6th Stepan Avagyan Memorial R3: Aravindh outplays Xiangyu, crosses 2750 for the first time

by Shahid Ahmed - 01/06/2025

Aravindh Chithambaram outplayed Xiangyu Xu (CHN) in Round 3 of 6th Stepan Avagyan Memorial 2025. Aravindh played bravely and launched a devastating attack on the kingside by exposing his own king. His opponent had no answer to that. This win pushed Aravindh to 2750.8 in live ratings for the first time in his career. His rank is World no.11 in June FIDE rating list. R Praggnanandhaa signed a quick 18-move draw against Samuel Sevian (USA). Aram Hakobyan (ARM) and Dmitrij Kollars (GER) are the only two other victors of the round against Nodirbek Yakubboev (UZB) and Benjamin Gledura (HUN) respectively. Round 4 starts today at 3 p.m. local time, 4:30 p.m. IST. Photo: Chess Academy of Armenia

Hakobyan and Kollars score wins

The third round had three decisive games which is the highest in a round so far. Aravindh Chithambaram, Aram Hakobyan and Dmitrij Kollars are currently at 2/3 each. They are closely followed by four players - R Praggnanandhaa, Jonas Buhl Bjerre, Samuel Sevian and Xiangyu Xu at 1.5/3 each.

Aravindh Chithambaram completely outplayed his opponent Xiangyu Xu (CHN) | Photo: Chess Academy of Armenia

Aravindh - Xiangyu: 1-0

Aravindh Chithambaram (2749) played four Classical rated games against Xiangyu Xu (CHN, 2623). Aravindh won two and drew two. This time he completely outplayed his opponent.

Position after 20.f4

Aravindh first played 18.c5 to pin the e6-pawn. 18...Qf7 19.Ng5 Qh5 20.f4 and we reach the above position. 20...Qxh2 21.Nh3 Qg3 22.Rd3 Qh4 23.g4! White just bravely pushes the pawn in front of his king. He knew that the attack he will launch on his opponent's king will be more important than the increased vulnerability of his own. 23...fxg4 24.Nf2 h5 25.Rh1 Qe7 26.Rxh5 Qf7 27.Rh4 e5 and White won.

Aravindh Chithambaram crossed 2750 in live ratings for the first time | Source: 2700chess.com

R Praggnanandhaa and Samuel Sevian (USA) made a quick 18-move draw | Photo: Chess Academy of Armenia

Jonas Buhl Bjerre (DEN) - Robert Hovhannisyan (ARM): 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Chess Academy of Armenia

Aram Hakobyan (ARM) sacrificed an exchange and used his bishop pair to win against Nodirbek Yakubboev (UZB) | Photo: Chess Academy of Armenia

Dmitrij Kollars (GER) capitalized on his opponent, Benjamin Gledura's (HUN) mistake in the endgame | Photo: Chess Academy of Armenia

Replay Round 3 live stream

Replay Round 3 live commentary by IM Lilit Mkrtchian (ARM) and GM Harshit Raja | Video: ChessBase India

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$ 19325). The top three prizes are 3100000 AMD (≈ US$ 8041), 1 850 000 AMD (≈ US$ 4799) and 1500000 (≈ US$ 3891).

Round 3 results

Bo.	No.	Rtg		White	Result		Black	Rtg	No.
1	2	2749	GM	Aravindh Chithambaram Vr.	1 - 0	GM	Xu Xiangyu	2623	10
2	3	2641	GM	Bjerre Jonas Buhl	½ - ½	GM	Hovhannisyan Robert	2635	1
3	4	2694	GM	Sevian Samuel	½ - ½	GM	Praggnanandhaa R	2758	9
4	5	2665	GM	Yakubboev Nodirbek	0 - 1	GM	Hakobyan Aram	2620	8
5	6	2625	GM	Kollars Dmitrij	1 - 0	GM	Gledura Benjamin	2663	7

Details

Standings after Round 3

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	TB2
1	2	GM	Aravindh Chithambaram Vr.	IND	2749	2	2,75	1
2	8	GM	Hakobyan Aram	ARM	2620	2	2,50	2
3	6	GM	Kollars Dmitrij	GER	2625	2	2,25	2
4	9	GM	Praggnanandhaa R	IND	2758	1,5	2,50	2
5	3	GM	Bjerre Jonas Buhl	DEN	2641	1,5	2,25	1
	4	GM	Sevian Samuel	USA	2694	1,5	2,25	1
7	10	GM	Xu Xiangyu	CHN	2623	1,5	2,00	2
8	1	GM	Hovhannisyan Robert	ARM	2635	1	1,75	1
9	5	GM	Yakubboev Nodirbek	UZB	2665	1	1,50	1
10	7	GM	Gledura Benjamin	HUN	2663	1	1,25	2

Details

Round 4 pairings

Bo.	No.	Rtg		White	Result		Black	Rtg	No.
1	10	2623	GM	Xu Xiangyu		GM	Gledura Benjamin	2663	7
2	8	2620	GM	Hakobyan Aram		GM	Kollars Dmitrij	2625	6
3	9	2758	GM	Praggnanandhaa R		GM	Yakubboev Nodirbek	2665	5
4	1	2635	GM	Hovhannisyan Robert		GM	Sevian Samuel	2694	4
5	2	2749	GM	Aravindh Chithambaram Vr.		GM	Bjerre Jonas Buhl	2641	3

Details

Schedule

Wednesday	28 May at 19:00	Opening Ceremony
Thursday	29 May at 15:00	Round 1
Friday	30 May at 15:00	Round 2
Saturday	31 May at 15:00	Round 3
Sunday	1 June at 15:00	Round 4
Monday	2 June at 15:00	Round 5
Tuesday	3 June at 15:00	Round 6
Wednesday	4 June at 15:00	Round 7
Thursday	5 June at 15:00	Round 8
Friday	6 June at 11:00	Round 9
Friday	6 June at 18:00	Closing Ceremony