Sunway Sitges Open R4: Nino Batsiashvili beats Karen Grigoryan

by Shahid Ahmed - 17/12/2020

Eleven players share the lead with 3.5 points at the conclusion of Round 4 in VII Sunway Sitges Open. All top three boards ended up in draws in Round 4. Although GM Nicholas Checa was winning against GM Jules Moussard for the better part of the game, but he could not convert it. GM Nino Batsiashvili scored a fantastic win against GM Karen Grigoryan. IM Leon Mendonca was held to a draw by FM Mahel Boyer and Souhardo Basak lost to IM Hans Niemann. Leon will face veteran GM Oleg Romanishin and Souhardo will go against Xavier Serrano Aspa in Round 5 starting tonight from 9 p.m. IST. Photo: Lennart Ootes / Sunway Chess Open

Top three boards end in draws

Defending champion Korobov suffered a loss against GM Hipolito Asis Gargatagli. Georgian GM Nino Batsiashvili after delivering a Masterclass defeated Armenian GM Karen Grigoryan. IM Leon Mendonca was held to a draw by FM Mahel Boyer and Souhardo Basak lost to IM Hans Niemann. Shubham Bandikatte beat second seed Abderezzak Slimani and he is now at 3.5/4 in Group B.

Marc Narciso Dublan held the top seed Anton Korobov to a draw | Photo: Lennart Ootes/Sunway Chess Open

Korobov suffers a loss

After escaping from the jaws of defeat in Round 2 and salvaging a draw in Round 3, the defending champion Korobov got outplayed by Hipolito Asis Gargatagli.

Hipolito - Korobov

Position after 18...Kg7

Find out the best continuation for white after 18...Kg7

It will be a tall order for Korobov to make a comeback to defend his title | Photo: Lennart Ootes/Sunway Chess Open

Nino beats Karen

Nino Batsiashvili got an advantage early in the opening against Karen Grigoryan.

Batsiashvili - Grigoryan

Position after 14...b5

14...b5 definitely looks bad for black. What is the correct continuation for white?

With this win Nino joins ten other leaders with 3.5/4 | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Sunway Chess Open

Boyer held Leon

Mahel Boyer played absolutely solid and gave Leon no chance which resulted in a draw.

Leon's temperature is being checked as part of the safety measures | Photo: Sunway Chess Open

Niemann beats Souhardo

Souhardo played a bit inaccurately in the middle game, however he still managed to get a seemingly equal endgame, until he made a strange backward move.

Niemann - Souhardo

Position after 33...Ne8

Instead of 33...Ne8, black should have played a bit more actively with 33...Nd5.

Photo Gallery

GM Matthieu Cornette giving his lecture | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Sunway Chess Open

GM Nino Batsiashvili gave a lecture before beating Karen Grigoryan and taking the lead | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Sunway Chess Open

Various parts of the tournament hall has a beautiful view | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Sunway Chess Open

Replay Round 4 games

Round 4 results

Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.
1	2	GM	Cheparinov Ivan	2660	3	½ - ½	3	GM	Plat Vojtech	2552	11
2	18	GM	Checa Nicolas	2527	3	½ - ½	3	GM	Moussard Jules	2626	5
3	19	GM	Bellahcene Bilel	2510	3	½ - ½	3	GM	Santos Ruiz Miguel	2581	7
4	25	GM	Asis Gargatagli Hipolito	2470	2½	1 - 0	2½	GM	Korobov Anton	2693	1
5	27	GM	Batsiashvili Nino	2466	2½	1 - 0	2½	GM	Grigoryan Karen H.	2651	3
6	6	GM	Santos Latasa Jaime	2588	2½	1 - 0	2½	IM	Gines Esteo Pedro Antonio	2437	31
7	8	GM	Dragnev Valentin	2564	2½	0 - 1	2½	GM	Vasquez Schroeder Rodrigo	2459	29
8	28	GM	Stefanova Antoaneta	2466	2½	½ - ½	2½	GM	Cornette Matthieu	2558	9
9	12	GM	Fier Alexandr	2549	2½	1 - 0	2½	IM	Bulmaga Irina	2424	33
10	30	IM	Maurizzi Marc Andria	2445	2½	½ - ½	2½	GM	Nevednichy Vladislav	2546	13
11	14	GM	Krysa Leandro	2544	2½	½ - ½	2½	FM	Carbonell Sancho Marc	2318	51
12	21	GM	Narciso Dublan Marc	2495	2½	½ - ½	2½	FM	Csiki Endre	2231	66
13	4	GM	Lagarde Maxime	2651	2	1 - 0	2	FM	Esplugas Esteve Vicenc	2319	50
14	52	FM	Msellek Ilyass	2316	2	0 - 1	2	GM	Lopez Martinez Josep Manuel	2542	15
15	16	IM	Mendonca Leon Luke	2530	2	½ - ½	2	FM	Boyer Mahel	2307	53
16	20	GM	Flom Gabriel	2499	2	1 - 0	2		Dalaud Dorian	2291	55
17	22	IM	Garriga Cazorla Pere	2487	2	½ - ½	2		Ortega Serra Marc	2288	57
18	64	FM	Antova Gabriela	2247	2	1 - 0	2	IM	Dardha Daniel	2485	23
19	24	IM	Niemann Hans Moke	2478	2	1 - 0	2		Souhardo Basak	2276	59
20	26	IM	Sochacki Christophe	2469	2	1 - 0	2	IM	Hernando Rodrigo Julio Antonio	2275	60