Gukesh Surges Ahead On Day Of Spectators' Delight
GM Gukesh Dommaraju scored his second consecutive victory by outwitting GM Sanan Sjugirov, with the black pieces and aggressive play, to jump into the sole lead with three and a half points from five rounds in the Chennai Grand Masters 2023. Overnight joint leader GM Pentala Harikrishna and GM Pavel Eljanov shared the second and third places with three points.
It was a day of heavy fighting chess on Tuesday, with pawn sacrifices, tactical skirmishes, and remarkable escapes. A dramatic encounter of the day was between GMs Arjun Erigaisi and Levon Aronian where the latter seemed to be in dire straights; he pulled off a draw when Arjun erred while converting an advantageous rook ending.
The Chennai Grand Masters continues with round six on Wednesday, December 20, at 4:45 a.m. ET/10:45 CET/3:15 p.m. IST.
Chennai Grand Masters Round 5 Results
| Rating | Title | Player | Result | Title | Player | Rating | |||
| 1 | 2703 | GM | Sanan Sjugirov | 0-1 | GM | Gukesh D | 2720 | ||
| 2 | 2696 | GM | Harikrishna P | ½-½ | GM | P. Maghsoodloo | 2742 | ||
| 3 | 2727 | GM | Arjun Erigaisi | ½-½ | GM | Levon Aronian | 2723 | ||
| 4 | 2689 | GM | Alexandr Predke | 0-1 | GM | Pavel Eljanov | 2691 |
The competition heats up at Chennai and the tournament enters the crucial phase. With so much at stake for some of the players, the tension is palpable in the tournament hall as the games begin. The crampedness of the tournament hall also highlights the interest of the media in the event, with photographers hurrying to shoot their pictures and videos in the allowed initial ten minutes of the game.
🚨The fifth round is underway at the 2023 Chennai Grand Masters event! https://t.co/TUyOG3Gdxg pic.twitter.com/0s2lTP9rup
— Chess.com - India (@chesscom_in) December 19, 2023
To the delight of spectators, just after two hours of play, there was an electric atmosphere in all the games.
Defending a regular Italian Defense with black pieces, Gukesh uncorked 14...Ne7!? sacrificing the e5-pawn after 15.exd5 Nfxd5 16.Nxe5, thus throwing a challenge to his opponent. Sjugirov slowly got into considerable time pressure apart from Black having much more dynamic pieces on the board.
The position looked level, and just when White was expected to continue pragmatically with 20.h4 or 20.Ne4, Harikrishna too decided to sacrifice a pawn with 20.Nd6!, to the delight of the spectators.
The consensus among commentators was that Black had decent drawing chances in the endgame, in spite of a considerably weak pawn structure all over the board. However, Arjun found the beautiful 24.Re3! here, with the idea of the rook shifting to g3, after which it was clear that White had good practical chances to press for a win.
The position looked level, as the pawn weaknesses on e3 and d5 seemed to cancel out any advantage for either side. But Predke unexpectedly played 20.Kb1!? here, sacrificing the e3-pawn and thus raising the stakes.
No doubt, the Chennai Grand Masters 2023 is proving to be a spectator's delight as it enters the final stretch.
Sjugirov 0-1 Gukesh
Appearing on the live commentary at the end of the fourth round, Gukesh was asked if the race to the Candidates spot weighs too heavy on him currently. Gukesh confessed that though he tries his best to focus just on the games, achieving a place in the Candidates is very much in the back of his mind.
When one observes Gukesh at the tournament hall, he looks true to his description: someone who tries to be as focused as possible on his target. He hardly makes any conversation while appearing for the games and afterward, and often closes his eyes in a meditative break even during the games. He hardly makes an entry after the games at the Press Center too, preferring to conserve his energy. And, with the second win in a row in the fifth round, his disciplined routines seem to be bearing fruit.
Gukesh's main strength over the chess board is his aggression, enabling him to score with black pieces too in such crucial games. Such aggression was probably the main source that enabled him to sacrifice a pawn in the early middlegame and push ahead for a win in the fifth round.
He confessed later: "I was already looking for more than equality. Also, he was taking a lot of time and I had a huge time advantage. I wanted to make the most out of it." Such a stage of pragmatism enabled him to play wholeheartedly for a win, and this is our Game of the Day, analyzed by GM Rafael Leitao below.
Harikrishna ½-½ Maghsoodloo
GM Parham Maghsoodloo kept his momentum as promised after his win in the previous game, and played an open game against Harikrishna, thus making it clear that he was not in the equalizing-with-black-pieces mode. He was aiming for a fight even with the black pieces and did not mind taking the risk of weakening his position in the process.
And this is when Harikrishna too rose to the occasion, sacrificing a pawn and playing for an advantage with 20.Nd6!?. However, he erred soon after that, and Maghsoodloo took a long 18-minute think on his 25th move and equalized by giving back the pawn and getting out of the tight corner.
Arjun ½-½ Aronian
Appearing on the live commentary after the game, Gukesh called this game "Aronian's 1001st rook endgame save!" In a nutshell, it summed up the whole encounter.
Aronian's 1001st rook endgame save!
Dommaraju Gukesh
GM Anish Giri, also on the live commentary, was full of praise for Arjun's preparation and play in the game, where the Indian grandmaster virtually made 18 moves in the opening without consuming much of his thinking time.
Preferring a rare variation of the Scotch Opening, Arjun's opening preparation seemed to have had the desired effect when Aronian's play was found not optimal during the middlegame stages, and Arjun got a "juicy endgame" as described by Giri.
Arjun's play with 24.Re3 received great praise from Giri, who noted the accuracy of White's moves, remarking: "In such situations, every inch is important." In the further intense fight in the endgame, Aronian seemed to be gradually slipping in his defense and Arjun achieved a huge advantage. But just when it looked like a foregone conclusion that the game was in his pocket, Arjun committed a blunder in a won rook ending.
Predke 0-1 Eljanov
Though GM Alexandr Predke showed his ambition by offering a pawn sacrifice in the late middlegame, he seemed to have a difficult day at the office. His decision to give up his important bishop and also weaken the kingside with 22.b3 seemed to be his undoing.
Standings After Round 5
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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