Men’s Premier 04: four Blacks wave the white flag
The fourth round saw four decisive games, and White won all of them. Rathnakaran fell to the same line that had destroyed him in the second round. Praneeth’s Najdorf could not suppress Arghyadip’s queenside onslaught. Sethu played a fine game and converted easily after Shyam Sundar missed his chance to equalize. Kunte and Shyaamnikhil settled for a quick draw, while P. Karthikeyan won a pawn, but could not break through Deep’s defenses. Venkatesh finally had reasons to smile, after he held an unfit Vidit to a draw. The game of the day was played by India's bright hope Murali Karthikeyan.
Men’s Premier 04: four Blacks wave the white flag
The fourth round began with a curious news: Vidit Gujrathi could not start his game on time, thanks to a fever that pinned him down. It was decided that he could play his game when he felt better, or there is always the rest day that could be used. He eventually stood up to the task and began his game against M.R. Venkatesh at 5 PM.
Rathnakaran fell to the same line that had destroyed him in the second round as Swapnil displayed fine preparation. Debutant Praneeth Surya’s Najdorf could not suppress Arghyadip’s onslaught on the queenside. Sethu played a fine game and converted easily after Shyam Sundar missed his chance.
Kunte and Shyaamnikhil settled for a very quick draw when almost everything was exchanged, while P. Karthikeyan won a pawn, but could not break through Deep’s defenses. Venkatesh finally had some reasons to smile, after he held an unfit Vidit to a draw. The game of the day though was played by the youngest grandmaster in India today: Murali Karthikeyan.
Annotations by IM N. Srinath:
[Site "Tiruvarur"]
[Date "2015.11.18"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Karthikeyan, Murali"]
[Black "Neelotpal, Das"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C68"]
[WhiteElo "2498"]
[BlackElo "2475"]
[PlyCount "67"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]
[EventCountry "IND"]
[SourceDate "2003.06.08"]
minute think. It's curious, what was going on, in Neelotpal's mind. I would be
a little amazed if Neelotpal was caught by surprise here considering that
Karthikeyan has played that line more than once in the recent past.} 6. d4 f6
$6 {I already can't find this move played anywhere.} 7. dxe5 fxe5 8. Qd3 Nf6 9.
Nbd2 Bg4 10. Nc4 Nd7 11. Qc3 Bxf3 12. Qxf3 Qe6 13. Qc3 Bc5 (13... Bd6 14. Be3
O-O) 14. Be3 Bxe3 15. Nxe3 O-O-O {White just has a pleasant edge here, but
it's not as big as it appears. Black's pawn structure is, of course, inferior to
White's, but with the queen's on board and the opposite side castling, it's
not the only factor in operation.} 16. a4 Nf6 17. f3 Rd4 18. b4 (18. Nf5 Rd7
19. b4 b6 {transposes to the game}) 18... b6 19. Nf5 (19. b5 {is coolly met
with} cxb5 20. axb5 a5) 19... Rd7 20. Ne3 Rd4 21. Qe1 Kb7 22. Nd1 g5 23. a5 {
with pawns on b6,a6 and the opposition pawns on a4,b4 it's usually quite
common to counter a5 with b5 and b5 with a5.} g4 $2 {It seems to me that it
was important not to allow pathway to a6. After this move, Black was reduced
down to a minute and hell breaks loose in all sectors of Black's position.} (
23... b5 $142 $5 24. Nf2 Qc4 25. Nd3 (25. Qe3) 25... Nd7 26. Rf2 h5 {holds the
balance}) (23... Rhd8 {Doesn't manage to prevent pressure on a6} 24. axb6 cxb6
25. Ne3 Rd2 26. Qc1 $16) 24. axb6 cxb6 25. c3 Rd7 26. fxg4 Nxg4 27. Qe2 Ra8 $2
{the decisive mistake according to the computer. However with just a minute
remaining, it's not easy to play a move like b5 without calculation,
permanently endangering c5.} (27... b5 $142 28. h3 Nf6 29. c4 {with the idea
of freeing the a2 square} (29. Nf2 Rhd8) (29. Nb2 Rhd8 30. Qe3 Qe7) 29... Ra8
30. Nc3 $40 {looks very unappealing to a human player}) 28. Nb2 Nf6 29. Na4 Rg7
$4 {Black loses the game in a straightforward way now.} (29... Rd6 {just
defending against the double attack. Black's position is unenviable, but
there's nothing straightforward yet.}) 30. Qf2 Nd7 31. Qxb6+ Kc8 32. Qe3 Kb7
33. Rad1 Rag8 34. Rxd7+ 1-0
[Site "Trivarur"]
[Date "2015.11.18"]
[Round "4.3"]
[White "Kunte Abhijit"]
[Black "Shyaamnikhil P"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D79"]
[WhiteElo "2515"]
[BlackElo "2436"]
[PlyCount "51"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]
[WhiteClock "1:18:46"]
[BlackClock "1:20:15"]
Ne4 9. Bd2 Nc6 10. e3 Bg4 11. h3 Nxd2 12. Qxd2 Bxf3 13. Bxf3 e6 14. Na4 Qa5 15.
Qxa5 Nxa5 16. Rfc1 Rfc8 17. Nc5 b6 18. Nd3 Nc4 19. b3 Na3 20. Rxc8+ Rxc8 21.
Rc1 Rxc1+ 22. Nxc1 Bf8 23. Be2 Nc2 24. Bd3 Ba3 25. Bxc2 Bxc1 26. Kf1 1/2-1/2
Usually, people who are once bitten are twice shy, but not good old Rathnakaran. He had lost his second round game to Vidit in the very same line, which Swapnil played. Swapnil used the same improvement (14.g4) that Vidit played, and he got the same result after Rathnakaran went wrong again to lose his third game on the trot.
To be fair, Rathnakaran did better than in his game against Vidit, and was a couple of moves away from equalizing, but he eventually went wrong even here. Losing in the same line twice in a very important tournament -- costly?
After the game, Swapnil revealed that he had analysed the Vidit-Rathnakaran game carefully in the morning before the round. "In a couple of hours of analysis I did, I observed that there was a slight edge in almost all the possibilities in this particular variation. I don't think Rathnakaran checked that game too well."
[Site "Trivarur"]
[Date "2015.11.18"]
[Round "4.4"]
[White "Swapnil S. Dhopade"]
[Black "Rathnakaran K."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A56"]
[WhiteElo "2497"]
[BlackElo "2447"]
[PlyCount "93"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]
[WhiteClock "0:28:06"]
[BlackClock "0:34:33"]
g3 Qb6 9. e3 Bg4 10. Be2 Bxe2 11. Qxe2 e4 12. a3 Re8 13. Nd2 Qc7 14. g4 Qe5 15.
Nc4 Qg5 16. d6 Nbd7 17. b4 Rac8 (17... Nb6 {is the best idea here.}) 18. Bb2 b5
19. h4 Qxg4 20. Qxg4 (20. Nxb5 $1 Bxb4+ 21. axb4 Qxe2+ 22. Kxe2 Rxc4 $16) 20...
Nxg4 21. Nxb5 Bb6 (21... Bxb4+ {is simple.} 22. axb4 Rxc4 $11) 22. Nxb6 axb6
23. Bc3 h5 24. Ke2 f6 25. Rhd1 Kf7 26. Nc7 Red8 27. a4 Nde5 28. Rd4 Nc6 29. Rd5
Rd7 30. a5 bxa5 31. bxa5 Nge5 32. a6 Na7 33. Rb1 Nc4 34. Rb7 Nxd6 35. Rxa7
Rcxc7 36. Rxc7 Rxc7 37. a7 Rxa7 38. Rxd6 Rc7 39. Kd2 Kg6 40. Rd5 Rb7 41. Kc2
Ra7 42. Kb3 Rb7+ 43. Bb4 Rc7 44. Bd6 Rc1 45. Bg3 Rh1 46. Kc4 Kh6 47. Rd4 1-0
FM Praneeth Surya played a Najdorf and equalized comfortably. However, IM Arghyadip Das kept pressing on the queenside and when in time-trouble, Praneeth cracked.
[Site "Trivarur"]
[Date "2015.11.18"]
[Round "4.5"]
[White "Das Arghyadip"]
[Black "K. Praneeth Surya"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B92"]
[WhiteElo "2456"]
[BlackElo "2413"]
[PlyCount "73"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]
[WhiteClock "0:08:48"]
[BlackClock "0:01:54"]
Be6 9. Be3 Nbd7 10. a4 Rc8 11. Qd2 Nb6 12. Rfd1 Nc4 13. Bxc4 Rxc4 14. Qd3 Ng4
15. Ba7 Rc6 16. a5 O-O 17. h3 Nh6 18. Nd5 Bxd5 19. exd5 Rc8 20. c4 f5 21. c5
Qd7 22. Rac1 Nf7 23. Bb6 e4 24. c6 bxc6 25. dxc6 Rxc6 26. Qxa6 Rxc1 27. Rxc1
Bf6 28. Nd4 Bxd4 29. Bxd4 f4 30. Qc6 Qf5 31. a6 Ng5 32. a7 Nxh3+ 33. gxh3 Qxh3
34. Qd5+ Kh8 35. Bxg7+ Kxg7 36. Qg5+ Kh8 37. Rc7 1-0
[Site "Trivarur"]
[Date "2015.11.18"]
[Round "4.1"]
[White "Karthikeyan P."]
[Black "Sengupta Deep"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A06"]
[WhiteElo "2441"]
[BlackElo "2589"]
[PlyCount "98"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]
[WhiteClock "0:33:05"]
[BlackClock "0:22:42"]
not yet moved the d pawn, and therefore, Black finds it difficult to to play
Bf5.} Bg4 8. d4 Ne4 9. Ne5 Be6 10. cxd5 cxd5 11. Nd2 Nd6 12. Rc1 Nd7 13. Nd3
Nf6 14. Nf4 Bc8 15. Nxd5 Nxd5 16. Bxd5 Nb5 17. Bg2 Nxd4 18. Nc4 Bg4 19. Bxd4
Qxd4 20. Qxd4 Bxd4 21. e3 Bf6 22. Bxb7 Rad8 23. Kg2 Rd7 24. Bf3 Be6 25. Rfd1
Rfd8 26. Rxd7 Rxd7 27. Kf1 Rc7 28. Rc2 Rc5 29. Ke2 Kg7 30. Be4 Kf8 31. Nd2 Ra5
32. a4 Ra6 33. Nc4 h5 34. Bb7 Bxc4+ 35. Rxc4 Rb6 36. Rc8+ Kg7 37. Bd5 e6 38.
Bc4 a5 39. Rc7 Be5 40. Rc5 Bc3 41. Bb5 Bb4 42. Rc7 {White has a symbolic
advantage if a pawn, however, IM Karthikeyan admitted after the game that it
is not clear how we can convert this position to a win.} Kf8 43. f4 Rd6 44. Bd3
Rd5 45. Rb7 Rd8 46. h3 Rc8 47. Bc4 Rd8 48. Bd3 Rc8 49. Bc4 Rd8 1/2-1/2
[Site "Trivarur"]
[Date "2015.11.18"]
[Round "4.7"]
[White "Venkatesh M.R."]
[Black "Vidit Santosh Gujrathi"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C00"]
[WhiteElo "2464"]
[BlackElo "2651"]
[PlyCount "86"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]
[WhiteClock "0:25:26"]
[BlackClock "0:49:26"]
5. g3 {109} d5 {309} 6. e5 {687} Nd7 {7} 7. d4 {11} b6 {22} 8. Na3 {77} a5 {231
} 9. Nb5 {686} Ba6 {10} 10. Bg5 {6} Qb8 {180} 11. Qc2 {345} Qb7 {439} 12. Be2 {
567} Rc8 {208} 13. Rc1 {37} h6 {212} 14. Bd2 {715} Be7 {155} 15. a4 {93} O-O {
45} 16. Qb1 {215} cxd4 {583} 17. cxd4 {12} Ndb8 {12} 18. O-O {237} Qd7 {17} 19.
Qd3 {604} Na7 {903} 20. Qb3 {400} Nbc6 {133} 21. Nc3 {552} Bxe2 {532} 22. Nxe2
{2} Nb4 {17} 23. Rxc8 {80} Rxc8 {40} 24. Rc1 {4} Rxc1+ {65} 25. Bxc1 {16} Qc8 {
476} 26. Bd2 {179} Qa6 {104} 27. Nc1 {15} Nac6 {124} 28. Bc3 {69} b5 {90} 29.
Qd1 {29} Na7 {125} 30. b3 $2 {263 Venky goes wrong.} (30. Bxb4 axb4 31. axb5
Nxb5 32. Qc2 $11) 30... bxa4 {204} 31. bxa4 {2} Nc8 {9} 32. Nb3 {168} Nb6 {123}
33. Qa1 {5} Bf8 {278} (33... Qe2 {is a better way to go about probing White.})
34. Ne1 {96} Nc4 {42} 35. Nf3 {67} Qc6 {152} 36. Nfd2 {15} Nb6 {56} 37. Nxa5 {
25} Qxa4 {2} 38. Qxa4 {76} Nxa4 {2} 39. Bxb4 {15} Bxb4 {1} 40. Nab3 {7} Nc3 {62
} 41. Kf1 {1834} g5 {222} 42. f3 {0} Kg7 {75} 43. Kf2 {0} Nb5 {218 1/2-1/2 (43)
Venkatesh,M (2464)-Vidit,S (2651) Tiruvarur 2015} 1/2-1/2
Sethu admitted that he was taken by surprise by Shyam's choice of the Catalan with 5...Bb4. Consequently, he took a lot of time in the opening: "I was trying to recall the exact details and continuations. I had prepared 7.e3 a long time back, and I found it difficult to remember."
"I did check this opening before the game but not this particular line. I have some ideas, which I remember. After that, I have to apply them concretely on the position and find the precise move orders," Sethu insightfully added. "I got the early advantage, but then he went awry with 37...h4 in time-pressure, locking out his own knight."
[Site "Trivarur"]
[Date "2015.11.18"]
[Round "4.2"]
[White "Sethuraman S.P."]
[Black "Shyam Sundar M."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E04"]
[WhiteElo "2651"]
[BlackElo "2481"]
[PlyCount "113"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]
[WhiteClock "0:18:34"]
[BlackClock "0:18:23"]
the Catalan.} 6. Bd2 a5 7. e3 {This move has been seen before, but it is
comparatively new, and Sethu had done some work on this some time back.} Nc6 8.
O-O O-O 9. Qc2 e5 10. Nxe5 Nxe5 11. dxe5 Ng4 12. a3 Bxd2 13. Nxd2 Nxe5 14. Qc3
Qf6 15. Rac1 Be6 16. f4 (16. Bxb7 {leads to an interesting line.} Rab8 17. Bg2
Rxb2 18. Ne4 Nf3+ 19. Bxf3 (19. Kh1 Qxc3 $19) 19... Qxf3 20. Ng5 (20. Qxb2 Bh3)
20... Qe2 21. Nxe6 fxe6 22. Qxc4 Qxc4 23. Rxc4 Ra2 24. Rxc7 Rxa3 25. Rb1 Ra2
26. Rbb7 (26. f4 Rd8 $17) 26... Rfxf2 27. Rxg7+ Kf8 28. Rxh7 Rg2+ 29. Kh1 Kg8
30. Rbe7 Rae2 $11) (16. Ne4 Qf5 (16... Nf3+ 17. Bxf3 Qxf3 18. Ng5 Qd5 19. Nxe6
Qxe6 20. Qxc4 Qxc4 21. Rxc4 c6 22. Rd1 Rad8 $11) 17. Nc5 $11) 16... Ng4 17.
Qxf6 Nxf6 18. Bxb7 Rab8 19. Bf3 Rxb2 20. Nxc4 Ra2 21. e4 h5 22. Nxa5 Rxa3 23.
Nc6 $14 Bh3 24. Rf2 Re8 25. Ne5 Re3 (25... h4 $1 {is closest to equality.} 26.
gxh4 Re3 27. Re2 Rxe2 28. Bxe2 Nxe4 29. Rxc7 Ra8 30. Rc1 Ra2) 26. Re2 Rxe2 27.
Bxe2 Re7 28. Bd3 g6 29. Nc6 Rd7 30. Ne5 Rd4 31. Bc4 $16 Be6 32. Bxe6 fxe6 33.
Rxc7 Nxe4 34. Nxg6 Rd2 35. Ne5 Nf2 36. Nd7 Nh3+ 37. Kf1 $11 h4 $2 {Shyam goes
wrong in time trouble.} (37... Kf7 38. Ne5+ Kg8 $11) 38. Nf6+ Kf8 39. Nh7+ $2 (
39. Rh7 {is a very simple win. However, even Sethu was down on time.}) 39...
Ke8 (39... Kg8 40. Nf6+ Kf8 (40... Kh8 41. Rh7# {is cute.})) 40. Nf6+ Kd8 (
40... Kf8 41. Rh7 $18) 41. Rh7 Rf2+ 42. Ke1 Rxh2 43. Rxh4 Ke7 44. Ng4 Rh1+ 45.
Kd2 Kd6 46. Nf6 Kc5 47. Ke3 Kc6 48. Kf3 Ng1+ 49. Kf2 Rxh4 50. gxh4 Nh3+ 51. Kg3
Ng1 52. h5 Ne2+ 53. Kg4 Nd4 54. h6 Nf5 55. h7 Nh6+ 56. Kg5 Nf7+ 57. Kg6 {Kd5}
1-0
Pairings for Round 5:
Ranking Crosstable:
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