Arjun Erigaisi’s comprehensive win over top-seeded Parham Maghsoodloo, combined with a calm draw between D. Gukesh and Pavel Eljanov in the penultimate round of the Chennai Grand Masters 2023 on Wednesday here at the Leela Palace, ensured that the tournament remained open until the very end.
Hungary’s Sanan Sjugirov, who was placed seventh before this round, stood his ground to hold Pentala Harikrishna comfortably, while the game between Levon Aronian and Alexandr Predke also failed to provide a decisive result, resulting in three out of four games in the sixth round ending in a standoff.
While Gukesh maintains a slim half-point lead in the eight-player tournament, Arjun and Harikrishna follow the 17-year-old with three-and-a-half points each after this round.
Although Arjun increased his chances of finishing joint-top by many folds after defeating the tournament’s highest-rated player in the fray, his chances of qualifying for Candidates remain slim as he needed an outright win in the seven-round event with a clear point difference.
In the Semi-Slav Defense Accepted game — a variation of the Queen’s Gambit Declined opening (a rock-solid defence for ‘black’ against ‘white’s’ Queen’s Gambit) — Arjun, playing with black, came out with a better position and an extra pawn once he finished his development after Parham made a few inaccurate moves.
Parham was left with a knight and light-squared bishop for Arjun’s knight pair after trading one rook and black’s bishop set that proved tricky to handle for the Iranian.
Passive play from Parham hampered his position further as his rook f1 in the 27th move gave Arjun a clear edge. In reply, the Warangal lad found a crucial move - queen a4 - that kept his favourable position intact while also giving him activity.
The Iranian resistance could only last 13 more moves as Arjun etched out his second win in this tournament, forcing Parham to resign after move No. 40.
Gukesh was the first to end his game in the round after Eljanov settled to conclude the game after 30 moves - the minimum number of moves required to finish the game with a draw agreement.
Harikrishna and Predke played a balanced game and quickly finished their initial developments. The game was poised to reach the endgame after both players traded queens in just the eighth move.
The exchanges continued till the match ended in the 42nd move with only kings and black’s bishop remaining on the board.
Gukesh will play Harikrishna, while Arjun will face Sjugirov in the last round on Thursday.
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