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Delhi 10: Neverov shocks the winner!

by Priyadarshan Banjan - 19/01/2016

Ivan Popov of Russia won the 14th edition of Delhi Open. However, he did not hold the final game against veteran Ukrainian GM Valeriy Neverov, who played some fine chess to dismantle the Russian. A bunch of Indians managed to finish well and the biggest round of applause went to West Bengal's IM Sayantan Das who registered a GM-norm! An illustrated report with pictures, analysis and a video report.

 

Delhi 10: Neverov shocks the winner!

Russia and Ukraine have shared a turbulent relationship in the recent past, the Russian President Vladimir Putin making the headlines for all the wrong reasons, and the animosity is far from over. Maybe it is a bit of imaginative stretching, but the top-board of the 2016 Delhi Open saw a Ukraine-Russia clash when Valeriy Neverov took on the Russian Ivan Popov.

 

Although the finish was not exactly similar to the battering Rocky Balboa handed to Popov's namesake Ivan Drago, the veteran Ukrainian grandmaster did manage to improve his position in the final standings by scoring 8.0/10, finishing third.

Neverov on his way to victory over the Russian second seed and the eventual winner 
[Event "14th Delhi Open International Grandmast"]
[Site "New Delhi"]
[Date "2016.01.16"]
[Round "10.1"]
[White "Neverov, Valeriy"]
[Black "Popov, Ivan"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D49"]
[WhiteElo "2506"]
[BlackElo "2650"]
[PlyCount "85"]
[EventDate "2016.01.09"]
[EventRounds "10"]
[EventCountry "IND"]
[SourceDate "2003.06.08"]
[WhiteClock "0:01:17"]
[BlackClock "0:03:46"]
1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 e6 5. e3 Nbd7 6. Bd3 dxc4 7. Bxc4 b5 8. Bd3
a6 {is popular too, after 8...Bb7} 9. e4 c5 10. e5 (10. d5 {is another
variation.} c4 11. dxe6 fxe6 12. Bc2 Qc7 {is supposedly equal but Black has
good play and a pretty good score here according to the ChessBase Livebook.})
10... cxd4 11. Nxb5 axb5 12. exf6 Qb6 13. fxg7 Bxg7 14. O-O Bb7 15. Re1 Qd6 (
15... Bd5 $11 {is more natural and equalish.}) (15... O-O {is also possible.})
16. Ng5 $1 Nf6 17. Bxb5+ $16 Kf8 18. a4 h6 19. Nf3 Ne4 20. Ra3 Qd5 21. Bf1 Ng5
22. Nxg5 hxg5 23. h3 Rh4 24. Rg3 f6 25. b3 Ba6 26. Bxa6 Rxa6 $18 27. Qd3 Rc6
28. Bd2 Kf7 29. a5 e5 30. Rg4 Rh8 31. b4 Qc4 32. Qf5 Qe6 33. Rxe5 Qxf5 34. Rxf5
Rd8 35. Rc5 Rxc5 36. bxc5 Bf8 37. c6 Bc5 38. h4 Rb8 39. hxg5 f5 40. Rh4 Bd6 41.
Bf4 d3 42. Bxd6 d2 43. Rd4 1-0

 

Despite the loss, Popov finished first on tiebreak with 8.0/10, while his nearest rival...

...Hungarian GM Czebe Attila huffed and puffed from a bad position to finish second with 8.0/10, as he held...

...Ukraine's GM Vitaly Sivuk (2566), who finished on 7.5/10.

 

As we have stressed numerous times, having multiple category tournaments makes chess a spectator sport, and these fans were rooting for...

Indian GM and Delhi's very own Sriram Jha, but he could not bring home the point...

...losing to Russian GM Anton Demchenko (2596).

IM Sayantan Das (2411) was the hero of the final round as he registered his second GM-norm by defeating GM Vitaly Bernadskiy (2546), moving to 7.5/10 for a seventh place finish.
This was a must win game for me to get my second norm. He has a broad repertoire. So, I didn't prepare much before the round -- just tried to preserve my energy.

Notes by IM Sayantan Das:

[Event "Delhi Open 2016"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.01.16"]
[Round "10"]
[White "Bernadskij, Vitalij"]
[Black "Das, Sayantan"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E49"]
[WhiteElo "2546"]
[BlackElo "2411"]
[Annotator "Das,Sayantan"]
[PlyCount "132"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
{This is a must win game for me to get my 2nd GM norm. He has a broad
repertoire. So I didnt prepare that much before the round. Just trying to
preserve my energy.} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 Nf6 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3
O-O 7. cxd5 exd5 8. Bd3 c5 9. Ne2 b6 10. O-O Ba6 11. dxc5 $6 {I think this is
not the best way to fight for advantage} ({Main line is} 11. f3 Re8 12. Ng3
Bxd3 13. Qxd3 Nc6 {there are many games played in this position}) 11... bxc5
12. Bxa6 Nxa6 13. c4 dxc4 (13... Nc7 14. Bb2 dxc4 15. Qxd8 Rfxd8 16. Bxf6 gxf6
17. Rfc1 Ne6 18. Rxc4 $14 {1-0 Rakhmanov,A (2623)-Sagar,S (2451)/Teplice CZE
2015/The Week in Chess 1076 (35)}) 14. Bb2 (14. Qa4 Qb6 (14... Qd3 $142 15. Nf4
Qc3 16. Bd2 Qxd2 17. Qxa6 c3 $15) 15. Qxc4 Rfd8 (15... Rfe8 16. f3 Nd7 17. e4
Ne5 18. Qc3 Rad8 19. Nf4 Qc6 20. Be3 $132 {1-0 Rakhmanov,A (2626)-Sjodahl,P
(2425)/Helsingor DEN 2015/The Week in Chess 1081 (28)}) 16. Ra2 Rac8 17. Rc2
Qe6 18. Qxe6 fxe6 19. Bb2 Nd5 20. Rfc1 Nb6 $11 21. Kf1 Kf7 22. Ke1 g6 23. Ng3
c4 24. Ne4 Nc5 25. Nxc5 Rxc5 26. Bd4 Ra5 27. Bxb6 axb6 28. Rxc4 Rxa3 29. Rc7+
Kf6 30. Rxh7 Ra2 31. Rcc7 Rdd2 32. Rhf7+ Ke5 33. g4 b5 34. h4 b4 35. Rb7 Rdc2
36. Kf1 Rc4 37. Rf4 Rxf4 38. Rb5+ Kd6 39. exf4 Ra4 40. h5 gxh5 41. gxh5 Ke7 42.
Kg2 Kf6 43. Kg3 Ra3+ 44. Kg4 Rb3 45. Rb6 Rb2 46. f5 Rxf2 47. Rxe6+ Kf7 48. Rb6
Rg2+ 49. Kf4 Rf2+ 50. Kg5 Rg2+ 51. Kh4 Rh2+ 52. Kg4 Rg2+ 53. Kf3 Rg5 54. Kf4
Rxh5 55. Rb7+ Kf6 56. Rb6+ Kf7 57. Ke5 Rh1 58. Rb7+ Kf8 59. Ke6 Re1+ 60. Kf6
Kg8 61. Rb8+ Kh7 62. Rb7+ Kg8 63. Rb8+ Kh7 64. Rxb4 Ra1 65. Rb7+ Kg8 66. Rb8+
Kh7 67. Re8 Ra6+ 68. Kf7 Ra5 69. f6 Ra7+ 70. Ke6 Ra6+ 71. Kf5 Ra5+ 72. Ke6 Ra6+
73. Kf7 Ra7+ 74. Re7 Ra8 75. Rb7 Kh6 76. Rd7 Kh7 77. Rb7 Kh6 78. Ke6 Kg6 79.
Rg7+ Kh6 80. Rd7 Kg6 81. Ke7 Kh7 82. Rd8 Ra7+ 83. Rd7 Ra8 84. Rd6 Kg6 85. Rd7
Kh7 86. Kf7 Kh6 87. Rb7 Kh7 88. Re7 Kh6 89. Re1 Ra7+ 90. Kg8 Ra8+ 91. Kf7 Ra7+
92. Ke6 Ra6+ 93. Kf5 Ra5+ 94. Re5 Ra8 95. Rd5 Kh7 96. Rd7+ Kh6 97. Rd1 Kh7 98.
Rh1+ Kg8 99. Kg6 Ra7 100. Rb1 Rg7+ 101. fxg7 {1/2-1/2 Duda,J (2658)-Ganguly,S
(2652)/Berlin GER 2015/The Week in Chess 1092}) 14... Ne4 15. Qc1 (15. Qa4 Qd2
16. Bxg7 Kxg7 17. Qxc4 Rad8 18. Nf4 Rfe8 19. Qxa6 Qd6 20. Qxa7 Qe5 21. Rac1 Rd2
22. f3 Nc3 23. Rce1 Rb8 24. Kh1 Rbb2 {1/2-1/2 Jobava,B (2715)-Naiditsch,A
(2686)/Poikovsky 2010/CBM 137}) 15... Qd3 16. Nc3 Nxc3 (16... Nd2 $5 17. Rd1
Nb3 (17... Rfd8 18. Na4 Qb3 19. Rxd2 Qxa4 20. Rc2 $11) 18. Rxd3 Nxc1 19. Rd6
Nd3 20. Rxa6 Nxb2 $15) 17. Qxc3 f6 18. Rfd1 Qxc3 19. Bxc3 Rab8 20. Rdc1 Rfe8
21. Be1 Re4 $15 {I was happy at this moment as I got a stable advantage.} 22.
Rc3 Rb3 23. Rac1 Kf7 24. Kf1 f5 {My idea is to stop f3 e4 plan} (24... Ke6 25.
Ke2 Kd5 26. f3 Re7 27. e4+ $11) 25. Bd2 Ke6 26. a4 $2 (26. f3 Rxc3 27. Rxc3 Rh4
28. h3 Kd5 $15 {Black has advantage...But it will be difficult task to crack
white position}) 26... Rb2 27. Ke2 Kd5 ({I was thinking about} 27... Nb4 $5 28.
Rxc4 Rxc4 29. Rxc4 Kd5 30. Rf4 g6 31. g4 fxg4 32. Rxg4 c4 33. Rg5+ {but was
not sure about this position..} Kd6 34. Kd1 Nd3 35. f3 Ra2 $17) 28. g3 Rb4 29.
R3c2 $6 {I dont know why he gave a4 pawn} Rxa4 30. Bc3 g6 31. Rd1+ Kc6 32. Rcd2
Re6 33. Rd7 Ra2+ 34. Kf3 Nb4 35. Rxh7 Nd3 36. Rd2 Ra3 37. Rc2 Nb4 38. Rc1 (38.
Bxb4 cxb4 39. Rxc4+ Kb5 40. Rc1 a5 $19) 38... Na2 39. Ra1 (39. Bb2 Rb3 40. Rc2
Nb4 41. Re2 c3 $19) 39... Kb5 40. h4 Rea6 41. Bh8 c3 42. Rxa2 Rxa2 43. Bxc3 Rc2
$19 44. Be5 Re6 45. Bh8 a5 46. h5 gxh5 47. Rxh5 a4 48. Rxf5 Rh6 49. Rf8 Rh2 50.
Ke4 Rcxf2 51. Ra8 a3 52. Bc3 a2 53. Kd3 Rfg2 54. Ra5+ Kb6 55. Kc4 Rh5 56. e4
Re2 57. e5 Re4+ 58. Kb3 Rh2 59. Rxa2 Rxa2 60. Kxa2 Kb5 61. Kb3 Kc6 62. Bd2 Kd5
63. Bf4 Kd4 64. Ka4 c4 65. Kb4 c3 66. Bh6 Kd3+ {Finally I made my 2nd GM norm!.
..} 0-1

 

GM Lalith Babu (2553) scored 7.5/10 and finished sixth on tiebreak

GM Vaibhav Suri (2552), also with 7.5/10, was ninth

IM Vignesh NR (2448) came back strongly after a second round upset and held the top seed GM Grachev (2652) to finish with 7.0/10.

Untitled Sammed Shete (2307) is a rare talent from Kolhapur, Maharashtra and has progressed in an inspiring manner in the last few years, despite facing numerous financial obstacles. He finished on 7.0/10 and is a boy to watch out for!

IM Crg Krishna (2385) accounted for Dutch GM Sipke Ernst and also scored 7.0/10.

Ivan Popov took home the winner's cheque of Rs 3,00,000 (approx. US $5,000) and a ChessBase 13 software!

The Sheikh Sultan Cup

Video Report by Vijay Kumar:

Final Ranking: 

Rk. SNo   Name FED Rtg Pts.  TB1   TB2   TB3 
1 2 GM Popov Ivan RUS 2650 8,0 64,0 58,5 54,50
2 21 GM Czebe Attila HUN 2466 8,0 57,5 52,5 47,25
3 16 GM Neverov Valeriy UKR 2506 8,0 54,0 49,5 47,25
4 6 GM Sivuk Vitaly UKR 2566 7,5 60,0 54,5 46,75
5 4 GM Demchenko Anton RUS 2596 7,5 59,5 53,5 45,50
6 10 GM Lalith Babu M R IND 2553 7,5 59,0 53,5 46,75
7 29 IM Das Sayantan IND 2411 7,5 57,5 52,5 45,50
8 18 GM Nguyen Duc Hoa VIE 2494 7,5 57,5 52,0 44,25
9 11 GM Vaibhav Suri IND 2552 7,5 56,0 51,0 44,00
10 7 GM Mozharov Mikhail RUS 2559 7,5 56,0 50,5 44,25
11 1 GM Grachev Boris RUS 2652 7,0 61,0 55,5 45,00
12 5 GM Solodovnichenko Yuri UKR 2581 7,0 59,0 53,5 42,50
13 24 IM Vignesh N R IND 2448 7,0 56,5 51,5 40,75
14 44   Sammed Jaykumar Shete IND 2307 7,0 53,0 48,0 39,50
15 33 IM Krishna C R G IND 2387 7,0 50,5 46,0 36,00

View the complete ranking list here.

Complete results of Round 10.

Download important Round 01-10 games in PGN.

Thank you for watching the games on Playchess!

Category-C Open

 

The 1053-player-bonanza came to an end simultaneously as the seedings and probabilities were sent for a toss. Delhi's N. Srihari (1556) scored 9.5/10 to finish clear first and win the Rs. 1,50,000 first prize and a ChessBase 13 software as well.

Final Ranking:

No. SNo   Name FED Rtg Club/City Pts.  TB1   TB2   TB3 
1 37   Srihari N IND 1556 Del 9,5 62,5 57,5 63,25
2 185   Banerjee Ashutosh IND 1450 Chh 9,0 67,0 61,5 62,00
3 358   Shanya Mishra IND 1333 Del 9,0 59,5 55,0 58,00
4 129   Manish Kumar Sharma IND 1488 Del 9,0 57,0 52,0 54,50
5 26   Sudhanshu Ranjan IND 1566 Bih 8,5 68,0 61,5 61,25
6 44   Aditya Savalkar IND 1549 Mah 8,5 67,5 61,0 59,00
7 102   Somakanta Singh Haobam IND 1502 Man 8,5 64,5 59,0 56,25
8 148   Aryan IND 1477 JK 8,5 64,0 59,5 53,75
9 285   Nipun Kakkar IND 1383 Raj 8,5 62,0 58,0 51,25
10 39   Shanmukha Teja P IND 1552 AP 8,5 61,5 56,0 56,00

Check the complete ranking list here.

 

ChessBase India will bring you a final report with more pictures of the tournament and the vicinity, comments, videos and stories from Delhi! Also, in the pipeline is a detailed interview with the AICF CEO Bharat Singh Chauhan.

Photos for Chessbase India