Sunway Sitges Open R5: Leon Mendonca holds Oleg Romanishin to a draw

by Shahid Ahmed - 18/12/2020

GM Vojtech Plat emerged as the sole leader after round 5 as he was the only one to score a victory among eleven leaders. Plat beat GM Bilel to take the sole lead with 4.5/5. 15 players are behind him at 4.0/5. IM Leon Mendonca held legendary Ukrainian GM Oleg Romanishin to a draw. Leon could have pushed for a win in the endgame but it was not that easy. He will now face the only other Indian taking part in Group-A, Souhardo Basak in Round 6 on Saturday 19th December from 9 p.m. IST. Shubham Bandikatte suffered his first loss of the event in Group B. Friday 18th December is a rest day for all categories. Photo: Lennart Ootes / Sunway Chess Open

Plat takes sole lead

Czech GM Vojtech Plat scored the sole victory among the leaders against Algeria no.1 GM Bilel Bellahcene to move to 4.5/5. He will now face GM Joules Moussard in Round 6 after the rest day. IM Leon Mendonca held legendary Ukrainian GM Oleg Romanishin. Although Leon could have taken his chances in the endgame, eventually it ended up in a draw. He will now face the only other Indian taking part in the Group A, Souhardo Basak in Round 6. They both are at 3.0/5. Shubham Bandikatte suffered his first loss of the event against Mariano Ribon Calabia in Round 5. He is now at 3.5/5

Leon moves to 3.0/5 | Photo: Lennart Ootes/Sunway Chess Open

In a seemingly equal endgame, the Algeria no.1 GM Bilel Bellahcene erred and blundered a pawn which eventually became the deciding factor of the game.

Plat - Bellahcene

Position after 35...Qe8

Find out why 35...Qe8 is a mistake and what black could have played instead.

Top boards in action | Photo: Lennart Ootes/Sunway Chess Open

Leon held legendary Romanishin

Leon played some solid chess and held Ukrainian GM Oleg Romanishin to a draw. Although Leon had a good chance.

Romanishin - Leon

Position after 21.bxc4

White has a bishop pair but black has a passed pawn on the a-file. The game went on with 21...b6 which is slightly slower. What was the better continuation for black here?

GM Oleg Romanishin finished shared second with Gulko, Tal and Vaganian in 1975 USSR Championship | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Sunway Chess Open

Photo Gallery

Korobov scored a fine victory | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Sunway Chess Open

Even after the game, learning doesn't stop for Leon | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Sunway Chess Open

Beautiful tournament hall | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Sunway Chess Open

Replay Round 5 games

Round 5 results

Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.
1	29	GM	Vasquez Schroeder Rodrigo	2459	3½	½ - ½	3½	GM	Cheparinov Ivan	2660	2
2	5	GM	Moussard Jules	2626	3½	½ - ½	3½	GM	Fier Alexandr	2549	12
3	18	GM	Checa Nicolas	2527	3½	½ - ½	3½	GM	Santos Latasa Jaime	2588	6
4	7	GM	Santos Ruiz Miguel	2581	3½	½ - ½	3½	GM	Asis Gargatagli Hipolito	2470	25
5	11	GM	Plat Vojtech	2552	3½	1 - 0	3½	GM	Bellahcene Bilel	2510	19
6	4	GM	Lagarde Maxime	2651	3	½ - ½	3½	GM	Batsiashvili Nino	2466	27
7	9	GM	Cornette Matthieu	2558	3	1 - 0	3	IM	Ayats Llobera Gerard	2400	40
8	13	GM	Nevednichy Vladislav	2546	3	½ - ½	3	IM	Garcia Martin Marta	2342	46
9	30	IM	Maurizzi Marc Andria	2445	3	½ - ½	3	GM	Krysa Leandro	2544	14
10	15	GM	Lopez Martinez Josep Manuel	2542	3	1 - 0	3	FM	Jimenez Ruano Adrian	2279	58
11	43	FM	Garcia Ramos Daniel	2380	3	½ - ½	3	GM	Flom Gabriel	2499	20
12	47	FM	Yu Jennifer	2328	3	0 - 1	3	GM	Narciso Dublan Marc	2495	21
13	51	FM	Carbonell Sancho Marc	2318	3	0 - 1	3	IM	Niemann Hans Moke	2478	24
14	64	FM	Antova Gabriela	2247	3	0 - 1	3	IM	Sochacki Christophe	2469	26
15	66	FM	Csiki Endre	2231	3	0 - 1	3	GM	Stefanova Antoaneta	2466	28
16	1	GM	Korobov Anton	2693	2½	1 - 0	3		Lever Erwan	2200	69
17	3	GM	Grigoryan Karen H.	2651	2½	1 - 0	2½	IM	Martin Duque Jesus	2414	36
18	38		Svoboda Vaclav	2407	2½	½ - ½	2½	GM	Dragnev Valentin	2564	8
19	42		Lin Yingrui	2387	2½	0 - 1	2½	GM	Maze Sebastien	2557	10
20	39	GM	Romanishin Oleg M	2402	2½	½ - ½	2½	IM	Mendonca Leon Luke	2530	16
21	17	GM	Cuenca Jimenez Jose Fernando	2528	2½	0 - 1	2½	IM	Ootes Lars	2373	44
22	68		Alvarez Albiol Victor	2206	2½	0 - 1	2½	IM	Garriga Cazorla Pere	2487	22
23	31	IM	Gines Esteo Pedro Antonio	2437	2½	1 - 0	2½	IM	Eden James	2323	48
24	53	FM	Boyer Mahel	2307	2½	1 - 0	2½	GM	Siebrecht Sebastian	2429	32
25	33	IM	Bulmaga Irina	2424	2½	½ - ½	2½	FM	Garcia Jimenez Francisco Javier	2288	56

Details

Prizes

Total Prize fund - €27155. For the entire prize details, click here.

Schedule

13th - 22nd December - 9:00 p.m. IST

18th December - Rest day

23rd December - 2:00 p.m. IST

Links

Official site

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