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.

Kovalev, Vladislav26120–1Erigaisi Arjun2701
6th Sharjah Masters 2023
24.05.2023[Johannes Fischer]
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 Qc7 6.g3 h5!? 7.Ndb5 Qb8 8.Bf4 e5 9.Be3 a6 10.Na3 b5 11.Nd5 Nf6!? Energetic play: Black ruins his pawn structure to activate his pieces. 12.Nxf6+ gxf6 13.h4
13...f5! Another energetic move: Black sacrifices a pawn to fight for the center and to open the diagonal h1-a8 for his bishop. 14.exf5 Bb7 15.Rg1?!
Safer and better was 15.Bg2 z.B. Nd4 16.0-0 Bxg2 17.Kxg2 Qb7+ 18.f3 Nxf5 19.Qd3 Nxe3+ 20.Qxe3 with a roughly equal position. 15...d5! 16.c3
16...d4! Another powerful move, opening lines against White's king. 17.cxd4 Bb4+ 18.Ke2 Practically forced. After 18.Bd2 Nxd4 19.Bxb4 Nf3+ 20.Ke2 Nxg1+ White loses material. 18...exd4 19.Bf4 Bd6 20.Bg5 f6! Black sacrifices another pawn to activate his rook with tempo. 21.Bxf6 There's no way back. After 21.Bd2 Black wins with Bxa3 22.bxa3 Qe5+ 23.Kd3 Qxf5+ 24.Ke2 Qe4+ and after 21.Bc1 Black wins with Bxa3 22.bxa3 Qe5+ 23.Kd2 d3 24.Qe1 0-0-0 25.Qxe5 Nxe5 21...0-0 22.Qd2 After 22.Bg5 Qe8+ 23.Kd2 Rxf5 24.Bf4 Ne5 Black has an overwhelming attack. 22...Rxf6 Black is a piece up and still has an attack. In the remainder of the game White is searching for swindling chances, but Erigaisi keeps everything under control and converts his advantage without too much trouble. 23.Qg5+ Kf7 24.Qxh5+ Ke7 25.Bg2 Bxa3 26.Qh7+ Rf7 27.f6+ Ke8 28.Qg8+ Bf8 29.Rge1 Rxf6 30.Kf1+ Ne7 31.Rxe7+ Kxe7 32.Qh7+ Kd8 33.Bxb7 Ra7 34.Qh8 Qe5 35.Bf3 Qf5 0–1

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".
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