Tabatabaei clinches 4th Sharjah Masters 2021

by Shahid Ahmed - 26/09/2021

M Amin Tababtabaei (IRI) drew his last round game against Nodirbek Yakubboev (UZB) to win 4th Sharjah Masters 2021. Apart from Tabatabaei, Pavel Eljanov (UKR), Salem Saleh (UAE) and Parham Maghsoodloo (IRI) also scored 6.5/9. They were placed second to fourth according to the tie-breaks. Narayanan S L 6.0/9 was the best finisher among Indians at seventh place, followed by Abhijeet Gupta at ninth 6.0/9, Adhiban tenth 5.5/9, Arjun Erigaisi twelfth 5.5/9 and Raunak Sadhwani 16th 5.5/9. Narayanan moved to 2646.6, Abhijeet 2627.7, Arjun 2630.8 and Raunak 2608.8 in the live ratings list. Photo: Anastasiya Karlovich/Sharjah Chess Club

Narayanan finishes at seventh

A draw in the final round would have allowed Narayanan to win the tournament as he had the best tie-breaks compared to all top four finishers. A loss in the last round against Parham Maghsoodloo cost him six places, and he was placed seventh. Narayanan missed US$ 10000 first prize, he won US$ 3500.

Champion - M Amin Tabatabaei (IRI) 6.5/9 | Photo: Anastasiya Karlovich/Sharjah Chess Club

2nd - Pavel Eljanov (UKR) 6.5/9 | Photo: Anastasiya Karlovich/Sharjah Chess Club

3rd - Salem Saleh (UAE) 6.5/9 | Photo: Anastasiya Karlovich/Sharjah Chess Club

Round 7: Jumabayev - Narayanan: 0-1

Rinat Jumabayev (KAZ) provoked Narayanan to launch an attack which turned things in the Indian's favor.

Position after 18...Nd4

18.b5 made Black centralize his knight 18...Nd4. White made another mistake of trading the knight, 19.Nxd4 Rxd4 and now the pin on the d-file is deadly. The game continued 20.e3 Bxg2 21.exd4 Bd5. Black sacrificed an exchange to gain full control over the light squares which eventually caused White's loss. Narayanan once again got back in the lead 5.5/7.

Narayanan's win over Jumabayev - analyzed by IM Sagar Shah | Video: ChessBase India

Narayanan scored another impressive win | Photo: Anastasiya Karlovich/Sharjah Chess Club

Raunak - Adhiban: 0.5-0.5

Raunak Sadhwani drew with B Adhiban. This was Adhiban's sixth consecutive draw of the event.

Abhijeet - Aram Hakobyan: 1-0

GM Aram Hakobyan (ARM) launched an ambitious attack on Abhijeet's kingside by sacrificing a pawn.

Position after 17...Ne4

18.Nxe4 dxe4 19.Bxe4 Qh2+ 20.Kf1 Bd7 21.a4 and Black's attack is stopped. Soon Black lost a couple of pawns more and White's masterful play with his king and the well coordinated pieces eventually earned him Black's bishop which prompted resignation. Abhijeet moved to 4.5/7.

Round 8: Narayanan - Eljanov: 0.5-0.5

Narayanan made a solid draw with GM Pavel Eljanov (UKR). Tabatabaei joined them in a three-way lead 6.0/8, heading into the final round.

Adhiban - Bellahcene: 1-0

Adhiban ended his draw streak by defeating Algeria no.1 GM Bilel Bellahcene.

Moussard - Raunak: 0-1

GM Jules Moussard (FRA) captured a wrong pawn and allowed Raunak Sadhwani to get back into the game.

Position after 27.Nxg4

27.Nxg4 was uncalled-for. Black was looking for an opening and White taking the g4-pawn just made that happen. 27...Qe6 28.Nh2 Rxg3 29.Rf6 Rxd3 30.Rxe6 Rxd1 and White started losing all weak pawns and Raunak had no trouble converting his advantage into a win.

Raunak waited for his opportunity against Moussard | Photo: Anastasia Karlovich/Sharjah Chess Club

Can - Arjun: 0-1

Arjun Erigaisi scored a nice win against GM Emre Can (TUR) by showcasing his positional play.

Arjun Erigaisi moved to 5.0/8 | Photo: Anastasia Karlovich/Sharjah Chess Club

Round 9: Maghsoodloo - Narayanan: 1-0

Narayanan got outplayed by GM Parham Maghsoodloo (IRI) right out of the opening. This win allowed Maghsoodloo to break into 2700 in the live ratings list.

A loss in the last round cost Narayanan the championship | Photo: Anastasia Karlovich/Sharjah Chess Club

Naiditsch - Abhijeet: 0-1

Azerbaijan no.4 GM Arkadij Naiditsch went wrong in the opening and he had to give up a piece for two pawns.

Position after 12...Nc5

The pin on a6-f1 diagonal is deadly, Black is threatening to play 13...dxe4. White decided to take the pawn 13.exd5 e4 14.Nxe4 Ncxe4 15.c4 Nc5 16.dxc6 Re8 and Black has a decisive advantage. Things became a little for Black in the endgame, however Abhijeet managed to find a way to win the game.

GM Abhijeet Gupta scored 6.0/9, secured 9th position, performed at 2741 and gained 15.7 Elo rating points | Photo: Anastasia Karlovich/Sharjah Chess Club

Raunak - Paravyan: 0.5-0.5

Raunak Sadhwani had a hard-fought draw against GM David Paravyan (RUS).

GM Raunak Sadhwani scored 5.5/9, secured 16th position, performed at 2641 and gained 5.8 Elo rating points | Photo: Anastasia Karlovich/Sharjah Chess Club

WGM Jolanta Zawadzka had a great event, she missed a GM-norm by a whisker | Photo: Anastasia Karlovich/Sharjah Chess Club

Highlights

Here are a few interesting finishes from Round 7-9:

GM Rinat Jumabayev (KAZ) lost to GM Narayanan S L, Round 7

GM Salem Saleh (UAE) defeated GM Jules Moussard (FRA), Round 7

GM Javokhir Sindarov (UZB) won against GM Adly Ahmed (EGY), Round 7

GM Salem Saleh (UAE) defeated GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov (UZB), Round 9

GM Sebastian Bogner (SUI) defeated GM Emre Can (TUR), Round 9

Replay the Live stream

Sharjah Masters Round 9 Live commentary by GM Ioannis Papaioannou and WGM Eva Repkova | Video: Sharjah Chess

Replay Round 7-9 games

Round 9 results

Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.
1	3	GM	Eljanov Pavel	2680	6	½ - ½	5½	GM	Mchedlishvili Mikheil	2571	33
2	2	GM	Maghsoodloo Parham	2695	5½	1 - 0	6	GM	Narayanan.S.L	2632	12
3	26	GM	Yakubboev Nodirbek	2604	5½	½ - ½	6	GM	Tabatabaei M. Amin	2624	18
4	4	GM	Salem A.R. Saleh	2679	5½	1 - 0	5½	GM	Abdusattorov Nodirbek	2648	10
5	25	GM	Niemann Hans Moke	2609	5	½ - ½	5	GM	Adhiban B.	2672	5
6	6	GM	Naiditsch Arkadij	2663	5	0 - 1	5	GM	Gupta Abhijeet	2612	23
7	27	GM	Sadhwani Raunak	2603	5	½ - ½	5	GM	Paravyan David	2660	7
8	9	GM	Jumabayev Rinat	2651	5	1 - 0	5	GM	Yilmaz Mustafa	2624	19
9	17	GM	Erigaisi Arjun	2626	5	½ - ½	5	GM	Delgado Ramirez Neuris	2588	28
10	8	GM	Nisipeanu Liviu-Dieter	2657	4½	½ - ½	4½	GM	Iordachescu Viorel	2587	29
11	34	GM	Sindarov Javokhir	2571	4½	1 - 0	4½	GM	Mastrovasilis Dimitrios	2615	22
12	15	GM	Sethuraman S.P.	2628	4½	0 - 1	4	GM	Moussard Jules	2631	13
13	1	GM	Amin Bassem	2704	4	0 - 1	4	GM	Firat Burak	2466	39
14	11	GM	Martirosyan Haik M.	2636	4	½ - ½	4	GM	Harutyunyan Tigran K.	2573	32
15	14	GM	Ganguly Surya Shekhar	2630	4	½ - ½	4	IM	Dimakiling Oliver	2409	45

Details

Final standings

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	18	GM	Tabatabaei M. Amin	IRI	2624	6,5	0,0	42,5	36,0
2	3	GM	Eljanov Pavel	UKR	2680	6,5	0,0	42,0	36,0
3	4	GM	Salem A.R. Saleh	UAE	2679	6,5	0,0	40,5	34,5
4	2	GM	Maghsoodloo Parham	IRI	2695	6,5	0,0	38,0	32,0
5	33	GM	Mchedlishvili Mikheil	GEO	2571	6,0	0,0	45,5	39,0
6	9	GM	Jumabayev Rinat	KAZ	2651	6,0	0,0	44,0	38,0
7	12	GM	Narayanan.S.L	IND	2632	6,0	0,0	43,5	37,0
8	26	GM	Yakubboev Nodirbek	UZB	2604	6,0	0,0	40,0	33,5
9	23	GM	Gupta Abhijeet	IND	2612	6,0	0,0	38,0	32,5
10	5	GM	Adhiban B.	IND	2672	5,5	0,0	39,0	33,5
11	28	GM	Delgado Ramirez Neuris	PAR	2588	5,5	0,0	39,0	32,5
12	17	GM	Erigaisi Arjun	IND	2626	5,5	0,0	38,5	32,5
13	10	GM	Abdusattorov Nodirbek	UZB	2648	5,5	0,0	38,5	32,5
14	25	GM	Niemann Hans Moke	USA	2609	5,5	0,0	37,5	32,0
15	7	GM	Paravyan David	RUS	2660	5,5	0,0	37,0	31,5
16	27	GM	Sadhwani Raunak	IND	2603	5,5	0,0	36,5	31,0
17	34	GM	Sindarov Javokhir	UZB	2571	5,5	0,0	34,5	29,0
18	6	GM	Naiditsch Arkadij	AZE	2663	5,0	0,0	43,5	37,5
19	13	GM	Moussard Jules	FRA	2631	5,0	0,0	40,0	33,5
20	19	GM	Yilmaz Mustafa	TUR	2624	5,0	0,0	39,0	33,0

Details

Links

Official site

Tournament details

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