Qatar Masters 2023 R5: S L Narayanan displaces India no.1 Gukesh, gains sole lead

by Shahid Ahmed - 16/10/2023

GM S L Narayanan defeated the India no.1 and World no.8 GM D Gukesh to emerge sole leader at Qatar Masters 2023. The India no.8 got a great position early in the middlegame and kept posing difficult questions to his opponent. It liquidated into a queen endgame which only computer can play precisely and save the day. Gukesh is human and he erred which allowed Narayanan to win the game and move to 4.5/5. A dozen players are trailing him at 4/5 each. The World no.1 GM Magnus Carlsen (NOR) bounced back by scoring a victory over GM Bharath Subramaniyam H. IM Vaishali R continues her impressive unbeaten run. She defeated 44th Olympiad Gold medalist, GM Shamsiddin Vokhidov (UZB) to move to 4/5. Today is a rest day. Round 6 starts tomorrow at 3 p.m. local time, 5:30 p.m. IST. Photos: Aditya Sur Roy

Vaishali continues her impressive run

There are four Indians among the dozen pursuers at 4/5. They are - GM Arjun Erigaisi, GM Karthikeyan Murali, GM Aditya Mittal and IM Vaishali R. IM Sambit Panda completed his hat-trick by winning against his second GM in-a-row, Vugar Rasulov (AZE). Gukesh's loss momentarily pushed him to India no.2 and Vishy Anand is back to India no.1 in the live ratings.

GM S L Narayanan displaces India no.1 GM D Gukesh from the top

Magnus Carlsen takes on a 16-year-old Indian super talent - Commentary by IM Sagar Shah | Video: ChessBase India

"I don't really prepare!" - Magnus Carlsen | Video: ChessBase India

GM Magnus Carlsen bounced back with a victory over GM Bharath Subramaniyam H

"I prepared every line against Nakamura!" - GM Javokhir Sindarov (UZB) | Video: ChessBase India

S L Narayanan - Gukesh: 1-0

GM S L Narayanan (2651) was eliminated by GM D Gukesh (2758) at the FIDE World Cup 2023. This is their first rated game since then. It goes without saying that Narayanan was going to make the most out of this opportunity at the biggest open tournament currently.

Position after 26.Nc3

The above position was the first critical moment of the game. Black had to make a decision - whether to allow the knight on d5 or not. Well, if you take a closer look, you can see Black cannot prevent it by any means. It wouldn't be an understatement to say Black is positionally lost here - just by looking the black queen and knight's placement. Even after 26...Bb8/Bc7 27.Nxd5 works Rxd5 28.Rxf7 Rxf7 29.Qxd5 and White is doing great. 26...cxd4 27.Nxd5 Re4 28.Rh3 Re5 29.exd4 Rf5 30.Rxf5 gxf5 31.Qf2 and the game liquidated into a queen endgame.

Position after 38.Qxf4

The nature of queen endgames is always complex and this one was no different. 38...Qxc4 39.h5 b5 40.Qe4+ Kg8 41.Qe8+ Kh7 42.g6+ fxg6 43.Qxg6+ computer might say it's equal but humans were playing that game and it was certainly not easy to defend. White's best bet to win the game was to use both of his passed d and h-pawns which is what he did.

Position after 52.d7

White is about to promote the pawn and win the game. What is the best way to prevent it? Black played 52...Qh4+?? and went on to lose the game. It would have taken a computer-like precision to save the game for White.

How tough is it to slay Gukesh - S L Narayanan vs Gukesh | Commentary by IM Sagar Shah | Video: ChessBase India

Rudik - Giri

Position after 34...Qa7?

GM Anish Giri (NED, 2760) made a strange decision to sideline his queen 34...Qa7? to attack the d4-pawn. 34...Qe6 would have been a better choice. 35.d5 c5 36.Qe3 Ng6 37.Qxc5 and White went on to convert his advantage into a full point.

IM Rudik Makarian speaks about his win over GM Anish Giri | Video: ChessBase India

GM Sankalp Gupta drew against GM Jakhongir Vakhidov (UZB) to move to an unbeaten 3.5/5

Vaishali - Vokhidov

Position after 20...Nxb3?

GM Shamsiddin Vokhidov (UZB, 2578) captured the b3-pawn to force the exchange of rooks which was not the best idea. 20...Nxb3? 21.Qb4 Nxa1 22.Qxd6 Nc2 23.Rb1 Qd8 24.c5 Na3 25.Rb7 Nc4 26.Qxd8 Rxd8 27.c6 and IM Vaishali R (2448) went on to win the game using her passed a and c-pawns combining with her rook and knight.

Vaishali on fire! Beats GM Shamsiddin Vokhidov (UZB) - Commentary by IM Sagar Shah | Video: ChessBase India

IM Vaishali R played excellent to beat GM Shamsiddin Vokhidov (UZB)

The story of a beautiful Chess Friendship - Nihal Sarin and Nogerbek Kazybek | Video: ChessBase India

Rasulov - Sambit

Position after 50.Rxf5??

50.Be1 would have been fine for GM Vugar Rasulov (AZE, 2560). 50.Rxf5?? allowed IM Sambit Panda (2395) to score a victory. Find out how.

IM Sambit Panda scored a hat-trick and defeated his second GM in-a-row | Photo: Shahid Ahmed

IM Nitish Belurkar - GM Lalit Babu: 0.5-0.5

GM Mert Yilmazyerli (TUR) - IM Nitin S: 0.5-0.5

Schedule

There are one round every day from 11th to 20th October 2023 starting from 3 p.m. local time, 5:30 p.m. IST. Monday 16th October 2023 is a rest day. Only last round on 20th October starts at 12 p.m. local time, 2:30 p.m. IST.

Time control

Time control for each tournament game is 90 minutes for the first 40 moves, plus 30 minutes for the rest of the game, with an increment of 30 seconds per move starting from move 1.

Prizes

The total prize fund of the tournament is US$ 108250. The top three prizes are $25000, $15000 and $10000 each.

Replay live stream

Replay Round 5 Live Commentary by IM Sagar Shah and Amruta Mokal | Video: ChessBase India

Replay Round 5 Live Commentary by GM Evgenij Miroshnichenko, IM Jovanka Houska, and IM Irene Sukandar | Video: Qatar Chess Association

Replay Round 5 games

Round 5 results

Bo.	No.		Name	Typ	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Typ	Rtg	No.
1	1	GM	Carlsen, Magnus *)		2839	2½	1 - 0	2½	GM	Bharath, Subramaniyam H	U16	2500	52
2	12	GM	Sindarov, Javokhir	U18	2658	3½	½ - ½	3½	GM	Nakamura, Hikaru *)		2780	2
3	13	GM	Narayanan.S.L,		2651	3½	1 - 0	3½	GM	Gukesh, D	U18	2758	4
4	25	GM	Jumabayev, Rinat		2585	3½	½ - ½	3½	GM	Erigaisi, Arjun	U20	2712	6
5	7	GM	Maghsoodloo, Parham		2707	3	1 - 0	3½	GM	Salem, A.R. Saleh		2632	16
6	37	IM	Makarian, Rudik	U20	2548	3	1 - 0	3	GM	Giri, Anish		2760	3
7	5	GM	Abdusattorov, Nodirbek	U20	2716	3	1 - 0	3	GM	Karthik, Venkataraman		2563	32
8	19	GM	Yakubboev, Nodirbek		2616	3	1 - 0	3	GM	Adhiban, B.		2551	36
9	39	GM	Visakh, N R		2547	3	0 - 1	3	GM	Karthikeyan, Murali		2611	20
10	45	GM	Sankalp, Gupta	U20	2518	3	½ - ½	3	GM	Vakhidov, Jakhongir		2607	22
11	23	GM	Paravyan, David		2599	3	1 - 0	3	GM	Fawzy, Adham		2535	40
12	43	GM	Kevlishvili, Robby		2521	3	½ - ½	3	GM	Sethuraman, S.P.		2598	24
13	55	IM	Ahmadzada, Ahmad	U20	2494	3	½ - ½	3	GM	Kuybokarov, Temur		2584	26
14	75	IM	Vaishali, Rameshbabu		2448	3	1 - 0	3	GM	Vokhidov, Shamsiddin		2578	28
15	142	GM	Laxman, R.R.		2322	3	0 - 1	3	GM	Aditya, Mittal	U18	2572	30
16	58	IM	Samadov, Read	U16	2492	2½	0 - 1	2½	GM	Van Foreest, Jorden		2707	8
17	9	GM	Nihal, Sarin	U20	2694	2½	½ - ½	2½	IM	Nogerbek, Kazybek	U20	2471	65
18	57	GM	Mousavi, Seyed Khalil		2492	2½	½ - ½	2½	GM	Oparin, Grigoriy		2681	11
19	15	GM	Aryan, Chopra		2634	2½	1 - 0	2½	GM	Gagare, Shardul		2460	70
20	17	GM	Mendonca, Leon Luke	U18	2622	2½	½ - ½	2½	IM	Baskin, Robert		2451	72

Details

Standings after Round 5

Rk.	SNo		Name	Typ	sex	FED	RtgI	Pts.	TB1	TB2
1	13	GM	Narayanan.S.L,			IND	2651	4,5	13	2939
2	2	GM	Nakamura, Hikaru			USA	2780	4	2	2780
3	5	GM	Abdusattorov, Nodirbek	U20		UZB	2716	4	5	2712
4	6	GM	Erigaisi, Arjun	U20		IND	2712	4	6	2782
5	7	GM	Maghsoodloo, Parham			IRI	2707	4	7	2736
6	12	GM	Sindarov, Javokhir	U18		UZB	2658	4	12	2800
7	19	GM	Yakubboev, Nodirbek			UZB	2616	4	19	2726
8	20	GM	Karthikeyan, Murali			IND	2611	4	20	2693
9	23	GM	Paravyan, David			FID	2599	4	23	2705
10	25	GM	Jumabayev, Rinat			KAZ	2585	4	25	2772
11	30	GM	Aditya, Mittal	U18		IND	2572	4	30	2747
12	37	IM	Makarian, Rudik	U20		FID	2548	4	37	2686
13	75	IM	Vaishali, Rameshbabu		w	IND	2448	4	75	2773
14	1	GM	Carlsen, Magnus			NOR	2839	3,5	1	2636
15	4	GM	Gukesh, D	U18		IND	2758	3,5	4	2629

Details

Round 6 pairings

Bo.	No.		Name	Typ	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Typ	Rtg	No.
1	48	IM	Samant, Aditya S	U18	2511	3½		3½	GM	Carlsen, Magnus *)		2839	1
2	2	GM	Nakamura, Hikaru *)		2780	4		4	GM	Paravyan, David		2599	23
3	5	GM	Abdusattorov, Nodirbek	U20	2716	4		4½	GM	Narayanan.S.L,		2651	13
4	6	GM	Erigaisi, Arjun	U20	2712	4		4	IM	Makarian, Rudik	U20	2548	37
5	20	GM	Karthikeyan, Murali		2611	4		4	GM	Maghsoodloo, Parham		2707	7
6	30	GM	Aditya, Mittal	U18	2572	4		4	GM	Sindarov, Javokhir	U18	2658	12
7	25	GM	Jumabayev, Rinat		2585	4		4	GM	Yakubboev, Nodirbek		2616	19
8	4	GM	Gukesh, D	U18	2758	3½		4	IM	Vaishali, Rameshbabu		2448	75
9	8	GM	Van Foreest, Jorden		2707	3½		3½	GM	Shimanov, Aleksandr		2566	31
10	79	IM	Srihari, L R	U18	2438	3½		3½	GM	Aryan, Chopra		2634	15
11	16	GM	Salem, A.R. Saleh		2632	3½		3½	GM	Kaidanov, Gregory		2554	35
12	18	GM	Puranik, Abhimanyu		2618	3½		3½	GM	Kevlishvili, Robby		2521	43
13	22	GM	Vakhidov, Jakhongir		2607	3½		3½	GM	Pranesh, M	U18	2515	46
14	24	GM	Sethuraman, S.P.		2598	3½		3½	IM	Ahmadzada, Ahmad	U20	2494	55
15	26	GM	Kuybokarov, Temur		2584	3½		3½	GM	Sankalp, Gupta	U20	2518	45
16	102	IM	Panda, Sambit	U20	2395	3½		3½	GM	Pranav, V	U18	2579	27
17	44	GM	Bellahcene, Bilel		2520	3		3	GM	Giri, Anish		2760	3
18	50	IM	Prraneeth, Vuppala	U16	2510	3		3	GM	Nihal, Sarin	U20	2694	9
19	10	GM	Fedoseev, Vladimir		2691	3		3	GM	Mousavi, Seyed Khalil		2492	57
20	11	GM	Oparin, Grigoriy		2681	3		3		Xiao, Tong(Qd)	U16	2476	63

Details

Links

Official site

Tournament Regulations: Open A and Open B

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