6th Stepan Avagyan Memorial R3: Aravindh outplays Xiangyu, crosses 2750 for the first time
Aravindh Chithambaram outplayed Xiangyu Xu (CHN) in Round 3 of 6th Stepan Avagyan Memorial 2025. Aravindh played bravely and launched a devastating attack on the kingside by exposing his own king. His opponent had no answer to that. This win pushed Aravindh to 2750.8 in live ratings for the first time in his career. His rank is World no.11 in June FIDE rating list. R Praggnanandhaa signed a quick 18-move draw against Samuel Sevian (USA). Aram Hakobyan (ARM) and Dmitrij Kollars (GER) are the only two other victors of the round against Nodirbek Yakubboev (UZB) and Benjamin Gledura (HUN) respectively. Round 4 starts today at 3 p.m. local time, 4:30 p.m. IST. Photo: Chess Academy of Armenia
Hakobyan and Kollars score wins
The third round had three decisive games which is the highest in a round so far. Aravindh Chithambaram, Aram Hakobyan and Dmitrij Kollars are currently at 2/3 each. They are closely followed by four players - R Praggnanandhaa, Jonas Buhl Bjerre, Samuel Sevian and Xiangyu Xu at 1.5/3 each.
Aravindh - Xiangyu: 1-0
Aravindh Chithambaram (2749) played four Classical rated games against Xiangyu Xu (CHN, 2623). Aravindh won two and drew two. This time he completely outplayed his opponent.
Aravindh first played 18.c5 to pin the e6-pawn. 18...Qf7 19.Ng5 Qh5 20.f4 and we reach the above position. 20...Qxh2 21.Nh3 Qg3 22.Rd3 Qh4 23.g4! White just bravely pushes the pawn in front of his king. He knew that the attack he will launch on his opponent's king will be more important than the increased vulnerability of his own. 23...fxg4 24.Nf2 h5 25.Rh1 Qe7 26.Rxh5 Qf7 27.Rh4 e5 and White won.
Replay Round 3 live stream
Time Control
90 minutes for the first 40 moves + 30 minutes for the rest of the game (with 30 seconds increment starting from move one).
Prizes
The total prize fund is 7450000 AMD (≈ US$ 19325). The top three prizes are 3100000 AMD (≈ US$ 8041), 1 850 000 AMD (≈ US$ 4799) and 1500000 (≈ US$ 3891).
Round 3 results
| Bo. | No. | Rtg | White | Result | Black | Rtg | No. | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 2749 | GM | Aravindh Chithambaram Vr. | 1 - 0 | GM | Xu Xiangyu | 2623 | 10 | |||
| 2 | 3 | 2641 | GM | Bjerre Jonas Buhl | ½ - ½ | GM | Hovhannisyan Robert | 2635 | 1 | |||
| 3 | 4 | 2694 | GM | Sevian Samuel | ½ - ½ | GM | Praggnanandhaa R | 2758 | 9 | |||
| 4 | 5 | 2665 | GM | Yakubboev Nodirbek | 0 - 1 | GM | Hakobyan Aram | 2620 | 8 | |||
| 5 | 6 | 2625 | GM | Kollars Dmitrij | 1 - 0 | GM | Gledura Benjamin | 2663 | 7 |
Standings after Round 3
| Rk. | SNo | Name | FED | Rtg | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | GM | Aravindh Chithambaram Vr. | IND | 2749 | 2 | 2,75 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2 | 8 | GM | Hakobyan Aram | ARM | 2620 | 2 | 2,50 | 2 | 0 | |
| 3 | 6 | GM | Kollars Dmitrij | GER | 2625 | 2 | 2,25 | 2 | 0 | |
| 4 | 9 | GM | Praggnanandhaa R | IND | 2758 | 1,5 | 2,50 | 2 | 0 | |
| 5 | 3 | GM | Bjerre Jonas Buhl | DEN | 2641 | 1,5 | 2,25 | 1 | 0 | |
| 4 | GM | Sevian Samuel | USA | 2694 | 1,5 | 2,25 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 7 | 10 | GM | Xu Xiangyu | CHN | 2623 | 1,5 | 2,00 | 2 | 0 | |
| 8 | 1 | GM | Hovhannisyan Robert | ARM | 2635 | 1 | 1,75 | 1 | 0 | |
| 9 | 5 | GM | Yakubboev Nodirbek | UZB | 2665 | 1 | 1,50 | 1 | 0 | |
| 10 | 7 | GM | Gledura Benjamin | HUN | 2663 | 1 | 1,25 | 2 | 0 |
Round 4 pairings
| Bo. | No. | Rtg | White | Result | Black | Rtg | No. | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 10 | 2623 | GM | Xu Xiangyu | GM | Gledura Benjamin | 2663 | 7 | ||||
| 2 | 8 | 2620 | GM | Hakobyan Aram | GM | Kollars Dmitrij | 2625 | 6 | ||||
| 3 | 9 | 2758 | GM | Praggnanandhaa R | GM | Yakubboev Nodirbek | 2665 | 5 | ||||
| 4 | 1 | 2635 | GM | Hovhannisyan Robert | GM | Sevian Samuel | 2694 | 4 | ||||
| 5 | 2 | 2749 | GM | Aravindh Chithambaram Vr. | GM | Bjerre Jonas Buhl | 2641 | 3 |
Schedule
| Wednesday | 28 May at 19:00 | Opening Ceremony |
| Thursday | 29 May at 15:00 | Round 1 |
| Friday | 30 May at 15:00 | Round 2 |
| Saturday | 31 May at 15:00 | Round 3 |
| Sunday | 1 June at 15:00 | Round 4 |
| Monday | 2 June at 15:00 | Round 5 |
| Tuesday | 3 June at 15:00 | Round 6 |
| Wednesday | 4 June at 15:00 | Round 7 |
| Thursday | 5 June at 15:00 | Round 8 |
| Friday | 6 June at 11:00 | Round 9 |
| Friday | 6 June at 18:00 | Closing Ceremony |
