5th Stepan Avagyan Memorial R6: Arjun Erigaisi hunts Bluebaum's king, increases his sole lead
16/06/2024 - Arjun Erigaisi defeated Matthias Bluebaum (GER) to increase his sole lead by a full point at 5th Stepan Avagyan Memorial 2024. Arjun gobbled up two pawns in the middlegame and he managed to protect them. When the German declined the trade of queens, the World no.4 in live ratings, went for his opponent's king. Robert Hovhannisyan (ARM) scored the only other victory of the round. It was also his first win of the event and his opponent, Haik Martirosyan's (ARM) second loss. Haik misplayed in the sharp major piece endgame. It allowed his opponent to gain full control and liquidate into a favorable queen endgame. Arjun is at 4.5/6, followed by Samuel Sevian (USA), M Amin Tabatabaei (IRI) and Bogdan-Daniel Deac (ROU) at 3.5/6 each. Round 7 starts today at 3 p.m. local time, 4:30 p.m. IST. Photo: Chess Academy of Armenia