ChessMood Open R7: Goganov joins Ter-Sahakyan in the lead
Samvel Ter-Sahakyan made a quick draw with Levan Pantsulaia (GEO) in the seventh round to maitain his lead 6.0/7 at ChessMood Open. Alexey Goganov (RUS) beat Aram Hakobyan (ARM) to join the lead with Ter-Sahakyan. Five players are trailing by a half point. They are - Narayanan, Arjun, Pantsulaia, Abhimanyu and Tigran L Petrosian. Arjun, Praggnanandhaa, Sandipan and Karthik scored victories among the Indians at the top. Gukesh was held to a solid draw by IM Artur Davtyan. IM Vaishali scored her third consecutive victory to move to 4.5/7. Round 8 starts today from 4:30 p.m. IST. Photo: Rupali Mullick
Narayanan, Arjun and Abhimanyu in the hunt
Top seed of the tournament GM Narayanan S L drew with fellow countryman GM Abhimanyu Puranik to stay in the hunt at 5.5/7 each respectively.
Arjun - Shahinyan: 1-0
GM Arjun Erigaisi defeated IM David Shahinyan (ARM) with a positional play as he exploited his opponent's weakeness.
The a6-pawn is already attacked by three pieces. Even though Black has 26...Qa7, the pawn will eventually fall. Arjun converted his advantage into a win eventually.
Babujian - Praggnanandhaa: 0-1
GM Levan Babujian (ARM) capture the isolated queen's pawn of GM Praggnanandhaa. It was a positional mistake.
21.Nxd5 is not a good idea. Black is happy to get rid of the isolated pawn as it opens the long diagonal for the b7-bishop. What transpired is a series of miscalculation by White 21...Qxb2 22.Rxc8 Rxc8 23.Nh4 Nxh4 24.Ne7+ Kg7 25.Nxc8 Nf3+ 26.Kf1 Nxh2+ 27.Kg1 Nf3+ 28.Kf1 Nf6. White's position is in shambles. The exchanged which White gained is not worth the weakening of the king's position.
Barseghyan - Sandipan: 0-1
GM Sandipan Chanda did a nice combination using tactics against FM Armen Ar. Barseghyan (ARM).
Find out why, 27.Rxg6 is a big mistake.
For more Round 7 photos, please click here.
Highlights
Here are a few interesting finishes of Round 7.
Replay Round 7 games
The tournament is taking place at Tsaghkadzor Marriott Hotel, Tsaghkadzor in Armenia from 4th to 12th October 2021. Time control is 90'/40 + 30' + 30" per move. Everyday game starts at 3 p.m. local time (4:30 p.m. IST), except 12th October, the final round will start at 10:30 a.m. local time (12 p.m. IST).