Sharjah Masters: Eight players share the lead going into the final round

by Johannes Fischer
5/25/2023 – After 8 of 9 rounds, no fewer than eight players with 5.5/8 share the lead in the Sharjah Masters. One of them is the young Indian grandmaster Arjun Erigaisi (pictured), who in Round 8 with Black impressively showed why active piece play is often more important than pawn structure and what can happen when the king is stranded in the centre. | Photo: Facebook page of the Sharjah Masters

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6th Sharjah Masters 2023

Before the eighth round Erigaisi was in 7th-15th place with 4.5 out of 7 and a relatively poor tiebreak score. But with an energetic win with black in round 8 he closed the gap to the top group.

The win leaves Erigaisi tied for first place with seven other players and still in contention to win the tournament.

Results of round 8

Bo. No. Name Rtg Pts. Result Pts. Name Rtg No.
1 17
GM Oparin, Grigoriy 2667 5 ½ - ½ 5 GM Gukesh, D 2732
2
2 15
GM Martirosyan, Haik M. 2675 5 ½ - ½ 5 GM Sevian, Samuel 2684
11
3 28
GM Yakubboev, Nodirbek 2630 5 ½ - ½ 5 GM Tabatabaei, M. Amin 2677
14
4 18
GM Korobov, Anton 2664 4½ 0 - 1 4½ GM Yu, Yangyi 2729
4
5 5
GM Sjugirov, Sanan 2712 4½ ½ - ½ 4½ GM Nihal, Sarin 2673
16
6 38
GM Kovalev, Vladislav 2612 4½ 0 - 1 4½ GM Erigaisi, Arjun 2701
8
7 46
GM Kadric, Denis 2601 4½ ½ - ½ 4½ GM Esipenko, Andrey 2679
12
8 9
GM Praggnanandhaa, R 2688 4 1 - 0 4½ GM Kuybokarov, Temur 2566
64
9 31
GM Karthikeyan, Murali 2627 4 0 - 1 4 GM Niemann, Hans Moke 2708
6
10 35
GM Aryan, Chopra 2617 4 ½ - ½ 4 GM Cheparinov, Ivan 2660
20
11 39
GM Vakhidov, Jakhongir 2607 4 ½ - ½ 4 GM Narayanan.S.L, 2660
21
12 58
GM Vokhidov, Shamsiddin 2586 4 0 - 1 4 GM Nguyen, Thai Dai Van 2645
22
13 23
GM Yilmaz, Mustafa 2641 4 ½ - ½ 4 GM Suleymanli, Aydin 2560
67
14 76
GM Aditya, Mittal 2522 4 ½ - ½ 4 GM Abasov, Nijat 2634
24
15 69
GM Mchedlishvili, Mikheil 2553 4 ½ - ½ 4 GM Dardha, Daniel 2631
26
16 27
GM Sargsyan, Shant 2630 4 ½ - ½ 4 GM Murzin, Volodar 2604
42
17 29
GM Petrosyan, Manuel 2629 4 ½ - ½ 4 GM Galperin, Platon 2528
74
18 78
GM Asis Gargatagli, Hipolito 2519 4 0 - 1 3½ GM Maghsoodloo, Parham 2734
1
19 3
GM Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi 2731 3½ ½ - ½ 3½ GM Yuffa, Daniil 2592
53
20 13
GM Salem, A.R. Saleh 2677 3½ ½ - ½ 3½ GM Ju, Wenjun 2550
70

...

Standings after 8 rounds

Rk. SNo Name FED Rtg Pts.  TB1   TB2 
1 11
GM Sevian, Samuel USA 2684 5,5 0 35,5
2 2
GM Gukesh, D IND 2732 5,5 0 33,5
3 28
GM Yakubboev, Nodirbek UZB 2630 5,5 0 32,5
4 4
GM Yu, Yangyi CHN 2729 5,5 0 32
5 14
GM Tabatabaei, M. Amin IRI 2677 5,5 0 31,5
6 15
GM Martirosyan, Haik M. ARM 2675 5,5 0 31
7 8
GM Erigaisi, Arjun IND 2701 5,5 0 31
8 17
GM Oparin, Grigoriy USA 2667 5,5 0 30,5
9 16
GM Nihal, Sarin IND 2673 5 0 35
10 6
GM Niemann, Hans Moke USA 2708 5 0 32,5
11 46
GM Kadric, Denis MNE 2601 5 0 32,5
12 22
GM Nguyen, Thai Dai Van CZE 2645 5 0 32
13 5
GM Sjugirov, Sanan RUS 2712 5 0 32
14 9
GM Praggnanandhaa, R IND 2688 5 0 31
15 12
GM Esipenko, Andrey FID 2679 5 0 30
16 38
GM Kovalev, Vladislav FID 2612 4,5 0 35
17 35
GM Aryan, Chopra IND 2617 4,5 0 35
18 23
GM Yilmaz, Mustafa TUR 2641 4,5 0 34,5
19 27
GM Sargsyan, Shant ARM 2630 4,5 0 34
20 67
GM Suleymanli, Aydin AZE 2560 4,5 0 33,5
21 20
GM Cheparinov, Ivan BUL 2660 4,5 0 33,5
22 21
GM Narayanan.S.L, IND 2660 4,5 0 32,5
23 18
GM Korobov, Anton UKR 2664 4,5 0 32,5
24 69
GM Mchedlishvili, Mikheil GEO 2553 4,5 0 32,5
25 1
GM Maghsoodloo, Parham IRI 2734 4,5 0 32
26 42
GM Murzin, Volodar FID 2604 4,5 0 32
27 39
GM Vakhidov, Jakhongir UZB 2607 4,5 0 31
28 64
GM Kuybokarov, Temur AUS 2566 4,5 0 30,5
29 74
GM Galperin, Platon UKR 2528 4,5 0 30
30 29
GM Petrosyan, Manuel ARM 2629 4,5 0 29,5
31 26
GM Dardha, Daniel BEL 2631 4,5 0 29,5
32 76
GM Aditya, Mittal IND 2522 4,5 0 28,5
33 24
GM Abasov, Nijat AZE 2634 4,5 0 28
34 72
GM Moroni, Luca Jr ITA 2535 4,5 0 26,5
35 57
GM Adhiban, B. IND 2589 4,5 0 24,5
36 70
GM Ju, Wenjun CHN 2550 4 0 33

...

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Johannes Fischer was born in 1963 in Hamburg and studied English and German literature in Frankfurt. He now lives as a writer and translator in Nürnberg. He is a FIDE-Master and regularly writes for KARL, a German chess magazine focusing on the links between culture and chess. On his own blog he regularly publishes notes on "Film, Literature and Chess".