Sharjah Masters: Wang Hao is first among equals

by Albert Silver
4/3/2017 – The final round of the Sharjah Masters kept fans glued to their seats as they watched the final deciding games that would decide the podium. After the dust had settled, six players shared the score of 7.0/9, with Wang Hao from China taking first on tiebreak, followed by Baskaran Adhiban in second and Martyn Kravtsiv in third. Here is the final illustrated report with GM analysis from the players. | Photo: Maria Emelianova

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Reporting the results barely does justice to just how tense the final round was. With six players tied for first, and four entering the final round tied for first, one imagines that it was hardly all about quick handshakes and scoresheet signing.

Video report of round nine

 

Daniel King speaks with Wang Hao, Yuriy Kryvoruchko, Adhiban Baskara and Martyn Kravtsiv | Powerplay Chess on YouTube

The one game between actual leaders was more a formality, and Wang Hao and Yuriy Kryvoruchko only made a half-hearted attempt, more seeing whether either was feeling frisky or not, before shaking hands after 28 moves in a virtually symmetrical position.

This left them both with 7.0/9, but also meant that should either Adhiban or Kravtsiv win their games, they might take sole lead themselves. That said, they were also playing black and both faced 2700 opponents, so the odds were in favor of this not happening.

Top seed Radoslaw Wojtaszek fught valiantly but was unable to get into full gear | Photo: Maria Emelianova

Top seed Wojtaszek got an edge, and was certainly playing for a win, since with 6.0/8 he absolutely needed the full point to have a chance for a place on the podium. This was good news for Adhiban, playing black, since it meant the game would be a live one with chances of his own. With 6.5/8, a draw would put him on parity with the leaders, while a win could mean sole first. The Indian ended up worse for a good part of the game, so when he drew it, it was not an unhappy result for him.

Baskaran Adhiban managed to take second in the end | Photo: Maria Emelianova

Finally came Naiditsch with 6.0/8 and Kravtsiv with 6.5/8, in a similar strategical situation as Wojtaszek and Adhiban. The Ukrainian played an excellent game and after a long battle reached a completely won opposite-colored bishop ending. The rolling phalanx of pawns should have been a no-brainer, but instead the nerves and prospect of sole gold (by then he knew the results of his rival co-leaders) caused him to crack, and let Naiditsch escape with a nice finesse.

Arkadij Naiditsch vs Martyn Kravtsiv
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48.a3 Black has a crushing advantage, and the win should be fairly straightforward. g3? Almost anything was better than this howler. The most obvious choice was 48...h5 49.Kh2 Ke4 50.Bc7 g3+! with an important difference from the game: 51.fxg3 f3 52.Bb6 Kd3 53.Kg1 Ke2 49.fxg3 fxg3 50.h5! A very fine move that effectively saves the half point now. Kf4 If Black were to play 50...Kg5 with the intention of capturing the h5 pawn, White plays 51.Be3+ Kxh5 52.Kg2 and either the g3 or h6 pawn will fall with a tablebase draw. 51.Bc5 Kg4 52.Be3 Kxh5 53.Kg2 Kg4 54.Bxh6 Bc6+ 55.Kf1 Kf3 56.Bd2 e4 57.Be1 Ba4 58.Kg1 Bb5 59.Bb4 e3 60.Bd6 Bc6 61.Bc7 g2 62.Ba5 Ke2 63.Bb4 Kd1
64.a4! e2 64...Bxa4 65.Kxg2 65.Kf2 Bxa4 66.Kxg2= e1Q 67.Bxe1 Kxe1
½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Naiditsch,A2702Kravtsiv,M2641½–½2017D021st Sharjah Masters 20179

An epic battle that will leave Kravtsiv with a few regrets as he was poised to take sole first had he beat Naiditsch.

Arkadij Naiditsch resets the pieces as Martyn Kravtsiv signs his scoresheet | Photo: Maria Emelianova

S.P. Sethuraman was another Indian to take a piece from the podium pie as he won his last game against Akopian, which he presents below.

S.P. Sethuraman | Photo: Maria Emelianova

S.P. Sethuraman vs Vladimir Akopian

Coming in fifth place was Indian player Sethuraman, who knew that the only way to get a decent prize was to win his game, and win it he did, against Vladimir Akopian. Here he analyzes the final phase with Daniel King. 

 

Sethuraman with Daniel King | Powerplay Chess on YouTube

The final player to join the group on 7.0/9 was Salem Saleh, the local hero. Salem had had a dodgy start with only 2.0/4 in the start, but gained steam quickly and finished with an immaculate 5.0/5 beating Ukrainian Areschenko in the final round.

In the end, Wang Hao’s superb campaign also gave him the best tiebreak, and he took first, while Adhiban came in second, and Kravtsiv took third.

The top female prize went to Harika Dronavalli, easily the highest rated in the event. In the final round she drew Mikhaylo Oleksiyenko, rated 2643 and finished with 6.0/9.

Harika Dronavalli extends a hand to Mikhaylo Oleksiyenko | Photo: Maria Emelianova

A special mention to WFM Srija Seshadri, rated 2166, who scored 5½/9 with a 2428 performance!

WFM Srija Seshadri | Photo: Maria Emelianova

Matthias Bluebaum vs Ahmad Asgarizadeh

Matthias Bluebaum came into the final round higher rated and determined to win with white. Win he did in very short time, and he presents his miniature here.

 

Matthias Bluebam with Daniel King | Powerplay Chess on YouTube


Rustam Kasimdzhanov, the FIDE World Champion in 2004, has been extremely successful with the Nimzo-Indian with 4.Qc2 with White and with Black. In over 4 hours of video, Rustam Kasimdzhanov explains all the important ideas, strategies and tricks helped by sample games in which the white side is represented, e.g., by Kasparov, Anand, Kramnik and Ivanchuk as well as the author himself.


After the round, kids gather around to analyze and play. Kids who score 2520 performances it should be noted, such as IM Praggnanandhaa and Nodirbek Abdusattorov.

IM Praggnanandhaa (in stripped shirt) | Photo: Maria Emelianova

Group photo with organizers, arbiters and winners

Group photo with organizers, arbiters and winners (click or tap to expand) | Photo: Maria Emelianova

Final standings

Rk
SNo
Ti.
Name
FED
Rtg
Pts
 TB 
rtg+/-
1 5 GM Wang Hao CHN 2683 7,0 47,0 12,0
2 6 GM Adhiban B. IND 2682 7,0 44,0 11,4
3 21 GM Kravtsiv Martyn UKR 2641 7,0 44,0 14,3
4 2 GM Kryvoruchko Yuriy UKR 2708 7,0 43,0 4,5
5 23 GM Sethuraman S.P. IND 2629 7,0 42,5 10,6
6 18 GM Salem A.R. Saleh UAE 2652 7,0 41,0 -1,9
7 4 GM Naiditsch Arkadij AZE 2702 6,5 46,5 -1,0
8 16 GM Fressinet Laurent FRA 2662 6,5 45,0 2,6
9 17 GM Amin Bassem EGY 2660 6,5 44,0 3,5
10 1 GM Wojtaszek Radoslaw POL 2745 6,5 43,5 -3,8
11 45 GM Pichot Alan ARG 2556 6,5 43,5 8,2
12 28 GM Adly Ahmed EGY 2593 6,5 43,0 10,5
  47   Xu Yinglun CHN 2540 6,5 43,0 14,1
14 13 GM Sargissian Gabriel ARM 2666 6,5 42,5 -6,3
15 36 GM Maghsoodloo Parham IRI 2576 6,5 41,5 9,9
16 15 GM Mareco Sandro ARG 2664 6,5 40,5 -0,9
17 8 GM Safarli Eltaj AZE 2680 6,5 40,5 -7,1
18 22 GM Bluebaum Matthias GER 2632 6,5 40,0 -0,9
19 54 IM Xu Xiangyu CHN 2503 6,5 39,0 16,5
20 12 GM Iturrizaga Bonelli Eduardo VEN 2673 6,0 45,5 -9,3
21 11 GM Akopian Vladimir ARM 2675 6,0 44,5 -5,3
22 7 GM Areshchenko Alexander UKR 2682 6,0 42,5 -6,0
23 19 GM Kuzubov Yuriy UKR 2643 6,0 42,5 -8,2
24 50 GM Sunilduth Lyna Narayanan IND 2526 6,0 42,0 6,8
25 31 GM Gledura Benjamin HUN 2588 6,0 41,5 4,6
26 73   Yakubboev Nodirbek UZB 2427 6,0 41,0 5,1
27 20 GM Oleksiyenko Mykhaylo UKR 2643 6,0 40,5 -9,7
  72 FM Abdusattorov Nodirbek UZB 2429 6,0 40,5 11,6
29 64 IM Narayanan Srinath IND 2472 6,0 40,5 14,4
30 59 GM Debashis Das IND 2480 6,0 40,0 5,1
31 65 IM Praggnanandhaa R IND 2455 6,0 39,5 10,5
32 27 GM Bok Benjamin NED 2596 6,0 39,5 -4,2
33 48 GM Harika Dronavalli IND 2539 6,0 39,0 8,4
34 42 IM Santos Latasa Jaime ESP 2565 6,0 38,5 -13,2
35 55 IM Stany G.A. IND 2495 6,0 36,0 0,3
36 10 GM Jones Gawain C B ENG 2676 5,5 47,0 -8,9
37 57 GM Deepan Chakkravarthy J. IND 2483 5,5 44,0 4,8
38 79 IM Vignesh N R IND 2405 5,5 42,5 18,1
39 38 GM Svane Rasmus GER 2570 5,5 41,5 -2,9
  49 GM Vishnu Prasanna. V IND 2534 5,5 41,5 -4,5

Live games

 
Live: 8th Sharjah Masters-A 2025
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1.e4 8.9 e5 13 2.Nf3 14 Nc6 6 3.Bc4 2:06 Nf6 13 4.d3 7 Be7 18 5.0-0 1:46 0-0 7 6.Re1 1:07 d6 1:11 7.a3 23 a5 2:30 8.h3 6:01 h6 3:03 9.Nc3 1:50 Be6 1:31 10.b3 10:19 Qd7 3:06 11.Bb5 4:50 Qc8 7:45 12.Bxc6 14:41 bxc6 7 13.d4 6 Nd7 9:50 14.Bb2 2:33 Bf6 7:27 15.Ne2 5:04 a4 5:10 16.b4 1:20 exd4 13:14 17.Bxd4 4:35 Ne5 58 18.Bxe5 17:06 dxe5 2:18 19.Nc1 9 Bc4 4:55 20.Nd3 55 Rd8 41 21.Qc1 1:04 Bxd3 2:24 22.cxd3 6 Rxd3 25 23.Re3 6:11 Rxe3 1:03 24.Qxe3 4 Qe6 1:04 25.Rd1 1:25 Be7 1:14 26.Rd3 6:22 c5 2:22 27.bxc5 10 c6 12 28.Qc1 9:43 Rb8 6:27 29.Qc2 29 Rb3 1:01 30.Nd2 2:14 Rxd3 1:08 31.Qxd3 2 Bxc5 8 32.Qc2 11 Bd4 3:17 33.Qxa4 2:44 Qa2 5 34.Qxc6 31 Bxf2+ 8:28 35.Kxf2 4 Qxd2+ 9 36.Kg1 7 Qe3+ 9 37.Kh2 4 Qxa3 17 38.Qe8+ 4 Qf8 13 ½–½
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StWhiteEloWBlackEloBResRndid
Zemlyanskii,I2563Giri,A27384.14832140
Schekachikhin,M2364Mayank Chakraborty24364.14832208
Nikitenko,M2516Indjic,A26374.24832141
Burmakin,V2435Zhang,D24104.24832209
Theodorou,N2611Dai,C25314.34832143
Levin,E2453Aydin,G22404.34832210
Visakh N R2507Kozak,A25784.44832144
Garifullina,L2467Zia,T23744.44832211
Salem,A2631Madaminov,M25204.54832146
Ritviz,P2362Wang,S24624.54832213
Abdusattorov,N2771Nigmatov,O24574.64832147
Setyaki,A2364Mahdavi,R24454.64832215
Maghsoodloo,P2706Ahmadzada,A25644.74832148
Meng,Y2443Bharadia Yash23554.74832216
Tabatabaei,M2670Grebnev,A25564.84832149
Sharipov,D2269Shyaam Nikhil P24304.84832217
Vetokhin,S2558Sargsyan,S26664.94832152
Umarov,M1942Ahmad,A22834.94832219
Woodward,A2547Mendonca,L26304.104832153
Tarigan,G2415Akshat,K23354.104832220
Klimkowski,J2503Daneshvar,B26214.114832154
Mkrtchyan,M2292Liyanage,R23874.114832221
Ivic,V2630Aditya Mittal25474.124832155
Poormosavi,S2379Abdulkarimli,E21734.124832223
Tin,J2601Kacharava,N25164.134832156
Ilamparthi A R2469Azarov,S25964.144832158
Oro,F2454Iniyan,P25734.154832160
Amar,E2569Assaubayeva,B24944.164832161
Karthik Venkataraman2565Ohanyan,E25034.174832162
Sankalp Gupta2559Sevian,S26944.184832164
Nguyen,N2632Sanal,V25554.194832165
Bharath Subramaniyam H2556Idani,P26304.204832166
Xu,X2623Zhu,J25414.214832167
Paravyan,D2596Xiao,T24934.224832168
Pranav Anand2555Pichot,A25874.234832170
Mamedov,E2492Can,E25684.244832173
Akobian,V2564Huang,R24914.254832178
Rohith Krishna S2490Sargissian,G26414.264832179
Lobanov,S2527Predke,A26314.274832180
Samadov,R2521Muradli,M26034.284832181
Vescovi,G2584Malek,J25114.294832184
Bai,J2572Petkov,M25244.304832185
Movahed,S2518Samunenkov,I25724.314832186
Gavrilescu,D2554Isik,A24824.324832187
Jumabayev,R2551Divya Deshmukh24694.334832189
Pang,T2485Vakhidov,J25464.344832190
Raja Rithvik R2545Seemann,J24534.354832191
Tarhan,A2472Kuybokarov,T25424.364832192
Sychev,K2542Siddharth,J24724.374832193
Gupta,A2577Tippa,A16144.384832194
Aronyak Ghosh2514Sethuraman,S25524.394832195
Ferreira,J2537Davtyan,A24854.404832197
Royal,S2493Injac,T24744.414832198
Karthik Venkataraman2565Giri,A27382.14677262
Sakline Mostafa,S2234Prraneeth Vuppala24742.14677335
Tabatabaei,M2670Zemlyanskii,I25632.24677265
Borisova,E2233Wang,S24622.24677336
Akobian,V2564Sargsyan,S26662.34677266
Levin,E2453said,H-2.34677337
Bharath Subramaniyam H2556Indjic,A26372.44677268
Sultan,I2222Mahdavi,R24452.44677339
Salem,A2631Malek,J25112.54677269
Vasilkov,N2201Harshavardhan G B24412.54677340
Ivic,V2630Vetokhin,S25582.64677270
Jiang,H2439AbuAzizah,R21822.64677341
Tin,J2601Grebnev,A25562.74677271
Tabada,J2197Mayank Chakraborty24362.74677342
Nikitenko,M2516Azarov,S25962.84677273
Burmakin,V2435Dimitrova,A21762.84677343
Paravyan,D2596Dai,C25312.94677275
Assaad,J2187Shyaam Nikhil P24302.94677344
Visakh N R2507Iniyan,P25732.104677276
Tarigan,G2415Abdulkarimli,E21732.104677346
Mamedov,E2492Sevian,S26942.114677277
Arshiya Das2174Zhang,D24102.114677347
Abdusattorov,N2771Aditya Mittal25472.124677278
Du,Y1973Ahmad,A22832.124677350
Maghsoodloo,P2706Sethuraman,S25522.134677279
Sargissian,G2641Zhu,J25412.144677281
Nguyen,N2632Kuybokarov,T25422.154677283
Woodward,A2547Predke,A26312.164677285
Ferreira,J2537Idani,P26302.174677286
Lobanov,S2527Mendonca,L26302.184677288
Xu,X2623Kacharava,N25162.194677289
Samadov,R2521Daneshvar,B26212.204677290
Theodorou,N2611Madaminov,M25202.214677293
Vescovi,G2584Assaubayeva,B24942.224677294
Movahed,S2518Kozak,A25782.234677295
Gupta,A2577Ohanyan,E25032.244677297
Bai,J2572Huang,R24912.254677301
Amar,E2569Xiao,T24932.264677302
Klimkowski,J2503Can,E25682.274677304
Rohith Krishna S2490Ahmadzada,A25642.284677305
Sankalp Gupta2559Nigmatov,O24572.294677306
Pranav Anand2555Seemann,J24532.304677307
Pang,T2485Sanal,V25552.314677309
Gavrilescu,D2554Siddharth,J24722.324677310
Oro,F2454Muradli,M26032.334677312
Aronyak Ghosh2514Pichot,A25872.344677314
Royal,S2493Samunenkov,I25722.354677315
Jumabayev,R2551Davtyan,A24852.364677316
Injac,T2474Vakhidov,J25462.374677317
Raja Rithvik R2545Isik,A24822.384677318
Sychev,K2542Divya Deshmukh24692.394677320
Tarhan,A2472Petkov,M25242.404677321
Ilamparthi A R2469Tippa,A16142.414677323
Sethuraman,S2552Abdusattorov,N27711.14604271
Preobrazhenskaya,D2103Ayush Sharma24781.14604331
Giri,A2738Jumabayev,R25511.24604272
Prraneeth Vuppala2474Nyazi,N21031.24604333
Aditya Mittal2547Maghsoodloo,P27061.34604273
Xu,Z2102Garifullina,L24671.34604334
Sevian,S2694Woodward,A25471.44604274
Wang,S2462Vishwa Vasnawala20901.44604335
Dai,C2531Salem,A26311.54604276
Zhou,Y2087Levin,E24531.54604337
Vakhidov,J2546Tabatabaei,M26701.64604277
Mahdavi,R2445Muhammed,S20821.64604338
Sargsyan,S2666Raja Rithvik R25451.74604278
Imomkuzieva,N2080Meng,Y24431.74604339
Kuybokarov,T2542Sargissian,G26411.84604279
Harshavardhan G B2441Vandan Alankar Sawai20751.84604340
Indjic,A2637Sychev,K25421.94604280
Mukund Hemant Agarwal2075Jiang,H24391.94604342
Zhu,J2541Nguyen,N26321.104604281
Mayank Chakraborty2436Shashish Subbiah20681.104604343
Predke,A2631Ferreira,J25371.114604282
Alhejab,M2067Burmakin,V24351.114604345
Idani,P2630Lobanov,S25271.124604284
Ahmad,A2283Aamuktha Guntaka19791.124604347
Petkov,M2524Ivic,V26301.134604286
Mendonca,L2630Samadov,R25211.144604288
Madaminov,M2520Xu,X26231.154604289
Daneshvar,B2621Movahed,S25181.164604291
Kacharava,N2516Theodorou,N26111.174604292
Muradli,M2603Nikitenko,M25161.184604294
Tippa,A1614Tin,J26011.194604296
Azarov,S2596Aronyak Ghosh25141.204604297
Malek,J2511Paravyan,D25961.214604298
Pichot,A2587Visakh N R25071.224604299
Ohanyan,E2503Vescovi,G25841.234604300
Kozak,A2578Klimkowski,J25031.244604301
Assaubayeva,B2494Gupta,A25771.254604304
Iniyan,P2573Royal,S24931.264604306
Xiao,T2493Bai,J25721.274604307
Samunenkov,I2572Mamedov,E24921.284604308
Huang,R2491Amar,E25691.294604309
Can,E2568Rohith Krishna S24901.304604310
Davtyan,A2485Karthik Venkataraman25651.314604311
Ahmadzada,A2564Pang,T24851.324604312
Isik,A2482Akobian,V25641.334604314
Zemlyanskii,I2563Injac,T24741.344604315
Siddharth,J2472Sankalp Gupta25591.354604317
Vetokhin,S2558Tarhan,A24721.364604319
Divya Deshmukh2469Bharath Subramaniyam H25561.374604320
Grebnev,A2556Ilamparthi A R24691.384604321
Nigmatov,O2457Pranav Anand25551.394604322
Sanal,V2555Oro,F24541.404604324
Seemann,J2453Gavrilescu,D25541.414604326
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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, and the content creator of the YouTube channel, Chess & Tech.

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