Bu Xiangzhi Wins Shenzhen Masters On Tiebreaks, Giri Drops Out Of Top 10

GM Bu Xiangzhi edged out GMs Yu Yangyi and Arjun Erigaisi on tiebreaks to win the fifth edition of the Shenzhen Longgang Chess Masters on Thursday. All three finished on 4.5/7, with Bu having the best tiebreaks. It wasn't a good week for GM Anish Giri, who lost 17 Elo points and dropped out of the world top 10 for the first time since February 2021.

The field of the fifth Shenzhen Masters, held in the Chinese national team's training center in Longgang, was a mixture of four international top grandmasters and four local players. Besides Bu and Yu, GM Xu Yiangyu had a decent tournament as well (scoring 50 percent), while GM Ma Qun ended in last place.

Shenzhen Masters 2024 | Final Standings

The two Russian GMs Daniil Dubov and Vladislav Artemiev probably hoped for a somewhat better result, but particularly Giri was wounded in the Chinese battlefield. Losing 17 rating points in a single week is a lot, especially with the top players so close to each other in the rankings. He dropped from fourth (after his first-round win in Shenzhen) to 15th place, while Arjun is the new world number 10.

The first tiebreak was mutual result, but Bu also had the best tournament of all based on Sonneborn-Berger points and performance rating (2803). You could say that the 38-year-old grandmaster from Qingdao, Shandong, showed that class is permanent. In 1999, he was the youngest grandmaster in history when he got the title aged 13 years, 10 months and 13 days.

Mostly working as a trainer these days, he is still a force to reckon with at the board. Arjun learned the hard way in the second round:

Apart from five draws, Bu also defeated Giri in round five. The Dutchman started well with a win against Artemiev in the opening round, but lost three games in a row after that before finishing with three draws. Against Bu, Giri played fast in the opening but his opponent got a long-lasting advantage based on the bishop pair, and the Chinese number-five played an exemplary endgame:

Like his compatriot, Yu remained undefeated with two wins and five draws. In round three, Artemiev failed to draw a rook endgame that occurs quite often, where one side has an extra pawn on the queenside. It's all about creating counterplay on the kingside at the right moment (and, in this case, with the right move order).

Arjun was involved in a long and tough battle in round four against the tailender Ma, which lasted 70 moves. The 20-year-old Indian GM sacrificed a piece early on, eventually won Black's queen, and built up a winning position, but for the next 25 moves or so, Black was very close to a draw based on a fortress:

The 2024 Shenzhen Masters took place February 29-March 7 at the Longgang Training Center in Longgang, Shenzhen, China. The prize fund was $90,000. The time control was 90 minutes for the first 40 moves followed by 30 minutes for the rest of the game, with a 30-second increment from move one.