6th Stepan Avagyan Memorial R4: Aravindh beats Jonas, emerges sole leader

by Shahid Ahmed - 02/06/2025

Aravindh Chithambaram got the better Jonas Buhl Bjerre (DEN) in Round 4 of 6th Stepan Avagyan Memorial 2025. Jonas made a positional mistake in the middlegame. Aravindh took advantage of it. However, the Denmark no.1 managed to get back in the game, only to falter in the end and it cost him the game. In a battle of Olympiad Gold medalists, R Praggnanandhaa defeated Nodirbek Yakubboev (UZB) for the first time in a Classical rated game. Yakubboev misplayed in a complex queen endgame. Aravindh has emerged sole leader 3/4. He is closely followed by Dmitrij Kollars (GER), Praggnanandhaa and Aram Hakobyan (ARM) at 2.5/4 each. Round 5 starts today at 3 p.m. local time, 4:30 p.m. IST. Photo: Chess Academy of Armenia

Aravindh and Praggnanandhaa score a win each

Aravindh Chithambaram got the better of Jonas Buhl Bjerre (DEN) | Photo: Chess Academy of Armenia

Aravindh - Bjerre: 1-0

Aravindh Chithambaram (2749) played only one Classical rated game against Jonas Buhl Bjerre (DEN, 2651). It was at Bundesliga last November. Aravindh won that game and this time also he repeated the same result. Jonas made a positional mistake 19...Rfd8?

Position after 19...Rfd8?

Aravindh had no trouble seizing his opportunity 20.d5! e5 21.Nxe5 Nexd5 22.Nxf7 Kxf7 23.cxd5 Bxd5 24.Bc4 computer might evaluate the position as equal. However, Black's vulnerable king is a long-term weakness. Black eventually made a mistake and lost the game.

Praggnanandhaa - Yakubboev: 1-0

R Praggnanandhaa (2767) faced Nodirbek Yakubboev (UZB, 2659) twice in Classical rated games. He lost one and drew the other. It was about time for the 45th Olympiad Gold medalist to beat the 44th Olympiad Gold medalist.

Position after 56.Kh5

56...Qe8+ 57.Qg6 Qe2+ is what Black needed to play to stay in the game. Instead, 56...Qh1+ 57.Kg6 Qe4+ 58.Qf5+ ended things in a hurry for Black. Sure neither side can afford to trade queens right away but Black cannot avoid a loss.

R Praggnanandhaa defeated Nodirbek Yakubboev (UZB) for the first time in a Classical rated game | Photo: Chess Academy of Armenia

Xiangyu Xu (CHN) missed a winning opportunity against... | Photo: Chess Academy of Armenia

...Benjamin Gledura (HUN). The game ended in a draw | Photo: Chess Academy of Armenia

Aram Hakobyan (ARM) made a 16-move quick draw with Dmitrij Kollars (GER) | Photo: Chess Academy of Armenia

Robert Hovhannisyan (ARM) - Samuel Sevian (USA): 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Chess Academy of Armenia

Round 4 in progress | Photo: Chess Academy of Armenia

Replay Round 4 live stream

Replay Round 4 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 4 results

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

Details

Standings after Round 4

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

Details

Round 5 pairings

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

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