Commonwealth 2018 Round 4: The path to gold is not easy!

by Sagar Shah - 30/06/2018

There are 14 age group sections being played simultaneously with the open event in the Commonwealth Championships 2018. These age category tournaments have reached their most interesting stage because they are just seven round events. In many of the sections, the top seeds clashed against each other. In many the best players are going to play against each other after the rest day. We bring you the detailed coverage of all the sections with some vibrant pictures by Amruta Mokal. In the Open section S.Nitin leads with 4.0/4 and is the sole leader. Saturday is a rest day for the juniors and a double round for players in the open section.

It was the fourth round in the age category section of the Commonwealth Championships 2018. And as there are only seven rounds to be played, this was already one of the crucial encounters where a lot of top seeds played against each other. Also it was the game before the rest day. Let's go through the sections one by one to see who is doing well!

Under-8 Open:

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	24		Rosh Jain	IND	1095	Delhi	4,0	0,0	8,0	9,0
2	15		Archisman Patra	IND	1138	West Bengal	4,0	0,0	7,5	9,0
3	14		Mitul K H	IND	1145	Karnataka	4,0	0,0	7,0	7,5
4	1	CM	Manon Reja Neer	BAN	1618	Bangladesh	3,5	0,0	6,5	7,5
5	26		Varun Prabhakaran K S	IND	1089	Puducherry	3,0	0,0	10,0	12,5
6	23		Divitt Arora	IND	1103	Delhi	3,0	0,0	10,0	11,0
7	5		Mrinmoy Rajkhowa	IND	1277	Assam	3,0	0,0	9,0	10,5
8	3		Adireddy Arjun	IND	1440	Telangana	3,0	0,0	8,5	10,5
9	2		Aakash G	IND	1503	Tamilnadu	3,0	0,0	7,5	9,5
10	4		Abhinav Raj	IND	1385	Delhi	3,0	0,0	7,5	8,5

We have three little boys - one from Delhi, one from West Bengal and one from Karnataka leading the event. It will be interesting to see who comes out on top!

Rosh Jain is the local lad and is in good form in this event! | Photo: Amruta Mokal

I met the other co-leader Mitul KH in Karnataka State Championship 2018 and I think he was extremely good. Check out his analysis.

Under-8 girls:

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	3		Sri Harini A	IND	1073	Karnataka	4,0	0,0	8,0	9,5
2	17		Aggarwal Tashna	IND	0	Uttar Pradesh	3,5	0,0	9,0	11,0
3	16	WCM	Shriyana S Mallya	IND	0	Karnataka	3,5	0,0	8,0	9,5
4	36		Shah Hiya	IND	0	Maharashtra	3,0	0,0	9,5	10,5
5	9		Asudani Ruhani Raj	IND	1039	Gujarat	3,0	0,0	9,0	10,5
6	10		Hatvalne Swarali	IND	1028	Maharashtra	3,0	0,0	8,0	9,0
7	7		Jenisha Khattar	IND	1056	Gujarat	3,0	0,0	7,5	8,5
8	6		Shreya G Hipparagi	IND	1057	Maharashtra	3,0	0,0	7,5	7,5
9	1		Devaki Nandana	IND	1128	ANDHRA PRADESH	3,0	0,0	7,0	9,0
10	25		Lakshana Subramanian	IND	0	Tamil Nadu	3,0	0,0	6,5	8,0

We have a sole leader in this section - Sri Harini from Karnataka

Under-10 open

Om Kadam looks like the strongest of the lot. He is currently on 4.0/4 and has played well in all his games. Yet, he has to remain careful as Arsh Shaik is also on 4.0/4 | Photo: Amruta Mokal

The attack was very nicely conducted and Black stood no real chance in the game.

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	1		Kadam Om Manish	IND	1842	Maharashtra	4,0	0,0	7,5	9,0
2	8		Shaik Sumer Arsh	IND	1512	Telangana	4,0	0,0	7,0	8,5
3	3		John Veny Akkarakaran	IND	1590	Kerala	3,5	0,0	9,0	11,0
	4		Viswak Sen M	IND	1585	Telangana	3,5	0,0	9,0	11,0
5	20		Bagwe Gaurang	IND	1427	Maharashtra	3,5	0,0	9,0	10,5
6	23		Jaidambareesh N R	IND	1383	Tamil Nadu	3,5	0,0	9,0	10,0
7	7	AIM	Sahib Singh	IND	1523	Delhi	3,5	0,0	6,5	8,5
8	2		Arhan Chethan Anand	IND	1626	Karnataka	3,5	0,0	6,5	8,0
9	21		Atreya Nandy	IND	1408	West Bengal	3,5	0,0	6,5	7,0
10	31		Kshatriya Nitin Vekhande	IND	1300	Maharashtra	3,0	0,0	9,0	10,0

Under-10 girls

Rk.	SNo	Name	FED	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	16	Sani Deshpande	IND	1109	Maharashtra	4,0	0,0	7,0	8,0
2	2	Anupam M Sreekumar	IND	1376	Kerala	3,5	0,0	9,5	10,5
3	13	Mrittika Mallick	IND	1124	West Bengal	3,5	0,0	8,5	10,0
4	11	Stuti Aishwary	IND	1150	Delhi	3,5	0,0	7,5	8,5
5	7	Sneha Halder	IND	1197	West Bengal	3,0	0,0	9,0	10,0
6	24	Dakare Rucha	IND	1041	Maharashtra	3,0	0,0	8,5	10,5
7	3	Rout Yashita	IND	1333	Odisha	3,0	0,0	8,5	10,5
8	23	Falak Joni Naik	IND	1063	Gujarat	3,0	0,0	8,0	10,0
9	36	Anushka Aggarwal	IND	0	Punjab	3,0	0,0	8,0	9,5
10	19	Aashi Upadhyay	IND	1091	Rajaathan	3,0	0,0	8,0	8,0

Sani Deshpande is leading the event with 4.0/4.

Under-12 Open:

This is going to be a keenly contested section. Sreeshwan Maralakshikari is currently the sole leader, but he has three strong players on his heels - Leon Mendonca, Pranesh M. and Shahil Dey.

Taking it easy for a moment - Sreeshwan Maralakshikari | Photo: Amruta Mokal

The game on the top board between Leon and Pranesh ended in a draw | Photo: Amruta Mokal

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	2		Sreeshwan Maralakshikari	IND	2064	Telangana	4,0	0,0	9,0	11,0
2	1	CM	Mendonca Leon Luke	IND	2228	Goa	3,5	0,0	9,0	10,5
3	4		Pranesh M	IND	1983	Tamil Nadu	3,5	0,0	8,5	9,0
4	3	CM	Shahil Dey	IND	2019		3,5	0,0	7,0	8,0
5	7		Aditya Varun Gampa	IND	1704	Telangana	3,0	0,0	8,5	10,5
6	5		Manish Kumar (2006)	IND	1878	Odisha	3,0	0,0	8,0	9,0
7	14		Adireddy Tarun	IND	1578	Telangana	3,0	0,0	7,5	8,0
8	15		Sai Nikhil Y	IND	1560	Andhra Pradesh	3,0	0,0	7,5	8,0
9	12		Soham Saha	IND	1595	West Bengal	2,5	0,0	8,5	10,5
10	8		Arora Honi	IND	1612	Rajasthan	2,5	0,0	8,5	10,0

Under-12 girls:

It will be interesting to see if Kriti Patel can maintain her momentum. She faces strong challenge from girls who have been dominant at the national and asian scenes - Sahithi Varshini, Sarayu Velpula and Savitha Shri. | Photo: Amruta Mokal

This video shows what a fine talent Kriti Patel is!

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	19	WCM	Kriti Mayur Patel	IND	1339	Maharashtra	4,0	0,0	7,5	8,5
2	6	WCM	Sahithi Varshini M	IND	1571	Andhra Pradesh	3,5	0,0	8,5	10,5
3	7		Velpula Sarayu	IND	1568	Telangana	3,5	0,0	7,5	9,0
4	2		Savitha Shri B	IND	1720	Tamilnadu	3,5	0,0	6,5	8,0
5	13		Kheerthi Ganta	IND	1387	Telangana	3,0	0,0	8,0	9,0
6	5		Boramanikar Tanisha S	IND	1579	Maharashtra	3,0	0,0	7,0	8,5
7	4		Meenatchi Rajam V	IND	1613	Tamilnadu	3,0	0,0	6,5	8,0
8	11	AFM	Advaita Sharma K	IND	1398	Telangana	3,0	0,0	6,0	7,5
9	10		Mahi Amit Doshi	IND	1411	Gujarat	2,5	0,0	9,0	11,0
10	8	WCM	Wankhade Sanskruti	IND	1524	Maharashtra	2,5	0,0	9,0	11,0

Under-14 Open:

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	1	CM	Kushagra Mohan	IND	2307	Telangana	3,5	0,0	9,0	11,5
2	8		Karthik Sai Ch	IND	1789	Telangana	3,5	0,0	9,0	11,0
3	2		Panda Sambit	IND	2187	Odisha	3,5	0,0	8,5	11,0
4	15		Ranadheer B J S K	IND	1679	Andhra Pradesh	3,0	0,0	9,0	10,0
5	5		Esshan Wadhawan	IND	1876	Delhi	3,0	0,0	8,0	9,5
6	22		Tanmay Chopra	IND	1613	Delhi	3,0	0,0	8,0	8,5
7	4	AGM	Rathneesh R	IND	1893	Tamilnadu	3,0	0,0	7,5	9,0
8	6		Ruban Sanjai M	IND	1798	Tamil Nadu	3,0	0,0	7,5	9,0
9	20		Rahul Krishna Viswanathan	IND	1639	West Bengal	3,0	0,0	7,0	7,5
	23		Siddhant Nath Jha	IND	1612	Haryana	3,0	0,0	7,0	7,5

It is not going to be easy to stop Kushagra Mohan from winning the gold, but as of now we have three players - Kushagra, Sai Karthik and Sambit Panda on 3.5/4 | Photo: Amruta Mokal

Under-14 girls:

The important result of the fourth round in this section was L. Jyothsna getting better of the top seed Nityata Jain.

Nityata has just pushed her pawn to a3. Jyothsna finished off the game in style now. Can you see how?

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	3	WCM	Jyothsna L	IND	1871	Tamilnadu	3,5	0,0	9,0	10,0
2	10		Arushi Kotwal	IND	1661	Jammu&Kashmir	3,5	0,0	8,0	8,5
3	4	WCM	Bristy Mukherjee	IND	1817	West Bengal	3,5	0,0	7,0	9,0
4	1	WCM	Jain Nityata	IND	2015	Madhya Pradesh	3,0	0,0	8,5	10,0
5	8		Eesha Ajay Sarda	IND	1680	Maharashtra	3,0	0,0	8,0	10,0
6	6		Rindhiya V	IND	1733	Tamil Nadu	3,0	0,0	7,0	8,0
7	2		Bhagyashree Patil	IND	1906	Maharashtra	3,0	0,0	6,5	8,0
8	25		Ishvi Aggarwal	IND	1266	Haryana	3,0	0,0	6,0	6,5
9	15		Vijayasubhasri S	IND	1441	Tamil Nadu	2,5	0,0	9,5	10,0
10	9		Adane Narayani	IND	1666	Maharashtra	2,5	0,0	9,0	11,0

Under-16 open:

Raahul VS currently leads the tournament with a score of 4.0/4 | Photo: Amruta Mokal

After the fourth round ended, we asked Raahul to show us his win over Sampath. It was a very instructive video.We recommend that you go over the game below first, try to form your own opinions and then see Raahul explaining his game.

Raahul shows his fourth round win against Sampath Naga Cheela

Raahul is trained by GM R.B. Ramesh and working together with Aravindh Chithambaram and R.Praggnanandhaa has motivated him to become better at the game. Currently he has two IM norms and a rating of 2300+.

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	3		Raahul V S	IND	2234	Tamilnadu	4,0	0,0	8,0	9,5
2	1		Koustav Chatterjee	IND	2365	West Bengal	3,5	0,0	8,5	10,5
3	9		Cheela Naga Sampath	IND	1894	Andhra Pradesh	3,0	0,0	9,0	10,0
4	2		Sankalp Gupta	IND	2365	Maharashtra	3,0	0,0	8,5	10,0
5	10		Sibi Visal R	IND	1879	Tamilnadu	3,0	0,0	8,5	9,5
6	5	FM	Thilakarathne G M H	SRI	2188	Sri Lanka	3,0	0,0	7,5	9,5
7	8	FM	Gluckman Paul	RSA	1922	South Africa	3,0	0,0	7,5	9,0
8	11		Ansh M Shah	IND	1787	Gujarat	3,0	0,0	7,0	7,5
9	6		Tarun V Kanth	IND	2087	Tamilnadu	2,5	0,0	8,0	9,5
10	4		Moksh Amit Doshi	IND	2203	Gujarat	2,5	0,0	8,0	9,0

Round 5 will be the most crucial one as Raahul will play top seed Koustav Chatterjee with the black pieces.

Under-16 girls:

Lakshmi C is the sole leader with 4.0/4 | Photo: Amruta Mokal

The ease with which Lakshmi won the fourth round was quite amazing:

Instead of going Qg2 in this well known position in the Marshall, Meenal went Qe4. Of course, Lakshmi finished her off. Can you find the winning move?

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	2	WFM	Lakshmi C	IND	1954	Tamilandu	4,0	0,0	8,0	9,5
2	1	WFM	Divya Deshmukh	IND	2139	Maharashtra	3,5	0,0	7,5	9,0
3	13		Laheri Nitya	IND	1477	Gujarat	3,0	0,0	9,0	9,5
4	3		Meenal Gupta	IND	1934	Jammu & Kashmir	3,0	0,0	8,0	9,5
5	7		Nanditha V	IND	1727	Telangana	3,0	0,0	6,5	7,5
6	4		Sanskriti Goyal	IND	1898	UP	3,0	0,0	6,5	7,5
7	14		Shah Vrushti	IND	1435	Gujarat	3,0	0,0	6,0	7,0
8	12		Kritika Pal	IND	1545	Delhi	2,5	0,0	8,0	9,5
9	9		Routray Priyanka	IND	1674	Odissa	2,5	0,0	7,5	8,0
10	5		Kaur Palkin	IND	1749	Delhi	2,5	0,0	5,5	6,0

Lakshmi will take on Divya Deshmukh in round 5, which will essentially decide the gold medal winner for this section.

Under-18 open:

VS Rathanvel is the sole leader of the under-18 section with 4.0/4 | Photo: Amruta Mokal

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	1	FM	Rathanvel V S	IND	2301	Tamilnadu	4,0	0,0	7,5	9,0
2	2		Harshavardhan G B	IND	2194	Tamilandu	3,5	0,0	7,5	9,5
3	6		Arjun C Krishnamachari	IND	1883	Tamil Nadu	3,0	0,0	9,5	11,5
4	3		Hemanth Raam	IND	1952	Tamil Nadu	3,0	0,0	8,5	10,5
5	11		Shreyas M	IND	1670	Tamilnadu	3,0	0,0	7,0	7,5
6	4		Grahesh Y	IND	1902	Andhra Pradesh	2,5	0,0	9,0	10,5
7	9		Gokulraj K	IND	1755	Tamilnadu	2,5	0,0	8,0	8,5
8	17		Sivaa G M	IND	1524	Tamil Nadu	2,5	0,0	7,5	9,0
9	5	CM	Klevansky Aron	RSA	1889	South Africa	2,5	0,0	7,5	8,0
10	10		Avinash Hari	IND	1673	Kerala	2,5	0,0	7,0	7,5

Under-18 girls:

A big upset occurred in the fourth round in the under-18 girls section. Tejaswini Sagar from Gujarat beat top seed WIM Aakanksha Hagawane.

Tejaswini played an excellent game to beat Aakanksha | Photo: Amruta Mokal

We recommend that you play through the moves of the game below and then watch Tejaswini's video where she explains her win.

Tejaswini Sagar shows her win over Aakanksha Hagawane. Did you know Tejaswini started playing chess at the age of 2 years and 10 months!

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	2	WIM	Tejaswini Sagar	IND	2103	Gujarat	4,0	0,0	8,0	10,0
2	3		Priyanka K	IND	2052	Tamilnadu	3,5	0,0	7,0	8,0
3	5	WFM	Tarini Goyal	IND	1973	Chandigarh	3,0	0,0	8,5	9,0
4	4		Harshita Guddanti	IND	2038	Andhra Pradesh	3,0	0,0	7,0	9,0
5	1	WIM	Aakanksha Hagawane	IND	2297	Maharashtra	2,5	0,0	10,0	12,0
6	9		Niharika Ch	IND	1614	Andhra Pradesh	2,5	0,0	8,5	9,5
7	6		Toshali V	IND	1875	Andhra Pradesh	2,5	0,0	7,5	8,5
8	10		Tarunika P	IND	1576	Tamil Nadu	2,5	0,0	7,5	8,0
9	7		Abeysinghe H M H Janandani	SRI	1670	Sri Lanka	2,5	0,0	7,5	8,0
10	11		Archi Agrawal	IND	1540	Delhi	2,0	0,0	7,5	8,0

Under-20 open:

Krishna Teja won an important game in round three against top seed Karthik Venkatraman. He drew round four against Pranavananda and now leads the section with 3.5/4 | Photo: Amruta Mokal

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	3	IM	Krishna Teja N	IND	2389	Andhra Pradesh	3,5	0,0	8,0	10,0
2	7		Pranavananda V	IND	2184	Andhra Pradesh	3,0	0,0	8,5	9,0
3	1	IM	Karthik Venkataraman	IND	2475	Andhra Pradesh	3,0	0,0	8,0	9,5
4	4	IM	Sidhant Mohapatra	IND	2369	Odisha	3,0	0,0	7,5	9,5
5	2	IM	Mohammad Nubairshah Shaikh	IND	2441	Maharashtra	3,0	0,0	7,0	8,5
6	5		Wagh Suyog	IND	2289	Maharashtra	3,0	0,0	7,0	8,0
7	14		Dutta Sarthak	IND	1620	Uttar Pradesh	2,5	1,0	8,5	9,5
8	9		Dubey Sanchay	IND	1900	UP	2,5	0,0	5,5	6,0
9	6		Dixit Nikhil	IND	2252	Maharashtra	2,0	0,0	8,5	10,5
10	10		Nagare Akhilesh	IND	1883	Maharashtra	2,0	0,0	8,5	9,0

Under 20 Girls

Will Sakshi come out on top... | Photo: Amruta Mokal

...or will it be Mahalakshmi? | Photo: Amruta Mokal

Sakshi and Mahalakshmi played against each other in the fourth round and the game ended in a draw.

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	1	WIM	Mahalakshmi M	IND	2238	Railways	3,5	0,5	9,5	11,0
2	2	WIM	Chitlange Sakshi	IND	2162	Maharashtra	3,5	0,5	8,0	10,0
3	4	WIM	Chandreyee Hajra	IND	1981	West Bengal	3,0	0,0	7,0	7,5
4	3	WFM	Varshini V	IND	2129	Tamilnadu	3,0	0,0	6,5	7,0
	6		Divya Lakshmi R	IND	1934	Tamilnadu	3,0	0,0	6,5	7,0
6	8		Ankitha Goud Palle	IND	1742	Telangana	2,0	0,0	8,0	8,5
7	7		Priyamvada Karamcheti	IND	1832	Andhra Pradesh	2,0	0,0	7,5	9,0
8	13		Asna Abdeen	IND	1162	Kerala	2,0	0,0	7,5	8,5
9	5	WFM	Meghna C H	IND	1955	Kerala	2,0	0,0	6,5	7,0
	9		Fathima Abdeen	IND	1625	Kerala	2,0	0,0	6,5	7,0

Open section:

The sole leader in the open section is Nitin Senthilvel. He is the only player right now on 4.0/4. | Photo: Amruta Mokal

Nitin beat GM Vishnu Prasanna in a complex game in the fourth round. He was worse out of the opening, but like always he remained alert for his chances and when an opportunity presented itself, he was quick to grab it.

Standings after round 4

Rk.	SNo		Name	Typ	sex	FED	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	14	IM	Nitin S.			IND	2441	Railway	4,0	0,0	9,0	10,5
2	10	IM	Karthik Venkataraman			IND	2475	AP	3,5	0,0	8,5	10,0
3	16	GM	Laxman R.R.			IND	2438	Railways	3,5	0,0	8,5	9,5
4	79	WFM	Meghna C H		w	IND	1955	Railways	3,5	0,0	8,5	8,5
5	6	GM	Debashis Das			IND	2522	Odisha	3,5	0,0	8,0	10,0
6	13	IM	Mohammad Nubairshah Shaikh			IND	2441	Maharashtra	3,5	0,0	8,0	9,5
7	2	GM	Vaibhav Suri			IND	2556	Delhi	3,5	0,0	8,0	9,5
	20	IM	Akash G			IND	2391	Tamil Nadu	3,5	0,0	8,0	9,5
9	18	GM	Thipsay Praveen M			IND	2405	Maharashtra	3,5	0,0	7,5	9,5
	21	IM	Rathnakaran K.			IND	2386	Kerala	3,5	0,0	7,5	9,5
11	15	GM	Bakre Tejas			IND	2439	Air India	3,5	0,0	7,5	9,0
12	24		Sankalp Gupta			IND	2365	Maharashtra	3,5	0,0	7,0	8,5
13	11	IM	Visakh N R			IND	2467	Tamilnadu	3,5	0,0	7,0	8,5

Pairings for round 5

Bo.	No.		Name	Typ	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Typ	Rtg	No.
1	14	IM	Nitin S.		2441	4		3½	IM	Visakh N R		2467	11
2	2	GM	Vaibhav Suri		2556	3½		3½	GM	Laxman R.R.		2438	16
3	6	GM	Debashis Das		2522	3½		3½	WFM	Meghna C H		1955	79
4	10	IM	Karthik Venkataraman		2475	3½		3½	IM	Rathnakaran K.		2386	21
5	18	GM	Thipsay Praveen M		2405	3½		3½	IM	Mohammad Nubairshah Shaikh		2441	13
6	20	IM	Akash G		2391	3½		3½	GM	Bakre Tejas		2439	15
7	24		Sankalp Gupta		2365	3½		3	GM	Vishnu Prasanna. V		2525	5
8	38		Dixit Nikhil		2252	3		3	GM	Sengupta Deep		2565	1
9	4	GM	Lalith Babu M R		2529	3		3	IM	Gluckman David		2207	42
10	45	FM	Thilakarathne G M H		2188	3		3	GM	Swapnil S. Dhopade		2495	7

One of India's top GMs Vaibhav Suri tells us why he limits himself to only 6-8 tournaments in a year

Photo Gallery by Amruta Mokal:

Going strong at the age of 74! What a champion - Rani Hamid | Photo: Amruta Mokal

The playing hall has a very unique feel. All white players sit on white chairs, and all black players sit on black chairs. | Photo: Amruta Mokal

After GB Joshi won his game against Thejkumar, I asked him to show the win so that I could record it and publish it on Youtube. I had no idea that so many people were learning live from the game on the spot! | Photo: Amruta Mokal

GB Joshi shows his win over GM Thejkumar

What a refreshing smile - Savitha Shri | Photo: Amruta Mokal | Photo: Amruta Mokal

He not only wears this quote, but believes in it. Can you guess who he is? | Photo: Amruta Mokal

Caption please! | Photo: Amruta Mokal