26 Indians looking to dominate Isle of Man

by Sagar Shah - 02/10/2016

Out of the 133 participants at the Chess.com Isle of Man international, 26 are Indians! The tournament is really a strong one as 48 grandmasters led by Fabiano Caruana, Hikaru Nakamura and Wesley So take part in this event. The Indian challenge is led by Vidit Gujrathi. The first round witnessed a few upsets as Harsha Bharathakoti drew his game with solid play against Peter Leko, while Parnali Dharia was able to hold Mihail Marin. Pictures, analysis and interesting information in our Round one report.

Photos by Harry Gielen

The chess.com Isle of Man International 2016 is being held from the 1st to the 9th of October in the island of Isle of Man. As the Qatar Masters Open 2016 will not be taking place this year, we can safely say that this would be the last "super-open" of the year.

The Isle of Man is a self-governing British Crown dependency in the Irish Sea between England and Ireland. It’s known for its rugged coastline, medieval castles and rural landscape, rising to a mountainous center

Chess enthusiasts from 34 nations make up the 133 player field. And guess which country has the highest number of participant at the event? Of course, it's India with a 26 player contingent. One of the main reasons why so many Indians have flown a total distance of 9250 kms is...

...Harikrishna's exploits in 2015 (picture by Alina l'Ami)

Participation of three super-elite grandmasters has made this event one of the strongest open tournaments in the world.

1. Fabiano Caruana (2813)

2.Wesley So (2794)

3.Hikaru Nakamura (2787)

An aerial shot of the beautiful playing hall

GM Vidit Gujrathi (2686) leads the Indian charge for the event. He started off with a clinical victory over Lucas van Foreest.

[Event "chess.com IoM Masters"]
[Site "Douglas ENG"]
[Date "2016.10.01"]
[Round "1.9"]
[White "Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi"]
[Black "Van Foreest, Lucas"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E17"]
[WhiteElo "2686"]
[BlackElo "2350"]
[Annotator "Sagar Shah"]
[PlyCount "55"]
[EventDate "2016.10.01"]

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 b6 4. Bg2 Bb7 5. d4 Be7 6. O-O O-O 7. Re1 $5 {
This move is Vidit's favourite against the Queen's Indian.} Na6 8. Bf4 d5 9.
Ne5 c5 10. Nc3 Re8 11. Rc1 Ne4 12. cxd5 exd5 13. Nxe4 dxe4 14. dxc5 Bxc5 15.
Nc4 Qf6 16. Qb3 Rad8 17. Red1 Qe6 18. a3 Rxd1+ 19. Qxd1 {The position is round
about even at this point. But now Lucas starts to go wrong.} b5 {gives up the
a5 square for the knight.} 20. Na5 Bd5 21. b4 Bb6 22. Bh3 $1 {A nice
deflection.} Bxf2+ $2 {This doesn't quite work.} (22... Qxh3 23. Qxd5 $16) 23.
Kxf2 e3+ 24. Ke1 Qe4 25. Bf1 $1 {Such backward moves are hard to see but you
can bank on Vidit to find them.} g5 26. Bxg5 Qh1 27. Bxe3 Bg2 (27... Rxe3 28.
Rc8+ Kg7 29. Qd4+ $18) 28. Qd7 $1 {A nice finishing stroke.} (28. Qd7 Qxf1+ (
28... Rf8 29. Qg4+ Kh8 30. Bd4+ f6 31. Bxf6+ Rxf6 32. Rc8+) 29. Kd2 $18) 1-0

Harsha Bharathakoti (2363) provided the upset of the day by drawing his game against Peter Leko!

[Event "chess.com IoM Masters"]
[Site "Douglas ENG"]
[Date "2016.10.01"]
[Round "1.6"]
[White "Harsha, Bharathakoti"]
[Black "Leko, Peter"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C53"]
[WhiteElo "2363"]
[BlackElo "2709"]
[Annotator "Sagar Shah"]
[PlyCount "74"]
[EventDate "2016.10.01"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. O-O a6 7. Bb3 O-O 8. Nbd2
Ba7 9. h3 Ne7 10. Re1 Ng6 11. Nf1 b5 12. d4 Bb7 13. Ng3 h6 14. a4 c5 15. dxe5
dxe5 16. Qxd8 Rfxd8 17. axb5 axb5 18. Be3 c4 19. Rxa7 Rxa7 20. Bxa7 cxb3 21.
Be3 Nxe4 22. Nxe4 Bxe4 23. Bb6 Rd6 24. Bc7 Rd7 25. Rxe4 Rxc7 26. Rb4 Rc5 27. g3
Ne7 28. Rxb3 Nc8 29. Ra3 Nb6 30. Ra6 Nc4 31. b3 Nb2 32. Ra8+ Kh7 33. b4 Rd5 (
33... Rxc3 34. Nxe5 $11) 34. Ra7 Kg8 (34... f6 35. Nh4 {with some threats.})
35. Ra8+ Kh7 36. Ra7 Kg8 37. Ra8+ Kh7 {If you look over the game carefully,
you will realize that even a player of Leko's stature couldn't do anything to
Harsha. A very solid game with the white pieces!} 1/2-1/2

Parnali Dharia (2228) performed beyond expectations when she split the point with experienced GM Mihail Marin

[Event "chess.com IoM Masters"]
[Site "Douglas ENG"]
[Date "2016.10.01"]
[Round "1.31"]
[White "Marin, Mihail"]
[Black "Parnali, S Dharia"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "E06"]
[WhiteElo "2569"]
[BlackElo "2228"]
[Annotator "Sagar Shah"]
[PlyCount "95"]
[EventDate "2016.10.01"]

1. c4 e6 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 d5 4. d4 Be7 5. Nf3 O-O 6. O-O dxc4 7. Ne5 Nc6 8.
Nxc6 bxc6 9. Na3 Bxa3 10. bxa3 Rb8 11. Qd2 Qd6 12. Qa5 Qxd4 13. Be3 Qb2 14.
Bxa7 Rb5 15. Qxc7 Qxe2 16. Bxc6 Rh5 17. Rad1 Ba6 $2 (17... Qe5 {was necessary
but after the queen exchange White is clearly better because of the passed
a-pawn.}) 18. Rfe1 (18. Rd8 $1 {is game over.} g6 19. Bd4 Rf5 20. Bc3 $18 {
White has all sorts of threats. The most deadly being Bb4.}) 18... Qxa2 19. Bf3
$2 (19. Rd8 $18 {Somehow Marin didn't find this idea.}) 19... Rf5 {Now Black
is alright.} 20. Bc5 Re8 21. Rd8 Bb5 22. Kg2 Rxf3 $1 {It's Black who has the
advantage now! Great nerves shown by Parnali.} 23. Kxf3 Bc6+ 24. Qxc6 Rxd8 $17
{Black is a pawn up now but the conversion is not so easy.} 25. Be7 Rd3+ 26.
Kg2 h5 27. Bxf6 gxf6 28. Rc1 Rd2 29. Qf3 Kg7 30. h4 Rd3 31. Qe4 Rd2 32. Qf3 e5
33. Rf1 Rd3 34. Qxh5 Rxa3 35. Qg4+ Kh6 36. Rc1 c3 37. Qf3 Kg7 38. Rxc3 Rxc3 39.
Qxc3 {Mihail can finally breathe easily. The strong passer is gone. But the
game is drawn now.} Qd5+ 40. Qf3 Qd2 41. Qe4 Qd7 42. g4 Qd2 43. Qf5 Qd5+ 44.
Kh2 Qd4 45. h5 Qd2 46. Kg2 Qd5+ 47. Kh2 Qd2 48. Kg2 1/2-1/2

GM Abhijeet Gupta is always a strong contender at such open events!

The little Aravindh Chithambaram has now matured into a smart young man!

GM Shardul Gagare didn't have a great start as he drew his first round against a lower rated opponent. But he must be happy that...

...his sister Shalmali Gagare is back on the chess board after a very long break. Shalmali is playing her second tournament since 2011. She was busy with her studies related to medicine.

All eyes will be on Harika, whether she can overcome her lacklustre performance at the Olympiad 2016. She will definitely be helped by the fact that her best friend and long time practice partner...

...Eesha Karavade is also playing at the event!

It's always nice to see the Women's World Champion competing in Open events

Hou Yifan is going to have her task cut out, as she faces the youngest IM in the world R. Praggnanandhaa in the second round

Picture of concentration is IM Tania Sachdev

Sundarajan Kidambi with a new "moustache" look!

When we speak about bright young talents in India, we mustn't forget GM Lalith Babu (2586). This guy has been inconsistent in the past few years. But I have a feeling that this is going to be his event! It will also be the tournament where Lalith will look to surpass 2600.

Fast improving: Pune's IM Abhimanyu Puranik is already on 2471!

There was definitely something wrong with the pairing as GM Vishnu Prasanna (2526) took on IM Visakh N R (2456). Harika who has the same rating as Vishnu played against a 2187 opponent. In any case GM Prasanna won his game.

In case you missed it, check out the first ChessBase India show that IM Sagar Shah had with GM Vishnu Prasanna

Chess fans all over the world would be waiting for Alina l'Ami to finish one of her games quickly and treat us with her beautiful pictures!

Results of round 1 for IND

Rd.	Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.
1	5	5	GM	Eljanov Pavel	2741	0	1 - 0	0		Hemant Sharma (del)	2371	71
1	6	72		Harsha Bharathakoti	2363	0	½ - ½	0	GM	Leko Peter	2709	6
1	9	9	GM	Vidit Santosh Gujrathi	2686	0	1 - 0	0		Van Foreest Lucas	2350	75
1	16	82	FM	Karthik Venkataraman	2317	0	½ - ½	0	GM	Salem A.R. Saleh	2650	16
1	23	23	GM	Gupta Abhijeet	2626	0	1 - 0	0	FM	Von Meijenfeldt Bart	2265	90
1	27	27	GM	Lenderman Aleksandr	2593	0	1 - 0	0	FM	Rakesh Kumar Jena	2247	93
1	28	94	FM	Lorscheid Gerhard	2238	0	0 - 1	0	GM	Lalith Babu M R	2586	28
1	30	30	GM	Marin Mihail	2569	0	½ - ½	0	WIM	Parnali S Dharia	2228	97
1	32	32	GM	Aravindh Chithambaram Vr.	2564	0	1 - 0	0		Grant Jonathan I M	2223	99
1	33	100		Wallace Paul	2210	0	1 - 0	0	GM	Shyam Sundar M.	2552	33
1	35	103	FM	Lyell Mark	2190	0	0 - 1	0	GM	Sunilduth Lyna Narayanan	2536	35
1	36	36	GM	Harika Dronavalli	2528	0	1 - 0	0		Rocabado Fernando	2187	104
1	37	52	IM	Visakh N R	2456	0	0 - 1	0	GM	Vishnu Prasanna. V	2522	37
1	44	109		Mclaren Brian	2149	0	½ - ½	0	GM	Gagare Shardul	2480	43
1	45	44	IM	Batsiashvili Nino	2480	0	1 - 0	0	AGM	Vardan Nagpal	2117	110
1	46	111		Ottosen David	2105	0	0 - 1	0	IM	Puranik Abhimanyu	2471	45
1	49	115	FM	Tiwari Ashwani	2090	0	0 - 1	0	IM	Paehtz Elisabeth	2459	49
1	53	119		Whitehead David J	2021	0	0 - 1	0	IM	Praggnanandhaa R	2442	54
1	54	55	GM	Sundararajan Kidambi	2429	0	1 - 0	0	WIM	Guo Emma	2018	120
1	59	125		Fathallah Joe	1990	0	0 - 1	0	IM	Karavade Eesha	2421	60
1	60	61	GM	Tarjan James E	2420	0	½ - ½	0	WIM	Gagare Shalmali	1989	126
1	61	127	WFM	Swati Mohota	1948	0	0 - 1	0	IM	Tania Sachdev	2414	62
1	62	63	WIM	Shvayger Yuliya	2405	0	1 - 0	0	WFM	Kotepalli Sai Nirupama	1944	128
1	63	129		Tirziman Rudolf	1923	0	0 - 1	0	IM	Das Arghyadip	2400	64

Pairings of round 2 for IND

Rd.	Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.
2	1	35	GM	Sunilduth Lyna Narayanan	2536	1		1	GM	Caruana Fabiano	2813	1
2	2	2	GM	So Wesley	2794	1		1	GM	Harika Dronavalli	2528	36
2	3	37	GM	Vishnu Prasanna. V	2522	1		1	GM	Nakamura Hikaru	2787	3
2	7	45	IM	Puranik Abhimanyu	2471	1		1	GM	Vidit Santosh Gujrathi	2686	9
2	14	54	IM	Praggnanandhaa R	2442	1		1	GM	Hou Yifan	2649	17
2	19	22	GM	Grandelius Nils	2642	1		1	GM	Sundararajan Kidambi	2429	55
2	20	60	IM	Karavade Eesha	2421	1		1	GM	Gupta Abhijeet	2626	23
2	22	62	IM	Tania Sachdev	2414	1		1	GM	L'ami Erwin	2605	25
2	24	64	IM	Das Arghyadip	2400	1		1	GM	Lenderman Aleksandr	2593	27
2	25	28	GM	Lalith Babu M R	2586	1		1	WIM	Shvayger Yuliya	2405	63
2	28	66	FM	Merry Alan B	2388	1		1	GM	Aravindh Chithambaram Vr.	2564	32
2	31	6	GM	Leko Peter	2709	½		½	FM	Karthik Venkataraman	2317	82
2	33	43	GM	Gagare Shardul	2480	½		½		Harsha Bharathakoti	2363	72
2	36	126	WIM	Gagare Shalmali	1989	½		0	GM	Wang Hao	2701	7
2	37	33	GM	Shyam Sundar M.	2552	0		0	FM	Lyell Mark	2190	103
2	38	99		Grant Jonathan I M	2223	0		0	IM	Visakh N R	2456	52
2	42	97	WIM	Parnali S Dharia	2228	½		½	IM	Bellaiche Anthony	2494	40
2	45	71		Hemant Sharma (del)	2371	0		0		Ottosen David	2105	111
2	48	77	FM	Kavutskiy Konstantin	2332	0		0	FM	Tiwari Ashwani	2090	115
2	51	110	AGM	Vardan Nagpal	2117	0		0	IM	Kolbus Dietmar	2321	80
2	59	90	FM	Von Meijenfeldt Bart	2265	0		0	WFM	Swati Mohota	1948	127
2	62	93	FM	Rakesh Kumar Jena	2247	0		0		Tirziman Rudolf	1923	129
2	64	128	WFM	Kotepalli Sai Nirupama	1944	0		0		Allen Keith	2236	96

Player overview for IND

SNo		Name	Rtg	FED	1	Pts.	Rk.
9	GM	Vidit Santosh Gujrathi	2686	IND	1	1,0	7
23	GM	Gupta Abhijeet	2626	IND	1	1,0	20
28	GM	Lalith Babu M R	2586	IND	1	1,0	25
32	GM	Aravindh Chithambaram Vr.	2564	IND	1	1,0	28
33	GM	Shyam Sundar M.	2552	IND	0	0,0	75
35	GM	Sunilduth Lyna Narayanan	2536	IND	1	1,0	30
36	GM	Harika Dronavalli	2528	IND	1	1,0	31
37	GM	Vishnu Prasanna. V	2522	IND	1	1,0	32
43	GM	Gagare Shardul	2480	IND	½	0,5	64
45	IM	Puranik Abhimanyu	2471	IND	1	1,0	38
52	IM	Visakh N R	2456	IND	0	0,0	76
54	IM	Praggnanandhaa R	2442	IND	1	1,0	45
55	GM	Sundararajan Kidambi	2429	IND	1	1,0	46
60	IM	Karavade Eesha	2421	IND	1	1,0	51
62	IM	Tania Sachdev	2414	IND	1	1,0	52
64	IM	Das Arghyadip	2400	IND	1	1,0	54
71		Hemant Sharma (del)	2371	IND	0	0,0	81
72		Harsha Bharathakoti	2363	IND	½	0,5	67
82	FM	Karthik Venkataraman	2317	IND	½	0,5	68
93	FM	Rakesh Kumar Jena	2247	IND	0	0,0	99
97	WIM	Parnali S Dharia	2228	IND	½	0,5	70
110	AGM	Vardan Nagpal	2117	IND	0	0,0	112
115	FM	Tiwari Ashwani	2090	IND	0	0,0	116
126	WIM	Gagare Shalmali	1989	IND	½	0,5	73
127	WFM	Swati Mohota	1948	IND	0	0,0	127
128	WFM	Kotepalli Sai Nirupama	1944	IND	0	0,0	128

Round two will begin at 6.p.m IST

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