Serbia Open 2022 R6: Missed Opportunities

by Shahid Ahmed - 04/07/2022

GM Aryan Chopra made a quick draw with GM Alexander Motylev in the sixth round of Serbia Open 2022 Masters. GM Harsha Bharathakoti defeated IM Vaishali to join Aryan at 5/6. GM Adhiban lost to IM Evgenios Ioannidis (GRE) who is now the sole leader 5.5/6. Just when it seemed like 'The Beast' is reawakening, he missed a winning chance in a slightly complex position. GM Abhimanyu Puranik also missed his chance against IM Raven Sturt (USA). The former had a decisive advantage for the better part of the game. CM Kushagra Mohan salvaged a draw from a losing position against IM Koustav Chatterjee. Round 7 starts today at 7:30 p.m. IST. Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Srihari beats Bernadskiy

IM Srihari L R seized his chance against GM Vitaliy Bernadskiy (UKR). IM Pranav Anand, CM Kushagra Mohan, IM Neelash Saha, IM Harshavardhan G B, IM Harikrishnan A Ra, IM Shahil Dey, IM Souhardo Basak, WIM Sakshi Chitlange, FM Rohith Krishna S, Adarsh Tripathi and CM Om Manish Kadam drew with GM Vahap Sanal (TUR), IM Koustav Chatterjee, GM Rinat Jumabayev (KAZ), GM Milos Perunovic (SRB), GM Aydin Suleymanli (AZE), GM Arjun Kalyan, IM Yair Parkhov (ISR), IM Olga Badelka, IM P Shyam Nikhil, IM Sugar Gan-Erdene (MGL) and IM Vardaan Nagpal, respectively.

GM Harsha Bharathakoti is at 5/6 along with GM Aryan Chopra | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Adhiban - Ionnidis: 0-1

GM B Adhiban (2616) got a significant advantage against IM Evgenios Ioannidis (GRE, 2459). However, it was a complex position and not easy to figure out how to win.

Position after 34...Be1

35.c6 right away was not a good idea as the pawn's progress can easily be stopped. 35...Rb6 36.Nd6 Nc7 37.Kc5 Raa6 38.b5 Nxb5 the knight cannot be captured because of 39...Rxc6#. Thus, White lost the b5-pawn and advantage for apparently no compensation. 35.Rd6 first would have been a better continuation for White.

Abhimanyu - Sturt: 0.5-0.5

GM Abhimanyu Puranik (2608) was winning for the better part of the game against IM Raven Sturt (USA, 2450).

Position after 42...f4

It goes without saying, if unchecked, Black promotes the f-pawn faster than White's b-pawn. A quick glance reveals that White is in control mainly due to the fact that Black's back-rank weakness. The only concern is the passed pawn at f4. White is winning in various ways. Try to find a convincing one. 43.b5 ignored the f4-pawn. Black seized his opportunity 43...f3. Now it's a little too late to try and stop that pawn 44.Bc5 Bh4 45.a4?? even gave an opportunity for Black to win the game via d4. Luckily for White, his opponent did not spot it and played 46...f2 and the game meandered into a draw.

GM Abhimanyu Puranik missed a few winning chances | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Srihari - Bernadskiy: 1-0

GM Vitaliy Bernadskiy (UKR, 2617) blundered in a completely equal queen, minor piece and few pawns endgame against IM Srihari L R (2404).

Position after 43...Qe4+

Find out why 43...Qe4+ is a blunder.

IM Srihari L R's patience paid off in the end | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Highlights

A few interesting finishes from Round 6

GM Kacper Piorun (POL, 2627) - IM Arystanbek Urazayev (KAZ, 2435): 0-1

IM Srihari L R (2404) - GM Vitaliy Bernadskiy (UKR, 2617): 1-0

A total of 263 players including 38 GMs, 68 IMs, 6 WGMs and 13 WIMs are taking part from 38 countries across the world including India. The tournament is being organized by Serbia Chess Federation from 28th June to 7th July 2022 at Novi Sad, Serbia. The nine-round Swiss league tournament has a time control of 90 minutes/40 moves + 15 minutes for whole game, 30 seconds increment from move no.1.

Replay Round 6 games

Round 6 results

Rd.	Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.
6	1	8	GM	Motylev Alexander	2619	4½	½ - ½	4½	GM	Aryan Chopra	2609	11
6	2	10	GM	Adhiban B.	2616	4½	0 - 1	4½	IM	Ioannidis Evgenios	2459	55
6	4	12	GM	Puranik Abhimanyu	2608	4	½ - ½	4	IM	Sturt Raven	2450	57
6	5	48	IM	Pranav Anand	2467	4	½ - ½	4	GM	Sanal Vahap	2576	14
6	6	19	GM	Harsha Bharathakoti	2547	4	1 - 0	4	IM	Vaishali R	2442	62
6	8	26	GM	Muradli Mahammad	2510	4	1 - 0	4	IM	Padmini Rout	2357	118
6	9	100	WGM	Injac Teodora	2384	4	½ - ½	4	IM	Aditya Mittal	2485	36
6	10	126	CM	Kushagra Mohan	2343	4	½ - ½	4	IM	Koustav Chatterjee	2485	37
6	11	127	WGM	Fataliyeva Ulviyya	2341	4	½ - ½	4	IM	Pranav V	2481	39
6	15	64	IM	Neelash Saha	2439	3½	½ - ½	3½	GM	Jumabayev Rinat	2628	5
6	18	84	IM	Srihari L R	2404	3½	1 - 0	3½	GM	Bernadskiy Vitaliy	2617	9
6	20	20	GM	Perunovic Milos	2543	3½	½ - ½	3½	IM	Harshavardhan G B	2367	111
6	21	92	IM	Harikrishnan.A.Ra	2396	3½	½ - ½	3½	GM	Suleymanli Aydin	2537	21
6	26	40	GM	Karthik Venkataraman	2480	3½	1 - 0	3½	FM	Jain Kashish Manoj	2271	166
6	27	113	IM	Shahil Dey	2366	3½	½ - ½	3½	GM	Arjun Kalyan	2477	43
6	28	130	IM	Souhardo Basak	2338	3½	½ - ½	3½	IM	Parkhov Yair	2467	47
6	30	58	IM	Badelka Olga	2448	3½	½ - ½	3½	WIM	Chitlange Sakshi	2216	197
6	39	46	GM	Chanda Sandipan	2467	3	1 - 0	3	IM	Tadic Stefan	2373	109
6	40	120	IM	Anuj Shrivatri	2356	3	1 - 0	3	IM	Cabarkapa Novak	2466	50
6	41	52	IM	Nitish Belurkar	2460	3	½ - ½	3	IM	Tomazini Zan	2361	115

Details

Round 7 pairings

Rd.	Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.
7	1	55	IM	Ioannidis Evgenios	2459	5½		5	GM	Harsha Bharathakoti	2547	19
7	3	11	GM	Aryan Chopra	2609	5		5	GM	Muradli Mahammad	2510	26
7	4	39	IM	Pranav V	2481	4½		4½	GM	Sarana Alexey	2670	2
7	5	3	GM	Demchenko Anton	2654	4½		4½	GM	Karthik Venkataraman	2480	40
7	6	48	IM	Pranav Anand	2467	4½		4½	GM	Ivic Velimir	2628	4
7	7	7	GM	Indjic Aleksandar	2620	4½		4½	IM	Srihari L R	2404	84
7	8	51	GM	Arnaudov G. Petar	2462	4½		4½	GM	Adhiban B.	2616	10
7	9	67	IM	Urazayev Arystanbek	2435	4½		4½	GM	Puranik Abhimanyu	2608	12
7	10	14	GM	Sanal Vahap	2576	4½		4½	CM	Kushagra Mohan	2343	126
7	13	36	IM	Aditya Mittal	2485	4½		4½	WGM	Fataliyeva Ulviyya	2341	127
7	14	37	IM	Koustav Chatterjee	2485	4½		4½	WGM	Injac Teodora	2384	100
7	17	15	GM	Kadric Denis	2575	4		4	IM	Neelash Saha	2439	64
7	18	62	IM	Vaishali R	2442	4		4	GM	Ivanisevic Ivan	2557	18
7	19	73	IM	Vignesh N R	2427	4		4	GM	Perunovic Milos	2543	20
7	22	28	GM	Santiago Yago De Moura	2509	4		4	IM	Harikrishnan.A.Ra	2396	92
7	23	91	IM	Moksh Amit Doshi	2398	4		4	GM	Sadikhov Ulvi	2491	34
7	26	43	GM	Arjun Kalyan	2477	4		4	WGM	Narva Mai	2385	98
7	28	45	IM	Janzelj Tim	2470	4		4	IM	Shahil Dey	2366	113
7	29	111	IM	Harshavardhan G B	2367	4		4	GM	Chanda Sandipan	2467	46
7	30	47	IM	Parkhov Yair	2467	4		4	IM	Anuj Shrivatri	2356	120