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Athens of the East Round 8: Abhijeet Gupta goes down against Pavel Smirnov

by Satanick Mukhuty - 17/08/2019

The Athens of the East International Open 2019 had five players tied for the lead with 6.0/7 points at the end of the seventh round. However, in round eight one of them, the Russian Grandmaster Pavel Smirnov, dashed ahead of the others to emerge as the sole leader. Pavel defeated Abhijeet Gupta in the eighth round to take a half point lead over the entire field with 7.0/8 points. He is closely followed by a pack of six players on 6.5/8 led by West Bengal's Sayantan Das who maintained his solid form to hold GM Adam Tukhaev to a draw in the latest round. Elsewhere, Venkatesh M.R. drew the Chilean GM Rodrigo Vásquez Schroder, while India's Blitz King Rajaram Laxman suffered defeat in the hands of second seed Boris Savchenko. In this report we bring you photos, games, analyses, and more.

Pavel Smirnov takes sole lead with 7.0/8 points

Russia's Pavel Smirnov has so far remained unbeaten in the event, by defeating the top seed Abhijeet Gupta he has now emerged as the sole leader | Photo: IA Rathinam Anantharam

In round eight of the ongoing Athens of the East International Open 2019, the top seed Abhijeet Gupta was pitted against third seed Pavel Smirnov. The game opened with an English and the queens and knights got traded off as early as move 12 to enter into a perfectly even endgamish position. But just as the game seemed dwindling towards a draw, the Russian was able to create small practical chances. The Indian soon found himself in an inferior position after committing slight inaccuracies and failing to coordinate his pieces well.

 

Pavel Smirnov - Abhijeet Gupta, Round 8

Position after 19.a5: The engine considers this position to be equal but from a human point of view it seems White's pieces are better coordinated, while Black still has some work to do on that front. His rook on e2 particularly seems disconnected and his pawn on a6 is clearly a target which if falls will give White a dangerous passer. 

In the above situation 19...Bg4 20.Bb6 Bh6 21.Rb1 Rc2 22.Re1 e6 23.Bb7 Bd2 for instance would have been a good way for Black to create counterplay. In this line even if White has the strong passed a-pawn but advancing it is difficult with Black's bishop pair controlling the whole board. But in the game 19.a5 Be5 20.Bb6 Rc8 21.Bb7 Rxc3 was opted for instead, this wasn't probably the best of judgements. After this White was able to advance his a-pawn and exchange two pairs of rooks and bishops. And of course, this favoured White, as Capablanca had once said, "A passed pawn increases in strength as the number of pieces on the board diminishes". 

31...Bd3 was perhaps the next most critical mistake, keeping the bishop on board would have given Black better chances to defend. After 32.Bxd3 Rxd3 33.a7 White was clearly winning.

All White has to do in this position is to get his king to b8 after which it is game over for Black. 

There was no difficulty in executing this standard idea. The a-pawn was queened and Black now had to part with his rook. Resignation came soon after.

Sayantan Das had some winning chances against Adam Tukhaev with an extra pawn but the Ukrainian GM defended well to force the split of points. | Photo: IA Rathinam Anantharam

Boris Savchenko beat Rajaram Laxman who opted for the unusual Nimzo-Larsen opening with 1.Nf3 and 2.b3 | Photo: IA Rathinam Anantharam

More Photos

Odisha's Baivab Mishra held IM Nitin S. to a draw | Photo: IA Rathinam Anantharam

IM Murali Krishnan B T beat IM Saravana Krishnan P with the black pieces | Photo: IA Rathinam Anantharam

GM Karthikeyan P defeated FM Aaryan Varshney | Photo: IA Rathinam Anantharam

IM Konguvel Ponnuswamy was held to draw by Lakshmi Narayanan M V of Tamil Nadu | Photo: IA Rathinam Anantharam

Iranian Grandmaster Masoud Mosadeghpour beat Nikhil Magizhan with black pieces | Photo: IA Rathinam Anantharam


Ram S. Krishnan held IM Muhammad Khusenkhojaev to a draw | Photo: IA Rathinam Anantharam

Results of round 8

Bo.No. NameRtgClub/CityPts. ResultPts. NameRtgClub/City No.
13
GMSmirnov Pavel 2574RUS6 1 - 06 GMGupta Abhijeet 2616PSPB
1
27
GMVasquez Schroeder Rodrigo 2496CHI6 ½ - ½6 GMVenkatesh M.R. 2480PSPB
8
313
IMDas Sayantan 2409WB6 ½ - ½ GMTukhaev Adam 2541UKR
4
411
GMLaxman R.R. 2426ICF 0 - 1 GMSavchenko Boris 2576RUS
2
55
IMTriapishko Alexandr 2519RUS 1 - 0 IMMuthaiah Al 2384TN
15
651
CMNikhil Magizhnan 2124TN 0 - 1 GMMosadeghpour Masoud 2509IRI
6
79
IMShyaamnikhil P 2457ICF5 ½ - ½5 Sahoo Utkal Ranjan 2278ORI
24
832
Ram S. Krishnan 2224BSNL5 ½ - ½5 IMKhusenkhojaev Muhammad 2442TJK
10
912
GMKarthikeyan P. 2422ICF5 1 - 05 FMAaryan Varshney 2272DEL
25
1034
Baivab Mishra 2215ORI5 ½ - ½5 IMNitin S. 2358S.Rly
19
1122
IMSaravana Krishnan P. 2329KVB5 0 - 15 IMMurali Krishnan B T 2192S.Rly
37
1216
IMKonguvel Ponnuswamy 2383TN ½ - ½ Lakshmi Narayanan M V 2166TN
43
1342
Siddarth M 2167TN 0 - 1 IMRajesh V A V 2378TN
17
1418
IMRaja Rithvik R 2364TEL 1 - 0 Marthandan K U 2074KER
56
1523
Kunal M. 2306TN 1 - 0 Rakesh Kumar Nayak 2042ORI
59
1654
WGMKiran Manisha Mohanty 2082LIC ½ - ½ Nayak Rajesh 2250ORI
27
1768
Samal Ansuman 1975ORI 0 - 1 Prasannaa.S 2237TN
29
1830
Hari Madhavan N B 2231TN 1 - 0 Jayachandra Srinivas Vellanki 2046TN
58
1978
Mohamed Anees M 1910TN 0 - 1 Patil Pratik 2216MAH
33
2082
Saypuri Srithan 1891TEL 0 - 1 Lokesh N. 2202TN
35

Standings after round 8

Rk.SNo NameTypsexFEDRtgIClub/CityPts. TB1  TB2  TB3  TB4  TB5 
13
GMSmirnov PavelRUS2574RUS7,00,040,537,535,506
213
IMDas SayantanIND2409WB6,50,043,039,534,006
32
GMSavchenko BorisRUS2576RUS6,50,043,039,033,506
48
GMVenkatesh M.R.IND2480PSPB6,50,042,540,032,256
57
GMVasquez Schroeder RodrigoS50CHI2496CHI6,50,041,537,533,255
66
GMMosadeghpour MasoudIRI2509IRI6,50,040,536,032,756
75
IMTriapishko AlexandrU20RUS2519RUS6,50,038,035,030,756
81
GMGupta AbhijeetIND2616PSPB6,00,044,540,031,755
94
GMTukhaev AdamUKR2541UKR6,00,040,037,029,754
1012
GMKarthikeyan P.IND2422ICF6,00,038,536,028,005
1137
IMMurali Krishnan B TIND2192S.Rly6,00,036,533,526,005
1217
IMRajesh V A VIND2378TN5,50,044,040,528,004
1310
IMKhusenkhojaev MuhammadTJK2442TJK5,50,040,536,526,255
1451
CMNikhil MagizhnanU14IND2124TN5,50,040,037,523,004
1534
Baivab MishraIND2215ORI5,50,039,536,023,755
1624
Sahoo Utkal RanjanIND2278ORI5,50,039,535,523,755
1719
IMNitin S.IND2358S.Rly5,50,039,037,524,254
1815
IMMuthaiah AlU20IND2384TN5,50,038,535,524,254
1929
Prasannaa.SIND2237TN5,50,038,535,523,255
2018
IMRaja Rithvik RU16IND2364TEL5,50,038,535,024,754