11/8/2024 – Round 3 of the Chennai Grand Masters delivered compelling games across both the Masters and Challengers sections. In the Masters, Arjun Erigaisi continued his stellar form with a win over Alexey Sarana, joining Amin Tabatabaei in the lead, while climbing to second place in the live world rankings. In the Challengers, Pranav Venkatesh emerged as the sole leader after defeating Karthikeyan Murali, extending his perfect record. | Photos: Aditya Sur Roy and Anmol Bhargav / ChessBase India
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Fortune favours the brave
Arjun Erigaisi's remarkable year shows no sign of slowing down, as he claimed another victory at the Chennai Grand Masters, defeating Alexey Sarana in round 3 to rise to second place in the live ratings, surpassing Fabiano Caruana. Despite being at risk earlier in the game, Arjun capitalised on his opponent's mistakes to turn the tables and secure the full point.
Arjun now shares the lead with Iran's Amin Tabatabaei, who scored his second consecutive win by defeating Maxime Vachier-Lagrave with the black pieces. The French grandmaster sacrificed two pawns but got little to no compensation in return. Tabatabaei remained solid, showing no signs of weakness and converting his material advantage confidently.
Doesn’t every chess game get decided by mistakes? Absolutely. But most players never truly comprehend that they are making the same kind of mistakes over and over again.
In sole third place is Levon Aronian, who claimed his first victory of the tournament with an impressive win over Parham Maghsoodloo. Aronian, playing with the white pieces, found an elegant pawn break on the kingside that shattered his opponent's defensive structure and allowed him to dominate the board. This was a crucial win for the Armenian-born grandmaster, who now represents the United States, after starting the tournament with draws against Arjun and Sarana in the opening rounds.
The day's only draw came in an all-Indian face-off, with Aravindh Chithambaram managing to hold a draw with the black pieces against Vidit Gujrathi. After suffering back-to-back losses in the first two rounds, Vidit was finally able to score his first half-point in Chennai, regaining some stability and momentum.
Friday's fourth round will see co-leaders Tabatabaei and Arjun facing off in a crucial clash. Tabatabaei will have the white pieces, and Arjun's fans are eager to see if he will continue his bold approach on home turf.
1.d4Nf62.c4e63.Nc3Bb44.e3b65.Bd3Bb76.Nf30-07.0-0c5
Popular alternatives include7...d58.cxd5exd5Or7...Bxc38.bxc3d68.Na4cxd49.a3Be710.exd4Qc711.Re1The main move is11.b4
from the history of the World ChampionshipsNg412.g3f513.Nc3a614.Re1Nc615.Bf1Nd816.Bf4Bd617.Bxd6Qxd618.Bg2Nf719.c5Qc720.Rc1Rae821.Na4b522.Nc3f423.d5fxg324.fxg3exd525.Qd4Nf626.Nh4Re527.Rxe5Qxe528.Qxe5Nxe529.Nf5Nc430.Rd1Kh831.Re1Nxa332.Nd6Bc633.Ra1Nc234.Rxa6d435.Ncxb5Bxg236.Kxg2Ng437.Nf5d338.Rd6Rxf539.Rxd3Nge3+0-1 (39) Botvinnik,M-Bronstein,D Moscow 1951 MainBase
[ChessBase/Botvinnik/Bronstein]11...d512.c5bxc513.Nxc5Bxc514.dxc5Qxc5
15.Bf4=White has the bishop pair and Black a strong centre. The chances are equal.15.b4Qe71/2-1/2 (15) Farago,I (2510)
-Keene,R (2480) Dortmund 197815...Qb616.Ne5Ba6To halve the bishop pair.17.Bc2Rc818.b4Nc619.Rc1Nxe520.Bxe5Rc4!?Black allows his pawn position on the kingside to be weakened and relies on active piece play.20...Nd721.Bd4Qd622.Ba4Nf8=21.Bxf6gxf622.Qh5Kf8Also22...f5is playable. After23.Qg5+Kf824.Qf6?
there isQd4and White is in trouble.23.Bb3
23...Rc6?!Negligence that is not penalised.23...Rxc124.Rxc1Rc825.Rxc8+Bxc826.Qxh7Qd4=24.Qxh7?!24.Bxd5!Rxc124...exd525.Qxh7
and the mating threat costs material.25.Rxc1Rd825...exd526.Qxh7Rc827.Re1+-26.Bf3White has gained a pawn.24...Rac8Black either overestimates his possibilities or gambles.24...Rd825.Rxc6Qxc626.Qh6+Ke727.Rc1=25.Rcd1Droht Txd5 und Dh8.d4?
25...Rd626.Bxd5Ke727.h3±26.h4?Misses a winning opportunity.The manoeuvre26.Re4Rd626...e527.Qxf7#27.Rf4wins:Ke727...f528.Rxf5+-27...Qd828.Qh8+Ke729.Qxf6+Kd730.Qxf7+Qe731.Qh5+-28.Qg7f529.Re1+-with the intention of Rxf5.26...d3=27.h5Qd4?27...Ke7=28.Re4?Winning was28.b5with the idea:Bxb529.Bxe6Rxe629...fxe630.Re4Qb231.Rg4+-30.Qh8+Ke731.Qxc8+-28...Qb229.Ba4Rc130.Qh6+Ke7
31.Qe3?Now the game is finally over.
White holds the balance with31.Rxc1Rxc1+32.Kh2Bb7and now33.Rd4Bd534.Qh834.Rxd3?Qe5+35.Rg3Qe1-+34...Qxd435.Qe8+Kd636.Qb8+Ke736...Rc737.Qd8+37.Qe8+31...Rxd1+32.Bxd1Qc133.Qxa7+Rc734.Qxa6Qxd1+35.Kh2Qxh5+36.Kg3d237.Rd4Qe5+0–1
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.
Round 3 of the Challengers section saw two players, Pranav Venkatesh and Leon Luke Mendonca, enter the day with perfect 2/2 records. However, only Pranav managed to extend his winning streak, defeating Karthikeyan Murali with the white pieces to become the sole leader. Mendonca, meanwhile, faced Raunak Sadhwani in a hard-fought 51-move game that ended in a draw, keeping Mendonca within close reach of the leader.
Pranav's victory was one of only two decisive results in the third round, with the other win claimed by Pranesh M, who defeated Vaishali Rameshbabu. Pranesh, who hails from Karaikudi in Tamil Nadu, now has 1½ points out of 3, tying with Abhimanyu Puranik in fourth place. Pranesh's came from collecting a loss and a draw in the previous rounds, and his round-3 win has kept him well-positioned in the standings.
In this video course we’ll have a look at the Queen’s Indian after 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6. We’ll explore the ins and outs of the possible White setups against this rock-solid opening.
In the fourth round, Pranav will look to continue his winning run as he faces Vaishali with the black pieces, hoping to further extend his lead. Another pivotal matchup will see Mendonca taking the white pieces against Abhimanyu Puranik, who will be aiming to narrow the gap with the tournament's frontrunners.
Carlos Alberto ColodroCarlos Colodro is a Hispanic Philologist from Bolivia. He works as a freelance translator and writer since 2012. A lot of his work is done in chess-related texts, as the game is one of his biggest interests, along with literature and music.
In this insightful video course, Grandmaster David Navara shares practical advice on when to calculate deeply in a position — and just as importantly, when not to.
The Trompowsky is especially suited for faster time controls as you don‘t have to memorise endless lines of theory, and you push your opponent out of their comfort zone after your second move.
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2025 European Championship with a German double victory and analyses by Bluebaum, Svane, Rodshtein, Yuffa, Navara and many more. Opening videos by Engel, King and Marin. Training sections “The Fortress”, “The Trap” and “Fundamental Endgame Knowledge" etc.
In this dynamic and practical video course, IM Andrew Martin arms you with powerful antidotes to White’s most annoying sidelines.
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