Manigandan holds GM Bernadskiy, Alberto shares lead

Madurai lad Manigandan S S held second seeded Grandmaster Bernadskiy Vitaliy of Ukraine to a draw in the second round of the 9th Chennai Open Grandmaster Chess tournament 2017 for the Sakthi Group Dr N Mahalingam Trophy at the New Media Hall, Nehru Stadium, Chennai here today.

Top seed Alberto David of Italy shared the lead at 2.0 points with many players including Grandmasters viz., Tukhaev Adam, Neverov Valeriy (both Ukraine), Malakhatko Vadim (Bel), Horvath Adam, Czebe Attila (both Hungary), Grover Sahaj, Laxman R R (both India) among others.

Top seeded Italian Grandmaster Alberto David (ELO 2569) scored a facile victory over Chakravarthy YVK, while the second and third boards saw highly rated Ukraine Grandmasters Bernadskiy Vitaliy and Sivuk Vitaliy being held to draws by Indian duo Manigandan S S and Raja Rithvik R respectively. Eight round remains to be played in this Eleven lakh Rupees prize money event that concludes on 25th Jan, 2017.

Due to unavoidable circumstances, the fourth round scheduled to be held tomorrow stands cancelled.

GM Bernadskiy Vitaliy – Manigandan S S

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Bc4 c5 8.Ne2 Nc6 9.Be3 O-O 10.Rc1 cxd4 11.cxd4 Qa5 12.Kf1 Qa3 13.Qd2 Rd8 14.Rc3 Qd6 15.Rd3 Qb4 16.Qxb4 Nxb4 17.Rd2 b6 18.f3 Ba6 19.Bxa6 Nxa6 20.Kf2 e6 21.Rc1 Rac8 22.Rdc2 Rxc2 23.Rxc2 Nb4 24.Rc4 Bf8 25.Bg5 Rb8 26.Nc1 a5 27.Rc7 Bg7 28.Be3 f5 29.a3 f4 30.Bxf4 Bxd4 31.Ke2 Na6 32.Ra7 e5 33.Bh6 Nc5 34.Rg7 Kh8 35.Re7 Kg8 36.Rg7 Kh8 37.Kd1 Be3 38.Rxh7 Kxh7 39.Bxe3 Kg7 40.Bd2 Kf6 41.Ne2 Nb3 42.Be3 b5 43.Kc2 a4 44.Nc3 Ke6 45.Nd5 Rc8 46.Kd3 Nc1 47.Kd2 Nb3 48.Kd3 Nc1 49.Kd2 Nb3 50.Kd3 1/2-1/2

Results (Round 2) (Indians unless specified) Chakravarthy YVK (1) lost to David Alberto (Ita) 2, Bernadskiy Vitaliy (Ukr) 1.5 drew with Manigandan S S (1.5), Raja Rithvik R (1.5) drew with Sivuk Vitaly (Ukr) 1.5, Tukhaev Adam (Ukr) 2 bt Sarbojit Paul (1), Balkishan A (1) lost to Malakhatko Vadim (Bel) 2, Sa Kannan (1) lost to Horvath Adam (Hun) 2, Czebe Attila (Hun) 2 bt Soham Datar (1), Mohite Ranveer (1) lost to Stopa Jacek (Pol) 2, Neverov Valeriy (UKr) 2 bt Mendonca Leon Luke (1), Negi Virender Singh (1) lost to Grover Sahaj (2)