Chessable Masters Day 1: So takes an early sole lead 4.0/5

by Shahid Ahmed - 01/08/2021

The first day of Meltwater Champions Chess Tour Chessable Masters witnessed quite a few exciting games. Three Indians are taking part in this event, out of them Adhiban made a good start, 3.0/5. Wesley So has taken a sole lead 4.0/6. Artemiev, Nakamura and Firouzja are just a half point behind him 3.5/6. World's youngest GM Abhimanyu Mishra pushed too hard against So and lost the game which could have been a draw. In the next round, he lost to Nakamura due to a mouse slip in a theoretically drawn position. His only scoring game was a draw against Humpy in the fifth round. Round 6 starts today at 8:30 p.m. IST. Photo: Lennart Ootes/Grand Chess Tour

Adhiban makes a strong start

Adhiban scored 3.0/5 on the first day of the Chessable Masters. He started the event with a fine victory over Tari and then Iturrizaga, drew with Wenjun Ju and Harikrishna. His only loss of the day was against Artemiev. Harikrishna scored 2.5/5 and Humpy made 1.0/5. Humpy's one of the draws was against the Speed King, Nakamura.

So made a good start | Photo: Lennart Ootes/Grand Chess Tour

Round 1: Mamedyarov - Iturrizaga: 0.5-0.5

Mamedyarov was completely lost against Eduardo Iturrizaga. Unfortunately the former Venezuela no.1 missed a winning combination in the end and the World no.6 escaped with a draw by perpetual check.

Position after 45.h6

Find out the winning combination for Black in the above position.

A win against Mamedyarov would have been a great start for Iturrizaga | Photo: Niklesh Jain

Adhiban - Tari: 1-0

Adhiban started his tournament with a victory over Norway no.2, Aryan Tari

Position after 23.Ne5

Adhiban played in his signature attacking style, starting with 23.Ne5. 23...Nxd4 only accelerated things for White.

Adhiban made a good start | Photo: Tata Steel 2017

Firouzja - So: 0.5-0.5

So was winning the better part of the two knights endgame. However, Firouzja fought till the end and managed to save the game by salvaging a draw. Sure there were a lot of inaccuracies and So was winning on many occasions but the new France no.1 showed his grit in an adverse position.

Round 2: Iturrizaga - Adhiban: 0-1

Iturrizaga broke the position wide open while his pawns were overstretched. Adhiban utilized this factor to his own advantage.

Position after 27.Nxh5

27.Nxh5 did no good to White. If anything, it only helped Black. 27...Rh8 28.Ng3 Rh8+ 29.Kg1 Rh8 30.Ne2 f5 31.f4 Ng4 and soon things fell apart for White.

Harikrishna - Humpy: 1-0

Harikrishna defeated Humpy in the Petroff's defence, after the latter misjudged the potentiality of her opponent's attack.

Position after 21...Ne6

21...Ne6 almost ends the game for Black. Instead, Black needed to exchange the rooks 21...Rxe1+ 22.Rxe1 Re8 would have kept Black in the game a bit longer. Find out the winning continuation for White in the above diagram.