5th Stepan Avagyan Memorial R4: Arjun Erigaisi stays on top, Haik bounces back
Arjun Erigaisi drew his fourth round game against the defending champion - Samuel Sevian (USA) at 5th Stepan Avagyan Memorial 2024. Haik Martirosyan won the All-Armenian clash against Manuel Petrosyan. The latter made an incorrect decision in the seemingly balanced rook and knight endgame. It allowed Haik to liquidate into a favorable rook and few pawns endgame. He had no trouble converting his extra pawn advantage. M Amin Tabatabaei (IRI) scored the only other victory of the round against Matthias Bluebaum (GER). Arjun's next opponent will be Haik who had the maximum decisive games of the event so far. Round 5 starts today at 3 p.m. local time, 4:30 p.m. IST. Photo: Chess Academy of Armenia
White wins two
Haik - Manuel: 1-0
Manuel Petrosyan (ARM, 2625) blundered against Haik Martirosyan (ARM, 2662) in a relatively balanced rook, knight and pawn down endgame.
Since Black has a pawn less, the thing which he should not do is exchange pieces in a hurry. 43...b5? not only allows White to trade the knights but also get into a favorable rook and pawn endgame. 44.Rxe5 Rxd2 45.a4 b4?? worsened things further 46.a5 Kg7 47.Rc5 Ra2 48.Rxc6 and White won the game in the next few moves.
Tabatabaei - Bluebaum: 1-0
Matthias Bluebaum (GER, 2647) sacrificed an exchange in the middlegame, for which he initially did not get any compensation against M Amin Tabatabaei (IRI, 2713). However, later in the endgame he managed to equalize.
39...Nd7 40.Rc7 Nb8 precise defense would have kept the game going. However, 39...Nd3? gave White a decisive advantage 40.Rc7 Ng4 41.a6 Nf4 42.Kg1 Ne6 43.Rc4 Nd4 44.Rxd4! exd4 45.Nb1 and White won the game soon.
Replay Round 4 games
Round 4 results
| Bo. | No. | Rtg | Name | Result | Name | Rtg | No. | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 10 | 2662 | GM | Martirosyan Haik M. | 1 - 0 | GM | Petrosyan Manuel | 2625 | 7 | |||
| 2 | 8 | 2611 | GM | Hovhannisyan Robert | ½ - ½ | GM | Murzin Volodar | 2650 | 6 | |||
| 3 | 9 | 2639 | GM | Sargsyan Shant | ½ - ½ | GM | Deac Bogdan-Daniel | 2680 | 5 | |||
| 4 | 1 | 2713 | GM | Tabatabaei M. Amin | 1 - 0 | GM | Bluebaum Matthias | 2647 | 4 | |||
| 5 | 2 | 2687 | GM | Sevian Samuel | ½ - ½ | GM | Erigaisi Arjun | 2761 | 3 |
Standings after Round 4
| Rk. | SNo | Name | FED | Rtg | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | K | rtg+/- | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | GM | Erigaisi Arjun | IND | 2761 | 3 | 5,50 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 4,6 | |
| 2 | 2 | GM | Sevian Samuel | USA | 2687 | 2,5 | 6,00 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 5,4 | |
| 3 | 1 | GM | Tabatabaei M. Amin | IRI | 2713 | 2,5 | 5,50 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 3,7 | |
| 4 | 10 | GM | Martirosyan Haik M. | ARM | 2662 | 2,5 | 3,75 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 5,3 | |
| 5 | 5 | GM | Deac Bogdan-Daniel | ROU | 2680 | 2,5 | 3,25 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 2,2 | |
| 6 | 9 | GM | Sargsyan Shant | ARM | 2639 | 1,5 | 3,25 | 0 | 2 | 10 | -1,9 | |
| 7 | 7 | GM | Petrosyan Manuel | ARM | 2625 | 1,5 | 2,50 | 0 | 3 | 10 | -3,1 | |
| 8 | 8 | GM | Hovhannisyan Robert | ARM | 2611 | 1,5 | 2,50 | 0 | 2 | 10 | -1 | |
| 9 | 4 | GM | Bluebaum Matthias | GER | 2647 | 1,5 | 2,25 | 0 | 2 | 10 | -5 | |
| 10 | 6 | GM | Murzin Volodar | FID | 2650 | 1 | 1,50 | 0 | 3 | 10 | -10,2 |
Round 5 pairings
| Bo. | No. | Rtg | Name | Result | Name | Rtg | No. | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | 2761 | GM | Erigaisi Arjun | GM | Martirosyan Haik M. | 2662 | 10 | ||||
| 2 | 4 | 2647 | GM | Bluebaum Matthias | GM | Sevian Samuel | 2687 | 2 | ||||
| 3 | 5 | 2680 | GM | Deac Bogdan-Daniel | GM | Tabatabaei M. Amin | 2713 | 1 | ||||
| 4 | 6 | 2650 | GM | Murzin Volodar | GM | Sargsyan Shant | 2639 | 9 | ||||
| 5 | 7 | 2625 | GM | Petrosyan Manuel | GM | Hovhannisyan Robert | 2611 | 8 |
Time Control
90 minutes for the first 40 moves + 30 minutes for the rest of the game (with 30 seconds increment starting from move one).
Prizes
The total prize fund is 7450000 AMD (≈ US$ 18400). The top three prizes are 3100000 AMD (≈ US$ 7976), 1 850 000 AMD (≈ US$ 4760) and 1500000 (≈ US$ 3859). There are also Chessify prizes for all ten participants. The top three Chessify prizes are - bundles worth $350, $300 and $250 each.
Schedule
| Sunday | 9 June at 19:00 | Opening Ceremony |
| Monday | 10 June at 15:00 | Round 1 |
| Tuesday | 11 June at 15:00 | Round 2 |
| Wednesday | 12 June at 15:00 | Round 3 |
| Thursday | 13 June at 15:00 | Round 4 |
| Friday | 14 June at 15:00 | Round 5 |
| Saturday | 15 June at 15:00 | Round 6 |
| Sunday | 16 June at 15:00 | Round 7 |
| Monday | 17 June at 15:00 | Round 8 |
| Tuesday | 18 June at 11:00 | Round 9 |
| Tuesday | 18 June at 17:00 | Closing Ceremony |
