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For a second consecutive day, two out of four games in the Masters section of the Chennai Grand Masters tournament ended decisively, providing spectators with another riveting round. Among the two games that concluded in draws was an impressive encounter between Arjun Erigaisi and Levon Aronian, with both players producing a remarkable draw after a well-fought battle. Meanwhile, the day's victories were claimed by Iranian representatives Amin Tabatabaei and Parham Maghsoodloo, each securing their first wins of the event.
Tabatabaei joined co-leaders Arjun and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave after defeating Alexey Sarana with the white pieces. Demonstrating a strong positional understanding, Tabatabaei gained the bishop pair early, thus gaining a strategic edge. After collecting an extra pawn, he converted his material advantage smoothly, achieving a 45-move victory. This win added to his solid round-1 performance, where he held Aravindh Chithambaram to a draw with the black pieces.
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Meanwhile, Parham Maghsoodloo, Iran's highest-rated grandmaster, bounced back from a tough first-round loss against Vachier-Lagrave by defeating Vidit Gujrathi. For Vidit, it was his second consecutive defeat, though he might easily have had a perfect score by now, as he also held an advantage at some point in this game. Much like in his round-1 encounter against Arjun, Vidit misplayed the endgame, leaving him with another frustrating loss. His unsteady form has been a surprising twist in the tournament so far.
These results leave Arjun, Vachier-Lagrave, and Tabatabaei tied at the top with 1½ points each, while three other players trail by half a point. With no rest days in this intense 8-player tournament, every round counts as players fight to maintain their standing. Thursday's matchups will see co-leaders Vachier-Lagrave and Tabatabaei face off, with the Frenchman taking the white pieces in what promises to be a pivotal game.
Arjun Erigaisi
Analysis by André Schulz
Parham Maghsoodloo
Analysis by André Schulz
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In this Fritztrainer: “Attack like a Super GM†with Gukesh we touch upon all aspects of his play, with special emphasis on how you can become a better attacking player.
Levon Aronian
In contrast to the Masters section, the Challengers section of the Chennai Grand Masters tournament has seen two players establish early momentum with back-to-back victories in the first two rounds. Leon Luke Mendonca and Pranav Venkatesh emerged as the sole players with perfect scores, taking an early lead in the fiercely competitive field. Notably, Mendonca and Pranav are two of the four 18-year-old participants in the tournament - the other two teenagers, Raunak Sadhwani and Pranesh M, are also among the promising young talents aiming for top finishes, while the rest of the field comprises older competitors.
Mendonca's victory came at the expense of Harika Dronavalli, whose French Defence could not withstand the tactical pressure. Opting to keep his king centralised, Mendonca manoeuvred skilfully, capitalising on Harika's exposed king. Harika, who lost her first-round game to co-leader Pranav, will now be looking to reverse her fortunes and get on the scoreboard as the tournament progresses.
Pranav's second-round win over Abhimanyu Puranik demonstrated the critical importance of tactical precision in a complex middlegame. In a position with queens and four rooks on the board, 33...Bxf2+ was the only move that kept the position close to equal, as any other manoeuvre leaves Black in real trouble.
Now 34.Kh2 for White is the only acceptable reply, and the game keeps going. However, Abhimanyu erred by grabbing the bishop with 34.Kxf2, which is bad due to 34...Rxc1 35.Qxd7 and 35...Rc2+ (diagram), the key intermediate check which allows Black to end up an exchange to the good after 36.Kg1 Rxd7
Resignation came only three moves later.
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The remaining two games of the round concluded in relatively short draws, lasting 30 and 33 moves, respectively. Thursday's round promises further excitement, with Pranav set to play white against Karthikeyan Murali, while Mendonca will face a challenging matchup with the black pieces against Raunak Sadhwani.
Pranav Venkatesh
Leon Luke Mendonca
