Arjun Defeats Predke In Day Of Seesaw Battles
GM Arjun Erigaisi showed his defensive skills in a slightly difficult middlegame position to outwit GM Alexandr Predke later in a long endgame, scoring his maiden win of the event in the third round of the Chennai Grand Masters 2023. Erstwhile joint leaders GMs Sanan Sjugirov and Pentala Harikrishna drew their games from varying levels of fortunes to be on two points and continue to lead the event.
The highlights of the day were the two dramatic games from the Berlin Variation of the Ruy Lopez Opening that can be considered a spectator's nightmare due to its solid and dull reputation. The games between Harikrishna and GM Pavel Eljanov as well as Sjugirov and GM Levon Aronian were progressing along quiet lines but suddenly erupted into intense fights to end dramatically in draws.
The Chennai Grand Masters continues with round four on Monday, December 18, at 4:45 a.m. ET/10:45 CET/3:15 p.m. IST.
Chennai Grand Masters Round 3 Results
| Rating | Title | Player | Result | Title | Player | Rating | |||
| 1 | 2742 | GM | P. Maghsoodloo | ½-½ | GM | Gukesh D | 2720 | ||
| 2 | 2703 | GM | Sanan Sjugirov | ½-½ | GM | Levon Aronian | 2723 | ||
| 3 | 2696 | GM | P. Harikrishna | ½-½ | GM | Pavel Eljanov | 2691 | ||
| 4 | 2727 | GM | Arjun Erigaisi | 1-0 | GM | Alexandr Predke | 2689 |
One of the live wires of the event is Aronian, who attracts fans all over the world with his open and energetic personality. He started the day showing his joy of being in Chennai.
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The Berlin Skirmishes
But over the board, he seemed to be in trouble from the opening stage of the game, as his pawn advance on the h-file early seemed to land him trouble. Even though Aronian played his moves at a quick tempo as if they were all part of his opening preparation, GM Anish Giri called Aronian's play a "bluff" in the live commentary. The most interesting moment was when Sjugirov came up with a beautiful intermezzo which turned the game in his favor.
Black has just captured 21...Bxd3 here, and instead of the routine recapture 22.Qxd3, White came up with 22.Bg5! The bishop on d3 isn't going anywhere, and White captures the dark squares on the kingside and threatens an assault against the black king. And the surprises continued.
After Black played 22...Qd7 sidestepping the attack on the queen, White continued his inspired play and uncorked 23.Bf6! White again ignored the recapture of 23.Qxd3 and continued his attack on the kingside threatening to invade with Qd2-h6. It was obvious that Aronian was in big trouble at this point. But he extricated himself with his trademark resourceful counterplay and helpful inaccuracies by his opponent.
When asked about his ability to put up such resourceful counterplay with complexity, Aronian answered with characteristic wit.
Q: "After Bg5 and Bf6 it looked like you were in trouble, but once again you did what you're always very good at, putting up a very good defense with a lot of complexity. How do you manage it all these years?"
— chess24.com (@chess24com) December 17, 2023
Aronian: "Luck! There is no other explanation" 😃#ChennaiGM pic.twitter.com/rC79m0iGSo
The Berlin game between Harikrishna and Eljanov was progressing even more sedately until Harikrishna decided to spice it up with 24.Bd3, but it proved to be error-prone.
At the media center after the game, both players confessed to blind spots in their calculations during the game. Eljanov didn't realize his missed chance until much after the game, and he philosophically rued, "I didn't realize (I was winning). I thought—okay, I am safe. I didn't even double-check what I (could) do. The wisdom is you have to double-check!"
The wisdom is you have to double-check!
—Pavel Eljanov
The Seesaw Sveshnikov
Arjun's game against Predke promised lots of action from the beginning. Predke has rarely employed the Sveshnikov Variation of the Sicilian Defense in his career—an opening with a reputation for a sharp and uncompromising fight.
The game proved to be a dynamic affair where Predke seemed to be gradually taking over, especially after Arjun's questionable decision to part with his bishop pair with 16.Bxg6. But Arjun put that extra effort into the game to defend grittily and pounced to outplay his opponent when he got an opportunity to simplify the game into an advantageous ending. This eventful game is our Game of the Day, analyzed by GM Rafael Leitao below.
The game between GMs Parham Maghsoodloo and Gukesh Dommaraju ended in a draw; both sides maintained near parity throughout.
Standings After Round 3
How to watch the Chennai Grand Masters 2023
You can keep up with all the games and results of the tournament on our live events platform by following this link.
The Chennai Grand Masters 2023 is an eight-player all-play-all tournament in Chennai, India, running December 15-21. The strongest classical invitational tournament ever held in India, it gives Gukesh, Arjun, and Maghsoodloo a chance to qualify for the 2024 Candidates Tournament. The prize fund is $60,000, with $18,000 for first place.
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