Bajarani stuns top seed Kryvoruchko

Al Ain: Azerbaijan champion Ulvi Bajarani shocked top seed Yuri Kryvoruchko of Ukraine to maintain a perfect score with 17 others after two rounds of the 4th Al Ain Classic Chess Championship at the Hili Rayhaan Rotana Hotel in Al Ain, UAE.

Bajarani, 20, a fourth-year Pharmacy major at the Azerbaijan Medical University, was 2014 Azerbaijan champion. He earned his grandmaster title at the young age of 17 and is rated 2551. Bajarani used the French Defense to outmaneuver the former Ukrainian champion, highest-rated at 2717, in a minor piece end-game. Kryvoruchko lost the exchange of rook for Knight on the 42nd move and resigned five moves later.

Second seed Wang Hao, 26-year-old Chinese champion, used the Semi Slav Defense to beat IM Diptayan Ghosh of India in 30 moves. Former World Championship challenger Alexey Shirov of Latvia kept pace by smashing the Sicilian Najdorf defense of GM G.N. Gopal of India in 57 moves.

After the lop-sided matches in the opening round, grandmasters faced each other in the second round. Eighteen players share the early lead with 2 points each in the 9-round Swiss system tournament. GM Bassem Amin of Egypt used the Nimzo Indian Defense to turn back GM Valeriy Neverov of Ukraine in 55 moves. GM Zahar Efimenko of Ukraine crushed the King’s Indian Defense of GM Fabien Libiszewski of France in only 26 moves.

Russian GM Aleksandr Rakhmanov used the Sicilian defense to beat Cuban GM Walter Arencibia in 64 moves. GM Mikheil Mchkedlishvili of Georgia crushed the King’s Indian defense of GM Deepan Chakravarthy of India in 31 moves. In a battle of Armenians, GM Robert Hovhannisyan beat GM Hovik Hayrapetyan in 49 moves of the latter’s Sicilian defense.

Sharing the lead with 2 points each are GMs Yuri Kuzobov, Vladimir Onischuk, Zahar Efimenko and Alexander Kovchan of Ukraine, Arman Pashikian and Zaven Andriasian of Armenia, Babu Lalith and Suri Vaibhav of India, IMs Mishra Swayams of India and Manuel Petrosyan of Armenia.

Twenty players follow with 1.5 points each in the race for $57,000 (Dh209,311) in cash prizes. A record 56 GMs and 5 WGMs are among the 127-man field from 33 countries. An Al Ain Amateur tournament is held concurrently for players rated below 2000 with 72 players from 15 countries competing for $7,000 in cash prizes.