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Athens of the East 2019 Round 4: West Bengal's Sayantan Das stuns second seed Boris Savchenko

by Satanick Mukhuty - 14/08/2019

It was round four at the Athens of the East International Open 2019. IM Sayantan Das of West Bengal shocked the Russian Grandmaster and second seed of the event Boris Savchenko by checkmating him in a mere thirty-eight moves. It was a double-edged Sicilian game where the Indian player managed to heavily punish his opponent's slow and dubious plans. WGM Kiran Manisha Mohanty also created a stir by beating the Tajikistani IM Muhammad Khusenkhojaev. Elsewhere, Rajesh V A V, Konguvel Ponnuswamy, and Raja Rithvik R. held their higher rated adversaries Pavel Smirnov, Adam Tukhaev, and Masoud Mosadeghpour respectively to draws. All in all, after four rounds, three players - Sayantan Das, Venkatesh M R, and Kiran Manisha Mohanty - lead the event with 4.0/4. In this report we bring you photos, games, and more.

Sayantan, Venkatesh, and Kiran lead after round 4 of Athens of the East Open

Sayantan Das is more than 150 points lower rated than Boris Savchenko but causing upsets have become a norm with Indian players these days! | Photo: IA Rathinam Anantharam

Playing with the Black pieces, Savchenko chose a somewhat offbeat variation of the Sicilian defense with an advance development of queen. The game soon turned sharp with White castling queenside and lashing out with a pawn storm on the opposite side. The Russian GM couldn't quite react with the most effective counterplay and found himself on the receiving end of a deadly onslaught in no time. Let us begin by looking at the highlights of this encounter.

 

Sayantan Das - Boris Savchenko, Round 4

4...Qb6 introduces the so-called Godiva variation. Black seeks to remove White's d4 knight early and then proceed with development.

With 13.Kb1 White prepares for a full-fledged pawn storm on the kingside with g5 and h4. Black's best bet here perhaps would have been 13...Nb4 followed by Bb7 but in the game Savchenko opted for 13...Nb6 instead which seemed a tad slow.

The game turned double-edged very soon!

22...f5 was a mistake and led to further weakening of the kingside. White now had an unstoppable onslaught in store!

e5 is Black's only way to prevent mate on g7 but this results in a dangerous central liquidation that allows other white pieces to join the foray. 

Can you guess White's final breakthrough move in the above position?

Here's the full game for you to peruse:

What happened in Kiran Manisha Mohanty versus Muhammad Khusenkhojaev is rather unfortunate as the latter had a decisive edge at one point of the game. The IM from Tajikistan blundered, first to blow away his advantage and then to end up in a lost position.

Sometimes you play well, sometimes you get a bit lucky! Kiran Manisha Mohanty in action against Muhammad Khusenkhojaev | Photo: IA Rathinam Anantharam

Some more photos

IM Rajesh V A V held third seed GM Pavel Smirnov to a draw with the black pieces | Photo: IA Rathinam Anantharam

IM Konguvel Ponnuswamy drew fourth seed GM Adam Tukhaev | Photo: IA Rathinam Anantharam

IM Raja Rithvik R. played solidly against GM Masoud Mosadeghpour to force the split of point | Photo: IA Rathinam Anantharam

The Indian Tal K.Rathnakaran couldn't hold his own against compatriot GM Venkatesh M.R. and lost in just 26 moves | Photo: IA Rathinam Anantharam

Top seed Abhijeet Gupta registered victory against Tamil Nadu's N.Lokesh to stay at the heels of the leaders | Photo: IA Rathinam Anantharam

Results of round 4

Bo.No. NameRtgClub/CityPts. ResultPts. NameRtgClub/City No.
113
IMDas Sayantan 2409WB3 1 - 03 GMSavchenko Boris 2576RUS
2
23
GMSmirnov Pavel 2574RUS3 ½ - ½3 IMRajesh V A V 2378TN
17
316
IMKonguvel Ponnuswamy 2383TN3 ½ - ½3 GMTukhaev Adam 2541UKR
4
418
IMRaja Rithvik R 2364TEL3 ½ - ½3 GMMosadeghpour Masoud 2509IRI
6
521
IMRathnakaran K. 2337S.Rly3 0 - 13 GMVenkatesh M.R. 2480PSPB
8
654
WGMKiran Manisha Mohanty 2082LIC3 1 - 03 IMKhusenkhojaev Muhammad 2442TJK
10
71
GMGupta Abhijeet 2616PSPB 1 - 0 Lokesh N. 2202TN
35
87
GMVasquez Schroeder Rodrigo 2496CHI 1 - 0 Lakshmi Narayanan M V 2166TN
43
99
IMShyaamnikhil P 2457ICF 1 - 0 Sarath Chandra K 1594TEL
162
1012
GMKarthikeyan P. 2422ICF ½ - ½ CMNikhil Magizhnan 2124TN
51
1132
Ram S. Krishnan 2224BSNL ½ - ½ IMMuthaiah Al 2384TN
15
1244
Dusthageer Ibrahim M. 2156TN-M 0 - 1 IMNitin S. 2358S.Rly
19
1348
Niraj Saripalli 2150GOA 0 - 1 Nayak Rajesh 2250ORI
27
1486
Nikhil M 1865AP 0 - 12 GMLaxman R.R. 2426ICF
11
1562
Sa Kannan 2021TN2 0 - 12 IMTriapishko Alexandr 2519RUS
5
1614
Harshavardhan G B 2391TN2 0 - 12 Arnav Maheshwari 1966TN
69
1720
FMOm Kharola 2357MAH2 1 - 02 Gokhale Rishabh Chandrashekhar 1981MAH
65
1822
IMSaravana Krishnan P. 2329KVB2 1 - 02 Pattnayak Nilsu 1979ORI
67
1974
Jain Kashish Manoj 1937MAH2 0 - 12 Kunal M. 2306TN
23
2024
Sahoo Utkal Ranjan 2278ORI2 1 - 02 Gias Uddin Ahmed 1961BAN
71

Standings after round 4

Rk.SNo NameTypsexFEDRtgIClub/CityPts. TB1  TB2  TB3  TB4  TB5 
113
IMDas SayantanIND2409WB4,00,010,58,011,004
28
GMVenkatesh M.R.IND2480PSPB4,00,09,58,09,504
354
WGMKiran Manisha MohantywIND2082LIC4,00,07,57,08,504
41
GMGupta AbhijeetIND2616PSPB3,50,011,09,09,253
527
Nayak RajeshIND2250ORI3,50,011,08,59,253
63
GMSmirnov PavelRUS2574RUS3,50,010,08,58,253
18
IMRaja Rithvik RU16IND2364TEL3,50,010,08,58,253
84
GMTukhaev AdamUKR2541UKR3,50,09,59,07,753
99
IMShyaamnikhil PIND2457ICF3,50,09,07,08,003
107
GMVasquez Schroeder RodrigoS50CHI2496CHI3,50,09,07,07,753
116
GMMosadeghpour MasoudIRI2509IRI3,50,08,57,56,753
1216
IMKonguvel PonnuswamyIND2383TN3,50,08,08,06,253
1319
IMNitin S.IND2358S.Rly3,50,08,07,06,753
1417
IMRajesh V A VIND2378TN3,50,08,06,57,253
1510
IMKhusenkhojaev MuhammadTJK2442TJK3,00,011,09,57,003
162
GMSavchenko BorisRUS2576RUS3,00,011,09,07,503
1734
Baivab MishraIND2215ORI3,00,010,08,56,003
1830
Hari Madhavan N BU16IND2231TN3,00,010,08,06,503
1912
GMKarthikeyan P.IND2422ICF3,00,09,58,06,752
2023
Kunal M.IND2306TN3,00,09,58,04,003