Sharjah Masters 08: Four at the top

by Albert Silver
3/31/2017 – In round eight, the two leaders Wang Hao and Martyn Kravtsiv drew comfortably against each other, making space for more on the podium. This invitation was graciously accepted by Kryvoruchko and the irrepressible Adhiban who now also share the lead. Once more this illustrated report brings entertaining games analyzed by the players with Daniel King.

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All photos by Anastasiya Karlovich

The top players of the Indian contingent chat a bit before the game

Eltaj Safarli has not had a great event so far, but does regain a bit of lost ground with this win over Valeriy Neverov. He now has 5.5/8.

Baskaran Adhiban vs Benjamin Gledura

 

Baskaran Adhiban is back, and takes on 17-year-old Benjamin Gledura, a Hungarian talent. He reminds Daniel King that Gledura had beaten Anand in Gibraltar in 2016, and is not to be taken lightly. Note that while he says that, he does not let go of his improvisational approach to the game, and his comments are flowing with ideas. In spite of being the penultimate round in a major Open, he retains that llight-hearted spirit that makes him such an endearing character.

Co-leaders Wang Hao and Martyn Kravtsiv drew their game without too much effort, and remain among the four leaders with 6.5/8 going into the last round.

Yuriy Kryvoruchko beat Matthias Bluebaum in round eight, and is the fourth player on 6.5/8

Vladimir Akopian vs Srinath Narayanan

 

A fascinating Italian played by Vladimir Akopian as he enjoys the modern trend to deviate from his lifelong Ruy Lopez. It must be noted that Akopian is Speedy Gonzales when analying out loud. He is thorough though.

Untitled Chinese player, Xu Yinglun, rated 2540, has performed superbly and has a 2620 performance with 6.0/8

13-year-old Abdusattorov has a 2500 performance thus far, and will face Venezuelan GM Iturrizaga in the final round

Deepan Chakkravarthy vs Saleh Salem

Once again, Salem Saleh is the flavor of the day, this time against 30-year-old GM Chakkravarthy from India. The game is a classic Sicilian (not to be confused with Classical Sicilian) with a pawn roller in the center and kingside. Salem's comments and ideas in the game show what an imaginative strategist he is, and it is a pleasure to watch him in action.

WGM Mary Ann Gomes from India beat GM Babu Lalith in round eight, and has 5.0/8

Yuriy Kuzubov from Ukraine had a great first half, but a less stellar second half and is at 5.5/8

Standings after eight rounds

Rk
SNo
Ti.
Name
FED
Rtg
Pts
  TB 
rtg+/-
1 5 GM Wang Hao CHN 2683 6,5 37,5 11,7
2 6 GM Adhiban B. IND 2682 6,5 34,5 10,5
3 2 GM Kryvoruchko Yuriy UKR 2708 6,5 33,0 4,8
4 21 GM Kravtsiv Martyn UKR 2641 6,5 32,5 13,5
5 4 GM Naiditsch Arkadij AZE 2702 6,0 36,5 -0,2
6 16 GM Fressinet Laurent FRA 2662 6,0 35,0 3,8
7 17 GM Amin Bassem EGY 2660 6,0 34,5 5,1
8 11 GM Akopian Vladimir ARM 2675 6,0 34,5 0,3
9 23 GM Sethuraman S.P. IND 2629 6,0 33,5 5,0
  45 GM Pichot Alan ARG 2556 6,0 33,5 6,7
11 1 GM Wojtaszek Radoslaw POL 2745 6,0 33,5 -2,9
12 47   Xu Yinglun CHN 2540 6,0 32,5 12,5
13 15 GM Mareco Sandro ARG 2664 6,0 31,5 0,6
14 36 GM Maghsoodloo Parham IRI 2576 6,0 31,5 8,7
15 7 GM Areshchenko Alexander UKR 2682 6,0 31,5 -0,6
16 18 GM Salem A.R. Saleh UAE 2652 6,0 30,0 -7,3
17 10 GM Jones Gawain C B ENG 2676 5,5 35,5 -1,6
18 12 GM Iturrizaga Bonelli Eduardo VEN 2673 5,5 34,5 -6,3
19 28 GM Adly Ahmed EGY 2593 5,5 34,0 4,4
20 31 GM Gledura Benjamin HUN 2588 5,5 33,5 3,8
21 35 GM Idani Pouya IRI 2576 5,5 33,0 3,4
22 50 GM Sunilduth Lyna Narayanan IND 2526 5,5 33,0 5,8
23 19 GM Kuzubov Yuriy UKR 2643 5,5 33,0 -7,4
24 22 GM Bluebaum Matthias GER 2632 5,5 32,5 -3,1
25 80 GM Laxman R.R. IND 2403 5,5 32,5 22,6
26 8 GM Safarli Eltaj AZE 2680 5,5 32,0 -10,7
27 13 GM Sargissian Gabriel ARM 2666 5,5 32,0 -8,1
28 54 IM Xu Xiangyu CHN 2503 5,5 31,5 9,2
  72 FM Abdusattorov Nodirbek UZB 2429 5,5 31,5 8,6
30 20 GM Oleksiyenko Mykhaylo UKR 2643 5,5 31,5 -8,3

Click for complete standings

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Born in the US, he grew up in Paris, France, where he completed his Baccalaureat, and after college moved to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He had a peak rating of 2240 FIDE, and was a key designer of Chess Assistant 6. In 2010 he joined the ChessBase family as an editor and writer at ChessBase News. He is also a passionate photographer with work appearing in numerous publications.