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Biel MTO 2021 R6: Karthikeyan stays at the top 5.5/6

by Shahid Ahmed - 02/08/2021

Twelfth seed Karthikeyan Murali maintained his sole lead by scoring a victory over Sethuraman in the sixth round of 54th Biel International Chess Festival MTO 2021. Eljanov is the only player who is a half point behind him 5.0/6. They will face each other in a crucial game in the seventh round. IM Harshit Raja scored a fine victory over GM Abhimanyu Puranik. GM Raunak Sadhwani held GM Maksim Chigaev to a marathon draw. Yesterday was a rest day for the GMT. The fifth round of GMT and seventh round of MTO will start at 5:30 p.m. IST today. Nihal has reduced the gap between him and Kamsky by winning the GMT Blitz on 31st July. He will face Keymer today against whom Nihal has a 3-1 score in this event. Photo: Rupali Mullick

Ganguly in pursuit

Karthikeyan scored a nice victory over compatriot Sethuraman in the sixth round to maintain his sole lead 5.5/6. GM Pavel Eljanov (UKR) is the only one who is a half point 5.0/6 behind him. Five players are behind the Ukrainian at 4.5/6. They are - Banusz, Ganguly, Erdos, Tang and Kantor.

Karthikeyan is still in the sole lead | Photo: Rupali Mullick

Karthikeyan - Sethuraman: 1-0

Karthikeyan's relentless attack was capped off with a nice combination, but before that, his opponent Sethuraman could have done tactics of his own and saved the position.

Position after 35.Qc3

White's kingside is a little vulnerable. How can Black take advantage of that? The game continued 35...Qb6 36.Qb3 Kf8. Find out the finish for White.

Ganguly - Banusz: 0.5-0.5

Banusz had a substantial advantage in both middlegame and endgame but he was unable to convert it.

Position after 46.Rh7

Black is completely winning in the above position. Find out the best plan for Black.

Raunak - Chigaev: 0.5-0.5

Raunak Sadhwani had a marathon draw with Maksim Chigaev. The 15-year-old had to defend a rook vs rook and knight endgame for 50-moves.

Puranik - Harshit: 0-1

In a battle between two good friends from the same city, IM Harshit Raja prevailed. However, GM Abhimanyu Puranik had his opportunity to bring things back to balance.

Position after 21...Rxd5

White can do a pretty nice combination to restore equilibrium. Find out how.

Harshit can become India's next GM in this very event | Photo: Rupali Mullick

Highlights

Here are a few interesting finishes from Round 6

GM Karthikeyan Murali defeated GM Sethuraman SP

GM Raunak Sadhwani drew with GM Maksim Chigaev (RUS)

GM Andrew Tang (USA) defeated GM Sergey Fedorchuk (UKR)

GM Visakh N R defeated IM Tal Haimovich (ISR)

IM Sai Agni Jeevitesh lost to WGM Vaishali R

IM Noaman Omar (UAE) defeated CM Luc Zimmermann (NED)

Replay Round 6 games

Round 6 results

Bo.No. NameRtgPts.ResultPts.NameRtg No.
112
GMMurali Karthikeyan26061 - 04GMSethuraman S.P.2644
4
22
GMEljanov Pavel267141 - 04GMR Praggnanandhaa2608
11
38
GMGanguly Surya Shekhar26254½ - ½4GMBanusz Tamas2631
6
417
GMWagner Dennis2572½ - ½GMSaleh Salem A.R.2682
1
520
GMSadhwani Raunak2555½ - ½GMChigaev Maksim2630
7
622
GMKantor Gergely25271 - 0GMNarayanan S.L.2624
9
710
GMErdos Viktor26141 - 0GMErigaisi Arjun2567
19
824
GMTang Andrew25251 - 0GMFedorchuk Sergey2598
13
915
GMGukesh Dommaraju2578½ - ½IMKalyan Arjun2503
28
1027
GMBudisavljevic Luka25093½ - ½3GMDonchenko Alexander2652
3
1114
GMPuranik Abhimanyu258930 - 13IMRaja Harshit2484
29
1216
GMYuffa Daniil25783½ - ½3IMNR Vignesh2428
30
1331
IMGschnitzer Adrian242030 - 13GMKorpa Bence2536
21
1434
IMBänziger Fabian239230 - 13GMValsecchi Alessio2527
23
1525
GMNR Visakh251631 - 03IMHaimovich Tal2388
35

Details

Round 7 pairings

Bo.No. NameRtgPts.ResultPts.NameRtg No.
12
GMEljanov Pavel26715GMMurali Karthikeyan2606
12
26
GMBanusz Tamas2631GMErdos Viktor2614
10
322
GMKantor Gergely2527GMGanguly Surya Shekhar2625
8
41
GMSaleh Salem A.R.26824GMTang Andrew2525
24
54
GMSethuraman S.P.264444GMSadhwani Raunak2555
20
67
GMChigaev Maksim263044GMKorpa Bence2536
21
711
GMR Praggnanandhaa260844GMNR Visakh2516
25
823
GMValsecchi Alessio252744GMGukesh Dommaraju2578
15
928
IMKalyan Arjun250344GMWagner Dennis2572
17
1029
IMRaja Harshit24844GMDonchenko Alexander2652
3
119
GMNarayanan S.L.2624GMBudisavljevic Luka2509
27
1213
GMFedorchuk Sergey2598IMUnuk Laura2407
32
1333
WGMVaishali R2393GMYuffa Daniil2578
16
1430
IMNR Vignesh2428GMDragnev Valentin2569
18
1519
GMErigaisi Arjun2567FMTahay Alexis2349
39

Details

Links

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