Kishan Gangolli wins his sixth consecutive blind national title

by Manjunatha Murthy - 22/01/2019

He started his streak in 2012 and has won all the national A championships that have been held until 2019. Kishan Gangolli won the National A 2019 in Nagpur and became the blind national champion sixth time in a row. But this time things were much closer than usual. He had Subhendu Patra on his toes throughout the event. Finally Subhendu settled for second spot, Aryan was third and Krishna Udupa fourth. These four will represent India at the World Individual Championships in Cagliari, Italy in April 2019. Another excellent development for blind chess was the hosting of a Round Robin Women's National A for the first time in history. Himanshi Rathi from Gujarat dominated the field and won the title. In-depth report from the venue by chief arbiter Manjunatha Murthy.

Round 11:

Bo.	No.	Rtg	Name	Result	Name	Rtg	No.
1	6	1634	Prachurya Kumar Pradhan	½ - ½	Patil Shirish	1673	14
2	7	1448	Hariharan Gandhi	- - +	Aryan B Joshi	1863	5
3	8	1522	Shashidhar K M	0 - 1	Krishna Udupa	1697	4
4	9	2008	Kishan Gangolli	1 - 0	Makwana Ashvin K	1747	3
5	10	1634	Swapanil Shah	½ - ½	Marimuthu K	1563	2
6	11	1812	Kavlekar Sanjay R.	½ - ½	Patra Subhendu Kumar	1686	1
7	12	1557	Waghmare Sachin Lahu	0 - 1	Soundarya Kumar Pradhan	1819	13

In the battle between Kishan Gangolli and Ashvin Makwana, it was Kishan who came out on top | Photo: Murthy Manjunatha

After the completion of 11 rounds Kishan Gangolli moved into sole lead. He surprised his opponent by playing the side line in the Nimzo Indian Defense. In the middle game on 16th move he proved his supremacy by sacrificing his queen. Ashvin was shocked as he did not expect this. Here after he tried to defend but couldn’t stop the defending champion and surrendered on the 36th move. This is also Kishan's favourite game from the event.

Kishan Gangolli vs Ashvin Makwana

What should White play?

In another game Ruy Lopez Berlin variation was played by Kavlekar Sanjay against Patra Subhendu Kumar. The game was equal up to middle game. Subhendu advanced his pawns which allowed Sanjay to counter attack. Sanjay got a pawn but in end game over looked a move and settled for draw.

Subhendu Patra managed to save a draw from a minus position against Sanjay Kavlekar | Photo: Manjunatha Murthy

Hariharan Gandhi withdrew from the tournament due to his bad health.

Round 12

Bo.	No.	Rtg	Name	Result	Name	Rtg	No.
1	14	1673	Patil Shirish	0 - 1	Soundarya Kumar Pradhan	1819	13
2	1	1686	Patra Subhendu Kumar	1 - 0	Waghmare Sachin Lahu	1557	12
3	2	1563	Marimuthu K	½ - ½	Kavlekar Sanjay R.	1812	11
4	3	1747	Makwana Ashvin K	1 - 0	Swapanil Shah	1634	10
5	4	1697	Krishna Udupa	½ - ½	Kishan Gangolli	2008	9
6	5	1863	Aryan B Joshi	1 - 0	Shashidhar K M	1522	8
7	6	1634	Prachurya Kumar Pradhan	+ - -	Hariharan Gandhi	1448	7

The tournament gets more and more interesting as at the end of the twelfth and penultimate round Kishan and Subhendu are both in joint lead. Subhendu Patra won a piece against Sachin Waghmare and comfortably converted his advantage.

In another game Kishan Gangolli played against his former coach Srikrishna Udupa. In French exchange variation both the players played carefully, exchanging pieces early went for peace. This draw result still opened the door for a possible new champion.

Shashidhar K M played with black pieces and opted for the Elephant Gambit against Aryan Joshi. Aryan eagerly accepted the pawn gambit and carefully saved the pawn, willingly exchanged the pieces without any mistake and completed the game successfully.

Round 13

Bo.	No.	Rtg	Name	Result	Name	Rtg	No.
1	7	1448	Hariharan Gandhi	- - +	Patil Shirish	1673	14
2	8	1522	Shashidhar K M	½ - ½	Prachurya Kumar Pradhan	1634	6
3	9	2008	Kishan Gangolli	½ - ½	Aryan B Joshi	1863	5
4	10	1634	Swapanil Shah	0 - 1	Krishna Udupa	1697	4
5	11	1812	Kavlekar Sanjay R.	½ - ½	Makwana Ashvin K	1747	3
6	12	1557	Waghmare Sachin Lahu	½ - ½	Marimuthu K	1563	2
7	13	1819	Soundarya Kumar Pradhan	1 - 0	Patra Subhendu Kumar	1686	1

For the first time in many years in blind chess the tournament wasn't decided until the final round. Both Kishan and Subhendu had chances of winning the title. Both Kishan and Subhendu had tough opponents to face. While Subhendu was up against Soundarya Pradhan, Kishan had to fight against Aryan Joshi.

Soundarya's play in the final game was quite representative of the way he likes to play chess - free flowing and full of original ideas. However, he was helped greatly by Subhendu who was clearly tensed about winning his maiden National title. What transpired was a perfect example of how development is important in chess.

Aryan essayed the Slav defence against Kishan. While Kishan saw that Subhendu had lost and a draw was enough to be the sole champion, Aryan felt that a draw would help him secure his spot in top four to represent India at the World Individual Championships. The players agreed to a quick draw.

Top three spots had been decided. For the fourth place there was a fight between Marimuthu and Krishnu Udupa. Marimuthu had drawn his game against Sachin Lahu. Udupa took his chance and played some ambitious chess from the black side of Sicilian Kalashnikov and beat Swapnil Shah to finish fourth.

Final standings

Rk.	SNo	Name	FED	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	9	Kishan Gangolli	IND	2008	Kar	10,0	0,0	59,75	7
2	1	Patra Subhendu Kumar	IND	1686	Odisha	9,5	1,0	54,75	8
3	5	Aryan B Joshi	IND	1863	Mah	9,5	0,0	58,00	8
4	4	Krishna Udupa	IND	1697	Kar	9,0	0,0	57,00	7
5	2	Marimuthu K	IND	1563	T N	8,5	0,0	53,25	6
6	3	Makwana Ashvin K	IND	1747	Guj	8,0	0,0	47,25	6
7	13	Soundarya Kumar Pradhan	IND	1819	Odisha	7,5	0,0	40,25	6
8	6	Prachurya Kumar Pradhan	IND	1634	Odisha	7,0	0,0	42,00	4
9	8	Shashidhar K M	IND	1522	Kar	5,0	1,0	20,50	4
10	10	Swapanil Shah	IND	1634	Mah	5,0	0,0	23,50	3
11	11	Kavlekar Sanjay R.	IND	1812	Goa	4,5	1,0	26,25	2
12	14	Patil Shirish	IND	1673	Mah	4,5	0,0	24,75	2
13	12	Waghmare Sachin Lahu	IND	1557	Mah	3,0	0,0	16,50	2
14	7	Hariharan Gandhi	IND	1448	T N	0,0	0,0	0,00	0

Kishan Gangolli became the national champion for sixth time in a row! | Photo: Murthy Manjunatha

Kishan Gangolli with the officials and guests of 14th AICFB National A Chess Championship for Visually Challenged | Photo: Murthy Manjunatha

Kishan Gangolli, Subhendu Patra, Aryan B Joshi and Krishna Udupa will represent the country in the forthcoming World Individual Chess Championship for the Blind and Visually Impaired 2019 to be held in Cagliari, Italy from 5th to 15th April, 2019. Marimuthu K, who showed phenomenal chess throughout the tournament missed the flight to Italy by a whisker finishing 5th.

Marimuthu is a young talent who should be watched out for. He gained 150 Elo points at the National A championships 2019 | Photo: Amruta Mokal

Marimuthu is supported by India's most experienced chess arbiter R. Anantharam

Top four players who will represent India at the World Individual Championships 2019 | From left: Kishan Gangolli, Subhendu Kumar Patra, Aryan Joshi and Krishna Udupa | Photo: Murthy Manjunatha

Women's Championships:

This was the first time that women's Championship for the blind was benging held in the history of Indian chess.

A big step for Women's blind chess in the country - the 1st Women's National A | Photo: AICFB Facebook

Starting Rank

No.	Name	FideID	FED	Rtg	Club/City
4	Sarita Manoj Kataria	25122967	IND	1387	Mah
2	Vaishali Nrendra Salavkar	25085891	IND	1379	Mah
1	Megha Chakraborty	25665294	IND	1308	W B
6	Tijan Punaram Gawar	45090572	IND	1179	Mah
3	Mrunali Pande	25643258	IND	1175	Mah
7	Neha Nalin Pawaskar	25051563	IND	1168	Mah
5	Rathi Himanshi	35082752	IND	1119	Guj
8	Khorasiya Khushali	45011834	IND	0	Guj

The second seed of the event was Vaishali Salavkar, who represented India in the IBCA team at the Olympiad 2018 | Photo: AICFB Facebook

Mrunali Pande, Asian Paralympic medalist, finished fifth | Photo: AICFB Facebook

Megha Chakraborty, one of the best talents, and also Asian Paralympic medalist finished third | Photo: AICFB Facebook

The tournament was won by the youngster from Gujarat Himanshi Rathi (right) who dominated the field with 6.0/7 score | Photo: AICFB Facebook

Top three places went to Himanshi Rathi (centre), Vaishali Salavkar (right), Megha Chakraborty (left) | Photo: AICFB Facebook

Final rankings:

Rk.	SNo	Name	FED	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	5	Rathi Himanshi	IND	1119	Guj	6,0	0,0	17,25	5
2	2	Vaishali Nrendra Salavkar	IND	1379	Mah	5,0	0,5	13,25	3
3	1	Megha Chakraborty	IND	1308	W B	5,0	0,5	12,25	4
4	4	Sarita Manoj Kataria	IND	1387	Mah	4,5	0,0	12,25	2
5	3	Mrunali Pande	IND	1175	Mah	4,0	0,0	8,25	3
6	7	Neha Nalin Pawaskar	IND	1168	Mah	2,5	0,0	3,25	2
7	6	Tijan Punaram Gawar	IND	1179	Mah	1,0	0,0	0,00	1
8	8	Khorasiya Khushali	IND	0	Guj	0,0	0,0	0,00	0

ChessBase India will bring you coverage from the World Individual Championships that will be held in Cagliari, Italy.

Darpan Inani in HDFC advertisement:

Darpan Inani, India's highest rated blind chess player's achievements were recognized when HDFC launched an ad based on his life for the HDFC life insurance:

Darpan, who is 100% visually impaired, is an inspiration. His current Elo is 2016 and he is also a CA final student! A phenomenal achievement.

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