The Sharjah Masters 7. Tournament Round saw a significant change of order as former leader alone Aravindh Chithambaram suffered a loss with white against Iran’s GM Bardiya Daneshvar. Daneshvar securing a win in the first game could exchange places with Aravindh in the tournament standings and tie with American GM Sam Shankland. Shankland makes his move and takes advantage of Niemann’s endgame mistakes.
Aravindh falts to give Niemann a chance.
Saleh Salem was defeated by Aravindh Chithambaram who now remains the sole leader of Round 5. In the second round he got a draw against Sam Shankland after making safe moves and he was paired up with 17-year-old Iranian GM Bardiya Daneshvar. Being the one that scores lowest for the title, Aravindh may have looked at this as a possible chance to consolidate his campaign.
Over the course of the opening chance appeared to be on the side of the Iranian but a number of time trouble blunders left the field open to Daneshvar. This led the game into the endgame where the players were left with two queens, two rooks and two pawns each. Daneshvar was in the leading position; however, Aravindh loss a rook three moves later and lost the match.
As mentioned earlier Daneshvar managed to upset Shankland and so the two were occupying the top position. The black player Hans Niemann lost to Sam Shankland after he made a mistake in a position that was drawn in the king and pawn ending game.
Close Contenders
Six players are now half a point behind the co-leaders: Amin Tabatabaei has been playing and winning a lot of tournaments for more than 10 years.
Penultimate Round Pairings
The penultimate round promises intense clashes:The penultimate round promises intense clashes:
Daneshvar vs. Shankland
White has been entrusted to Tabatabaei and Sarana and Murzin in the chasers’ games on the 2-4 tables.
Key Performances
The other win went to Volodar Murzin who scored against Pranav V with black maintaining his good form.
The 2022 Sharjah Masters is currently unfolding and it has proven to be an exciting chess match as we near the end.
