Malaysia: Swapnil Dhopade champion; Aryan becomes GM No. 45!

by Priyadarshan Banjan - 19/09/2016

Of the 100 players competing at the 13th edition of Dato' Arthur Tan International Open 2016, 33 were Indians -- the highest among all the countries. The winner of the tournament was the fifth seed GM Swapnil Dhopade (2496) who scored a smooth 7.5/9. GM Koneru Humpy was the top seed, but she was derailed due to two losses. Srinath Narayanan finished third, while Aryan Chopra took the fifth place and also became India's 45th grandmaster!

Malaysia: Swapnil Dhopade champion; Aryan becomes GM No. 45!

Of the 100 players competing at the 13th edition of Dato' Arthur Tan International Open 2016, 33 were Indians -- the highest among all the countries. The second highest number of participants was from the home country -- Malaysia -- with 24 players. It will soon become commonplace to see Indians players having the highest number of players in foreign competitions.

The tournament was held at the Mid Valley Megamall in Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia.

Mr. Dato' Arthur Tan Chin Nam is a Malaysian-born entrepreneur and developer and is reported to be one of the richest men in Malaysia, owning several companies and businesses. Wikipedia article.

As you can see, Mr. Dato' Arthur Tan is an avid chess player himself and has held posts in FIDE in the past. he has heavily invested in chess tournaments and projects to find chess talents in China and Malaysia.

Into its 13th edition, the tournament was a grand affair.

The playing arena

GM Koneru Humpy was the top seed in the tournament.

She had a less than auspicious start with a draw in the first round to Nuh Hakim (2186). She lost two more games and ended with 5.5/9. One of her losses was to FM Srinath Rao (2261).

[Event "13th IGB Dato Arthur Tan International "]
[Site "Kuala Lumpur"]
[Date "2016.09.15"]
[Round "6.12"]
[White "Srinath, Rao SV"]
[Black "Koneru, Humpy"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B06"]
[WhiteElo "2261"]
[BlackElo "2580"]
[PlyCount "105"]
[EventDate "2016.09.12"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "MAS"]
[SourceDate "2010.12.28"]

1. e4 g6 2. d4 Bg7 3. c3 d6 4. Bd3 e5 5. Ne2 Nf6 6. O-O O-O 7. f4 Nbd7 8. Kh1
Qe7 9. Ng3 exd4 10. cxd4 c5 11. dxc5 Nxc5 12. Nc3 h5 13. f5 h4 14. Nge2 Nfxe4
15. Bxe4 Nxe4 16. Nd5 Qe5 17. Bf4 Qxb2 18. Rb1 Qxa2 19. f6 Nxf6 20. Nec3 Qa5
21. Bxd6 Nxd5 22. Nxd5 Be6 23. Bxf8 Qxd5 24. Bxg7 Kxg7 25. h3 Rc8 26. Qe2 b6
27. Rb4 Qg5 28. Qf2 Rd8 29. Rf4 Bf5 30. Qb2+ Qf6 31. Qxf6+ Kxf6 32. Rxh4 a5 33.
Rc4 Ke7 34. Re1+ Be6 35. Rc7+ Kd6 36. Ra7 Kc5 37. Rb1 Rd7 38. Ra6 Rd6 39. Ra7
Kc6 40. Ra6 Kc5 41. Ra7 Bc4 42. Kh2 Kc6 43. g4 Rd2+ 44. Kg3 Rd3+ 45. Kh2 g5 46.
Ra8 Bb3 47. Rg8 a4 48. Rxg5 a3 49. Rc1+ Kb7 50. Rf5 Be6 51. Rf4 b5 52. h4 Rb3
53. h5 1-0

The winner of the tournament was the fifth seed GM Swapnil Dhopade (2496) who scored a smooth 7.5/9, with +22 in Elo.

Swapnil got a very good start to the tournament as he defeated international masters Nitin S. and Aryan Chopra towards the middle of the tournament.

[Event "Malaysia"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.09.18"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Nitin, S.."]
[Black "Dhopade, Swapnil"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B18"]
[PlyCount "70"]
[SourceDate "2016.09.18"]

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Bf5 5. Ng3 Bg6 6. N1e2 e6 7. Nf4 Bd6 8.
h4 Qc7 9. Nxg6 hxg6 10. Ne4 Bf4 11. g3 Bxc1 12. Qxc1 Nf6 13. Bg2 Nxe4 14. Bxe4
Nd7 15. Qe3 Qa5+ 16. Qc3 Qxc3+ 17. bxc3 O-O-O 18. O-O Nf6 19. Bf3 Nd5 20. a4 (
20. c4 Nc3 21. d5 exd5 22. cxd5 Nxd5 $17) (20. Bxd5 Rxd5 21. Rfd1 Rhd8 22. Rd3
$17) 20... Nxc3 21. Ra3 Nd5 22. a5 a6 23. Rb3 Rd7 24. Rfb1 Rhd8 25. Be2 Rc7 26.
c3 Ne7 27. Bf3 Nf5 28. Kg2 Nd6 29. Be2 c5 30. g4 cxd4 31. cxd4 Ne4 32. Rd3 Nc3
33. Rb2 Nb5 34. Rb4 Rcd7 35. h5 g5 0-1

As usual, Swapnil managed to defeat IM Srinath Narayanan (2477) with the black pieces (yet again) in the seventh round.

And then, in the eighth, he defeated GM Deepan Chakkravarthy (2477), effectively sealing his win.

IM Srinath N. (2477) finished third on the tie-break with 6.5/9.

[Event "Malaysia"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.09.18"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Srinath , N.."]
[Black "Severino, Sander"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C06"]
[PlyCount "61"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. c3 c5 6. Bd3 Nc6 7. Ngf3 cxd4 8.
cxd4 a5 9. O-O a4 10. Nb1 Be7 11. Nc3 Nb6 12. Re1 Bd7 13. Bf4 Nb4 14. Bf1 Nc4
15. a3 Nc6 16. Bxc4 dxc4 17. Qe2 Na5 18. Rad1 Bc6 19. d5 Bxd5 20. Nxd5 exd5 21.
Nd4 O-O 22. Nf5 Kh8 23. Qg4 Rg8 24. Re3 Ra6 25. Rh3 h6 26. Qh5 Qf8 27. Rxd5 Nb3
28. Rd6 Bxd6 29. Bxh6 gxh6 30. Qxh6+ Qxh6 31. Rxh6# 1-0

Aryan Chopra became the 45th grandmaster in Indian history by crossing the 2500 mark. He scored 6.5/9 and finished fifth. A detailed write-up to follow soon.

12-year-old FM Nodirbek Abdusattarov (2375) of Uzbekistan performed at 2500+ and scored 6.5/9 as well.

Shailesh Nerlikar (1511) competed in the challengers' category and scored 5.0/9.

Shailesh is an inspiration to all, and despite his physical impairment, he has devoted his life to playing chess.

These eyes may not have the light to see, but their brightness shine through!

They may be disabled in the eyes of the world, but their courage eventually takes shape and shows character.

The organizer of this fantastic tournament -- Mr. Majid Bin Hamid

Photos: Mr Khong Wai Cheong

Final Ranking List