Dubai: It was a day of big upsets as only half of the tournament’s 10 highest-rated players were able to maintain perfect slates after the second round on Tuesday night in the 20th Dubai Open Chess Tournament at the Dubai Chess and Culture Club.
Second-seed Grandmaster (GM) Bassem Amin of Egypt was the round’s biggest casualty after his King’s Indian Defence was overrun by 45th-seed GM Kidambi Sundararajan of India.
Amin, the reigning African chess champion and the highest-rated player in the Arab region, already had to scramble for defence against a vicious kingside attack after just a dozen moves. It was downhill from there onwards as Sundararajan was relentless in his offensive to wrap up the point after 33 moves.
Sixth-seed GM Eltaj Safarli was the round’s other high-profile victim, losing to 48th-seed International Master (IM) Arash Tahbaz of Iran. Tahbaz expertly handled the white side of what was essentially a very long manoeuvering contest to prevail after 58 moves.
Defending champion and third-seed GM Gawain Jones of the UK, meanwhile, was held to a draw by 43rd-seed Indian R. R. Laxman, while fourth-seed and inaugural champion GM Vladimir Akopian narrowly escaped with a draw after being materially down for most of the game against the youthful Indian IM Viani Antonio Dcunha, the tournament’s 46th seed.
Eighth-seed GM Vladislav Kovalev, on the other hand, wasn’t in the mood to fight as he settled for a quick 13-move draw by repetition of moves with IM Harsha Bharathakoti of India.
Top-seed GM Yuriy Kryvoruchko of Ukraine led the other half of the top 10 who won their matches to remain in the leaders’ bracket with two points each. Kryvoruchko wrapped up his game against IM Ravi Haria of the UK with an elegant two-piece sacrifice to pick up the point.
Other seeded players who won were fifth-seed GM David Anton Guijarro of Spain, former champion GM Aleksandr Rakhmanov of Russia and GM Sandro Mareco of Argentina.
The UAE’s IM Omar Noaman and IM Sultan Ibrahim failed to sustain their momentum after a strong first round as they fell to Mareco and India’s GM Deepan Chakkravarthy respectively in the second round.
Kryvoruchko will again headline the matches on Wednesday night’s third round as he plays 2008 champion GM Levan Pantsulaia of Georgia. A total of 27 players remain with perfect slates in the nine-round Swiss system tournament, which has attracted more than 160 players from over 30 countries.
The tournament has a total prize fund of $50,000 with the champion receiving $10,000 and the Shaikh Rashid Bin Hamdan Cup. The rest of the top 15 finishers will also receive cash prizes.
The Dubai Open Blitz Tournament, a side event that will be held during the tournament break on Friday, will have a total prize fund of $4,000.
