8517
GMSethuraman S.P.262551 - 05GMSalem A.R. Saleh2679
8
869
GMAnton Guijarro David266851 - 05GMArjun Kalyan2513
38
8711
GMMareco Sandro26575½ - ½5FMSamant Aditya S2430
55
8833
GMVokhidov Shamsiddin255250 - 15GMNihal Sarin2651
12
8915
GMSindarov Javokhir262951 - 05GMHarsha Bharathakoti2557
30
81023
GMHakobyan Aram261250 - 15GMAryan Chopra2627
16
8112
GMTomashevsky Evgeny27021 - 05CMSoham Kamotra2251
123
81422
GMKarthikeyan Murali26131 - 0IMMohammad Nubairshah Shaikh2457
48
81547
GMChanda Sandipan2458½ - ½GMPetrosyan Manuel2610
24
81667
FMNazari Arad2389½ - ½GMAdhiban B.2598
26
81819
GMSadhwani Raunak262241 - 0IMViani Antonio Dcunha2327
89
82229
GMMendonca Leon Luke25714½ - ½4IMNitish Belurkar2416
60
82331
GMIniyan P255640 - 14IMAjay Krishna S2367
75
82478
FMRohith Krishna S23584½ - ½4IMDavtyan Artur2520
37
82583
Panda Sambit234640 - 14GMGrover Sahaj2505
40
826104
WGMYakubbaeva Nilufar22994½ - ½4IMAditya Mittal2496
41
82743
IMVignesh N R246741 - 04FMTolentino Rustum2259
119
828111
Ashraf Artin228940 - 14IMShyaamnikhil P2465
44
82945
CMPrraneeth Vuppala24644½ - ½4IMMohammad Fahad Rahman2401
66

Details

Round 9 pairings

Rd.Bo.No. NameRtgPts.ResultPts.NameRtg No.
914
GMErigaisi Arjun26896GMAnton Guijarro David2668
9
9212
GMNihal Sarin265166GMRobson Ray2682
6
9316
GMAryan Chopra262766GMVan Foreest Jorden2680
7
9520
GMYakubboev Nodirbek262066GMSethuraman S.P.2625
17
9755
FMSamant Aditya S2430GMPredke Alexandr2692
3
9811
GMMareco Sandro2657GMKarthikeyan Murali2613
22
91040
GMGrover Sahaj250555GMWang Hao2735
1
9115
GMAmin Bassem268755IMVignesh N R2467
43
9128
GMSalem A.R. Saleh267955GMChanda Sandipan2458
47
91375
IMAjay Krishna S236755GMNisipeanu Liviu-Dieter2644
13
91444
IMShyaamnikhil P246555GMSadhwani Raunak2622
19
91624
GMPetrosyan Manuel261055IMRathanvel V S2455
49
91726
GMAdhiban B.259855FMMadaminov Mukhiddin2408
61
91830
GMHarsha Bharathakoti255755FMNazari Arad2389
67
919123
CMSoham Kamotra225155GMVokhidov Shamsiddin2552
33
92038
GMArjun Kalyan251355FMDe Silva L M S T2212
134
92272
IMSukandar Irine Kharisma2373GMMendonca Leon Luke2571
29
92437
IMDavtyan Artur2520GMLaxman R.R.2381
69
92541
IMAditya Mittal2496FMRohith Krishna S2358
78
92689
IMViani Antonio Dcunha2327CMPrraneeth Vuppala2464
45

Details

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