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Round eight witnessed the highly awaited Sethu-Vidit clash, which lived up to its top billing in the complexity and the excitement it generated. Deep Sengupta won his first game of the tournament by defeating Shyam Sundar while M.R. Venkatesh took down Swapnil. Kunte managed to win with a sweet little tactic after Arghyadip blundered. M. Karthikeyan wiped out Rathnakaran on the kingside while P. Karthikeyan put it across Shyaamnikhil.
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The seventh round could produce only one result -- Vidit beat Arghyadip to take a comfortable one point lead over the second-placed P. Karthikeyan, who drew a very strange game against Rathnakaran. Amidst all these draws, Praneeth Surya scored the first IM-norm of his fledgling career as he was held by Murali Karthikeyan, who at one point had a worse position.
There were three wins and four draws in the sixth round, but let these results not fool you! Sethu invested a humongous amount of time in the early middlegame, only to gift Rathna the point in a platter. P. Karthikeyan won against Praneeth while Kunte allowed Venkatesh his first victory in this tournament. Neelotpal had a better position against Deep Sengupta -- so much better that he was sedated into a textbook draw.
The city of Patna, the capital of Bihar, hosted the 24th edition of the National U-25 Championship. This tournament was the final age-category National event of the year 2015 and managed to attract sixty-three players. Newly minted IM Krishna Teja N. of Andhra Pradesh won the tournament with 8.5/9. We have pictures, analysis and choice tactics for you.
The biggest news of the fifth round was Praneeth's victory over the defending champion Sethu. Vidit defeated his former coach and mentor Kunte in a positionally elegant manner while an unfit Shyam Sundar put it across P. Karthikeyan with hardly any problems. Deep Sengupta's woes continued as he lost yet again, this time to M. Karthikeyan who seems hell-bent on winning every game after a forgettable start. After the kind of starts they had to this tournament, both Venkatesh and Rathnakaran can't complain much about their results, as they drew with Neelotpal and Arghyadip respectively. Swapnil, meanwhile, won an instructive endgame.
Soumya Swaminathan leads the National Women Premier after six rounds with a score of 5.0/6. She is followed closely by Swati Ghate and Padmini Rout who are on 4.5/6 and Pratyusha Bodda on four points. Especially worrying is the form of Tania Sachdev who is only on 2.0/6. The participants recieved a fine boost as the Governor of Bengal visited the venue. With five rounds to go this is shaping up to be an exciting contest. We have some nice pictures as well as analysis from the event.
The fourth round saw four decisive games, and White won all of them. Rathnakaran fell to the same line that had destroyed him in the second round. Praneeth’s Najdorf could not suppress Arghyadip’s queenside onslaught. Sethu played a fine game and converted easily after Shyam Sundar missed his chance to equalize. Kunte and Shyaamnikhil settled for a quick draw, while P. Karthikeyan won a pawn, but could not break through Deep’s defenses. Venkatesh finally had reasons to smile, after he held an unfit Vidit to a draw. The game of the day was played by India's bright hope Murali Karthikeyan.
Four decisive games meant that it was a fighting Tuesday here at Thiruvarur. Kunte and M. Karthikeyan managed to open their accounts, the latter at the expense of an extremely consistent Venkatesh who remains at a sorry 0/3. To both Vidit and P. Karthikeyan's dismay, they were held to draws. Deep and Rathnakaran lost their second consecutive games, the former tragically from a won position. Praneeth caused yet another upset when he took down Dhopade while Shyam Sundar and Arghyadip played out an entertaining draw. The tournament was also graced by a hero of yesteryears: the Evans Gambit!
After three rounds at the National Women's Premier 2015, two girls from Pune, Swati Ghate and Soumya Swaminathan are in the lead with a score of 2.5/3. Behind them is Pratyusha Bodda who just beat the top seeded Padmini Rout. A lot of interesting games were played in the event - not to be missed is Padmini's Tal like play against Bhakti Kulkarni.
Blood spilled left and right as Caissa paid no heed to reputations. Many a higher rated seeds were left doing double takes at their own positions. The upset of the day was Neelotpal’s victory over the defending champion Sethu. P. Karthikeyan meanwhile accounted for M. Karthikeyan, and he leads the tournament with Vidit Gujrathi, who displayed yet another gem of a preparation. Three GMs remain stuck in the island of 0/2.
What a scintillating start to the 2015 National Men’s Premier! We saw it all: an example of near perfect preparation, missed chances and even a loss on time! Sethu beat Murali Karthikeyan after the latter missed his chance to equalize; Vidit destroyed Praneeth in a well-prepared line. Venkatesh shot himself on the foot, Kunte defended well but strangely donated a pawn to Shyam Sundar, while Shyaamnikhil committed suicide against Rathnakaran, losing on time in a better position.
Former National Junior Champion S.L. Narayanan has shown steady progress throughout his chess career. On Saturday, at the Philippine International Open, he crowned his forward march by taking his rating across the 2500 mark and earning a GM norm in the process – his third norm – which makes him India’s 41st grandmaster. A report on the tournament with a special focus on India's latest grandmaster.
13th of November 2015 is an important day in Indian chess. The ChessBase India website has been launched. This article provides you with a brief summary of the things that ChessBase India would be indulging in, in order to promote chess in the country. Top class coverage of Indian events along with special prices of ChessBase products for Indian residents. Read the article for more details.
Nine grandmasters, four International Masters and one FIDE Master in a round robin with a rating average of 2500 – India’s strongest tournament for the year 2015 is here. The National Premier Championship will witness its 53rd edition when the Thiruvarur District Chess Association hosts the grand event at the Kasi’s Inn in Thiruvarur, Tamil Nadu. The 13-round bonanza begins on 14 November 2015. ChessBase India brings you a detailed preview, with pre-tournament comments from the gladiators.
30 years ago on this very day Anatoly Karpov held out his hand in resignation, and thus was crowned the youngest World Champion ever in the history of the game - Garry Kasparov. We have for you the Facebook post made by Garry as well as the interesting points from this 24 game match. Fans of Garry will surely remember his brilliant move 8...d5?!!? which gave him one of the most beautiful victories of his career. Here's your chance to get acquainted with the drama of the 1985 match!
