International Master S Satyapragyan scored a sensational victory over Grandmaster Zurab Sturua of Georgia in the fifth round of the Dubai International Chess Championship in Dubai.
The Indian Grandmasters had mixed results in the intense fifth round with Krishnan Sasikiran, Surya Shekhar Ganguly and P Harikrishna drawing with top seed GM Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu of Romania, GM Yuri Kruppa of Ukraine and Norwegian sensation International Master Magnus Carlsen respectively.
The other Indian GM in the fray R B Ramesh lost to GM Evegny Vladimirov of Kazakhstan, who has been training the Indian players for a few years now.
As things stand at near half-way stage in this US $ 41,000 prize money event, Nisipeanu, Pavel Eljanov of Ukraine, Minasian Artashes of Armenia and Shakhriyaz Mamedyarov of Azerbaijan share the lead with 4.5 points each in their kitty.
Grandmasters Mikhail Ulibin of Russia, Alexei Fedorov of Belarus, Ukrainian trio of Mikheil Mchedlishvil, Kruppa and Alexander Goloshchapv, Jobava Baadur of Georgia, Vugar Gashinov of Azerbaijan, Carlsen Magnus, Sasikiran, Ganguly and Harikrishna are trailing the leaders half a point behind while a pack of 11 players share the next spot with 3.5 points each.
The Indian norm aspirants had a good day in office with Satyapragyan leading from the front. Also coming out with excellent results were IM norm holders Manthan Chokshi and Parimarjan Negi who accounted for higher rated opponents Rudin Hamdani of Indonesia and Al-Harandi Hatim of Yemen respectively.
Rahul Shetty was another player to find form as he held GM Ehsan Ghaem Magahami of Iran to an easy draw. Women Grandmaster Aarthie Ramaswamy outplayed Elena Nekrasova of Ukraine while Deepan Chakravarthy had it easy against Kolyaie Hasan of Iran but IM D V Prasad struggled yet again and drew with P Doostkam of Iran.
Satyapragyan scored his second victory against a GM in the tournament after earlier beating veteran Evgeny Sveshnikov. The young Indian has been working hard on each game and is now in contention for his maiden Grandmaster norm even as he was quite lucky in scoring over Sturua from a nearly lost position.
Playing white Satyapragyan found himself in a better position after the opening but a simply blunder saw him losing a piece. Hanging on in hunt for some counter play, the Indian later found Sturua in time scramble that decisively turned the tide in his favour.
Sasikiran drew his game in just 29 moves against Nisipeanu when the time-pressure surfaced. The middle game arising out of an English opening gave the Indian some advantage but the nature of the position remained extremely complicated with all the pieces on board. Deciding against taking a big risk, the players shared the point.
Harikrishna could also boast of a minimal advantage against Carlsen who played the black side of a Semi Slav defence. Routine exchanges ensued in the endgame that left Harikrishna with a Bishop that could only prove equal against Carlsen's Knight.
Ganguly drew without any troubles with his black pieces against Kruppa in just 18 moves from a Grunfeld defence game while Ramesh, black, failed to match Vladimirov's superior skills in the Semi Slav opening and lost in 27 moves.
Important results round 5 (Indians unless specified):
Krishnan Sasikiran (4) drew with Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu (4.5, Rom); Shakhriyaz Mamedyarov (4.5, Aze) bt Mohamad Al-Modiahki (3.5, Qat); P Harikrishna (4) drew with Magnus Carlsen (4, Nor); Pavel Eljanov (4.5, Ukr) bt Nelson Mariano (3.5, Phi); Nadera Barlo (3.5, Phi) lost to Artashes Minasian (4.5, Arm); Yuri Kruppa (4, Ukr) drew with Surya Shekhar Ganguly (4); Tamaz Gelashvili (3, Geo) lost to Alexei Fedorov (4, Blr); Jobava Baadur (4, Geo) bt Dzhumaev Marat (3, Uzb); Mikhail Ulibin (4, Rus) bt Buenavent Villamayor (3, Phi); Safin Shukhrat (3, Uzb) lost to Alexander Goloshchapov (4, Ukr); Evgeny Vladimirov (3.5, Kaz) bt R B Ramesh (2.5); Ehsan Ghaem Maghami (3, Iri) drew with Rahul Shetty (3); S Satyapragyan (3.5) beat Zurab Sturua (2.5, Geo); Abhijeet Gupta (2.5) drew with Martin Poulsen (2.5, Fai); P Doostkam (2, Iri) drew with D V Prasad.(2.5); Rudin Hamdani (2, Ina) lost to Manthan Chokshi; Al-Hadarani Hatim (2, Yem) lost to Parimarjan Negi (2); Deepan Chakkravarthi (2.5) bt Kolyaie Hasan (1.5, Iri).
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