Laxman & Rozum share lead in Chennai Open 2018

Chennai based Grandmaster R R Laxman (7)  of ICF shared the lead with GM Ivan Rozum (Russia) after the eighth round of the 10th Chennai Open International Grandmaster Chess tournament 2018 for Sakthi Group Dr N Mahalingam Trophy at The Vijay Park Hotel, Chennai here today.

Grandmaster Laxman (7.0) overcame his team-mate and fellow Grandmaster Deepan Chakkravarthy in a Tarrasch game that lasted 40 moves. Laxman said, “Whites’s 17th move f4 proved risky and the ensuing complications went in my favor”. The win keeps Laxman on top of the table, at 7.0 points, along with second seed GM Ivan Rozum of Russia.

Rozum scored over defending champion GM Tukhaev Adam of Ukraine in the top board. The Reti game played out by the GMs saw the Russian taking the upper hand in an exchange up position and converting it into a fine win after 41 moves.

In a crucial third board game, Uzbek GM Marat Dzhumaev scored over higher-rated GM Sergei Tiviakov of The Netherlands. The win propelled Marat Dzhumaev to the third spot, which he shares with Erigaisi Arjun and N R Visakh (both India).

Meanwhile, top seed GM Gareyev Timur, recovered from his twin defeats posting his second win in a row, against Vikramjit Singh. The win takes Gareyev to 6.0 points with two rounds to go.

Important Results (Round 8) (Indians unless specified) :  Tukhaev Adam(UKR) 6 lost to Rozum Ivan (RUS) 7, Deepan Chakkravarthy J (6) lost to Laxman R.R (7), Dzhumaev Marat(UZB) 6.5 bt Tiviakov Sergei(NED)5.5, Nitin S (6) drew with Sivuk Vitaly (UKR) 6, Llaneza Vega Marcos (ESP) 6 drew with Atalik Suat (TUR) 6, Pruijssers Roeland (NED) 6 drew with Muthaiah AL (6), Erigaisi Arjun (6.5) bt Karthikeyan P (5.5), Karthik Venkataraman (6) drew with Sidhant Mohapatra (6), Visakh N R (6.5) bt Saravana Krishnan P (5.5), Tran Tuan Minh (VIE) 6 bt Pranav V (5.5), Gareyev Timur (USA) 6 bt Singh S. Vikramjit (5), Solodovnichenko Yuri (UKR) 6 bt Mithil Ajgaonkar (5), Tiwari Arjun (5) lost to Horvath Adam (HUN) 6.0