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Chessable Sunway Sitges Open R1-3: 17-year-old Kushal makes a superb start

by Shahid Ahmed - 15/12/2022

19 players have made a perfect start of 3/3 at Chessable Sunway Sitges Open 2022 Group A. 17-year-old Kushal O is the sole untitled player is among them. He defeated FM Jana Schneider (GER, 2272), IM Thomas E Rendle (ENG, 2381) and IM Gerard Ayats Llobera (ESP, 2464). The Gran Hotel Bali Aficionados B winner, is already gaining 114 Elo rating points. His next round opponent GM Andrey Esipenko will be the first GM of the event he is going to face. GM Abhimanyu Puranik, IM Aditya S Samant, GM B Adhiban, GM Aravindh Chithambaram and GM Karthikeyan Murali are the remaining Indians at 3/3. Round 4 starts tonight at 9 p.m. IST. Photo: Tallulah Roberts

Top three seeds at 3/3

Apart from Ojas Kulkarni splitting the point with GM Ivan Cheparinov (BUL) in the first round, GM Arjun Kalyan, GM Aditya Mittal and IM Jubin Jimmy were held to draws by FM Mahitosh Dey, Arhan Chethan Anand and Hiren K G, Vignesh Bhuvaneswari defeated IM Moksh Amit Doshi. In round 2, IM Sidhant Mohapatra, WIM Rakshitta Ravi, Ojas, Venkatesh Renganayaki drew with GM Eltaj Safarli (AZE), IM Irina Bulmaga (ROU), GM Vladislav Nevednichy (ROU) and GM Lothar Vogt (GER) respectively, CM Shaik Sumer Arsh defeated IM Cem Kaan Gokerkan (TUR). The third round witnessed, IM Jubin Jimmy, IM Sidhant Mohapatra, IM Arjun C Krishnamachari and Joel Paul Ganta drawing their respective games with GM Ivan Cheparinov (BUL), GM Jingyao Tin (SGP), IM Fabian Baenziger (SUI) and IM Moksh Amit Doshi respectively.

GM B Adhiban is one of the 19 players at 3/3 | Photo: Tallulah Roberts

Round 1: Ojas - Cheparinov: 0.5-0.5

Ojas Kulkarni (2196) drew with Bulgaria no.2 and Sunway Sitges 2020 winner, GM Ivan Cheparinov (2688).

Position after 52...Bb6

53.Nb4 would have given White some practical chances. The idea is to push the passed a-pawn and gain one of Black's minor pieces. The game ended in a draw after 53.Nc5 Nd5 54.Nxe6+ Kf7 55.Ng5+

Ojas Kulkarni could have caused a bigger upset in the first round

Round 2: Sidhant - Safarli: 0.5-0.5

IM Sidhant Mohapatra (2337) held GM Eltaj Safarli (AZE, 2616) to a solid draw.

Round 2: IM Sidhant Mohapatra (pictured) - GM Eltaj Safarli (AZE): 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Shahid Ahmed

Round 3: Adhiban - Ajay: 1-0

Rook is best placed on the seventh rank. GM B Adhiban (2611) showed why the saying means a lot in a practical game against IM Ajay Karthikeyan (2430).

Position after 30.Rc7

29...a5 invited 30.Rc7 and Black could not avoid material loss. 30...Qd8 31.Rxb7 Nc5 32.Rxc5 bxc5 33.Nb5 not only White got two minor pieces for a rook but also a good square for the knight at b5. Adhiban had no trouble converting his advantage into a win.

Replay Chessable Sunway Chess Festival Round 3  Live commentary with GM Jan Gustafsson and GM Peter Svidler | Video: chess24

Replay Round 1-3 games

Round 3 results

Rd.Bo.No. NameRtgPts.ResultPts.NameRtg No.
3511
GMDemchenko Anton26322½ - ½2GMRaja Rithvik R2453
50
3655
IMAbdisalimov Abdimalik244720 - 12GMKarthikeyan Murali2620
14
3857
IMNigmatov Ortik24392½ - ½2GMAryan Chopra2618
16
31065
FMVitier Vazquez Cristian242420 - 12GMPuranik Abhimanyu2616
18
31221
GMAdhiban B.261121 - 02IMAjay Karthikeyan2430
60
31423
GMAravindh Chithambaram Vr.260721 - 02IMFataliyeva Ulviyya2428
62
323147
CMVaibhav Jayant Raut224720 - 12IMSamant Aditya S2470
40
326295
Kushal O180121 - 02IMAyats Llobera Gerard2464
44
32745
GMSochacki Christophe246321 - 02CMShaik Sumer Arsh2290
123
32884
FMJubin Jimmy2376½ - ½GMCheparinov Ivan2688
4

Details

Round 4 pairings

Rd.Bo.No. NameRtgPts.ResultPts.NameRtg No.
4123
GMAravindh Chithambaram Vr.260733GMYu Yangyi2728
1
4514
GMKarthikeyan Murali262033GMVelten Paul2465
43
4718
GMPuranik Abhimanyu261633GMSochacki Christophe2463
45
4940
IMSamant Aditya S247033GMAdhiban B.2611
21
4106
GMEsipenko Andrey26783Kushal O1801
295
41450
GMRaja Rithvik R2453GMPetrosyan Manuel2621
13
41516
GMAryan Chopra2618IMBulmaga Irina2432
59
41822
GMKollars Dmitrij2610IMSammed Jaykumar Shete2430
61
41924
GMDardha Daniel2606IMPrraneeth Vuppala2427
63
42274
FMBilych Olexiy2401GMArjun Kalyan2505
32

Details

Prizes

Total Prize fund - €27775. For the entire prize details, click here.

Schedule

12th - 21st December - 9:00 p.m. IST

18th December - Rest day

22nd December - 2 p.m. IST

Links

Official site

Tournament rules



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