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When Ivanchuk roars!

by Sagar Shah - 19/12/2019

If there was someone in the world of chess that the great Garry Kasparov feared, it was Vassily Ivanchuk. The Ukrainian genius never feared Kasparov and was so talented that he could play at an extremely high level on any given day. Recently Ivanchuk's motivation to play strong chess has dipped a bit and you can see its effect on his rating. He is now down to 2690. But as they say form is temporary, class is permanent. Ivanchuk is showing some of his old magic at the Sunway Sitges Chess Festival 2019 as he beat two of India's biggest talents Raunak Sadhwani and R. Praggnanandhaa in back to back rounds and is now on 5.0/6. How did Ivanchuk manage to do it? In this article we bring you both the games along with video analysis by GM Daniel King.

Playing chess in Sunway Sitges is always a pleasure! | Photo: Lennart Ootes

There are not many open events that Vassily Ivanchuk likes to play, but this is the second year in a row when he is back to the Sunway Sitges. The Ukrainian genius surely loves it out here! This year he made a slow start with two draws in first three rounds. But since then Ivanchuk has picked up speed and is on 5.0/6, beating two of India's biggest talents - Raunak Sadhwani and Praggnanandhaa in back to back rounds!

When Ivanchuk starts playing like his old self, very few stand a chance against him | Photo: Lennart Ootes

In round five Ivanchuk played a very clean game to beat India's latest GM Raunak Sadhwani.

In the sixth round Ivanchuk's opponent was R. Praggnanandhaa | Photo: Lennart Ootes

The game began as a Sicilian and Pragg played 2...Nc6 hoping to go for the Sveshnikov. Ivanchuk didn't play 3.d4 and instead with 3.Nc3 steered the game into the Classical Sicilian territory. It is said that Ivanchuk was once upon a time so good with the openings, that he knew everything from A00 to E99. This was clearly on show against Pragg, as the youngster struggled to get a good position. His move d5, which usually is a strong one in the Sicilian, turned out to be an error.

 

Ivanchuk vs Praggnanandhaa, Round 6

White continued with e5 and after Ne4 pushed on with f5! The attack was super strong and within a few moves Vassily managed to checkmate the black king

To beat Praggnanandhaa in such dominating style is an excellent result for Ivanchuk | Photo: Lennart Ootes
Danny King analyzes Ivanchuk vs Praggnanandhaa

Anton Korobov leads the tournament with 6.0/6. He beat GM S.L. Narayanan in the sixth round. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Korobov will next face Vassily Ivanchuk in the seventh round. The all Ukrainian clash will be an interesting one to follow. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Abhimanyu Puranik is on 5.0/6 after his draw against GM Li Di. He faces Amin Tabatabei in round 7. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Super solid Nihal Sarin is on 4.5/6 and will face GM Girish Koushik in round 7 | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Gukesh lost his game to GM Igor Kovalenko and is on 4.0/6 | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Sethuraman received his second loss in a row at the event. In round five it was against S.L. Narayanan, while in round 6 it is against Arjun Erigaisi. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Anna Rudolf as the commentator is doing a great job at the Sunway Sitges 2019 | Photo: Lennart Ootes

She is joined by GM Daniel King and the two are perhaps the best commentating pair in the world of chess right now! | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Results of Round 6

Bo.No. NameRtgPts. ResultPts. NameRtg No.
13
GMKorobov Anton 26685 1 - 05 GMNarayanan.S.L 2626
13
225
GMSantos Latasa Jaime 2585 ½ - ½ GMNasuta Grzegorz 2545
33
335
GMLi Di 2543 ½ - ½ GMPuranik Abhimanyu 2580
26
41
GMIvanchuk Vassily 26904 1 - 04 GMPraggnanandhaa R 2586
24
55
GMSasikiran Krishnan 26564 ½ - ½4 GMPeralta Fernando 2577
28
627
GMWagner Dennis 25784 1 - 04 GMLagarde Maxime 2655
6
731
GMGukesh D 25474 0 - 14 GMKovalenko Igor 2647
8
832
GMShevchenko Kirill 25474 ½ - ½4 GMDonchenko Alexander 2644
9
934
GMErigaisi Arjun 25444 1 - 04 GMSethuraman S.P. 2638
10
1011
GMTabatabaei M.Amin 26354 1 - 04 GMNarayanan Srinath 2529
40

Standings after Round 6

Rk.SNo NameTypsexGrFEDRtgIRtgNClub/CityPts. TB1  TB2  TB3 
13
GMKorobov AntonUKR266806,021,5024,0
211
GMTabatabaei M.AminIRI263505,021,5024,0
334
GMErigaisi ArjunH16IND254405,020,0022,5
418
GMDurarbayli VasifAZE260905,019,5022,5
513
GMNarayanan.S.LIND262605,019,5022,5
626
GMPuranik AbhimanyuIND258005,019,5022,0
735
GMLi DiHCHN254305,019,5022,0
825
GMSantos Latasa JaimeESP25852572Ext5,019,5021,5
921
GMGareyev TimurUSA259805,019,0022,0
1033
GMNasuta GrzegorzPOL254505,019,0021,5

Pairings of Round 7

Bo.No. NameRtgPts. ResultPts. NameRtg No.
11
GMIvanchuk Vassily 26905 6 GMKorobov Anton 2668
3
28
GMKovalenko Igor 26475 5 GMSantos Latasa Jaime 2585
25
326
GMPuranik Abhimanyu 25805 5 GMTabatabaei M.Amin 2635
11
413
GMNarayanan.S.L 26265 5 GMWagner Dennis 2578
27
518
GMDurarbayli Vasif 26095 5 GMLi Di 2543
35
633
GMNasuta Grzegorz 25455 5 GMGareyev Timur 2598
21
712
GMVocaturo Daniele 2627 5 GMErigaisi Arjun 2544
34
836
GMHarutyunian Tigran K. 2540 GMSasikiran Krishnan 2656
5
952
GMSadzikowski Daniel 2504 GMEdouard Romain 2653
7
109
GMDonchenko Alexander 2644 GMMoradiabadi Elshan 2539
37

 



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