2nd Maharashtra GM 2023 R2-3: Sammed, Luka, Raahul and Harshad make a perfect start 3/3

by Shahid Ahmed - 03/06/2023

IM Sammed Jaykumar Shete, GM Luka Paichadze (GEO), IM Raahul V S and FM Harshad S are the four leaders 3/3 each at 2nd Maharashtra GM Open 2023. Sammed scored a nice victory against GM Levon Babujian (ARM). Former Asian Junior champion, IM Raahul V S defeated GM Venkatesh M R. FM Harshad S got the better of GM Azer Mirzoev (AZE). 16 players are trailing them by a half point at 2.5/3 each. Nigel Short and Peter Svidler bounced back by scoring emphatic victories over Raunak Sadhwani and Vidit Gujrathi. The match score is now 1-1. It will be GM Luka vs IM Raahul and FM Harshad vs IM Sammed in Round 4 which starts today at 3 p.m. IST. Photos: Shahid Ahmed

Short and Svidler bounce back in Game 2

The second day witnessed two unique endgames - double bishop vs bishop and two queens vs a queen.

FM Harshad S is the only non IM/GM among the leaders

Venkatesh - Ivana

Position after 18.Bh6

WIM Ivana Maria Furtado (2139) made an interesting exchange sacrifice to gain positional advantage 18...Rxh6!? 19.Qxh6 g5! preventing the queen from coming to the aid of the king. 20.Kd2 N4c6 21.Bd3 Qb4+ 22.Ke3 g4 23.Na2 Qb3 24.Nd2? Qxb2 25.Qf4 Nxd4 26.Rhb1 Nc2+

Position after 26.Rhb1

26...Nc2+ 27.Ke2 Qxa1 28.Rxa1 Nxa1 Black's advantage evaporated. Instead, 26...Qa3 would have maintained upper hand for Black.

WIM Ivana Maria Furtado is playing her first rating tournament in over 4.5 years and she already created some great chances against GM Venkatesh M R

WIM Srishti Pandey splits the point with the second seeded GM Zakhartsov | 2nd Maharashtra GM 2023 | Video: ChessBase India

WIM Srishti Pandey - GM Viacheslav V Zakhartsov: 0.5-0.5

The reigning two-time National Under-17 Open champion, CM Mayank Chakraborty held GM Aleksej Aleksandrov to a solid draw

GM Vitaly Teterev - FM Goutham Krishna H: 0.5-0.5

GM Laxman R R - Arpith S Bijoy: 0.5-0.5

IM Viani Antonio Dcunha - Vignesh Advaith Vemula: 0.5-0.5

IM Srihari L R - Aniruddh Chatterjee: 0.5-0.5

Dhyey Agarwal - IM Nubairshah Shaikh: 0.5-0.5

IM David Gochelashvili - Anirudhha Potawad: 0-1

Sethumadhav Yellumahanthi - IM Ratnakaran K: 1-0

IM Vikramaditya Kulkarni - Arnav Maheshwari: 0.5-0.5

IM Rahul Sangma - Ankit Ray: 0-1

WFM Jyothsna L - WIM Arpita Mukherjee: 0.5-0.5

Round 3: GM Vladimir Burmakin - Sanket Chakravarty: 0.5-0.5

An exchange blunder in the final moments cost GM Venkatesh his game against IM Raahul V S

Sammed - Babujian, Round 3

Position after 38...Rd4

GM Levon Babujian (ARM, 2373) sacrificed a pawn to complete his development of pieces. However, later on he managed to get back in the game. IM Sammed Shete (2440) seized his opportunity when his opponent played 38...Rd4?? 39.Nc6! threatening Ne7+ fork and also attacking the rook turned things back into White's favor.

IM Sammed Shete scored a convincing victory over GM Levon Babujian (ARM)

Azer - Harshad

Position after 28.Rdd7??

28.d5 exd5 29.Rf6 Rf8 30.Rxa6 is what GM Azer Mirzoev (AZE, 2416) needed to do against FM Harshad S (2211). 28.Rdd7?? although seems practical, does the opposite for White. 28...Rf8 29.Ra7 Ra4 Black used his protected passed pawns on a and b-file to win the game eventually.

16-year-old FM Harshad S beats GM Azer Mirzoev to join the lead 3/3 | 2nd Maharashtra GM Open 2023 | Video: ChessBase India

Rohith Krishna - Vivaan

Position after 48.Bxa8

The above position seems lost for Black. Vivaan Vishal Shah (1931) knew this. However, he decided to play on and see what happens. Eventually, his opponent, IM S Rohith Krishna (2411) blundered and Vivaan managed to salvage a half point.

Position after 88...Be8!

Over 4 hours 15 minutes later, Black found a beautiful resource 88...Be8! White cannot promote a queen or rook as it ends up in a Stalemate. 89.d8B was played. However White cannot win it because Black has a bishop.

10-year-old Vivaan Vishal Shah's never-give-up attitude earns him a draw in a lost endgame vs IM | Video: ChessBase India

10-year-old Vivaan Vishal Shah showed perseverance against IM S Rohith Krishna

GM Deep Sengupta - Soham Bhattacharyya: 0.5-0.5

CM Shaik Sumer Arsh (pictured) - GM Evgeny Vorobiov: 0.5-0.5

IM Milosz Szpar (POL) - CM Mayank Chakraborty: 0.5-0.5

FM Goutham Krishna H capitalized on his opportunity when his opponent IM Neelash Saha blundered in time trouble

Anirudhha Potawad (pictured) - GM Manik Mikulas (SVK): 1-0

CM Akshay Borgaonkar - GM Vitaly Teterev: 0.5-0.5

IM Anup Deshmukh - GM Akash G: 1-0

CM Karthik Sai Ch - IM Srihari L R: 0.5-0.5

Arnav Maheshwari - IM P Saravana Krishnan: 0.5-0.5

Vedant Nagarkatte won a thrilling double queen vs queen endgame against IM Vikramaditya Kulkarni in the longest game spanning over 4.5 hours

WIM Arpita Mukherjee - Siddhant Gawai: 0.5-0.5

Svidler - Vidit, Game 2

Position after 27...h6

27...h6? turned out to be the decisive mistake. 28.f4 hxg5 29.fxg5 f6 30.Kg3! fxg5 31.h5 Rg8 32.Kg4 using Black's own g5-pawn as a shield and also simultaneously protecting the h5-pawn. White won the game in another seven moves.

Peter Svidler on beating Vidit and making a comeback - Classical Game 2 | Video: ChessBase India

Peter Svidler's mind blowing combination vs Vidit Gujrathi | Classical Game 2 | Video: ChessBase India

Peter Svidler showed very nice technique to level the score 1-1

Raunak - Short, Game 2

Position after 32...Bd5

Nigel Short got rid of White's brittle center pawns and gobbled up extra pawns. Raunak Sadhwani would have still remained in the game if he opted for 33.dxe5. In time trouble, he blundered 33.Qb5 Nxd4 34.Qd3 Nf3+ 35.Bxf3 Bxf3 White resigned as there are too many threats to defend.

"I am a dinosaur from the analog age!" - Nigel Short after his win over Raunak Sadhwani in Classical Game 2 | Video: ChessBase India

Nigel Short has never lost his touch, he is a legend after all

Replay all Maharashtra Challenge Match games in interactive format and learn from IM Sagar Shah at Chessranga.

IM Divya Deshmukh's Nagpur recommendations | Video: ChessBase India

For more GM Round 2, Round 3 and Match Classical Game 2 photos, please click at the respective links.

Replay GM Open Round 2-3 games

Round 3 results

Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	Club/City	No.	PGN
1	24	IM	Barseghyan, Armen Ar.	2373	ARM	2	½ - ½	2	GM	Savchenko, Boris	2524	RUS	1	PGN
2	28	FM	Ritviz, Parab	2340	GOA	2	0 - 1	2	GM	Paichadze, Luka	2513	GEO	3	PGN
3	4	GM	Burmakin, Vladimir	2492	RUS	2	½ - ½	2		Sanket, Chakravarty	2389	WB	21	PGN
4	34	IM	Raahul, V S	2299	TN	2	1 - 0	2	GM	Venkatesh, M.R.	2469	PSPB	7	PGN
5	14	IM	Sammed Jaykumar, Shete	2440	MAH	2	1 - 0	2	GM	Babujian, Levon	2373	ARM	23	PGN
6	16	GM	Mirzoev, Azer	2416	AZE	2	0 - 1	2	FM	Harshad, S	2211	TN	50	PGN
7	20	IM	Rohith, Krishna S	2411	TN	2	½ - ½	2		Vivaan, Vishal Shah	1931	GUJ	121	PGN
8	2	GM	Zakhartsov, Viacheslav V.	2514	FID	1½	1 - 0	2	FM	Gaikwad, Siddhant	1906	MAH	125	PGN
9	6	GM	Sengupta, Deep	2473	PSPB	1½	½ - ½	1½		Bhattacharyya, Soham	2219	WB	48	PGN
10	8	GM	Aleksandrov, Aleksej	2461	BLR	1½	1 - 0	1½	WIM	Pandey, Srishti	2188	MAH	56	PGN
11	51	CM	Shaik, Sumer Arsh	2211	TEL	1½	½ - ½	1½	GM	Vorobiov, Evgeny E.	2454	RUS	9	PGN
12	12	IM	Szpar, Milosz	2447	POL	1½	½ - ½	1½	CM	Mayank, Chakraborty	2141	ASSM	64	PGN
13	78	FM	Goutham, Krishna H	2082	KER	1½	1 - 0	1½	IM	Neelash, Saha	2440	WB	13	PGN
14	98		Arpith, S Bijoy	2006	KER	1½	0 - 1	1½	IM	Kushagra, Mohan	2412	TEL	19	PGN
15	22	FM	Panesar, Vedant	2387	MAH	1½	1 - 0	1½	CM	Adireddy, Arjun	1968	TEL	113	PGN

Details

Standings after Round 3

Rk.	SNo		Name	Typ	sex	Gr	FED	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB4	TB5	Rp	K	rtg+/-
1	14	IM	Sammed Jaykumar, Shete				IND	2440	MAH	3	4	4,5	4,50	0	3	2994	10	6,6
2	3	GM	Paichadze, Luka				GEO	2513	GEO	3	4	4	4,00	0	3	2997	10	4,5
3	34	IM	Raahul, V S				IND	2299	TN	3	3,5	5	5,00	0	3	2937	10	9,7
4	50	FM	Harshad, S				IND	2211	TN	3	3,5	4	4,00	0	3	2796	20	20,6
5	4	GM	Burmakin, Vladimir				FID	2492	RUS	2,5	4,5	6,5	5,25	0	2	2493	10	0,8
6	1	GM	Savchenko, Boris				FID	2524	RUS	2,5	4,5	4,5	3,25	0	2	2502	10	0,1
	21		Sanket, Chakravarty				IND	2389	WB	2,5	4,5	4,5	3,25	0	2	2490	20	8,4
8	78	FM	Goutham, Krishna H				IND	2082	KER	2,5	4	5,5	4,50	0	2	2684	40	84,8
9	121		Vivaan, Vishal Shah				IND	1931	GUJ	2,5	4	5	3,75	0	2	2557	40	84
10	20	IM	Rohith, Krishna S				IND	2411	TN	2,5	4	4,5	3,25	0	2	2263	10	-2,5
11	2	GM	Zakhartsov, Viacheslav V.				FID	2514	FID	2,5	3,5	5	4,25	0	2	2343	10	-2,1
12	117		Setumadhav, Yellumahanthi				IND	1954	AP	2,5	3,5	5	4,00	0	2	2524	40	82
13	22	FM	Panesar, Vedant				IND	2387	MAH	2,5	3,5	4,5	3,50	0	2	2270	20	-4,8
	43		Kaustuv, Kundu				IND	2242	WB	2,5	3,5	4,5	3,50	0	2	2221	20	-0,8
15	24	IM	Barseghyan, Armen Ar.				ARM	2373	ARM	2,5	3,5	4,5	3,25	0	2	2453	10	4

Details

Round 4 pairings

Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	Club/City	No.
1	3	GM	Paichadze, Luka	2513	GEO	3		3	IM	Raahul, V S	2299	TN	34
2	50	FM	Harshad, S	2211	TN	3		3	IM	Sammed Jaykumar, Shete	2440	MAH	14
3	1	GM	Savchenko, Boris	2524	RUS	2½		2½	FM	Goutham, Krishna H	2082	KER	78
4	24	IM	Barseghyan, Armen Ar.	2373	ARM	2½		2½	GM	Zakhartsov, Viacheslav V.	2514	FID	2
5	33	GM	Laxman, R.R.	2299	ICF	2½		2½	GM	Burmakin, Vladimir	2492	RUS	4
6	41	FM	Sharan, Rao	2248	KAR	2½		2½	GM	Aleksandrov, Aleksej	2461	BLR	8
7	19	IM	Kushagra, Mohan	2412	TEL	2½		2½		Potawad, Anirudhha	1995	MAH	102
8	43		Kaustuv, Kundu	2242	WB	2½		2½	IM	Rohith, Krishna S	2411	TN	20
9	21		Sanket, Chakravarty	2389	WB	2½		2½		Setumadhav, Yellumahanthi	1954	AP	117
10	121		Vivaan, Vishal Shah	1931	GUJ	2½		2½	FM	Panesar, Vedant	2387	MAH	22
11	54	FM	Navalgund, Niranjan	2200	KAR	2		2	GM	Sengupta, Deep	2473	PSPB	6
12	7	GM	Venkatesh, M.R.	2469	PSPB	2		2	CM	Shaik, Sumer Arsh	2211	TEL	51
13	9	GM	Vorobiov, Evgeny E.	2454	RUS	2		2	CM	Nayak, Rajesh	2168	ODI	59
14	60		Dere, Pushkar	2166	MAH	2		2	IM	Nitish, Belurkar	2450	GOA	10
15	11	GM	Fedorov, Alexei	2449	BLR	2		2	FM	Jaiswal, Rupesh	2146	NEP	63