India’s upcoming talent Balasubramaniam H. (ELO rating 2270) continued with his brilliant run of form and overshadowed the higher-ranked Vietnamese IM Nguyen Van Huy (ELO 2438) in a fourth round match of the EKA IIFWL Investment Mangers 4th Mumbai International GM Chess Tournament 2018, organized under the auspices of Mumbai City District Chess Association and All India chess federation by ACT, SMCA and Indian Chess School and played at World Trade Centre, Cuffe Parade.
Balasubramaniam H.
The 15-year-old Balasubramaniam, ranked 52nd, showed great character and temperament as he produced another outstanding performance to put it across the 33-year-old Nguyen, ranked 23rd, on the eighth board and to record his third win and remain unbeaten at the end of four rounds. His other two wins came against Bangladesh’s Koshor Shazzad and Russian GM Lugovskoy Maxim, while he played out a draw with Bangladesh GM Rahman Ziaurin the second round. The youngsters’ efforts so far have earned him a performance rating of 2606 which is an increase of 72 rating points.
Overnight leaders, IM Visakh N.R. (2491) and GM Sandipan Chanda (2555), both from India split the point as their match finished in a draw on the top board.
Vietnamese GM Tran Tuan Minh, Bangladeshi GM Ziaur Rahman, Indian IM Mohammad Nubairshah Shaikh and Iranian GM Masoud Mosadeghpour were the other players to win their games on the top 10 boards.
After four rounds, six players GM Chanda Sandipan (IND), Balasubramaniam H. (IND), GM Rahman Ziaur (BAN), GM Tran Tuan Minh (VIE), IM Mohammad Nubairshah Shaikh (IND), and IM Visakh N.R. (IND), all have a tally of 3.5 points each. But, Sandipan and Balasubramaniam both with better tie-breaker scores occupy the first and second positions respectively. Ziaur Rahman follows in third place.
Results – Round 4 (top-10 boards): IM Visakh N.R. (IND, 2491) 3.5 drew GM Chanda Sandipan (IND, 2555) 3.5.
GM Aleksandrov Aleksej (BLR, 2590) 3 drew IM Sardana Rishi (AUS, 2398) 3.
IM Muthaiah Al (IND, 2408) 3 drew GM Deepan Chakkravarthy J. (IND, 2550) 3.
GM Tran Tuan Minh (VIE, 2524) 3.5 beat IM Raghunandan Kaumandur Srihari (IND, 2378) 2.5.
FM Mohammad Fahad Rahman (BAN, 2381) 3 drew GM Saptarshi Roy (IND, 2494) 3.
GM Rahman Ziaur (BAN, 2468) 3.5 beat Saurabh Anand (IND, 2246) 2.5.
IM Kathmale Sameer (IND, 2312) 3 drew IM Khusenkhojaev Muhammad (TJK, 2455) 3.
IM Nguyen Van Huy (VIE, 2438) 2.5 lost Balasubramaniam H. (IND, 2270) 3.5.
IM Tran Minh Thang (VIE, 2342) 2.5 lost IM Mohammad Nubairshah Shaikh (IND, 2437) 3.5.
GM Mosadeghpour Masoud (IRI, 2520) 3 beat WIM Varshini V.(IND, 2171) 2.5.
Standing after round 4 (top 10): 1. GM Chanda Sandipan (IND) 3.5 pts, 2. Balasubramaniam H. (IND) 3.5, 3. GM Rahman Ziaur (BAN) 3.5, 4-5. GM Tran Tuan Minh (VIE) 3.5, IM Mohammad Nubairshah Shaikh (IND) 3.5, 6. IM Visakh N.R. (IND) 3.5, 7. IM Kathmale Sameer (IND) 3, 8. GM Aleksandrov Aleksej (BLR) 3, 9. IM Muthaiah Al (IND) 3, 10. IM Sardana Rishi (AUS) 3.