Laxman, Rozum in pole position

Grandmaster Laxman overcame his team-mate and fellow Grandmaster Deepan Chakkravarthy in a Tarrasch game that lasted 40 moves. Laxman said, “Whites’s 17th move, apawn push, proved risky and the ensuing complications went in my favor”. 

The win keeps Laxman on top of the table, at seven points, along with second seed GM Ivan Rozum of Russia. Rozum scored over defending champion GM Adam Tukhaev of Ukraine on the top board. 

The Reti game played out by the GMs saw the Russian taking the upper hand in an exchange up position and converting it into a fine win after 41 moves. In a crucial third board game, Uzbek GM Marat Dzhumaev scored over higher-rated GM Sergei Tiviakov of The Netherlands. The win propelled Marat Dzhumaev to the third spot, which he shares with Erigaisi Arjun and N R Visakh (both India). 

Meanwhile, top seed GM Gareyev Timur, recovered from his twin defeats posting his second win in a row, against Vikramjit Singh.

Tukhaev Adam(UKR) 6 lost to Rozum Ivan (RUS) 7, Deepan Chakkravarthy J (6) lost to Laxman R.R (7), Dzhumaev Marat(UZB) 6.5 bt Tiviakov Sergei(NED)5.5, Nitin S (6) drew with Sivuk Vitaly (UKR) 6, Llaneza Vega Marcos (ESP) 6 drew with Atalik Suat (TUR) 6, Pruijssers Roeland (NED) 6 drew with Muthaiah AL (6), Erigaisi Arjun (6.5) bt Karthikeyan P (5.5), Karthik Venkataraman (6) drew with Sidhant Mohapatra (6), Visakh N R (6.5) bt Saravana Krishnan P (5.5), Tran Tuan Minh (VIE) 6 bt Pranav V (5.5), Gareyev Timur (USA) 6 bt Singh S. Vikramjit (5), Solodovnichenko Yuri (UKR) 6 bt Mithil Ajgaonkar (5), Tiwari Arjun (5) lost to Horvath Adam (HUN) 6.0