Four tied for the lead after 7 rounds at Dubai Open Chess Tournament

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Sokolov, Akopian, Jones, Savchenko have six points each

British Grandmaster (GM) Gawain Jones and Russia’s GM Boris Savchenko caught up with the leaders after grinding down their respective opponents in drawn-out endgames in the seventh round of the Dubai Open Chess Tournament – Sheikh Rashid Bin Hamdan Cup at the Dubai Chess and Culture Club. Sixth-round joint leaders GM Vladimir Akopian of Armenia and GM Ivan Sokolov of the Netherlands maintained their share of the lead after agreeing to an uneventful draw after 31 moves of play on the first board.

Dubai Chess Open LIVE games/ Dubai Chess Open Youtube Channel 

The four players each have six points heading into the final two rounds of the nine-round Swiss system tournament, with Akopian taking on Jones at the top board and Sokolov, the UAE national coach, contesting Savchenko on second board in round eight. The leaders are trailed by eight players with 5.5 points each.

Playing against Indian International Master (IM) M. S. Thejkumar’s Caro-Kan Defence, Jones, who ruled the Dubai Open Blitz Cup last Friday, temporarily sacrificed a pawn and allowed an exchange of queens that doubled his f-pawns to create pressure on the seventh rank with his rooks dominating the b-file.

Unable to defend precisely, the Indian dropped a pawn on the 27^th move, but Jones failed to address the weakness of his h4-pawn, which became a prime target and allowed black to maintain the balance despite the material disadvantage in a bishop-and-pawns ending.

Thejkumar eventually won the h4-pawn in exchange for one of his doubled f-pawns, creating his own passer on the h-file, but the game remained balanced with Jones maintaining his passed pawn on the c-file. The game took a huge turn for the worse for the Indian player when he mysteriously allowed his king to wander too far away in the queenside, giving Jones’ king a free reign against black’s unprotected h- and f-pawns. Thejkumar resigned on the 82^nd move as Jones slowly marched each of his doubled pawns on the f-file to the finish line.

Savchenko, playing black, outplayed India’s GM B. Adhiban in a Queen’s Gambit opening that stretched to 92 moves. The Indian opened the e-file for his rook with a pawn push to e4 on move 18, trying to create play against the awkward placement of black’s e6-bishop and queen on e7. Adhiban, however, could not find the correct plan as Savchenko wriggled out of trouble and went on to zero on white’s isolated d-pawn.

The Indian managed to push the d-pawn two squares further into black’s territory, but as it was nonetheless doomed to fall, Adhiban decided to sacrifice the exchange to preserve pawn on d6. Savchenko returned the exchange on move 47 to transpose into a rook endgame a pawn up. The Indian defended vigorously, but the Russian had everything under control to wrap up the point on move 92.

UAE results

Fide Master (FM) Saeed Ishaq continues to be the top pointer among the UAE players after settling for a draw with IM Mohammad Minhaz Uddin of Bangladesh. Ishaq has 3.5 points, half a point ahead of FM Hamdan Marshool, FM Ahmed Fareed, Mohamed Marshool, Ali Abdulaziz and FM Mayed Alrashedi.

Longest match

The seventh round also saw the longest game in the tournament so far, as Kazakhstan’s GM Petr Kostenko and India’s GM Sandipan Chanda battled for five hours and 142 moves. The game ended in a draw.

World number 18 GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov of Azerbaijan was a guest during Sunday’s round seven matches. Mamedyarov won the Dubai Open in 2004. He was accompanied by the UAE’s GM Salem A.R. Saleh, who unfortunately had to withdraw from the tournament for health reasons.

Standings after Round 7:

1 GM Akopian Vladimir ARM 2656 6
2 GM Sokolov Ivan NED 2626 6
3 GM Jones Gawain C B ENG 2650 6
4 GM Savchenko Boris RUS 2607 6
5 IM Gagare Shardul IND 2491 5.5
6 GM Yilmaz Mustafa TUR 2594 5.5
7 GM Sethuraman S.P. IND 2658 5.5
8 GM Safarli Eltaj AZE 2656 5.5
9 GM Pantsulaia Levan GEO 2604 5.5
10 GM Fier Alexandr BRA 2619 5.5
11 GM Darini Pouria IRI 2496 5.5
12 GM Bruzon Batista Lazaro CUB 2679 5.5
13 GM Adhiban B. IND 2663 5
14 GM Howell David W L ENG 2678 5
15 GM Gopal G.N. IND 2544 5
16 GM Cheparinov Ivan BUL 2695 5
17 GM Anton Guijarro David ESP 2616 5
18 GM Mammadov Zaur AZE 2456 5
19 GM Antipov Mikhail Al. RUS 2562 5
20 GM Ghosh Diptayan IND 2562 5
21 GM Aravindh Chithambaram Vr. IND 2515 5
22 GM Sargissian Gabriel ARM 2693 5
23 GM Kuzubov Yuriy UKR 2638 5
24 FM Anwuli Daniel NGR 2365 5
25 GM Vidit Santosh Gujrathi IND 2648 5
26 IM Thejkumar M. S. IND 2427 5
27 GM Can Emre TUR 2555 5
28 GM Haznedaroglu Kivanc TUR 2473 5
29 IM Das Arghyadip IND 2441 5
30 GM Stefanova Antoaneta BUL 2507 5
31 IM Nitin S. IND 2359 5
32 IM Padmini Rout IND 2439 5
33 IM Tabatabaei M.Amin IRI 2466 4.5
34 IM Ris Robert NED 2412 4.5
35 GM Andriasian Zaven ARM 2616 4.5
36 GM Sandipan Chanda IND 2585 4.5
37 GM Amin Bassem EGY 2655 4.5
38 GM Deepan Chakkravarthy J. IND 2466 4.5
39 IM Ali Marandi Cemil Can TUR 2473 4.5
40 GM Kovalenko Igor LAT 2662 4.5
41 WGM Saduakassova Dinara KAZ 2411 4.5
42 GM Mareco Sandro ARG 2625 4.5
43 IM Rajesh V A V IND 2358 4.5
44 GM Kostenko Petr KAZ 2450 4.5
45 FM Gholami Aryan IRI 2429 4.5
46 IM Rathnakaran K. IND 2456 4.5
47 FM Asadli Vugar AZE 2378 4.5
48 Muthaiah Al IND 2281 4.5
49 IM Das Sayantan IND 2435 4.5
50 IM Swayams Mishra IND 2463 4.5
51 IM Nezad Husein Aziz QAT 2421 4.5
52 IM Fawzy Adham EGY 2475 4.5
53 IM Aryan Chopra IND 2447 4
54 GM Jobava Baadur GEO 2672 4
55 IM Karthikeyan P. IND 2463 4
56 IM Ly Moulthun AUS 2506 4
GM Mollah Abdullah Al Rakib BAN 2492 4
58 IM Ezat Mohamed EGY 2467 4
59 GM Debashis Das IND 2452 4
60 FM Mehar Chinna Reddy C.H. IND 2347 4
61 GM Arribas Lopez Angel ESP 2549 4
62 IM Karavade Eesha IND 2403 4
63 Gusain Himal IND 2429 4
64 GM Arun Prasad S. IND 2509 4
65 WIM Pratyusha Bodda IND 2318 4
66 GM Ankit R. Rajpara IND 2491 4
IM Pascua Haridas PHI 2427 4
GM Hossain Enamul BAN 2426 4
69 FM Hafiz Arif Abdul INA 2326 4
70 IM Lorparizangeneh Shahin IRI 2456 4
71 FM Bisby Daniel L ENG 2275 4
72 Godarz Kasra IRI 2221 4
73 IM Hesham Abdelrahman EGY 2390 4
74 IM Gaponenko Inna UKR 2408 4
75 GM Korobov Anton UKR 2695 4
76 FM Karthik V. Ap IND 2385 4
IM Abou El Zein Eid Mahmoud EGY 2150 4
78 Marcos Marvin PHI 2112 4
79 CM Erigaisi Arjun IND 2350 4
80 IM Kanter Eduard RUS 2368 4
81 FM Nihal Sarin IND 2351 4
82 IM Krishna C R G IND 2404 4
83 Harsha Bharathakoti IND 2319 4
84 GM Sengupta Deep IND 2554 3.5
85 FM Samhouri A. JOR 2365 3.5
86 IM Di Berardino Diego Rafael BRA 2512 3.5
87 IM Sanal Vahap TUR 2478 3.5
88 Nyazi Nehad EGY 2242 3.5
89 Rogoznikov Andrey RUS 2296 3.5
90 IM Akshat Khamparia IND 2362 3.5
91 FM Bashirli Nail AZE 2381 3.5
92 GM Laxman R.R. IND 2406 3.5
93 CM Prince Bajaj IND 2282 3.5
94 IM Mohammad Minhaz Uddin BAN 2439 3.5
95 FM Saeed Ishaq UAE 2286 3.5
96 IM Nomin-Erdene Davaademberel MGL 2490 3.5
97 CM Nadir Samir SUD 2190 3.5
98 IM Rohan Ahuja IND 2440 3.5
99 WGM Kulkarni Bhakti IND 2284 3.5
100 FM Kuznetsov Mikhail V. RUS 2341 3.5
101 Hemant Sharma (del) IND 2246 3.5
102 Salah Romany EGY 2090 3.5
103 Raahul V S IND 1927 3.5
104 Doostkam P IRI 2095 3.5
105 Nimmy A.G. IND 2148 3.5
106 Tabada Jobannie C. PHI 2234 3.5
Kaboodi Behrang IRI 2114 3.5
108 Mahmoud Haitham SUD 1958 3.5
109 Nair Sanjeev IND 1832 3.5
110 IM Kerigan Demre TUR 2358 3
111 Dimarucut Francis Erwin PHI 2122 3
112 FM Mohannad Farhan JOR 2239 3
113 Rahul Srivatshav P IND 2352 3
114 IM Feldman Vladimir AUS 2154 3
115 FM Saleh Nabil UAE 2229 3
116 Aradhya Garg IND 2287 3
117 WGM Swati Ghate IND 2279 3
118 Basil Alshouha JOR 2153 3
Elnemr Mohamed EGY 2107 3
120 WGM Soumya Swaminathan IND 2358 3
121 WGM Mona Khaled EGY 2219 3
122 IM Galojan Lilit ARM 2303 3
123 CM Drost Peter NED 2107 3
124 FM Srinath Rao S.V. IND 2233 3
125 WGM Maisuradze Nino FRA 2268 3
126 WFM Tarini Goyal IND 2008 3
127 FM Hamdan Marshool UAE 2003 3
128 WIM Heinemann Josefine GER 2259 3
129 Yap Ernesto M. PHI 2024 3
130 Ababneh Ghayth JOR 2051 3
131 FM Ahmed Fareed UAE 1995 3
132 Anilkumar O.T. IND 2080 3
133 FM Elmejbri Ali A. LBA 2026 3
134 Mohamed Marshool UAE 1662 3
135 Ali Abdulaziz UAE 1910 3
136 FM Mayed Alrashedi UAE 1977 3
137 Odeh Kenneth NGR 2031 3
138 Rafee Mohd Hayel SYR 1938 3
139 WIM Mammadova Narmin AZE 2204 2.5
140 GM Salem A.R. Saleh UAE 2621 2.5
141 GM Mchedlishvili Mikheil GEO 2615 2.5
142 WIM Thipsay Bagyashree Sathe IND 2085 2.5
143 FM Yousry Salah EGY 2266 2.5
144 Sameir Ramez EGY 2070 2.5
145 Arjun Adappa IND 1938 2.5
146 Kucuksari Kaan TUR 2125 2.5
147 IM Berezina Irina AUS 2154 2.5
148 WIM Ivana Maria Furtado IND 2091 2.5
149 WGM Makropoulou Marina GRE 2176 2.5
150 Ismayilzada Ismayil AZE 1858 2.5
151 Majed Ali Abdouli UAE 1657 2.5
152 CM Mendonca Leon Luke IND 1760 2.5
153 CM Saleh Nagueb UAE 2208 2.5
154 Ashraf Ahmed Ramadan EGY 1911 2.5
155 Ahmad Al Romaithi UAE 1681 2.5
156 Mursalli Matin AZE 1791 2.5
157 IM Sultan Ibrahim UAE 2045 2.5
158 Basheer P V IND 1751 2.5
159 Jaeel Atharva IND 1617 2.5
160 FM Ammar Sedrani UAE 1701 2.5
161 Elrashed Siddig SUD 1974 2.5
162 Salem Ahmed Salem UAE 1725 2.5
163 Danilo Reyes G. PHI 1618 2
164 Anant Prabhudesai IND 1894 2
165 Ahmed Rashed Al Hefeti UAE 1550 2
166 Pankaj Sindhu IND 1645 2
167 Saif Ahmed UAE 1453 2
168 Jijo Joy IND 1527 2
169 Al-Khelaifi Kholoud QAT 1496 2
170 Wang Shanshan CHN 2076 2
171 Al Zaabi Talal UAE 1578 2
172 Mohamed Saeed Laily UAE 1519 2
173 Mosallam Mohammad UAE 1549 2
174 Khaled Ahmed Y. UAE 1664 2
175 Alem Ali Hussien KSA 1832 2
WCM Al-Khulaifi Ghada QAT 1683 2
177 Hakobyan Hovhannes H. ARM 2183 1.5
178 Hamad Ahmad Alkaabi UAE 1554 1.5
179 Al Hamed Saif Idrees UAE 1649 1.5
180 AIM Khezrian Mohammad USA 1483 1.5
181 Abdulla Al-Hamed UAE 1871 1.5
182 Ghanem Al Shamari QAT 1544 1.5
183 Shahzad Asif PAK 1703 1.5
184 Fawwaz Mohammed IND 1468 1
185 CM Khalifah Khaled UAE 1532 1
186 Hamad Essam UAE 1516 1
187 WCM Al-Khelaifi Aisha QAT 1736 1
188 Khaled Shihadeh JOR 1528 1
189 WFM Al-Khulaifi Fatima A. QAT 1617 0.5
190 GM Lalith Babu M R IND 2579 0
FM Bilguun Sumiya MGL 2379 0
IM Yandarbiev Ruslan RUS 2358 0
IM Purtseladze Maka GEO 2347 0
WGM Mammadzada Gunay AZE 2318 0
Almajbari Abdalla Ali LBA 1758 0