GRENKE Open R1-3: 12-year-old Henry Edward Tudor survives 136 moves against top seed Arjun Erigaisi

by Shahid Ahmed - 30/03/2024

50 players have made a perfect start at GRENKE Chess Open A 2024. Only two Indians - IM Divya Deshmukh and IM Manish Anto Cristiano F have started their event with a hat-trick of wins. The top seed, GM Arjun Erigaisi was held to a draw by promising Romanian talent - 12-year-old FM Henry Edward Tudor. The game reached at a queen vs rook and knight endgame after 34 moves. The boy defended for 102 moves and built a fortress to claim an important half point against the world no.14. 935 players are taking part in Open A (>1950), 1174 in Open B (<2000) and 793 in Open C (1400-1640), making this the biggest open chess tournament. Round 4 starts today at 9 a.m. local time, 1:30 p.m. IST. Photos: Angelika Valkova/GRENKE Chess

Divya Deshmukh and Manish Anto Cristiano make a perfect start

The 935 players including 42 GMs, 85 IMs, 3 WGMs and 15 WIMs are taking part from 53 countries across the world in Open A (>1950) section. The total prize fund in Open A is €60250. The top three prizes are €20000 + trophy, €10000 and €7000 each. The total prize fund combining Open A, B and C is €70000.

IM Divya Deshmukh won all three of her games 3/3 | Photo: Angelika Valkova

IM Manish Anto Cristiano F is also at 3/3 | Photo: Shahid Ahmed

Arjun - Henry, Round 2

Position after 32.Qd1

Arjun Erigaisi (2748) played the natural 32.Qd1 threatening Rd8. The game continued 32...Nxf5 33.Rd8 Nd6 34.Rxf8+ Kxf8 35.Qd5 c4 36.e4 Re6 and another 100 moves later, the game ended in a draw. In retrospect, 32.Qd1 might seem to be inaccurate. The 12-year-old FM Henry Edward Tudor (ROU, 2262) showed his tenacity by defending with his rook and knight against all plausible attempts by Arjun with his queen and pawns.

12-year-old FM Henry Edward Tudor survies against the top seed GM Arjun Erigaisi | Video: GRENKE Chess

FM Henry Edward Tudor (ROU) during the final moments of his game against Arjun Erigaisi | Photo: Angelika Valkova

FM Mohamed Anees M 2.5/3 | Photo: Himank Ghosh

WIM Isha Sharma defeated IM Benedict Krause (GER) in Round 2. She is now at 2/3 | Photo: Angelika Valkova

Round 3 in progress | Photo: Angelika Valkova

Interview with Chess Streamer - Angelika Valkova (Chessborn) | Video: GRENKE Chess

Replay Round 1-3 games

Round 3 results

Rd.	Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.
3	24	32	IM	Erdogmus Yagiz Kaan	2540	2	1 - 0	2	FM	Senthil Maran K	2301	196
3	35	50	IM	Bazakutsa Svyatoslav	2462	2	0 - 1	2	IM	Manish Anto Cristiano F	2286	216
3	45	243	FM	Mohamed Anees M	2271	2	½ - ½	2	IM	Krstulovic Alex	2431	71
3	49	249		von Mettenheim Johannes	2265	2	0 - 1	2	IM	Divya Deshmukh	2424	77
3	58	92	IM	Garifullina Leya	2413	2	1 - 0	2	WIM	Sharma Isha	2196	372
3	71	262		Gallana Marco	2258	1½	0 - 1	1½	GM	Erigaisi Arjun	2748	1
3	246	696		Tan Zhong Kai	2020	1	½ - ½	1	WIM	Sahithi Varshini M	2213	337
3	294	887		Vedant Kumar Saravana	1957	1	0 - 1	1	WFM	Bashylina Luisa	2149	435
3	371	585		Schmitt Hans Walter	2071	½	0 - 1	½		Manukonda Arun	1974	844
3	445	877		Bachhuber Dominik	1960	0	0 - 1	0		Phatak Aanjaneya	2040	654

Details

Standings after Round 3

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	TB1
1	16	GM	Svane Frederik	GER	2617	Hamburger SK von 1830 eV	3	6
	82	FM	Niermann Tristan	GER	2422	SF Lieme e. V.	3	6
3	5	GM	Niemann Hans Moke	USA	2676		3	5,5
	11	GM	Mishra Abhimanyu	USA	2627	Saint Louis Chess Club	3	5,5
	31	GM	Hong Andrew	USA	2542		3	5,5
	55	IM	Buckels Valentin	GER	2450	SV Mülheim-Nord 1931 e	3	5,5
	56	IM	Froewis Georg	AUT	2450	Münchener SC 1836 e.V.	3	5,5
	72	IM	Rosner Jonas	GER	2431	SK 1926 Ettlingen	3	5,5
	76	IM	Vandenbussche Thibaut	BEL	2427	SC Remagen-Sinzig e.V.	3	5,5
	112	IM	Hess Max	GER	2392	SC Garching 1980 e.V.	3	5,5
	117	IM	Colpe Malte	GER	2384	Hamburger SK von 1830 eV	3	5,5
12	3	GM	Fedoseev Vladimir	SLO	2690		3	5
	4	GM	Sjugirov Sanan	HUN	2690		3	5
	7	GM	Saric Ivan	CRO	2670	Münchener SC 1836 e.V.	3	5
	12	GM	Svane Rasmus	GER	2623	Hamburger SK von 1830 eV	3	5
	17	GM	Kamsky Gata	USA	2616	SF Deizisau	3	5
	19	GM	Maurizzi Marc`Andria	FRA	2602	SF Deizisau	3	5
	21	GM	Yoo Christopher Woojin	USA	2583		3	5
	22	GM	Ivic Velimir	SRB	2582	SAbt SV Werder Bremen	3	5
	23	GM	Pultinevicius Paulius	LTU	2575		3	5

Details

Round 4 pairings

Rd.	Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.
4	9	77	IM	Divya Deshmukh	2424	3	3	GM	Svane Rasmus	2623	12
4	21	216	IM	Manish Anto Cristiano F	2286	3	3	IM	Horvath Dominik	2534	34
4	26	1	GM	Erigaisi Arjun	2748	2½	2½	FM	Stelmaszyk Nico	2347	157
4	50	85	IM	Ostrovskiy Andrey	2420	2½	2½	FM	Mohamed Anees M	2271	243
4	113	133	IM	Beikert Guenther, Dr.	2370	2	2	WIM	Sharma Isha	2196	372
4	141	196	FM	Senthil Maran K	2301	2	2		Kerpe Andreas	2146	440
4	239	337	WIM	Sahithi Varshini M	2213	1½	1½		Brem Stephan	2037	663
4	275	844		Manukonda Arun	1974	1½	1½		Parvanyan Alfred	2142	449
4	291	264	FM	Hoeglauer Patrick	2256	1	1		Phatak Aanjaneya	2040	654
4	376	618		Carnot Luca	2056	1	1		Vedant Kumar Saravana	1957	887

Details

Links

Official site

Tournament Details