MCL 2016: Navigators navigate it through
The stage was set for Navigators and Battlers to take on each other yet again. They had already faced each other twice before the finals. The match turned out to be a see-saw battle between the two ace teams of the tournament. Battlers' plunderer in chief Srinath N. was clearly out of sorts, going down to Mary. Navigators' Varshini was winning against Humpy of Jalgaon Battlers. It looked like Navigators would win easily. But Varshini blundered the game and Jalgaon Battlers held Navigators 3.0-3.0. The Maharashtra Chess League 2016 was decided, once again, by an armageddon. Report.
MCL 2016: Adhiban navigates Pune-Sangli to victory!
In highly entertaining encounters, Jalgaon Battlers and Pune Sangli Navigators stormed into the finals of the Persistent 4th Maharashtra Chess League which was in the concluding stages at PYC Hindu Gymkhana. The stage was set for Navigators and Battlers to take on each other yet again. They had already faced each other twice before the finals. In the league stage, the Battlers had wiped out the Navigators, but in the Qualifier, they were held to a draw. Battlers advanced to the finals anyway by winning the armageddon, while the Navigators had to beat Pune TruMasters in the Eliminator to make a way back to the finals, for yet another shot against the Battlers.
| Round 1 on 2016/06/15 at 05.00 PM | ||||||||
| Bo. | 1 | Pune Sangli NOK-99 Navigators | Rtg | - | 2 | Jalgaon Battlers | Rtg | 3 : 3 |
| 1/1 | FM | Thakur, Akash (w) | 2215 | - | GM | Swapnil, S. Dhopade (b) | 2458 | 0 - 1 |
| 1/2 | GM | Kunte, Abhijit (b) | 2467 | - | GM | Sunilduth Lyna, Narayanan (w) | 2413 | 0 - 1 |
| 1/3 | IM | Udeshi, Aditya (w) | 2418 | - | Aakanksha, Hagawane (b) | 1711 | 1 - 0 | |
| 1/4 | GM | Adhiban, B. (b) | 2644 | - | Mohammad, Nubairshah Shaikh (w) | 2371 | 1 - 0 | |
| 1/5 | WFM | Varshini, V (w) | 1845 | - | GM | Koneru, Humpy (b) | 2500 | 0 - 1 |
| 1/6 | WGM | Gomes, Mary Ann (b) | 2337 | - | IM | Narayanan, Srinath (w) | 2521 | 1 - 0 |
Nubair was holding his own against his more illustrious rival until the former finally cracked, giving away a piece towards the end of the game.
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.06.15"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Mohammad, Nubairshah Shaikh"]
[Black "Adhiban, B."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A50"]
[WhiteElo "2371"]
[BlackElo "2644"]
[PlyCount "58"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2003.06.08"]
[TimeControl "1500"]
[WhiteClock "0:00:16"]
[BlackClock "0:04:59"]
{302} 6. Nf3 {9} O-O {22} 7. g3 {26} exd5 {95} 8. cxd5 {0} Re8 {10} 9. Bg2 {0}
a5 {0} 10. O-O {0} Na6 {0} 11. Nd4 {69} Nc5 12. Ndb5 {286} Be5 {147} 13. Be3 {
14} c6 {67} 14. dxc6 dxc6 {0} 15. Nd4 {788} Qc7 {0} 16. Nf3 {0} Bxc3 {0} 17.
bxc3 {0} Nce4 {0} 18. c4 {0} Ng4 19. Bf4 {4} Qe7 {83} 20. Qc2 {93} Qc5 {62} 21.
h3 {116} Ngf6 {343} 22. Be3 {7} Qe7 {27} 23. Bxb6 {2} c5 {0} 24. Rab1 {0} Bc6 {
0} 25. Rb2 {14} h6 {15} 26. Nd2 {2} Qe6 {21} 27. Bc7 {9} (27. Nxe4 Bxe4 28.
Bxe4 Nxe4 29. h4 Re7 30. Rd1 Rb7 31. Rd8+ Rxd8 32. Bxd8 $11) 27... Nxd2 {1} 28.
Qxd2 {0} Bxg2 {0} 29. Rb6 {5} Qxh3 {0} 0-1
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.06.15"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Sunilduth Lyna, Narayanan"]
[Black "Kunte, Abhijit"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B43"]
[WhiteElo "2413"]
[BlackElo "2467"]
[PlyCount "89"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2003.06.08"]
[TimeControl "1500"]
[WhiteClock "0:06:21"]
[BlackClock "0:02:28"]
18} 6. Bd3 {0} g6 {84} 7. O-O {0} Bg7 {0} 8. Be3 {0} d6 {0} 9. f4 {0} Nf6 {0}
10. a4 {0} O-O {0} 11. a5 {0} Nbd7 {0} 12. Nb3 {0} b5 {0} 13. axb6 {0} Nxb6 {0}
14. Qe2 {0} Nfd7 {0} 15. Kh1 {0} Re8 {0} 16. Qf2 {0} Rb8 {0} 17. Bxa6 Bxa6 {580
} 18. Rxa6 {514} Nc4 {10} 19. Bd4 {35} Nf6 {98} 20. Ra7 {120} Rb7 {16} 21. Rxb7
Qxb7 {0} 22. Qe2 {0} Rc8 {7} 23. e5 {74} dxe5 {259} 24. Nc5 {0} Qe7 {0} 25.
fxe5 {111} Nxe5 {0} 26. Nxe6 {0} Ned7 27. Nxg7 {35} Qxe2 {128} 28. Nxe2 {0}
Kxg7 {14} 29. Ng3 {114} Re8 {0} 30. b4 {19} h5 {0} 31. Kg1 {11} h4 {0} 32. Nh1
{0} g5 {0} 33. Nf2 {8} Kg6 {0} 34. Nd3 {8} Re4 {0} 35. c3 {0} Nd5 {0} 36. b5 {6
} f5 {0} 37. Rb1 {19} N7b6 {8} 38. Nb4 {5} h3 {56} 39. Nxd5 {0} Nxd5 {0} 40. b6
{7} Nf4 {2} 41. b7 {13} Re2 {28} 42. b8=Q {13} hxg2 {0} 43. Bf2 {0} Nh3+ {26}
44. Kxg2 {0} Nxf2 {0} 45. Rb2 {7} 1-0
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.06.15"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Udeshi, Aditya"]
[Black "Aakanksha, Hagawane"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C55"]
[WhiteElo "2418"]
[BlackElo "1711"]
[PlyCount "57"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2003.06.08"]
[TimeControl "1500"]
[WhiteClock "0:01:35"]
[BlackClock "0:00:08"]
{0} d6 {11} 6. c3 {0} O-O 7. Nbd2 {0} h6 {51} 8. h3 d5 {10} 9. Qe2 {37} a6 {249
} 10. O-O {343} dxe4 {113} 11. Nxe4 Bf5 {186} 12. Bd2 {112} Kh8 {96} 13. Rad1 {
5} Bg6 {22} 14. Bc1 {407} Bd6 {135} 15. Rfe1 Nh7 16. Nxd6 {252} cxd6 {145} 17.
d4 {0} e4 {17} 18. Nd2 {0} d5 {0} 19. Nf1 {0} f5 {27} 20. Bf4 {76} Na5 {142}
21. c4 {104} Nxb3 {95} 22. axb3 {0} Nf6 {1} 23. Ng3 {0} Bh7 {29} 24. Be5 {0}
Kg8 {48} 25. Rc1 {19} g5 {57} 26. Nh5 {12} Nd7 {44} 27. cxd5 {17} Bg6 {14} 28.
f4 {21} Qe8 29. Ng3 1-0
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.06.15"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Thakur, Akash"]
[Black "Swapnil, S. Dhopade"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B12"]
[WhiteElo "2215"]
[BlackElo "2458"]
[PlyCount "96"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2003.06.08"]
[TimeControl "1500"]
[WhiteClock "0:00:14"]
[BlackClock "0:07:50"]
{1} e6 6. Nd2 {70} Bc5 {48} 7. N2f3 {8} Ne7 {0} 8. a3 {24} Nbc6 {26} 9. Nxc6 {
80} bxc6 {213} 10. b4 {0} Bb6 {0} 11. Bb2 {0} Ng6 {34} 12. c4 {88} O-O 13. c5
Bc7 14. g3 {146} f6 {141} 15. exf6 {390} gxf6 {0} 16. h4 {23} e5 {0} 17. h5 {10
} Ne7 {0} 18. Bh3 {64} Bxh3 {0} 19. Rxh3 {0} a5 {0} 20. Nh4 {0} Qd7 {0} 21. g4
{0} axb4 {0} 22. axb4 {0} d4 {0} 23. Rha3 {145} Rxa3 24. Rxa3 {116} Rb8 25.
Qb3+ Qd5 {349} 26. Nf5 {3} Qxb3 {32} 27. Nxe7+ {1} Kf7 {0} 28. Rxb3 {0} Kxe7 {0
} 29. Ke2 {27} Ke6 {0} 30. Kd3 {0} Kd5 {0} 31. f3 {0} Bd8 {0} 32. Ba3 {147} Be7
{0} 33. Rb2 {0} Bf8 {0} 34. Re2 {39} Bh6 {0} 35. Rb2 {22} Bc1 {111} 36. Ra2 {0}
Ra8 {44} 37. Bxc1 {15} Rxa2 {0} 38. Bh6 {0} Rf2 {9} 39. g5 {43} fxg5 {3} 40.
Bxg5 {0} Rxf3+ {0} 41. Kd2 {0} e4 {0} 42. Ke2 {0} Rb3 {0} 43. Bd2 {0} Rb2 {0}
44. Kd1 {0} e3 {0} 45. Be1 {0} d3 {0} 46. Kc1 {31} d2+ {0} 47. Bxd2 {0} Rxd2 {0
} 48. b5 {0} cxb5 {0} 0-1
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.06.15"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Narayanan, Srinath"]
[Black "Gomes, Mary Ann"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B56"]
[WhiteElo "2521"]
[BlackElo "2337"]
[PlyCount "110"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2003.06.08"]
[TimeControl "1500"]
[WhiteClock "0:02:16"]
[BlackClock "0:02:59"]
Nc3 {0} Bd7 {0} 6. Bc4 {0} e6 {0} 7. Be3 a6 {0} 8. Bb3 {0} Nc6 9. f4 {82} Qc7 {
31} 10. f5 {75} Nxd4 {173} 11. Bxd4 {2} e5 {0} 12. Be3 {0} Bc6 {0} 13. Qf3 {14}
b5 {33} 14. O-O-O {212} Rc8 15. Bg5 {297} b4 {242} 16. Nd5 {0} Nxd5 {15} 17.
exd5 {0} Bb5 {0} 18. Kb1 {22} a5 {112} 19. c4 {2} bxc3 {0} 20. Rc1 {0} Qd7 {39}
21. f6 {0} gxf6 {0} 22. Bxf6 {0} Rg8 {0} 23. Rxc3 {0} Rxc3 {0} 24. bxc3 {183}
Qg4 {60} 25. c4 {34} Bd7 {14} 26. c5 {81} Bf5+ 27. Bc2 Qb4+ {125} 28. Qb3 {53}
Bxc2+ 29. Kxc2 {0} Rxg2+ {0} 30. Kb1 {0} dxc5 {80} 31. Qxb4 {0} axb4 {0} 32.
Bxe5 {0} Rd2 {12} 33. Re1 {0} Kd7 {160} 34. Rf1 {0} Rxd5 {1} 35. Bg7 {0} Bxg7 {
82} 36. Rxf7+ {0} Kc6 {0} 37. Rxg7 {0} h5 {0} 38. Kc2 {39} Rf5 {0} 39. Rg2 {95}
Rf3 {0} 40. Kb2 {27} Kb5 {0} 41. Re2 {15} h4 {1} 42. Kb1 {136} h3 {9} 43. Kc1 {
4} Rf1+ {71} 44. Kd2 {0} Rg1 {0} 45. Re8 {9} Rg2+ {1} 46. Kd3 {0} Rxa2 {50} 47.
Rb8+ {2} Kc6 {16} 48. Rh8 {0} Rxh2 {0} 49. Kc4 {0} Rc2+ {0} 50. Kb3 {0} Rc3+ {0
} 51. Kb2 {0} Rg3 {0} 52. Kc2 {0} Kb5 {0} 53. Rh4 {0} c4 {0} 54. Kb2 {0} Rg2+ {
0} 55. Kc1 {0} h2 {0} 0-1
It seemed like a lost cause for the Jalgaon Battlers, which is when Varshini blundered and Humpy gleefully took the point. Jalgaon Battlers had tied the Pune Sangli Navigators to a 3.0-3.0 tie yet again!
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.06.15"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Varshini, V."]
[Black "Koneru, Humpy"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B23"]
[WhiteElo "1845"]
[BlackElo "2500"]
[PlyCount "88"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2003.06.08"]
[TimeControl "1500"]
[WhiteClock "0:00:10"]
[BlackClock "0:00:14"]
81} e6 6. Nge2 Nf6 {292} 7. O-O {32} Qc7 {10} 8. f4 {215} d6 {62} 9. h3 h5 10.
f5 {199} e5 {78} 11. Nd5 {117} Nxd5 {48} 12. exd5 {0} c4 {22} 13. dxc4 {145}
Qxc4 {20} 14. Be3 {99} Nd7 {174} 15. b3 {66} Qc7 {21} 16. c4 {82} Be7 {5} 17.
Rc1 Qd8 {240} 18. Qd2 {155} O-O {157} 19. Nc3 {42} bxc4 {32} 20. bxc4 {0} Rc8 {
157} 21. Ne4 {9} Nf6 {24} 22. Nxf6+ {71} Bxf6 {0} 23. g4 {0} hxg4 {41} 24. hxg4
{0} g5 {0} 25. fxg6 {30} fxg6 {0} 26. g5 {0} Bg7 {0} 27. Bh3 {0} Re8 {20} 28.
Qf2 {53} Rc7 {6} 29. Be6+ {54} Rxe6 {0} 30. dxe6 {0} Re7 {42} 31. c5 {13} dxc5
{24} 32. Rxc5 {23} Qd6 {0} 33. Rcc1 Qxe6 {0} 34. Qg3 {1} Qd5 {0} 35. Qh2 {0}
Qe4 {6} 36. Rce1 $4 {0} (36. Qh3 Bc6 37. Rf2 Rf7 38. Qc8+ Bf8 39. Qxc6 Qxe3 40.
Qxg6+ $18) 36... Qg4+ {0} 37. Kf2 {1} Rf7+ {0} 38. Bf4 {0} Rxf4+ 39. Ke3 Re4+ {
3} 40. Kd2 {0} Qxg5+ {1} 41. Kc2 {0} Rc4+ {3} 42. Kb3 {2} Bd5 {0} 43. Rd1 {0}
Qe3+ {1} 44. Kb2 {0} Qc3+ {0} 0-1
Therefore, once again, it all boiled down to armageddon game. Both the teams had performed at their best throughout the tournament. The Navigators clearly dominated the first forty percent of the tournament, while the Battlers had ruled for the remaining sixty. Now, it had to end. While Pune Sangli Navigators chose to field GM B. Adhiban yet again, just as in the previous day, the Battlers announced a surprising change.
Playing IM N. Srinath in an armageddon would be a no brainer due to his experience in dealing with faster time controls. But with his health down and out, the Battlers had to decide and the most obvious choice left was GM Swapnil Dhopade, who in the past one year had been playing exceedingly well, including a win in the blitz tournament in Bangkok ahead of Short, van Wely, etc.
The Jalgaon Battlers, instead, chose to field GM S.L. Narayanan with the black pieces. Adhiban had white but was in a must win situation with five minutes on the clock, while a draw would suffice for the Battlers, but with four minutes only.
(Forgive the quality of the video — this was the best I could manage considering that the arbiters were hell bent on not letting me a spot to quietly record a good video without moving.)
