Men's Premier 03: Captain Evans' gambit!

GM Neelotpal Das welcomed on stage the chief guest of the day, a hero of yesteryears, the Evans Gambit! And then, Vidit who had never played Pelikan in a known game before, chose to give it a go.

Round 3 witnessed four decisive results: Both the co-leaders, Vidit and P. Karthikeyan, were held to draws. Kunte and M. Karthikeyan managed to open their accounts, the latter at the expense of an extremely consistent Venkatesh who remains at a sorry 0/3. Praneeth caused yet another upset when he took down Dhopade, who failed to find the right moves as they sailed towards the time-control while Shyam Sundar and Arghyadip played out an entertaining draw.

Neelotpal Das surprised P. Karthikeyan with the Evans Gambit, and the latter chose to play 7...Qf6, an idea that was chosen by Kasparov in a game against Short in 2011. Neelotpal then proceeded to sacrifice a second pawn, trying to build up some initiative, but Karthikeyan found all the right moves to diffuse the pressure and hold equality, as he was already two pawns ahead.

Post game chat with Shyaamnikhil P.:

PB: Today's game looked like prep. Were you surprised?

Shyaamnikhil: He played the Caro-Kann in the first round. Nevertheless, I was expecting some kind of Sicilian. Actually, I play 6.Be2 in the scheveningen move-order, but I was not sure about playing the 6...Bb4 line against him. So I thought,'Okay, he has never played the Pelikan, so let's try it.' I had prepared it with Black, but I did not remember the perfect move order. That is why I invested some fifteen minutes on just checking that I was playing it right.

PB: And after that, how did it pan out?

Shyaamnikhil: 14.Bd3 and 15.h4 were mistakes he said, because I couldn't castle immediately. Actually, I was even thinking about ideas with Qf3 and g4 around that point. However, I did not see the point of lashing out like that. He had a slightly better position. His pieces were active after ...Ne7, ...d5, etc. and then he has those rooks invading my camp.

PB: It did not turn into anything substantial it seems. It looked like a symbolic plus after 22...Bc4. The ending was a straightforward draw?

Shyaamnikhil: I'm not sure now. Also, it is difficult to defend such positions when low on time. There were some chances. We were thinking about 32.a3. He believes it gives him better chances. It is not that clear and I think it would take an engine to reach a conclusion there.

And what do they say about winning a won position? Deep did take his time to pin Sethu down, but the time pressure escalated in the end to the point that he just blundered!

Thus, Deep lost his second game on the trot to stay at 0.5/3.

Post game chat with Sethu:

PB: This O'Kelly Sicilian was played with the intention to surprise him?

Sethu: Yes, because we often work together. So, it was necessary.

PB: But then, you ended up taking a lot of time for 10...Bd7. What transpired there?

Sethu: Actually, I could not remember the details at that point after taking on d4. I played 10...Bd7 -- I just did not know what to do and messed up badly.

PB: It steadily went downhill from there. What were your calculations around here, when you thought for so long?

Sethu: Yes, the position is just losing. While calculating originally, I reached till 15...Bd6 16.Qc1, and I was banking on this trick: 16...Bxh2+ 17.Kh1 Qf4 with the idea of ...Qh4 if White takes the rook. What I completely missed was the simple 18. Be3 and I am just lost!

PB: Okay, so you were just losing. He messed up towards the end. Did you see any way to convert for him?

Sethu: In mutual time-trouble, I played 24...Bb5 which was my only chance to complicate matters. And now, he could just take on g7 instead of 25.a4.

PB: The engine pointed out simply 25.Bd6.

Sethu: Okay, at least the King cannot go anywhere now.

PB: He had clear wins after that as well?

Sethu: Instead, he allowed me to play 25...Be2 and now, he can take on g7 once again.

The point is: 26. Qxg7 Rg8 27. Rd8+!! Bxd8 (27... Qxd8 28. Bc6+) 28. Rxd8+ Qxd8 29. Bc6+ is just winning for White. Of course, it is very difficult to find in time-trouble.

In this battle between the 2015 National Challengers champion and the runner-up, Praneeth punched in an enticing knight sacrifice, after which Swapnil did not find the saving continuation, failing to a tactic, while sailing towards the time-control.

Interestingly, Shyam Sundar was playing Arghyadip after more than a decade! The last time they played, Shyam recalled that he was rated in the 1900s.

Post game chat with Shyam Sundar:

PB: What was your opening choice based on?

Shyam Sundar: I was just in the mood to play this, so I played it!

PB: What were your calculations for 11...Nh5? Black gets in the ...e5 break in this line.

Shyam Sundar: Okay, 11... Nh5 12.Nf1 hxg5 13.Nxg5 Bf5 14.Ng3 Nxg3 15.fxg3 e5, so now I can also play e4 at some point. Example 16.g4 Be6 17.e4. I think it is alright for me.

PB: After 15.e4, what if he goes 15...dxe4?

Shyam Sundar: Then, Re6 idea is always in the air. I will just give the exchange and I get a great deal of play in return.

PB: After 16.e5 it is just bad for him...

Shyam Sundar: Yes, it was very good attack for me and the problem here was that I had too many plans! Here, I messed up. I think I played correctly...

PB: Till a point. Where do you think you went wrong?

Shyam Sundar: I think it was at 24.bxa4. Instead, I should play 24.Rb1. What I missed after 24.bxa4 Rxa4 is 25. Rb1 Nxc5.

PB: Okay, you avoided repetition, but then landed in a bad position as your pawns became weak. 

Shyam Sundar: Yes, I thought I had something there. That was very strange. The pawns were strong in the middlegame but then became weak in the ending. Anyway, he missed some chances in the endgame. Fortunately, there were no mishaps.

Pairings for Round 4:

Ranking Crosstable:

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