Vikramaditya shocks Ukrainian GM Tukhaev

Mumbai's IM Vikramaditya Kulkarni stunned GM Adam Tukhaev of Ukraine in an eighth round match of the 11th Mumbai Mayor's Cup International Open Chess Tournament today.

In another match in the Rs 35-lakh prize money LIC of India-sponsored tournament, former champion and IM Visakh NR of India scored an upset victory over GM Rozum Ivan of Russia.

Top seed, GM Kravtsiv Martyn of Ukraine drew with GM Amonatov Farrukh of Tajikistan and the two rivals shared the lead with six points each.

Playing with black, Kulkarni (ELO 2323) opted for French defense classical variation. On the 22nd move, he won an extra pawn which he had to forego when Tukhaev (ELO 2557) exchanged his knight for a bishop.

After the queens were exchanged, Kulkarni attacked the base pawn which was difficult to protect and Adam sacrificed his bishop for 2 pawns. Since the Indian had one extra piece on board, Adam had no chance of survival and accepted his defeat in 42 moves, boosting Kulkarni's tally to 5.5.

The game between GM Ivan (ELO 2581) and IM Visakh (ELO 2447) was converted to Reti opening after starting with English opening. Although Rozum got an extra pawn it gave an open file to Visakh and a powerful attack with his rook on the 7th rank to pin a knight.

Facing a continuous attack on his knight, Ivan had no option but to offer his rook for the knight. With a rook versus knight endgame, Ivan tried his best to draw but Visakh's resilience and focus helped him snatch victory in 56 moves.

Results (8th round): GM Amonatov Farrukh (2605, TJK) drew with GM Kravtsiv Martyn (2662, UKR) 6-6; GM Rozum Ivan (2581, RUS) lost to IM Visakh N R (2467, IND) 5-5; IM Harsha Bharathakoti (2471, IND) drew with GM Mozharov Mikhail (2558, RUS) 5-5; GM Tukhaev Adam (2557, UKR) lost to IM Kulkarni Vikramaditya (2323, IND) 5-5; IM Khusenkhojaev Muhammad (2445, TJK) drew with GM Ghosh Diptayan (2536, IND) 5-5; GM Pruijssers Roeland (2514, NED) bt Sammed Jaykumar Shete (2375, IND) 5-5; FM Raja Rithvik R (2296, IND) drew with GM Tran Tuan Minh (2514, VIE) 5-5; GM Manik Mikulas (2399, SVK) bt FM Karthik Venkataraman (2475, IND) 5-5; FM Rathanvel V S (2301, IND) bt GM Burmakin Vladimir (2528, RUS) 5-5; FM Erigaisi Arjun (2505, IND) drew with WGM Kulkarni Bhakti (2294, IND) 5-5.