Chennai 04-06: Adam Tukhaev leads
The tournament is heating up but the first place is becoming distant for most of the players. Because Ukrainian GM Adam Tukhaev has galloped ahead to a perfect score! Indian challenge is led by GM Sahaj Grover, who after a couple of questionable games in Delhi Open, has begun to play with his usual flair. Nitin Pai brings us an illustrated report.
Chennai 04-06: Adam Tukhaev leads
GM Adam Tukhaev of Ukraine took sole lead in the Chennai International Open by defeating top seed GM David Alberto of Italy. The play resumed after the day off due to city-wide protests against the ban on Jallikattu.
GM Adam Tukhaev is in scintillating form. He won the Mumbai leg of the Indian GM circuit and is leading the tournament with a perfect 6.0/6. At the time of producing this report, he has beaten GM Adam Horvath with black to move to 7.0/7.
[Event "9th Chennai Open International Grandmast"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2017.01.21"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Tukhaev, Adam"]
[Black "David, Alberto"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C12"]
[WhiteElo "2516"]
[BlackElo "2569"]
[PlyCount "115"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]
[TimeControl "5400+30"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2017.01.21"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Tukhaev, Adam"]
[Black "David, Alberto"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C12"]
[WhiteElo "2516"]
[BlackElo "2569"]
[PlyCount "115"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]
[TimeControl "5400+30"]
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Bb4 5. exd5 Qxd5 6. Bxf6 Bxc3+ 7. bxc3 gxf6
8. Nf3 c5 9. Bd3 cxd4 10. O-O dxc3 11. Qe1 Nc6 12. Qxc3 e5 13. Rab1 Rg8 14. Bc4
Qd4 15. Qxd4 Nxd4 16. Nxd4 exd4 17. Rfd1 Bh3 18. Bd5 Rd8 19. Bxb7 Be6 20. Bc6+
Kf8 21. Rb4 Rg5 22. a4 Re5 23. h3 Re2 24. Rdxd4 Rxd4 25. Rxd4 Rxc2 26. Bb5 Ke7
27. Rh4 Bf5 28. Rh5 Be4 29. f3 Rc1+ 30. Kf2 Bb1 31. Rd5 Rc7 32. g4 Ba2 33. Rh5
Bb1 34. Kg3 Rc3 35. Be2 Bc2 36. Ra5 Rc7 37. h4 Kf8 38. Ra6 Ke7 39. g5 fxg5 40.
hxg5 Rd7 41. Bb5 Rc7 42. Kg4 Kf8 43. f4 Re7 44. Rd6 Re4 45. a5 Rb4 46. Be2 Bb3
47. Bd3 Be6+ 48. Kf3 Ra4 49. Ra6 Ra3 50. Ke2 Bg4+ 51. Kd2 Ra2+ 52. Ke3 Ra3 53.
Kd4 Ra4+ 54. Ke5 Kg7 55. Rxa7 h6 56. f5 hxg5 57. f6+ Kh6 58. Ra8 1-0
8. Nf3 c5 9. Bd3 cxd4 10. O-O dxc3 11. Qe1 Nc6 12. Qxc3 e5 13. Rab1 Rg8 14. Bc4
Qd4 15. Qxd4 Nxd4 16. Nxd4 exd4 17. Rfd1 Bh3 18. Bd5 Rd8 19. Bxb7 Be6 20. Bc6+
Kf8 21. Rb4 Rg5 22. a4 Re5 23. h3 Re2 24. Rdxd4 Rxd4 25. Rxd4 Rxc2 26. Bb5 Ke7
27. Rh4 Bf5 28. Rh5 Be4 29. f3 Rc1+ 30. Kf2 Bb1 31. Rd5 Rc7 32. g4 Ba2 33. Rh5
Bb1 34. Kg3 Rc3 35. Be2 Bc2 36. Ra5 Rc7 37. h4 Kf8 38. Ra6 Ke7 39. g5 fxg5 40.
hxg5 Rd7 41. Bb5 Rc7 42. Kg4 Kf8 43. f4 Re7 44. Rd6 Re4 45. a5 Rb4 46. Be2 Bb3
47. Bd3 Be6+ 48. Kf3 Ra4 49. Ra6 Ra3 50. Ke2 Bg4+ 51. Kd2 Ra2+ 52. Ke3 Ra3 53.
Kd4 Ra4+ 54. Ke5 Kg7 55. Rxa7 h6 56. f5 hxg5 57. f6+ Kh6 58. Ra8 1-0
Tukhaev beat RR Laxman in round 5, with black. Tukheav was planning to play the kings Indian, with d6, but when Laxman decided to play Nc3 instead of c4, Tukheav replied with d6-d5!
[Event "9th Chennai Open International Grandmast"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2017.01.21"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Laxman, R.R."]
[Black "Tukhaev, Adam"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A49"]
[WhiteElo "2416"]
[BlackElo "2516"]
[PlyCount "84"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]
[TimeControl "5400+30"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2017.01.21"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Laxman, R.R."]
[Black "Tukhaev, Adam"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A49"]
[WhiteElo "2416"]
[BlackElo "2516"]
[PlyCount "84"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]
[TimeControl "5400+30"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 O-O 5. O-O d6 6. Nc3 d5 7. Ne5 Na6 8. f4
Bf5 9. Be3 c6 10. Bf2 Qc8 11. Re1 Ne4 12. Nxe4 Bxe4 13. Bxe4 dxe4 14. c3 Nc7
15. Qc2 Qe6 16. Qb3 Nd5 17. Nc4 a5 18. Ne3 a4 19. Qc2 Ra5 20. Nc4 Rb5 21. e3
Nf6 22. Ne5 Ne8 23. c4 Ra5 24. Qd2 Ra6 25. Qb4 Nd6 26. Red1 Bxe5 27. dxe5 Nxc4
28. b3 axb3 29. axb3 Nb2 30. Qxb7 Rxa1 31. Rxa1 Nd3 32. Qb6 h5 33. Rf1 Ra8 34.
Qd4 Qh3 35. Qxe4 Nxf2 36. Qxc6 Rc8 37. Qb7 Nd3 38. f5 Rc2 39. Qa8+ Kg7 40. f6+
exf6 41. exf6+ Kh7 42. Qa1 Ne5 0-1
Bf5 9. Be3 c6 10. Bf2 Qc8 11. Re1 Ne4 12. Nxe4 Bxe4 13. Bxe4 dxe4 14. c3 Nc7
15. Qc2 Qe6 16. Qb3 Nd5 17. Nc4 a5 18. Ne3 a4 19. Qc2 Ra5 20. Nc4 Rb5 21. e3
Nf6 22. Ne5 Ne8 23. c4 Ra5 24. Qd2 Ra6 25. Qb4 Nd6 26. Red1 Bxe5 27. dxe5 Nxc4
28. b3 axb3 29. axb3 Nb2 30. Qxb7 Rxa1 31. Rxa1 Nd3 32. Qb6 h5 33. Rf1 Ra8 34.
Qd4 Qh3 35. Qxe4 Nxf2 36. Qxc6 Rc8 37. Qb7 Nd3 38. f5 Rc2 39. Qa8+ Kg7 40. f6+
exf6 41. exf6+ Kh7 42. Qa1 Ne5 0-1
GM Sahaj Grover of has also played some refreshing chess. He stunned everyone with a spectacular Rook sacrifice on h7 after castling long in the Queen's gambit. On the receiving end was IM Rahul Shetty of Maharastra.
White to play
[Event "9th Chennai Open International Grandmast"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2017.01.21"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Grover, Sahaj"]
[Black "Shetty Rahul"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D35"]
[WhiteElo "2467"]
[BlackElo "2236"]
[PlyCount "45"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]
[TimeControl "5400+30"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2017.01.21"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Grover, Sahaj"]
[Black "Shetty Rahul"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D35"]
[WhiteElo "2467"]
[BlackElo "2236"]
[PlyCount "45"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]
[TimeControl "5400+30"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Bg5 Be7 6. e3 O-O 7. Bd3 c6 8. Qc2
Nbd7 9. Nf3 Re8 10. h3 Nf8 11. Bf4 Ne6 12. Be5 g6 13. O-O-O a6 14. g4 b5 15. h4
Nxg4 16. h5 Nf8 17. hxg6 fxg6 18. Rxh7 Nxe5 19. Nxe5 Kxh7 20. Bxg6+ Kg7 21. Rg1
Kf6 22. Bh7 Ke6 23. Bf5+ 1-0
Nbd7 9. Nf3 Re8 10. h3 Nf8 11. Bf4 Ne6 12. Be5 g6 13. O-O-O a6 14. g4 b5 15. h4
Nxg4 16. h5 Nf8 17. hxg6 fxg6 18. Rxh7 Nxe5 19. Nxe5 Kxh7 20. Bxg6+ Kg7 21. Rg1
Kf6 22. Bh7 Ke6 23. Bf5+ 1-0
Shyaamnikhil did not have a very good day as he went on to draw with lower rated, Nasybullina Alfia of Russia, who took it to an opposite coloured Bishop ending, Shyaam had the initiative in both his games today. He is now on 4/5.
S Ajay Krishna was the star of the day as he drew GM Valeriy Neverov in round 4 and went on to beat Bangladeshi GM Murshid Niaz and Polish WGM Toma Katarzyna. He now has a rating performance of 2557 with a 2.0/3 score against GMs!
Local boy Balasubramaniam comfortably drew GM Abdul Rehman in round 4.The Egyptian GM is having a bad tournament as he went on to lose to Nikhil Dikshit of Maharastra rated nearly 500 points lower.
Andhra Lad Pranavananda played well to beat higher rated IM S. Nitin of Railways in the fourth round.
Another local talent, Harikrishnan A Ra played confidently against GM Horvath Adam in the fifth round. The game was interesting and attracted a large number of spectators. The experienced GM won this long battle.
The crowd expecting an upset.
Untitled Mithil Ajgaonkar drew IM Vignesh NR in round four and went to beat IM Saptharshi Roy in the next round.
The talented lad, D. Gukesh could not resist the might of GM RR Laxman for too long and lost.
Sekar B beat higher rated CM Urazayev of Kazakhstan and went on to draw GM Malakhatiko Vadim of Belgium. He is now on 4.5/6.
Local boy Manu David Suthandram drew IM Nester Ihor of Ukraine, rated more than 400 points higher, in round 4. Manu recently had a good tour of Spain and is increasing a lot of Elo.
In this clash of Indian veterans, IM Anup Deshmukh of Maharashtra and Anilkumar OT of Kerala, the higher rated Anup won.
9-year-old Thrish Karthik (in the hoodie) is another highly talented player. He has gained almost 800 Elo in the last 15-18 months and is going at the same pace gaining 40 Elo here so far.
Raahul VS of Chennai beat higher rated WIM Kurbonboeva Sarvinoz of Uzbekistan in a Knight ending. Raahul was recently the national below 2200 amateur champion. Chennai and India are full of talents!
10-year-old Kerala boy Hari R Chandran rated only 1577 is playing his first GM open and has risen to the occasion, with opponents rated 2144, 2118, 2213, 1988 and 2255, including 2 IMs and an FM he has won 3 out of 5 games! He is increasing 104 points with half the tournament left!
Another talented Kerala youngster, Sooraj MR too is playing his first GM open.Rated only 1818, beat a GM in his very first encounter against one, in round 1. This shows that Kerala players are not exposed much to quality GM coaching and events, but when they get the chance, they show their best.
ChessBase correspondent Niklesh Jain took a day off from his writing work and kindly allowed me to take over for a day. He will be reporting remaining rounds.
ound 7 on 2017/01/23 at 10.00 hrs.
| Bo. | No. | Name | Rtg | Club/City | Pts. | Result | Pts. | Name | Rtg | Club/City | No. | ||||
| 1 | 7 | GM | Horvath Adam | 2499 | HUN | 5½ | 0 - 1 | 6 | GM | Tukhaev Adam | 2516 | UKR | 4 | ||
| 2 | 5 | GM | Malakhatko Vadim | 2514 | BEL | 5 | ½ - ½ | 5½ | GM | Grover Sahaj | 2467 | DEL | 11 | ||
| 3 | 27 | Kumaran B | 2303 | TN | 5 | 0 - 1 | 5 | GM | Bernadskiy Vitaliy | 2540 | UKR | 2 | |||
| 4 | 31 | Saravana Krishnan P. | 2282 | TN | 5 | 0 - 1 | 5 | GM | Deviatkin Andrei | 2499 | RUS | 6 | |||
| 5 | 64 | Ajay Krishna S | 2167 | TN | 5 | 0 - 1 | 5 | GM | Czebe Attila | 2491 | HUN | 8 | |||
| 6 | 9 | GM | Stopa Jacek | 2479 | POL | 5 | 1 - 0 | 5 | IM | Vignesh N R | 2414 | TN | 20 | ||
| 7 | 53 | Mithil Ajgaonkar | 2216 | MAH | 5 | ½ - ½ | 5 | GM | Neverov Valeriy | 2478 | UKR | 10 | |||
| 8 | 19 | GM | Laxman R.R. | 2416 | ICF | 5 | ½ - ½ | 5 | Kunal M. | 2298 | TN | 28 | |||
| 9 | 37 | Sidhant Mohapatra | 2267 | ORI | 4½ | 0 - 1 | 4½ | GM | David Alberto | 2569 | ITA | 1 | |||
| 10 | 3 | GM | Sivuk Vitaly | 2540 | UKR | 4½ | 1 - 0 | 4½ | IM | Deshmukh Anup | 2244 | MAH | 40 |
Nitin Pai
Nitin Pai is a twenty-year-old undergraduate student in Electrical Engineering at IIT-Madras. He is a passionate chessplayer with an eloquent voice and has contributed his feedback and photos for ChessBase in the past. When he is not studying or surfing the internet for crazy science stuff, or working on his projects, you may find him hunched over a chessboard, trying not to blunder.