MPL National Teams 2023 R7: AAI continues their winning streak

by Shahid Ahmed - 15/02/2023

AAI continues their winning streak at MPL 42nd National Team Chess Championship 2023 Open. Odisha lost to them 1.5-2.5. GM Abhimanyu Puranik scored the important victory which helped his team AAI win their sixth match. AAI maintains their sole lead 13/14, two points ahead of RSPB A and PSPB 11/14. In the Women's event, PSPB defeated Maharashtra 2.5-1.5. AAI scored their fourth whitewash of the event, it was against Telangana in the fifth round. Both teams are in the lead 9/10. If both teams maintain their match points same, eventually game points will become a factor in determining the champions. Round 8 Open and Round 6 Women starts today at 10 a.m. IST. Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Women: AAI and PSPB still in the lead

AAI has won four out of five matches with a 4-0 score. While, PSPB managed only one 4-0 win in the first round. Since they drew with each other in the third round, if both teams maintain their parallel scores in the last two rounds, AAI will have the upper hand as they already have 2.5 game points more than the top seed.

GM Abhimanyu Puranik standing tall and ensured he does what his team needs him to do | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Open Round 7: Odisha - AAI: 1.5-2.5

Three out of four games ended in draws. Utkal Ranjan Sahoo (2371), CM Rajesh Nayak (2139) and Nilsu Pattnaik (1985) of Odisha drew with GM Aravindh Chithambaram (2613), GM Sankalp Gupta (2504) and IM Harshavardhan G B (2428) of AAI, each respectively. GM Abhimanyu Puranik (2596) scored the sole victory for his team AAI against IM Sidhant Mohapatra (ODI, 2378).

Abhimanyu - Sidhant

Position after 44.b5

The rook endgame was quite difficult for Black to defend practically. 44...Rg3? did not help his case. White played the precise correct move 45.b6! Rxh3 46.b7 Rxd3+ 47.Kb2 f3 48.b8Q Black fought for a bit but to no avail. White won the game comfortably and thus maintained AAI's two point lead over the competition.

GM Abhimanyu Puranik (AAI) scored a crucial victory for his team | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Odisha A - AAI: 1.5-2.5

PSPB - Haryana A: 3.5-0.5 | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Tamil Nadu C - RSPB A: 0.5-3.5 | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

RSPB B - Tamil Nadu B: 3-1 | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Kerala B - LIC: 2-2 | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Women Round 5: PSPB - MAH: 2.5-1.5

PSPB's IM Eesha Karavade (2294) and WGM Mary Ann Gomes (2334) defeated WIM Mrudul Dehankar (2034) and WFM Vishwa Shah (2127) of Maharashtra, respectively. IM Padmini Rout (2389) lost to WIM Sakshi Chitlange (2239). The last game of the match to conclude was between IM Soumya Swaminathan (2308) and WIM Aashna Makhija (2129). It ended in a draw.

Sakshi - Padmini

Position after 20...f6

20...f6 created an opportunity for White 21.Nc6! Rxe3 22.Qxe3 Ra8 23.Ne7+ Kf8 24.Nf5 Qe5 25.Qh3 and Black's position fell apart in a hurry.. 20...Kf8 is how Black should have continued.

WIM Sakshi Chitlange on her victory over IM Padmini Rout | Video: ChessBase India

PSPB defeated Maharashtra 2.5-1.5 to maintain their lead | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

PSPB - Maharashtra: 2.5-1.5

AAI scored their fourth whitewash of the event, against Telangana in Round 5 | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

AAI - Telangana: 4-0

Odisha - Tamil Nadu B: 0-4 | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

The tournament hall | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Ceremonial first moves of Round 7 Open | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

For more Round 7 Open and Round 5 Women photos, please click here.

Replay Round 7 Open games

Replay Round 5 Women games

Round 7 Open results

No.	SNo	Team	MP	Res.	:	Res.	MP	Team	SNo
1	6	Odisha A	9	1½	:	2½	11	AAI	2
2	1	PSPB Men	9	3½	:	½	8	Haryana A	20
3	9	Tamil Nadu C	8	½	:	3½	9	RSPB A	3
4	5	RSPB B	8	3	:	1	8	Tamil Nadu B	4
5	13	Kerala B	8	2	:	2	8	LIC	8
6	14	Kerala A	7	3	:	1	7	Pondicherry	16
7	15	Madhya Pradesh	7	1	:	3	6	Tamil Nadu D	10
8	11	Karnataka B	6	1	:	3	6	Bihar B	21
9	24	Andhra Pradesh B	6	½	:	3½	6	Tamil Nadu A	18
10	25	Karnataka A	6	1	:	3	5	Telangana	7
11	30	Himachal B	4	0	:	4	4	Bihar A	12
12	17	BSNL	4	1	:	3	4	Andhra Pradesh A	27
13	19	DASCB	4	3	:	1	4	Tamil Nadu E	22
14	29	Himachal C	0	0	:	4	4	SSCB	23
15	28	Haryana B	2	1	:	3	2	Himachal A	26

Details

Standings after Round 7

Rk.	SNo	Team	Games	+	=	-	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB4	TB5
1	2	AAI	7	6	1	0	13	0	21,5	330,5	53,5
2	3	RSPB A	7	4	3	0	11	1	20,5	331	52
3	1	PSPB Men	7	5	1	1	11	1	18	305,3	44,5
4	5	RSPB B	7	5	0	2	10	0	18	284,5	45
5	6	Odisha A	7	4	1	2	9	0	18	265,8	45,5
6	8	LIC	7	4	1	2	9	0	18	248,8	45,5
7	14	Kerala A	7	4	1	2	9	0	16	173,5	37
8	13	Kerala B	7	3	3	1	9	0	15	213,8	42,5
9	4	Tamil Nadu B	7	3	2	2	8	0	16,5	256,8	41
10	10	Tamil Nadu D	7	4	0	3	8	0	16	219	38

Details

Round 8 Open pairings

No.	SNo	Team	MP	Res.	:	Res.	MP	Team	SNo
1	2	AAI	13		:		9	Kerala B	13
2	3	RSPB A	11		:		10	RSPB B	5
3	1	PSPB Men	11		:		9	Kerala A	14
4	8	LIC	9		:		9	Odisha A	6
5	18	Tamil Nadu A	8		:		8	Tamil Nadu B	4
6	21	Bihar B	8		:		8	Tamil Nadu C	9
7	10	Tamil Nadu D	8		:		8	Haryana A	20
8	7	Telangana	7		:		6	Karnataka B	11
9	12	Bihar A	6		:		7	Madhya Pradesh	15
10	16	Pondicherry	7		:		6	SSCB	23
11	27	Andhra Pradesh A	6		:		6	DASCB	19
12	25	Karnataka A	6		:		6	Andhra Pradesh B	24
13	26	Himachal A	4		:		4	Tamil Nadu E	22
14	30	Himachal B	4		:		2	Haryana B	28
15	29	Himachal C	0		:		4	BSNL	17

Details

Round 5 Women results

No.	SNo	Team	MP	Res.	:	Res.	MP	Team	SNo
1	1	PSPB Women	7	2½	:	1½	6	Maharashtra Women A	3
2	2	AAI Women	7	4	:	0	6	Telangana Women	5
3	7	Odisha Women A	4	0	:	4	5	Tamil Nadu Women B	4
4	9	Kerala Women	4	1	:	3	4	Andhra Pradesh Women	11
5	10	Tamil Nadu Women C	3	0	:	4	4	Tamil Nadu Women A	6
6	13	Himachal Women C	1	0	:	4	2	Tamil Nadu Women D	8
7	14	Himachal Women A	1	½	:	3½	2	Himachal Women B	12

Details

Standings after Round 5

Rk.	SNo	Team	Games	+	=	-	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB4	TB5
1	2	AAI Women	5	4	1	0	9	1	18	193	44,5
2	1	PSPB Women	5	4	1	0	9	1	15,5	197	39
3	4	Tamil Nadu Women B	5	3	1	1	7	0	13,5	109	32,5
4	3	Maharashtra Women A	5	3	0	2	6	0	12,5	135,8	30,5
5	6	Tamil Nadu Women A	5	3	0	2	6	0	12,5	79,8	31,5

Details

Round 6 Women pairings

No.	SNo	Team	MP	Res.	:	Res.	MP	Team	SNo
1	4	Tamil Nadu Women B	7		:		9	PSPB Women	1
2	6	Tamil Nadu Women A	6		:		9	AAI Women	2
3	3	Maharashtra Women A	6		:		6	Telangana Women	5
4	11	Andhra Pradesh Women	6		:		4	Odisha Women A	7
5	12	Himachal Women B	4		:		4	Tamil Nadu Women D	8
6	13	Himachal Women C	1		:		4	Kerala Women	9
7	10	Tamil Nadu Women C	3		:		1	Himachal Women A	14

Details

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