Can Indians make a strong finish in the last two rounds of the Gibraltar Masters 2020
Praggnanandhaa has the best chances of making a top finish at the Gibraltar Masters as he is on 6.0/8 after his opponent Mamedyarov didn't turn up for the 8th round. Behind Pragg, are five Indians who are on 5.5/8 - they are Adhiban, S.L. Narayanan, Karthikeyan Murali, D. Gukesh and Aryan Chopra. The game between Gukesh and Adhiban in round 8 ended in a draw and now the second youngest GM ever has a stiff challenge in the form of S.L. Narayanan in round 9. Leon Mendonca, the 13-year-old youngster from Goa has shown amazing stability at the event and now needs a win against Kotronias in the ninth round to make his maiden GM norm. An illustrated round 8 report from the Gibraltar Masters 2020.
After eight rounds at the Gibraltar Masters, the highest placed Indian is R. Praggnanandhaa with 6.0/8. After losing to Wang Hao in round 7, Pragg faced a formidable challenge in the form of Shakhriyar Mamedyarov. However, Shakh had not been keeping well and did not turn for the game at all. The fact that Pragg was white and no move was made meant that the organizers were aware about the fact that Mamedyarov would not be coming to the game. At the same time, when the pairings came out for round 8, the Azeri GM would have been unsure whether he is playing or not. For round nine Shakh has not been paired and the top seed would no longer be playing at the event.
This leaves with Praggnanandhaa on 6.0/8. An excellent score and the youngster is just half a point behind the leaders Maghsoodloo, Wang Hao, Esipenko and Paravyan. In round nine Pragg has great chances to win as he faces Mikhail Kobalia. Kobalia is a strong chess player. However, he is also a coach and works in the FIDE administration. Clearly, chess is not the only thing in his life. Pragg also has the white pieces and it will be a game to look forward to.
In round 8 Leon's opponent Alejandro Ramirez tried to play extremely creatively, but the Goan youngster held his ground firmly:
In round 7 Padmini played a very nice game to beat Luca Moroni:
Standings after round 8
Rk. | SNo | Name | FED | Rtg | Club/City | Pts. | TB1 | |
1 | 16 | GM | Esipenko Andrey | RUS | 2654 | 6,5 | 2862 | |
2 | 3 | GM | Wang Hao | CHN | 2758 | 6,5 | 2861 | |
3 | 13 | GM | Maghsoodloo Parham | IRI | 2674 | 6,5 | 2815 | |
4 | 22 | GM | Paravyan David | RUS | 2629 | 6,5 | 2789 | |
5 | 11 | GM | Cheparinov Ivan | GEO | 2686 | 6,0 | 2758 | |
6 | 46 | GM | Yuffa Daniil | RUS | 2566 | ACP Premium 2019 | 6,0 | 2749 |
7 | 27 | GM | Kobalia Mikhail | RUS | 2609 | ACP Premium 2020 | 6,0 | 2709 |
8 | 28 | GM | Yilmaz Mustafa | TUR | 2607 | 6,0 | 2663 | |
9 | 31 | GM | Praggnanandhaa R | IND | 2602 | 6,0 | 2630 | |
10 | 47 | GM | Antipov Mikhail Al. | RUS | 2562 | ACP Premium 2020 | 5,5 | 2744 |
11 | 52 | GM | Ibarra Jerez Jose Carlos | ESP | 2548 | 5,5 | 2734 | |
12 | 56 | GM | Werle Jan | NED | 2545 | 5,5 | 2714 | |
13 | 32 | GM | Basso Pier Luigi | ITA | 2600 | 5,5 | 2702 | |
14 | 2 | GM | Vachier-Lagrave Maxime | FRA | 2770 | 5,5 | 2689 | |
4 | GM | Topalov Veselin | BUL | 2738 | 5,5 | 2689 | ||
16 | 45 | GM | Sanal Vahap | TUR | 2569 | 5,5 | 2688 | |
17 | 7 | GM | Alekseenko Kirill | RUS | 2704 | ACP Premium 2019 | 5,5 | 2679 |
18 | 48 | GM | Aryan Chopra | IND | 2562 | 5,5 | 2674 | |
19 | 24 | GM | Durarbayli Vasif | AZE | 2625 | ACP Premium 2020 | 5,5 | 2673 |
20 | 51 | GM | Maze Sebastien | FRA | 2550 | 5,5 | 2671 |
Pairings of round 9:
Bo. | No. | Name | Rtg | Pts. | Result | Pts. | Name | Rtg | No. | ||
1 | 3 | GM | Wang Hao | 2758 | 6½ | 6½ | GM | Paravyan David | 2629 | 22 | |
2 | 13 | GM | Maghsoodloo Parham | 2674 | 6½ | 6½ | GM | Esipenko Andrey | 2654 | 16 | |
3 | 28 | GM | Yilmaz Mustafa | 2607 | 6 | 6 | GM | Cheparinov Ivan | 2686 | 11 | |
4 | 31 | GM | Praggnanandhaa R | 2602 | 6 | 6 | GM | Kobalia Mikhail | 2609 | 27 | |
5 | 46 | GM | Yuffa Daniil | 2566 | 6 | 5½ | GM | Alekseenko Kirill | 2704 | 7 | |
6 | 2 | GM | Vachier-Lagrave Maxime | 2770 | 5½ | 5½ | GM | Can Emre | 2600 | 33 | |
7 | 4 | GM | Topalov Veselin | 2738 | 5½ | 5½ | GM | Basso Pier Luigi | 2600 | 32 | |
8 | 30 | GM | Pichot Alan | 2606 | 5½ | 5½ | GM | Navara David | 2717 | 5 | |
9 | 6 | GM | Le Quang Liem | 2713 | 5½ | 5½ | GM | Santos Latasa Jaime | 2586 | 39 | |
10 | 40 | GM | Kadric Denis | 2585 | 5½ | 5½ | GM | Matlakov Maxim | 2698 | 9 |
Overview of Indian performances:
SNo | Name | Rtg | FED | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | Pts. | Rk. | Group | |
15 | GM | Adhiban B. | 2654 | IND | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 5,5 | 25 | Masters | ||
18 | GM | Sasikiran Krishnan | 2648 | IND | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 5,0 | 50 | Masters | ||
21 | GM | Narayanan.S.L | 2637 | IND | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 5,5 | 32 | Masters | ||
29 | GM | Karthikeyan Murali | 2606 | IND | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 5,5 | 21 | Masters | ||
31 | GM | Praggnanandhaa R | 2602 | IND | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6,0 | 9 | Masters | ||
35 | GM | Vaibhav Suri | 2593 | IND | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | 5,0 | 46 | Masters | ||
48 | GM | Aryan Chopra | 2562 | IND | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 5,5 | 18 | Masters | ||
50 | GM | Lalith Babu M R | 2558 | IND | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4,5 | 68 | Masters | ||
57 | GM | Gukesh D | 2542 | IND | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 5,5 | 36 | Masters | ||
68 | IM | Sadhwani Raunak | 2522 | IND | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 5,0 | 53 | Masters | ||
79 | IM | Raja Harshit | 2482 | IND | ½ | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 5,0 | 67 | Masters | ||
80 | GM | Gagare Shardul | 2481 | IND | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 0 | 5,0 | 43 | Masters | ||
92 | IM | Ravi Teja S. | 2464 | IND | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 4,5 | 100 | Masters | ||
111 | IM | Krishna C R G | 2436 | IND | 1 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 5,0 | 57 | Masters | ||
115 | IM | Mendonca Leon Luke | 2417 | IND | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 5,0 | 52 | Masters | ||
119 | IM | Kulkarni Bhakti | 2404 | IND | 1 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 4,0 | 131 | Masters | ||
125 | IM | Sankalp Gupta | 2400 | IND | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 4,5 | 92 | Masters | ||
127 | WGM | Soumya Swaminathan | 2384 | IND | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | 4,0 | 145 | Masters | ||
130 | CM | Mullick Raahil | 2382 | IND | 0 | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 4,0 | 117 | Masters | ||
139 | IM | Padmini Rout | 2369 | IND | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 4,5 | 99 | Masters | ||
152 | WIM | Divya Deshmukh | 2322 | IND | 0 | ½ | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 4,0 | 136 | Masters | ||
155 | WIM | Nandhidhaa P V | 2312 | IND | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 4,5 | 78 | Masters | ||
157 | FM | Pranav Anand | 2309 | IND | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | 4,0 | 110 | Masters | ||
174 | WIM | Pratyusha Bodda | 2267 | IND | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ | 4,0 | 132 | Masters | ||
175 | WIM | Rakshitta Ravi | 2267 | IND | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3,5 | 172 | Masters | ||
181 | WIM | Priyanka Nutakki | 2242 | IND | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | 3,0 | 183 | Masters | ||
191 | WFM | Cholleti Sahajasri | 2202 | IND | 0 | ½ | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3,5 | 169 | Masters | ||
192 | IM | Mohota Nisha | 2201 | IND | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3,0 | 197 | Masters | ||
201 | WIM | Tejaswini Sagar | 2180 | IND | 0 | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 3,0 | 194 | Masters | ||
223 | WIM | Gagare Shalmali | 2099 | IND | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 2,0 | 235 | Masters | ||
233 | Raghav Srivathsav V | 2023 | IND | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 3,0 | 198 | Masters | |||
247 | Sagar Siya | 1740 | IND | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0,0 | 250 | Masters | |||
250 | Manukonda Arun | 1959 | IND | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1,5 | 241 | Masters |