Sunway Sitges 2019 - An event hosting 106 Indian players in Spain
From 33 Indians in A group in 2018, the number has spiralled to 85 at the sixth edition of the Sunway Sitges International 2019. Right from Sasikiran, Sethuraman, Karthikeyan Murali to Nihal Sarin, Praggnanandhaa, Gukesh, Raunak Sadhwani, Arjun Erigaisi, we have so many Indian talents fighting it out in Barcelona. 21 more players are playing the B-group which makes it a total of 106 Indians at the event. It is quite amazing to see such a turnout in spite of the event clashing with the Indian national championships 2019 in Sikkim. We bring you rounds one to three report along with annotated games of the four Indian players leading - Sethuraman, Srinath Narayanan, S.L. Narayanan and Praggnanandhaa.
The most scenic tournament of the year is back! Sunway Sitges International 2019, being held in Barcelona, Spain from the 12th to the 22nd of December, has the most picturesque view from the playing hall that you would ever see.
From being a normal open event, Sunway Sitges, which is into its sixth edition, has become one of the most exciting events in the calendar year? What are the reasons for the same?
1. A total of 311 players are fighting it out from 56 countries.
2. The top seed of the tournament is the legendary Vassily Ivanchuk.
3. There are a total of 55 GMs, 56 IMs and 43 FMs. With so many titled players competing, the chances for a norm are very high.
4. The rating average of the tournament is a solid 2234.
5. The tournament has some of the best youngsters in the world which include Nihal Sarin, Praggnanandhaa, Sindarov, Gukesh, Raunak Sadhwani and others
6. The event is especially exciting for Indians because we have 85 players taking part! Just to show you the growth of the event - last year the tournament had 183 participants and 33 Indians playing in the A group, while this year you have 311 players and 85 Indians!
Three rounds have been completed and we have a total of 16 players on a 100% score. Four of them are Indians - Sethuraman, Srinath Narayanan, Praggnanandhaa and Narayanan S.L.
Standings after round 3
Rk. | SNo | Name | Typ | sex | Gr | FED | RtgI | RtgN | Club/City | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | ||
1 | 3 | GM | Korobov Anton | UKR | 2668 | 0 | 3,0 | 4,0 | 0 | 6,0 | |||||
2 | 46 | GM | Aroshidze Levan | 2549 | ESP | 2514 | 2511 | C.E. Banyoles | 3,0 | 4,0 | 0 | 5,5 | |||
3 | 10 | GM | Sethuraman S.P. | IND | 2638 | 0 | 3,0 | 4,0 | 0 | 5,0 | |||||
11 | GM | Tabatabaei M.Amin | IRI | 2635 | 0 | 3,0 | 4,0 | 0 | 5,0 | ||||||
40 | GM | Narayanan Srinath | IND | 2529 | 0 | 3,0 | 4,0 | 0 | 5,0 | ||||||
47 | GM | Kelires Andreas | H | GRE | 2510 | 0 | O.F.I Chess Club | 3,0 | 4,0 | 0 | 5,0 | ||||
64 | IM | Yankelevich Lev | GER | 2472 | 0 | 3,0 | 4,0 | 0 | 5,0 | ||||||
67 | IM | Song Raymond | TPE | 2468 | 0 | 3,0 | 4,0 | 0 | 5,0 | ||||||
9 | 39 | GM | Stefansson Hannes | ISL | 2538 | 0 | Chess Club Huginn | 3,0 | 4,0 | 0 | 4,5 | ||||
10 | 24 | GM | Praggnanandhaa R | H16 | IND | 2586 | 0 | 3,0 | 4,0 | 0 | 4,0 | ||||
11 | 9 | GM | Donchenko Alexander | GER | 2644 | 0 | 3,0 | 3,5 | 0 | 5,0 | |||||
76 | GM | Batsiashvili Nino | A | w | GEO | 2447 | 0 | 3,0 | 3,5 | 0 | 5,0 | ||||
13 | 6 | GM | Lagarde Maxime | FRA | 2655 | 2596 | C.E. Barcelona | 3,0 | 3,5 | 0 | 4,5 | ||||
13 | GM | Narayanan.S.L | IND | 2626 | 0 | 3,0 | 3,5 | 0 | 4,5 | ||||||
32 | GM | Shevchenko Kirill | UKR | 2547 | 0 | 3,0 | 3,5 | 0 | 4,5 | ||||||
35 | GM | Li Di | H | CHN | 2543 | 0 | 3,0 | 3,5 | 0 | 4,5 |
In round three Sethuraman played a strong opening against top Kazakh woman player Dinara Saduakassova. Once her opponent went wrong in the Open Ruy Lopez, Sethuraman gave her absolutely no chances.
Sethuraman vs Dinara Saduakassova, Round 3
Although Praggnanandhaa is on 3.0/3, he is living quite dangerously at the event. Against Krishna Teja in round two he was completely lost, when his opponent went wrong and Pragg chalked up the full point. Even in round three, he was worse against Gudmundur Kjartansson. But he fought back and won. Here are both of his games.
Krishna Teja vs Praggnanandhaa, Round 2
Praggnanandhaa vs Kjartansson, Round 3
Kjartansson, with the black pieces, is clearly in the driver's seat. He can take ...gxf5 and make Pragg suffer for the rest of the game. Instead he took on f5 with his bishop and after Bd5 Pragg was not just back in the game, but also clearly better. He won within a couple of moves.
Srinath wriggled out of a messy position in round one. Playing after nearly ten months, his last classical event was the Aeroflot Open 2019, it was clear that Srinath needed some time to settle in. But after avoiding an accident in the first round, he is back on track and is now on 3.0/3.
Narayanan S.L. has been trying out the Grunfeld at the event with black.
Barseghyan vs S.L. Narayanan, Round 3
One of the biggest upsets of the event has been Harshit Raja's win against second seed Parham Maghsoodloo. After scoring a GM norm at the Elllobregat Open 2019, Harshit is no mood to slow down and has begun with 2.5/3.
Harshit Raja vs Parham Maghsoodloo, Round 2
Harshit simply picked up the pawn on e5 with his knight and after Qxe5 he continued with Rxd7! The rook if taken is met with Qxg4+ followed by pocking up the rook on d7. White is just three pawns up.
Live commentary of the open event by Anna Rudolph and Simon Williams can be followed here.
The famous Sunway Sitges Night blitz tournament took place on the 15th night. Amin Tabatabaei won the tournament with 8.0/9. Arjun Erigaisi was second with 7.5/9 and Nihal Sarin was third with 7.0/9.
Night Blitz
Rk. | SNo | Name | Typ | Gr | FED | RtgI | RtgN | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | |
1 | 7 | Tabatabaei M.Amin GM | IRI | 2499 | 0 | 8,0 | 49,5 | 53,5 | 46,50 | |||
2 | 3 | Erigaisi Arjun GM | IND | 2604 | 0 | 7,5 | 47,5 | 51,5 | 42,00 | |||
3 | 2 | Nihal Sarin GM | IND | 2685 | 0 | 7,0 | 50,0 | 53,5 | 40,25 | |||
4 | 5 | Larino Nieto David GM | ESP | 2535 | 0 | 7,0 | 46,5 | 51,5 | 39,00 | |||
5 | 11 | Trent Lawrence IM | ENG | 2467 | 0 | 6,5 | 47,5 | 51,5 | 34,00 | |||
6 | 15 | Lobanov Sergei IM | RUS | 2394 | 0 | 6,5 | 47,5 | 50,5 | 34,25 | |||
7 | 1 | Maghsoodloo Parham GM | IRI | 2735 | 0 | 6,5 | 46,0 | 49,5 | 34,25 | |||
8 | 4 | Santos Latasa Jaime GM | ESP | 2557 | 0 | 6,5 | 46,0 | 49,5 | 33,25 | |||
9 | 12 | Cuenca Jimenez Jose Fernando GM | ESP | 2451 | 0 | 6,5 | 45,5 | 48,5 | 33,50 | |||
10 | 13 | Sindarov Javokhir GM | UZB | 2447 | 0 | 6,5 | 42,0 | 46,0 | 29,75 | |||
11 | 9 | Sadhwani Raunak IM | IND | 2490 | 0 | 6,5 | 39,0 | 42,5 | 30,00 | |||
12 | 35 | Gines Esteo Pedro Antonio IM | ESP | 2141 | 0 | 6,0 | 47,5 | 49,5 | 29,00 | |||
13 | 25 | Gorshtein Ido FM | ISR | 2256 | 0 | 6,0 | 46,0 | 49,5 | 28,00 | |||
14 | 21 | Martinez Martin David IM | ESP | 2322 | 0 | 6,0 | 45,0 | 48,0 | 27,50 | |||
15 | 29 | Fernandez Diaz Cristian FM | ESP | 2247 | 0 | 6,0 | 42,5 | 45,5 | 27,00 | |||
16 | 36 | Rajarishi Karthi CM | IND | 2126 | 0 | 6,0 | 41,5 | 44,0 | 22,50 | |||
17 | 27 | Boyer Mahel FM | FRA | 2253 | 0 | 6,0 | 39,0 | 40,5 | 21,50 | |||
18 | 16 | Iniyan P GM | IND | 2392 | 0 | 5,5 | 49,5 | 53,5 | 29,75 | |||
19 | 43 | Bharath Subramaniyam H IM | IND | 2022 | 0 | 5,5 | 42,0 | 45,0 | 24,25 | |||
20 | 59 | Tanmay Chopra | IND | 1860 | 0 | 5,5 | 37,5 | 40,0 | 20,00 |
Overview of performance by Indian players:
SNo | Name | RtgI | RtgN | FED | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | Pts. | Rk. | Group | |
5 | GM | Sasikiran Krishnan | 2656 | 0 | IND | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2,0 | 49 | Group A | |||||||
10 | GM | Sethuraman S.P. | 2638 | 0 | IND | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3,0 | 3 | Group A | |||||||
13 | GM | Narayanan.S.L | 2626 | 0 | IND | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3,0 | 14 | Group A | |||||||
16 | GM | Nihal Sarin | 2612 | 0 | IND | 1 | ½ | 1 | 2,5 | 41 | Group A | |||||||
17 | GM | Karthikeyan Murali | 2611 | 0 | IND | 1 | 1 | ½ | 2,5 | 21 | Group A | |||||||
24 | GM | Praggnanandhaa R | 2586 | 0 | IND | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3,0 | 10 | Group A | |||||||
26 | GM | Puranik Abhimanyu | 2580 | 0 | IND | 1 | ½ | 1 | 2,5 | 38 | Group A | |||||||
31 | GM | Gukesh D | 2547 | 0 | IND | 1 | 1 | ½ | 2,5 | 19 | Group A | |||||||
34 | GM | Erigaisi Arjun | 2544 | 0 | IND | 1 | ½ | 1 | 2,5 | 44 | Group A | |||||||
40 | GM | Narayanan Srinath | 2529 | 0 | IND | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3,0 | 5 | Group A | |||||||
44 | GM | Harsha Bharathakoti | 2523 | 0 | IND | 1 | ½ | ½ | 2,0 | 63 | Group A | |||||||
48 | IM | Sadhwani Raunak | 2507 | 0 | IND | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2,0 | 53 | Group A | |||||||
49 | GM | Girish A. Koushik | 2506 | 0 | IND | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2,0 | 98 | Group A | |||||||
55 | GM | Iniyan P | 2497 | 0 | IND | 1 | ½ | ½ | 2,0 | 80 | Group A | |||||||
65 | GM | Karthik Venkataraman | 2470 | 0 | IND | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2,0 | 111 | Group A | |||||||
77 | IM | Raja Harshit | 2447 | 0 | IND | 1 | 1 | ½ | 2,5 | 25 | Group A | |||||||
85 | IM | Bharath Subramaniyam H | 2420 | 0 | IND | ½ | 1 | 0 | 1,5 | 137 | Group A | |||||||
87 | IM | Kulkarni Bhakti | 2418 | 0 | IND | ½ | 1 | 0 | 1,5 | 150 | Group A | |||||||
90 | IM | Akash Pc Iyer | 2415 | 0 | IND | 1 | 0 | ½ | 1,5 | 152 | Group A | |||||||
92 | IM | Dhulipalla Bala Chandra Prasad | 2414 | 0 | IND | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2,0 | 113 | Group A | |||||||
94 | FM | Rathanvel V S | 2410 | 0 | IND | ½ | 1 | 0 | 1,5 | 166 | Group A | |||||||
98 | IM | Mendonca Leon Luke | 2398 | 0 | IND | 1 | ½ | ½ | 2,0 | 67 | Group A | |||||||
102 | IM | Krishna Teja N | 2383 | 0 | IND | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2,0 | 86 | Group A | |||||||
108 | IM | Raja Rithvik R | 2381 | 0 | IND | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2,0 | 100 | Group A | |||||||
109 | WGM | Vaishali R | 2376 | 0 | IND | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2,0 | 105 | Group A | |||||||
113 | FM | Manu David Suthandram R | 2369 | 0 | IND | 1 | 0 | ½ | 1,5 | 136 | Group A | |||||||
115 | IM | Sankalp Gupta | 2365 | 0 | IND | 1 | ½ | ½ | 2,0 | 69 | Group A | |||||||
125 | IM | Sidhant Mohapatra | 2338 | 0 | IND | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2,0 | 83 | Group A | |||||||
128 | WIM | Divya Deshmukh | 2332 | 0 | IND | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2,0 | 126 | Group A | |||||||
133 | Samant Aditya S | 2309 | 0 | IND | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1,5 | 147 | Group A | ||||||||
134 | FM | Krishnater Kushager | 2308 | 0 | IND | 1 | ½ | ½ | 2,0 | 85 | Group A | |||||||
139 | Ajay Krishna S | 2302 | 0 | IND | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2,0 | 58 | Group A | ||||||||
140 | FM | Matta Vinay Kumar | 2300 | 0 | IND | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2,0 | 107 | Group A | |||||||
153 | WIM | Rakshitta Ravi | 2260 | 0 | IND | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1,5 | 134 | Group A | |||||||
159 | WIM | Pratyusha Bodda | 2253 | 0 | IND | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2,0 | 122 | Group A | |||||||
163 | FM | Dushyant Sharma | 2247 | 0 | IND | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1,5 | 156 | Group A | |||||||
164 | Panesar Vedant | 2247 | 0 | IND | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1,0 | 184 | Group A | ||||||||
168 | Rohit S | 2234 | 0 | IND | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1,0 | 207 | Group A | ||||||||
169 | WIM | Priyanka Nutakki | 2229 | 0 | IND | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1,0 | 188 | Group A | |||||||
172 | CM | Prraneeth Vuppala | 2221 | 0 | IND | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1,0 | 179 | Group A | |||||||
174 | WFM | Cholleti Sahajasri | 2216 | 0 | IND | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1,0 | 247 | Group A | |||||||
175 | Karthik Rajaa | 2212 | 0 | IND | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1,0 | 195 | Group A | ||||||||
177 | FM | Ajay Karthikeyan | 2203 | 0 | IND | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1,5 | 153 | Group A | |||||||
183 | CM | Tanmay Jain | 2193 | 0 | IND | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1,0 | 199 | Group A | |||||||
185 | IM | Mohota Nisha | 2191 | 0 | IND | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1,5 | 160 | Group A | |||||||
187 | Bartakke Amardeep S. | 2190 | 0 | IND | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1,0 | 200 | Group A | ||||||||
189 | Sibi Visal R | 2185 | 0 | IND | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1,0 | 183 | Group A | ||||||||
191 | Sekar B | 2176 | 0 | IND | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2,0 | 108 | Group A | ||||||||
198 | Natarajan C | 2157 | 0 | IND | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0,0 | 292 | Group A | |
200 | Godbole Atharva | 2148 | 0 | IND | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1,5 | 167 | Group A | ||||||||
204 | CM | Shahil Dey | 2135 | 0 | IND | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1,0 | 214 | Group A | |||||||
206 | WIM | Tejaswini Sagar | 2128 | 2095 | IND | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2,0 | 124 | Group A | |||||||
210 | Darpan Inani | 2117 | 0 | IND | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1,0 | 201 | Group A | ||||||||
211 | Arjun C Krishnamachari | 2113 | 0 | IND | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1,5 | 154 | Group A | ||||||||
219 | Tanmay Chopra | 2100 | 0 | IND | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1,5 | 162 | Group A | ||||||||
220 | WCM | Sharma Isha | 2099 | 0 | IND | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1,0 | 227 | Group A | |||||||
223 | CM | Rajarishi Karthi | 2093 | 0 | IND | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1,0 | 239 | Group A | |||||||
225 | Toshali V | 2083 | 0 | IND | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1,0 | 198 | Group A | ||||||||
227 | Kishan Gangolli | 2078 | 0 | IND | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1,0 | 233 | Group A | ||||||||
229 | Dhrupad Kashyap | 2073 | 0 | IND | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0,5 | 262 | Group A | ||||||||
231 | CM | Mohamed Anees M | 2056 | 0 | IND | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1,5 | 155 | Group A | |||||||
246 | Jijo Joy | 2019 | 0 | IND | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1,0 | 254 | Group A | ||||||||
248 | Potluri Saye Srreezza | 2013 | 0 | IND | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1,0 | 251 | Group A | ||||||||
255 | Ayushh Ravikumar | 1982 | 0 | IND | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1,0 | 241 | Group A | ||||||||
260 | WFM | Savitha Shri B | 1968 | 0 | IND | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1,0 | 256 | Group A | |||||||
267 | Manukonda Arun | 1923 | 0 | IND | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1,0 | 244 | Group A | ||||||||
273 | AIM | Komal Srivatsav Sajja | 1907 | 0 | IND | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1,5 | 165 | Group A | |||||||
274 | Nawin J J | 1907 | 0 | IND | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1,0 | 253 | Group A | ||||||||
281 | Gugan G | 1843 | 0 | IND | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1,0 | 191 | Group A | ||||||||
282 | Srimathi R | 1842 | 0 | IND | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0,5 | 280 | Group A | ||||||||
283 | CM | Gopal K.N. | 1840 | 0 | IND | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0,5 | 281 | Group A | |||||||
284 | Devnani Kush | 1829 | 0 | IND | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0,5 | 274 | Group A | ||||||||
289 | Krithigga K | 1812 | 0 | IND | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0,0 | 311 | Group A | ||||||||
291 | Niharika Ch | 1803 | 0 | IND | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0,0 | 300 | Group A | ||||||||
292 | Sawant Akshay | 1793 | 0 | IND | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0,0 | 289 | Group A | ||||||||
293 | Kabhilan S | 1789 | 0 | IND | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0,5 | 271 | Group A | ||||||||
295 | Morvekar Kedar | 1777 | 0 | IND | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1,0 | 211 | Group A | ||||||||
298 | Aryan B Joshi | 1770 | 0 | IND | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1,0 | 220 | Group A | ||||||||
300 | Sagar Siya | 1754 | 1408 | IND | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0,0 | 309 | Group A | ||||||||
301 | Shivika Rohilla | 1744 | 0 | IND | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0,5 | 282 | Group A | ||||||||
302 | Mrithyunjay Mahadevan | 1735 | 0 | IND | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0,5 | 283 | Group A | ||||||||
304 | Ankitha Goud Palle | 1724 | 0 | IND | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1,0 | 192 | Group A | ||||||||
305 | Raghu Ram Reddy Seelam | 1717 | 0 | IND | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1,5 | 163 | Group A | ||||||||
308 | Rosh Jain | 1697 | 0 | IND | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0,5 | 267 | Group A | ||||||||
309 | Varsha Ramesh | 1669 | 0 | IND | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0,5 | 284 | Group A |