Top seed Grandmaster Gareyev Timur of USA shared the lead with 4/4 score after the fourth round of the 10th Chennai Open International Grandmaster Chess tournament 2018 for Sakthi Group Dr N Mahalingam Trophy at The Vijay Park Hotel, Chennai here today.
Gareyev, a Guinness record holder in simultaneous blindfold chess, has been playing his fourth-tournament-in-a-row in Indian circuit viz., Bhopal, Mumbai, Delhi and now Chennai Open GM tournament.
Joining Gareyev on top of the table were GMs R R Laxman, Deepan Chakkravarthy J (both India), Tukhaev Adam (Ukraine), IM LlanezaVega Marcos (Spain) and FIDE Masters Karthik Venkataraman (India) and Hafiz Arif Abdul (Indonesia) respectively.
GM Timur Gareyev, B Murugavel, Vice President, Tamil Nadu State Chess Association, D V Sundar, Vice President, FIDE, P Stephen Balasamy, General Secretary, Tamil Nadu State Chess Association, Chief Guest International Master Manual Aaron
In a well contested Pirc game Laxman showed aggression, when the situation so demanded, coming up with success in 58 moves. Speaking about the game, Laxman said, “My position was getting passive and I counter-attacked to stay on course. My aggression on king-side 21.g4, caught GM Sivuk Vitaly off-guard and I managed to come up better in complications”.
Earlier, local star Woman FIDE Master J Saranya held Grandmaster Yuri Solodovnichenko of Ukraine to a draw in the second round, while World Under 12 Champion Divya Deshmukh got her first GM scalp taming Grandmaster Nguyen Duc Hoa of Vietnam in the third round.
Chennai boy Thrish Karthik set the tone for inaugural day, scoring an upset win over Grandmaster Suat Atalik of Turkey in the first round while, top seed GM Timur Gareyev of USA scored a comfortable victory in the top board. The second board saw Russian Grandmaster Ivan Rozum shedding half a point to lower rated Harshal Patil.
In a Kings Indian Defence game that lasted 75 moves, Thrish got the better of GM Suat Atalik of Turkey. An end game lapse in the fourth hour saw Suat Atalik going an exchange down, which Thrish Karthik converted precisely in his favor.
The 10th edition of Chennai Open GM tournament was inaugurated by Arjuna Awardee and International Master Manuel Aaron, who made the first move against top seed GM Timur Gareyev. Present in the dais were Shri D V Sundar, Vice President, FIDE, Shri P Stephen Balasamy, Gen. Secretary, Tamil Nadu State Chess Association, Shri R Anantharam, Technical Director, Shri Nitin Shenvi, Chief Arbiter and Shri B Murugavel, Vice President, Tamil Nadu State Chess Association.
Offering GM and IM Norm possibilities, this ten round Swiss tournament, attracted 267 entries from 22 countries. The field included 16 Grandmasters and 19 International Masters, among 59 titled players.
This prestigious annual Chennai chess festival, organized by Tamil Nadu State Chess Association, carries a total prize money of Rupees 1100000 (Euros 14100) spread over 50 cash prizes. The winner gets the glittering Chennai Open 2018 trophy along with the cash award of Rupees 200000 (Euros 2563).
R R Vasudevan
Press Officer
10th Chennai Open International Grandmaster Chess tournament 2018
