Bangkok 06-09: Ganguly wins the title!

by Priyadarshan Banjan - 17/04/2016

India's Surya Shekhar Ganguly is the 2016 Bangkok Chess Club Open Champion, finishing ahead in the tiebreaker by the narrowest of margins over Spain's Paco Vallejo. We had reported earlier how Dhopade and Ganguly were in the race for a high finish at the 2016 Bangkok Open. Loek van Wely was leading the table at the end of five rounds. Read the first part of our final report chronicling Ganguly's victory march.

Bangkok 06-09: Ganguly wins the title!

Circa 2015 — it's the final round of the Bangkok Open tournament and Surya Shekhar Ganguly, the Indian grandmaster, was playing the leader Chinese GM Wang Hao. In a must-win situation, he delivered the goods, defeating Wang Hao, staking his claim at the top spot. What he experienced instead was a heartbreak as the dreaded tiebreak systems came into play. Nigel Short edged him out on a tiebreaker and went home with the trophy.

We had reported earlier how Dhopade and Ganguly were in the race for a high finish at the 2016 Bangkok Open. Loek van Wely was leading the table at the end of five rounds. In the sixth round, German GM Jan Gustafsson caught up with the Dutchman to be the joint pacesetter.

Top seed, Spanish GM Paco Vallejo (2691), made a valiant effort to take down van Wely but a wild struggle ended in a perpetual check.

[Event "Bangkok CC Open"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.04.14"]
[Round "6.1"]
[White "Van Wely, Loek"]
[Black "Vallejo Pons, Francisco"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D11"]
[WhiteElo "2654"]
[BlackElo "2691"]
[PlyCount "82"]
[EventDate "2016.04.??"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "THA"]
[WhiteClock "0:24:06"]
[BlackClock "0:28:02"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. e3 Bg4 5. h3 Bh5 6. g4 Bg6 7. Ne5 Nbd7 8. Nxg6
hxg6 9. cxd5 cxd5 10. Nc3 e6 11. g5 Ne4 12. Nxe4 dxe4 13. Bg2 Rh4 14. f4 exf3
15. Qxf3 Bb4+ 16. Kd1 Qxg5 17. Rf1 f5 18. Qxb7 Rb8 19. Qc6 Ke7 20. Rf2 e5 21.
dxe5 Qg3 22. Ke2 Rb6 23. Qc7 Bc5 24. b3 f4 25. Bd5 Qxh3 26. exf4 Qg3 27. Rg2
Rh2 28. Rxh2 Qxh2+ 29. Kd3 Qf2 30. Bc6 Qd4+ 31. Kc2 Rxc6 32. Qxc6 Qxa1 33. e6
Qxa2+ 34. Bb2 Nf6 35. Qxc5+ Kxe6 36. Qc8+ Kf7 37. Qc4+ Ke7 38. Qb5 Kf7 39. Qc4+
Ke7 40. Qb5 Kf7 41. Kc1 Kg8 1/2-1/2

Van Wely's compatriot Benjamin Bok had a chance to reach the tie for first but failed to convert his advantage after a heroic defence by India's GM Swapnil Dhopade in a marathon game which lasted for 78 moves.

[Event "Bangkok CC Open"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.04.14"]
[Round "6.3"]
[White "Swapnil, S. Dhopade"]
[Black "Bok, Benjamin"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "E15"]
[WhiteElo "2499"]
[BlackElo "2604"]
[PlyCount "155"]
[EventDate "2016.04.??"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "THA"]
[WhiteClock "0:04:33"]
[BlackClock "0:01:11"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Ba6 5. Qc2 c5 6. d5 exd5 7. cxd5 Bb7 8. Bg2
Nxd5 9. O-O Nc6 10. Rd1 Be7 11. Qf5 Nf6 12. e4 g6 13. Qf4 O-O 14. Nc3 d6 15. b3
Nh5 16. Qd2 Bf6 17. Bb2 Ne5 18. Nb5 Bxe4 19. Nxe5 Bxg2 20. Nxd6 Bxe5 21. Bxe5
Bf3 22. Re1 f6 23. Re3 fxe5 24. Rxf3 Nf6 25. Re1 Qe7 26. Nc4 e4 27. Rfe3 Rad8
28. Qe2 Qd7 29. Nb2 Qh3 30. f3 Rd4 31. Nc4 Nd5 32. fxe4 Nxe3 33. Qxe3 Qd7 34.
Qe2 Qe6 35. Nd2 Re8 36. e5 Rf8 37. Nf3 Rdd8 38. Ng5 Qd5 39. e6 Qd4+ 40. Kg2
Qd5+ 41. Kg1 Qxg5 42. e7 Qf6 43. exf8=Q+ Rxf8 44. Kg2 Qc6+ 45. Kg1 Qf3 46. Qe6+
Rf7 47. Qe8+ Kg7 48. Qe5+ Qf6 49. Qe2 Qd4+ 50. Kg2 Qd5+ 51. Kg1 Qd4+ 52. Kg2 h5
53. h4 Qd5+ 54. Kg1 Qd4+ 55. Kg2 Qd5+ 56. Kg1 Qf3 57. Qxf3 Rxf3 58. Kg2 Rf7 59.
Re6 Kh6 60. a4 Rd7 61. a5 Rd2+ 62. Kh3 b5 63. Rc6 Rc2 64. Rc7 a6 65. Rc6 Rc3
66. Rxa6 Rxb3 67. Rb6 b4 68. Rc6 Rc3 69. a6 Kg7 70. a7 Ra3 71. Rxc5 Rxa7 72.
Rb5 Ra4 73. Rb6 Kf7 74. Kg2 Ra2+ 75. Kf3 Ra3+ 76. Kf4 b3 77. Kg5 b2 78. Rb7+
1/2-1/2

In the seventh round, the tournament leaders Jan Gustafsson and Loek van Wely could not make any progress in their head-to-head encounter, leaving the door open for others to join the lead on six points.

Spanish top seed Paco Vallejo made the most of his chances, demolishing Myanmar's Wynn Zaw Htun with one of the most spectacular games ever played on Thai soil!

After thinking for half an hour over his eighteenth move, Vallejo found a brilliant new plan, which involved sacrificing his knight and then his rook for a crushing attack.

[Event "Bangkok CC Open"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.04.15"]
[Round "7.2"]
[White "Vallejo Pons, Francisco"]
[Black "Wynn Zaw Htun"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B99"]
[WhiteElo "2691"]
[BlackElo "2407"]
[PlyCount "57"]
[EventDate "2016.04.??"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "THA"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 e6 7. f4 Be7 8. Qf3
Qc7 9. O-O-O Nbd7 10. g4 b5 11. Bxf6 Nxf6 12. g5 Nd7 13. f5 Nc5 14. f6 gxf6 15.
gxf6 Bf8 16. Rg1 h5 17. a3 Rb8 18. Re1 Nd7 19. Nxe6 fxe6 20. f7+ Ke7 21. Rg6
Qc5 22. Rxe6+ Kxe6 23. Nd5 Nf6 24. Qxf6+ Kd7 25. Qxh8 Bb7 26. Bh3+ Kc6 27. Qf6
a5 28. Qe6 Bc8 29. Qe8+ 1-0

Surya Ganguly positionally outplaying his Indian compatriot IM Himanshu Sharma

At the end of seven rounds, at the Bangkok CC Blitz Championship, Swapnil Dhopade defeated van Wely in a dramatic Armageddon playoff where, after a seesawing game, the Dutch grandmaster was winning on the board but lost on time!

Things looked even yet dicey as the eighth and the penultimate round began.

Spanish top seed Paco Vallejo missed a golden opportunity to take the tournament's outright lead when he had Surya Ganguly on the ropes, but Ganguly's exceptional knowledge of technical rook endgames enabled him to scramble a draw.

[Event "Bangkok CC Open"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.04.16"]
[Round "8.1"]
[White "Vallejo Pons, Francisco"]
[Black "Ganguly, Surya Shekhar"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B47"]
[WhiteElo "2691"]
[BlackElo "2647"]
[PlyCount "163"]
[EventDate "2016.04.??"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "THA"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nc3 Qc7 6. g3 a6 7. Bg2 Nf6 8. O-O
Nxd4 9. Qxd4 Bc5 10. Bf4 d6 11. Qd2 h6 12. Rad1 e5 13. Be3 Be6 14. Bxc5 dxc5
15. Nd5 Bxd5 16. exd5 Qd6 17. Rfe1 O-O 18. Bh3 Rfe8 19. c4 b6 20. Re2 Ra7 21.
Rde1 Kf8 22. Bf5 b5 23. b3 b4 24. a3 a5 25. Ra1 e4 26. Qb2 Rae7 27. axb4 axb4
28. Re3 h5 29. Ra5 Ng4 30. Bxg4 hxg4 31. Qa1 f5 32. Ra6 Qe5 33. Qxe5 Rxe5 34.
Rc6 g5 35. Rxc5 f4 36. Re1 f3 37. Ra5 e3 38. Rxe3 Rxe3 39. fxe3 Rxe3 40. d6 Ke8
41. c5 Rc3 42. Ra8+ Kd7 43. Ra7+ Kd8 44. Ra8+ Kd7 45. Ra7+ Kd8 46. Rc7 Rxb3 47.
Rb7 Rc3 48. Rxb4 Rxc5 49. Rxg4 Kd7 50. Kf2 Kxd6 51. Re4 Rc2+ 52. Kxf3 Rxh2 53.
Kg4 Rh8 54. Kxg5 Rg8+ 55. Kh4 Rh8+ 56. Kg4 Rg8+ 57. Kh4 Rh8+ 58. Kg4 Rg8+ 59.
Kh3 Rh8+ 60. Kg2 Kd5 61. Re7 Rg8 62. Re1 Kd4 63. Re6 Kd5 64. Re2 Kd4 65. Re7
Kd5 66. Kf3 Rf8+ 67. Ke2 Rg8 68. Re3 Kd4 69. Kf2 Rf8+ 70. Rf3 Rg8 71. Rf5 Ke4
72. Rh5 Rf8+ 73. Kg2 Rf5 74. Rh8 Rf7 75. Rh5 Rf5 76. Rh8 Rf7 77. Rh1 Kf5 78.
Rf1+ Kg6 79. Rxf7 Kxf7 80. Kh3 Kg7 81. Kh4 Kh6 82. Kg4 1/2-1/2

Russian Grandmaster Ildar Khairullin defeated long-time leader Jan Gustafsson to reach the tie for first place after the penultimate round.

So, going into the final round, Vallejo, van Wely, Bok, Ganguly and Khairullin were all tied for the first place on 6.5/8. Since the tournament title is decided on tiebreak, van Wely and Vallejo looked best placed to win the coveted Bangkok Open title, should they win the final round.

The final round began early on Sunday morning at the Dusit Thani Hotel with five possible winners, all highly ranked Grandmasters.

Benjamin Bok and Ildar Khairulin of Russia knew that only a win would be enough to have a chance for the title but Dutchman Bok could not break through Khairullin's defences and the game was drawn, leaving the two players half a point away from first place.

Nigel Short had earlier fallen victim to a couple of tricky players and was no longer in contention to win the title as he did in 2015. One probable explanation may be the concussions he may have suffered while getting smashed (on the wrong side, thankfully) by French IM Sophie Milliet.

Top-seeded Vallejo was paired against the English veteran, who was half a point behind the leaders.

Short, who had insisted on playing with the UK flag rather than the English one, attacked early but Vallejo crashed through on the counter-attack to become the first player to reach 7.5 points.

Then the Spaniard had a nervous wait to see if Ganguly or Bok could equal his score.

Thailand's strongest-ever tournament was decided only after five hours of play when long-time leader Loek van Wely resigned for the first time in the tournament to a determined Ganguly!

[Event "16th BCC Open"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.04.17"]
[Round "9.1"]
[White "Ganguly, Surya Shekhar"]
[Black "Van Wely, Loek"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B90"]
[WhiteElo "2647"]
[BlackElo "2654"]
[PlyCount "123"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. h3 e6 7. g4 Be7 8. g5
Nfd7 9. h4 Nc6 10. Be3 O-O 11. a3 Rb8 12. Be2 Nxd4 13. Qxd4 b5 14. O-O-O Qa5
15. Bd2 Qb6 16. Qxb6 Nxb6 17. Bf4 Rd8 18. Rd2 e5 19. Be3 Be6 20. f4 exf4 21.
Bxf4 Bc4 22. Be3 Bxe2 23. Bxb6 Rxb6 24. Nd5 Rb7 25. Rxe2 Re8 26. Kd2 f6 27.
gxf6 Bxf6 28. c3 Rf7 29. Ke3 Bd8 30. Rg2 Ref8 31. h5 Rf3+ 32. Ke2 h6 33. Rhh2
Rf1 34. Rg6 Rb1 35. Kd3 Bf6 36. Rf2 Bg5 37. Rxf8+ Kxf8 38. Rxd6 Rd1+ 39. Ke2
Rh1 40. Kf3 Rxh5 41. Rxa6 Rh1 42. e5 Re1 43. e6 g6 44. b3 h5 45. a4 bxa4 46.
bxa4 Kg7 47. a5 h4 48. Rb6 Rf1+ 49. Kg2 Rd1 50. e7 Re1 51. Rb8 Bxe7 52. Rb7 Ra1
53. Nxe7 Kf6 54. Nc6 g5 55. Rb4 Kg6 56. Rb5 Ra2+ 57. Kh3 Rc2 58. Rc5 Rf2 59. a6
Rf3+ 60. Kg2 Rf8 61. a7 g4 62. Ne5+ 1-0

India's Surya Shekhar Ganguly is the 2016 Bangkok Chess Club Open Champion, having won a tiebreaker by the narrowest of margins over Spain's Paco Vallejo. Sweet reversal to the result of 2015!

The tiebreaker went in Ganguly's favour because his opponents had scored more points than Vallejo's. The two players shared the 100,000 Baht first prize and the 70,000 Baht second prize as well, meaning 85,000 Bahts, which roughly translates to Rs. 1,62,000, with the Indian bringing home the Bangkok Chess Club title for the first time.

Final Standings:

Rk.	SNo		Name	Typ	sex	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB4	TB5	Rp	K	rtg+/-
1	4	GM	Ganguly Surya Shekhar			IND	2647	7,5	0,5	53,5	43,50	6,0	38,5	2665	10	6,9
2	1	GM	Vallejo Pons Francisco			ESP	2691	7,5	0,5	52,5	42,00	6,0	39,5	2712	10	8,2
3	7	GM	Bok Benjamin			NED	2604	7,0	0,0	53,5	40,00	5,0	39,0	2619	10	7,2
4	6	GM	Khairullin Ildar			RUS	2629	7,0	0,0	53,0	40,75	5,0	35,5	2551	10	-1,4
5	10	GM	Sunilduth Lyna Narayanan	U18		IND	2501	7,0	0,0	52,5	39,75	6,0	36,5	2532	10	5,8
6	5	GM	Gustafsson Jan			GER	2629	7,0	0,0	50,5	37,25	6,0	38,0	2562	10	-0,6
7	14	IM	Sipila Vilka			FIN	2440	7,0	0,0	48,0	37,25	6,0	34,0	2447	10	2,5
8	12	GM	Gordon Stephen J			ENG	2496	7,0	0,0	48,0	36,00	6,0	34,5	2452	10	-0,1
9	3	GM	Van Wely Loek			NED	2654	6,5	0,0	58,5	40,25	5,0	39,5	2609	10	2,1
10	23	IM	Dimakiling Oliver			PHI	2372	6,5	0,0	51,0	34,00	5,0	34,0	2406	10	9,1
11	19	IM	Roy Prantik			IND	2402	6,5	0,0	48,0	32,00	5,0	33,5	2392	10	0,9
12	59		Hirthickkesh PR	U18		IND	2185	6,5	0,0	47,5	32,75	6,0	31,0	2362	40	84,0
13	25	IM	Stokke Kjetil			NOR	2354	6,5	0,0	47,5	31,75	5,0	34,0	2401	10	8,2
14	9	GM	Kunte Abhijit			IND	2505	6,5	0,0	45,0	31,75	5,0	31,5	2311	10	-9,6
15	46		Gotel Michael			PHI	2234	6,5	0,0	43,5	31,25	6,0	28,0	2139	20	4,0
16	11	GM	Swapnil S. Dhopade			IND	2499	6,0	0,0	55,5	34,75	4,0	36,5	2480	10	1,5
17	20	FM	Yeoh Li Tian	U18		MAS	2400	6,0	0,0	53,0	33,50	5,0	33,5	2467	10	10,0
18	39	FM	Pitra Andika			INA	2260	6,0	0,0	52,0	33,00	5,0	32,0	2345	20	24,0
19	16	IM	Liang Awonder	U18		USA	2410	6,0	0,0	51,5	31,75	5,0	33,5	2387	10	-1,0
20	29	FM	Dang Hoang Son			VIE	2325	6,0	0,0	51,0	31,00	5,0	35,0	2505	20	43,8

Official Website

A record 331 players from 43 countries competed in the Open, Challengers and Blitz tournaments, including 13 grandmasters. ChessBase India will bring you a sequel to this report covering the other Indians in the tournament and also pictures from the city of Bangkok.