Iniyan Pa continued his splendid form, securing his fifth consecutive victory in the 5th round of the Masters’ Section at the 360 ONE Global Chess Festival, held at the World Trade Centre. The Erode-based Indian Grandmaster and National Champion has been the standout player, demonstrating remarkable mental strength to complement his board performance.
Upsets and Key Results
IM Sammed Jaykumar Shete caused the upset of the day by defeating third seed GM Abhijeet Gupta, who has been struggling with form. Second seed Sankalp Gupta also faced difficulties, losing to IM Srihari. After defeating Ayush Sharma, Iniyan leads by a full point over the next placed Akash Sharadchandra Dalvi and Soham Kamotra. Eleven players are bunched below with 3.5 points each. Iniyan is set to face Kamotra in the sixth round.
Challengers and Junior Masters
In the Challengers section, Viresh Sharnarthi and Vedant Nagarkatte jointly lead with 5 points each. In the Junior Masters Category, Madhvendra Pratap Sharma has shot into sole lead with 5 points. Interestingly, the top table duel featured the Sharnarthi brothers Viresh and Shlok, where the higher-rated Viresh triumphed.
Teen prodigy and ever-smiling Oshini Gunawardhana Devindya of Sri Lanka shocked seventh seed GM Mihail Nikitenko of Belarus. After losses in the first two rounds, Oshini has roared back with victories over two IMs and a GM.
Notable Games
Aakash Sharadchandra Dalvi defeated Akshay Borgaonkar, while the second board encounter between IMs Nitish Belurkar and Soham Kamotra ended in a draw. Ayush opted for the Nimzo Indian Opening against Iniyan and faced difficulties from the opening stages. Iniyan had a choice to grab a rook for his bishop and played a cool game, increasing his advantage at every opportunity. Faced with the loss of a knight, Ayush resigned on the 53rd move.
The Queen’s Gambit game between Dalvi and Borgaonkar was volatile, with players castling on opposite sides to create attacking possibilities. White enjoyed a positional edge throughout, but Borgaonkar’s decision to bring his king into the thick of battle after the exchange of queens backfired, losing a rook for a bishop and the game on the 37th turn.
Nikitenko and Oshini fought the Spanish way, where a couple of inaccurate moves by Nikitenko put Oshini firmly in control. Oshini’s queen, bishop, and rook made inroads into enemy territory, while Nikitenko banked on his queen and two connected central pawns. Oshini forced the exchange of queens and won a rook for her bishop, winning after 37 moves.
16-year-old Viresh Sharnarthi was pushed onto the backfoot by Shlok in the middle-game stages of an Irregular Opening game. Gradually, Shlok lost his way after the 25th turn following the exchange of queens. Viresh then won pawns at will to capture the point after 54 moves. Vedant Nagarkatte defeated Abhishek TM in 41 moves of a Sicilian Defence game.
Ankit started with the English Opening against Madhavendra. The players castled on opposite sides, but the queen flank was already blockaded with pawns. A spate of exchanges initiated by White on the 22nd turn resulted in a pawn loss for Ankit. Thereafter, Madhavendra forced the exchange of other pieces to reach a queen and pawn ending, winning after 51 moves.
Key Results
- GM Iniyan, Pa (1) beat Ayush, Sharma (0)
- Gupta, Abhijeet (0) lost to Sammed Jaykumar, Shete (1)
- Nitish, Belurkar (1/2) draw Soham, Kamotra (1/2)
- Apoorv, Kamble (1/2) draw Slizhevsky, Alexander (1/2)
- Aakash Sharadchandra, Dalvi (1) beat Borgaonkar, Akshay (0)
