Sokolov scores back-to-back wins on Saturday; Akopian ends five-game streak with a draw
UAE national coach Grandmaster (GM) Ivan Sokolov rocketed to the lead after back-to-back wins in Saturday’s double round, joining erstwhile solo leader GM Vladimir Akopian of Armenia, who settled for a draw in the sixth round after stringing together five wins in a row in the Dubai Open Chess Tournament – Sheikh Rashid Bin Hamdan Cup at the Dubai Chess and Culture Club.
Dubai Chess Open LIVE games/ Dubai Chess Open Youtube Channel
Sokolov earlier dispatched of Azerbaijan’s GM Zaur Mammadov in round five after the latter committed a defensive miscue on move 27. Mammadov, who essayed the Reti opening, accepted Sokolov’s rook sacrifice, but the ensuing attack on his king forced his resignation three moves later.
After displaying his attacking skills in the morning, Sokolov then showcased his endgame technique in his sixth-round encounter with Brazilian GM Alexander Fier later in the evening. Sokolov nursed a slight plus in the opening against Fier’s Gruenfeld Defence and then unleashed a tactical finesse on the 41st move to enter into a rook endgame a pawn up. After a pair of pawns was exchanged, Sokolov was left with two pawns in the kingside against Fier’s b-pawn, which the Dutch handily converted to win on the 63rd move.
Akopian scored a resounding attacking win over British GM David Howell’s Reti opening to wrest the solo lead after the morning’s fifth round. The Armenian’s daring piece sacrifice on the 13th move kept Howell’s king stuck in the centre of the board and forced the Brit to use a lot of time. Against relentless pressure from Akopian’s major pieces and two central pawns, Howell finally tripped up on the 38th move, allowing black’s rook to penetrate the first rank with devastating effect and forcing resignation on the 49th move.
In the sixth round, Akopian confronted Indian GM S. P. Sethuraman’s Ruy Lopez with an early d3 on the fifth move, but the Armenian failed to achieve anything special in the opening. Both players agreed to a draw on the 30th move in a completely balanced rook and bishop endgame.
Sokolov and Akopian have 5.5 points after six rounds and will meet at the top board in Sunday’s seventh round. The duo is being chased by a group of nine players who have five points apiece.
UAE results
Fide Master (FM) Nabil Saleh posted his third point after beating Nigeria’s Kenneth Odeh in the sixth round. Also with three points is FM Saeed Ishaq, who dropped his match against India’s Himal Gusain in the sixth round. IM Sultan Ibrahim, who drew with India’s FM Srinath Rao, and Candidate Master (CM) Nagueb Saleh, who won over Abdulla Al-Hamed, both have 2.5 points.
The tournament offers a total cash purse of US$50,000, with US$13,000 and the Rashid Bin Hamdan Cup going to the champion. The rest of the top 15 players will also receive cash prizes. There are also special awards for the top Arab and UAE players and top women players.
Standings after Round 6:
1 GM Akopian Vladimir ARM 2656 5.5
2 GM Sokolov Ivan NED 2626 5.5
3 IM Gagare Shardul IND 2491 5
4 GM Savchenko Boris RUS 2607 5
5 GM Adhiban B. IND 2663 5
6 GM Sethuraman S.P. IND 2658 5
7 GM Safarli Eltaj AZE 2656 5
8 GM Pantsulaia Levan GEO 2604 5
9 GM Jones Gawain C B ENG 2650 5
10 IM Thejkumar M. S. IND 2427 5
11 GM Darini Pouria IRI 2496 5
12 GM Yilmaz Mustafa TUR 2594 4.5
13 GM Sargissian Gabriel ARM 2693 4.5
14 GM Anton Guijarro David ESP 2616 4.5
15 GM Deepan Chakkravarthy J. IND 2466 4.5
16 GM Fier Alexandr BRA 2619 4.5
17 GM Mammadov Zaur AZE 2456 4.5
18 GM Antipov Mikhail Al. RUS 2562 4.5
19 GM Cheparinov Ivan BUL 2695 4.5
20 WGM Saduakassova Dinara KAZ 2411 4.5
21 GM Ghosh Diptayan IND 2562 4.5
22 IM Ali Marandi Cemil Can TUR 2473 4.5
23 GM Bruzon Batista Lazaro CUB 2679 4.5
24 IM Padmini Rout IND 2439 4.5
25 GM Howell David W L ENG 2678 4
26 GM Gopal G.N. IND 2544 4
27 GM Sandipan Chanda IND 2585 4
28 GM Amin Bassem EGY 2655 4
29 GM Aravindh Chithambaram Vr. IND 2515 4
30 GM Kostenko Petr KAZ 2450 4
31 GM Vidit Santosh Gujrathi IND 2648 4
32 IM Aryan Chopra IND 2447 4
33 GM Kuzubov Yuriy UKR 2638 4
34 GM Mollah Abdullah Al Rakib BAN 2492 4
35 GM Arribas Lopez Angel ESP 2549 4
36 IM Karthikeyan P. IND 2463 4
37 GM Jobava Baadur GEO 2672 4
38 GM Debashis Das IND 2452 4
39 FM Anwuli Daniel NGR 2365 4
40 FM Gholami Aryan IRI 2429 4
41 GM Arun Prasad S. IND 2509 4
42 GM Haznedaroglu Kivanc TUR 2473 4
43 Gusain Himal IND 2429 4
44 GM Mareco Sandro ARG 2625 4
45 IM Swayams Mishra IND 2463 4
46 GM Hossain Enamul BAN 2426 4
47 GM Stefanova Antoaneta BUL 2507 4
48 IM Das Arghyadip IND 2441 4
49 GM Can Emre TUR 2555 4
50 IM Lorparizangeneh Shahin IRI 2456 4
51 FM Hafiz Arif Abdul INA 2326 4
52 IM Nitin S. IND 2359 4
53 IM Ly Moulthun AUS 2506 3.5
54 IM Ris Robert NED 2412 3.5
55 IM Tabatabaei M.Amin IRI 2466 3.5
56 GM Sengupta Deep IND 2554 3.5
57 FM Bisby Daniel L ENG 2275 3.5
58 GM Andriasian Zaven ARM 2616 3.5
59 IM Rajesh V A V IND 2358 3.5
60 IM Sanal Vahap TUR 2478 3.5
61 FM Samhouri A. JOR 2365 3.5
62 GM Kovalenko Igor LAT 2662 3.5
63 GM Korobov Anton UKR 2695 3.5
64 IM Gaponenko Inna UKR 2408 3.5
65 Nyazi Nehad EGY 2242 3.5
66 IM Rathnakaran K. IND 2456 3.5
67 IM Akshat Khamparia IND 2362 3.5
68 IM Pascua Haridas PHI 2427 3.5
69 GM Laxman R.R. IND 2406 3.5
70 FM Asadli Vugar AZE 2378 3.5
71 IM Das Sayantan IND 2435 3.5
72 IM Di Berardino Diego Rafael BRA 2512 3.5
73 WGM Kulkarni Bhakti IND 2284 3.5
74 CM Prince Bajaj IND 2282 3.5
75 IM Rohan Ahuja IND 2440 3.5
76 Muthaiah Al IND 2281 3.5
77 Rogoznikov Andrey RUS 2296 3.5
78 IM Nezad Husein Aziz QAT 2421 3.5
79 Harsha Bharathakoti IND 2319 3.5
80 IM Fawzy Adham EGY 2475 3.5
81 IM Ezat Mohamed EGY 2467 3
82 FM Mehar Chinna Reddy C.H. IND 2347 3
83 IM Karavade Eesha IND 2403 3
84 WIM Pratyusha Bodda IND 2318 3
85 FM Mohannad Farhan JOR 2239 3
86 GM Ankit R. Rajpara IND 2491 3
87 IM Hesham Abdelrahman EGY 2390 3
88 IM Kerigan Demre TUR 2358 3
89 FM Bashirli Nail AZE 2381 3
90 Dimarucut Francis Erwin PHI 2122 3
91 Marcos Marvin PHI 2112 3
92 CM Erigaisi Arjun IND 2350 3
93 WGM Soumya Swaminathan IND 2358 3
94 IM Mohammad Minhaz Uddin BAN 2439 3
95 IM Kanter Eduard RUS 2368 3
96 WGM Swati Ghate IND 2279 3
97 Aradhya Garg IND 2287 3
98 IM Krishna C R G IND 2404 3
99 Godarz Kasra IRI 2221 3
100 Rahul Srivatshav P IND 2352 3
101 FM Karthik V. Ap IND 2385 3
102 CM Drost Peter NED 2107 3
103 FM Saeed Ishaq UAE 2286 3
104 Elnemr Mohamed EGY 2107 3
105 FM Saleh Nabil UAE 2229 3
106 IM Abou El Zein Eid Mahmoud EGY 2150 3
107 FM Kuznetsov Mikhail V. RUS 2341 3
108 FM Nihal Sarin IND 2351 3
109 Basil Alshouha JOR 2153 3
110 Salah Romany EGY 2090 3
111 Nimmy A.G. IND 2148 3
112 Yap Ernesto M. PHI 2024 3
113 FM Hamdan Marshool UAE 2003 3
114 WIM Heinemann Josefine GER 2259 3
115 GM Salem A.R. Saleh UAE 2621 2.5
116 WIM Mammadova Narmin AZE 2204 2.5
117 CM Nadir Samir SUD 2190 2.5
118 GM Mchedlishvili Mikheil GEO 2615 2.5
119 IM Nomin-Erdene Davaademberel MGL 2490 2.5
120 IM Feldman Vladimir AUS 2154 2.5
121 WIM Thipsay Bagyashree Sathe IND 2085 2.5
122 FM Yousry Salah EGY 2266 2.5
123 WGM Maisuradze Nino FRA 2268 2.5
124 Kucuksari Kaan TUR 2125 2.5
125 CM Saleh Nagueb UAE 2208 2.5
126 FM Srinath Rao S.V. IND 2233 2.5
127 Hemant Sharma (del) IND 2246 2.5
128 Arjun Adappa IND 1938 2.5
129 IM Sultan Ibrahim UAE 2045 2.5
130 Mahmoud Haitham SUD 1958 2.5
131 Mursalli Matin AZE 1791 2.5
132 Ashraf Ahmed Ramadan EGY 1911 2.5
133 Kaboodi Behrang IRI 2114 2.5
134 Doostkam P IRI 2095 2.5
135 Tabada Jobannie C. PHI 2234 2.5
136 WFM Tarini Goyal IND 2008 2.5
137 WGM Makropoulou Marina GRE 2176 2.5
138 Raahul V S IND 1927 2.5
139 Nair Sanjeev IND 1832 2.5
140 Sameir Ramez EGY 2070 2
141 WGM Mona Khaled EGY 2219 2
142 WIM Ivana Maria Furtado IND 2091 2
143 Anant Prabhudesai IND 1894 2
144 CM Mendonca Leon Luke IND 1760 2
145 IM Galojan Lilit ARM 2303 2
146 Majed Ali Abdouli UAE 1657 2
147 Anilkumar O.T. IND 2080 2
148 IM Berezina Irina AUS 2154 2
149 Ahmed Rashed Al Hefeti UAE 1550 2
150 FM Ahmed Fareed UAE 1995 2
151 FM Mayed Alrashedi UAE 1977 2
152 FM Elmejbri Ali A. LBA 2026 2
153 Saif Ahmed UAE 1453 2
154 Ababneh Ghayth JOR 2051 2
155 Mohamed Marshool UAE 1662 2
156 Ahmad Al Romaithi UAE 1681 2
157 Danilo Reyes G. PHI 1618 2
158 Jijo Joy IND 1527 2
159 Wang Shanshan CHN 2076 2
160 Odeh Kenneth NGR 2031 2
161 Ali Abdulaziz UAE 1910 2
162 Pankaj Sindhu IND 1645 2
163 Rafee Mohd Hayel SYR 1938 2
164 Al-Khelaifi Kholoud QAT 1496 2
165 Mohamed Saeed Laily UAE 1519 2
166 WCM Al-Khulaifi Ghada QAT 1683 2
167 Ismayilzada Ismayil AZE 1858 1.5
168 Hakobyan Hovhannes H. ARM 2183 1.5
169 Jaeel Atharva IND 1617 1.5
170 AIM Khezrian Mohammad USA 1483 1.5
171 Basheer P V IND 1751 1.5
172 Al Hamed Saif Idrees UAE 1649 1.5
173 Ghanem Al Shamari QAT 1544 1.5
174 Elrashed Siddig SUD 1974 1.5
175 FM Ammar Sedrani UAE 1701 1.5
176 Abdulla Al-Hamed UAE 1871 1.5
177 Hamad Ahmad Alkaabi UAE 1554 1.5
178 Salem Ahmed Salem UAE 1725 1.5
179 Shahzad Asif PAK 1703 1.5
180 Fawwaz Mohammed IND 1468 1
181 Alem Ali Hussien KSA 1832 1
182 Khaled Ahmed Y. UAE 1664 1
183 Mosallam Mohammad UAE 1549 1
184 Al Zaabi Talal UAE 1578 1
185 CM Khalifah Khaled UAE 1532 1
186 Hamad Essam UAE 1516 1
187 Khaled Shihadeh JOR 1528 1
188 WCM Al-Khelaifi Aisha QAT 1736 0.5
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
195 WFM Al-Khulaifi Fatima A. QAT 1617 0
