Reykjavik Open: Adhiban takes the title!

by Aditya Pai - 15/03/2018

After his penultimate round win against co-leader Richard Rapport, Adhiban Baskaran only needed a draw in the final round of the Reykjavik Open 2018 to win the title prize at the event. However, Mustafa Yilmaz, Adhiban's opponent also had a shot at the title if he were able to defeat Adhiban. But Adhiban played out a well-balanced game in the finale and took home the champion's trophy in his very first appearance in Reykjavik. On board three, GM Vaibhav Suri pushed hard for a win against the second-seeded Pavel Eljanov but, after a 143-move-long marathon, ended up signing peace. Praggnanandha missed a GM norm in Reykjavik but the little genius finished the tournament on a high note beating Niranjan Navalgund in the final round. An illustrated report.

In the final round of the Reykjavik Open, India’s Adhiban Baskaran held Turkish GM Mustafa Yilmaz to a draw to bag the title prize at the event. In the penultimate round, the Indian GM had beaten the top seed and his only co-leader in the tournament, Richard Rapport, making himself the sole leader. GM Yilmaz, who was half a point behind, was the only one who had a chance of winning the title. But for that to happen, he would have had to beat Adhiban in the finale. As for Adhiban, since he was already ahead in score, he only needed a draw.

The ever positive Adhiban | Photo: Fiona Steil-Antoni

Defeating Adhiban was not an easy task for Yilmaz. Not only was Adhiban higher rated than him, he had also shown great form throughout the event. In fact, Adhiban had scored five back to back victories until the penultimate round.

Yilmaz, who had the white pieces opened with the Queen’s pawn. Adhiban answered in Queen’s Gambit style but the position eventually transposed into a Stonewall Dutch. As is typical for the opening, Yilmaz maintained a stronghold on the e5 square and soon several exchanges followed. Neither side secured any big advantage as such although Yilmaz did seem to have a slight edge in the middlegame. But Adhiban defended well and never let the position go out of hand. The players, therefore, decided to go for a draw by repetition by the 31^st move.

After the game, Adhiban pointed out that it was his first time, playing in Reykjavik and he was very happy to have won the tournament on his very first try. He said he also wanted to win the tournament because Reykjavik is the resting place of Bobby Fischer. Also, this year’s edition of the tournament was hosted as the “Bobby Fischer Memorial” marking the 75^th birth anniversary of the American chess legend who spent his final days in Reykjavik.

Vaibhav Suri held the second-seeded Pavel Eljanov to a draw | Photo: Fiona Steil-Antoni

Another good result for India in the final round came from the third board where GM Vaibhav Suri was playing against the second seed of the tournament, GM Pavel Eljanov. The two opened with the Classical Variation of the Nimzo-Indian Defence. Suri not only got a slight edge out of the opening but also ahead in material as he had two minor pieces against his opponent’s rook. As play progressed an endgame was reached where Suri had still maintained his material superiority but the limited number of pawns remaining on the board strongly alluded to a draw.

Suri, however, kept trying to win. Of course, he had nothing to lose. He had a slight material advantage in an otherwise drawn position. He could play on as long as he liked and take the draw if his attempts didn’t lead him anywhere. The game went on for 143 moves, 52 moves after the last pawn move was made, when the game was declared a draw as per the 50 move rule.

Nihal lost his first game of the tournament in the final round | Photo: Fiona Steil-Antoni

In another interesting encounter of the day, IM Nihal Sarin, who had earned a GM norm in the tournament two rounds before the end of the event, was defeated by French GM Maxime Lagarde. Nihal essayed the awfully drawish main line of the Berlin Defence with the black pieces. However, things did not go his way in this round. He failed to find the best moves in the ensuing endgame and gave his opponent a significant edge by the 25^th move. As play progressed, Lagarde’s far advanced pawn majority on the kingside proved to be unstoppable for Nihal who resigned after white’s 46^th move.

Praggnanandhaa finished the tournament on a high note. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

The other Indian child prodigy in the fray, IM R Praggnanandhaa missed his GM norm in Reykjavik but finished the tournament on a high note beating compatriot Niranjan Navalgund. Praggnanandhaa had the white pieces in this game and went for the non-committal 1.Nf3 yet again. The game was fairly even for the most part of the middle game but Navalgund fumbled on his 36^th turn and allowed Praggnanandhaa to shatter his queenside pawn structure. Over the next few moves, Praggnanandhaa tried to exchange queens. But when Navalgund avoided trading queens, he found an ingenious way to trap the black monarch in a mating net by sacrificing a couple of pawns first and then a piece. On the 53^rd move, Navalgund was forced to resign as the checkmate Praggnanandhaa was threatening was unavertable.

Final Standings

About the Author

Aditya Pai is an ardent chess fan, avid reader, and a film lover. He holds a Master's in English Literature and used to work as an advertising copywriter before joining the ChessBase India team.