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Men's Premier 11: Draw Day

by Priyadarshan Banjan - 26/11/2015

Both the leaders drew their games in contrasting fashion -- M. Karthikeyan played solidly and could find nothing better than a repetition while Vidit barely scraped through after being an exchange down. The battle builds up as the players ready themselves for the penultimate round tomorrow. Be prepared for a bloodbath! The result of the day was Praneeth's sensational swindle against Venky, gifting the Telangana boy yet another grandmaster scalp! An illustrated report.

Men's Premier 11: Draw Day

Both the leaders drew their games in contrasting fashion -- M. Karthikeyan played solidly and could find nothing better than a repetition while Vidit barely scraped through after being an exchange down. The battle builds up as the players ready themselves for the penultimate round tomorrow. Be prepared for a bloodbath!

 

The result of the day was Praneeth's sensational swindle against Venky, gifting the Telangana boy yet another grandmaster scalp! Amidst all the hullabaloo, Sethu has slowly clawed back into the third position, a point behind the leaders. Is this the proverbial 'calm before the storm'?

 

Amidst all the hullabaloo, Sethu has slowly clawed back into the third position, a point behind the leaders. Is this the proverbial 'calm before the storm'?

The top tables of the playing arena...

 ...and the rest

Vidit Gujrathi - Neelotpal Das

This was a very important game for Vidit who had the white pieces against the formidable Neelotpal. With co-leader M. Karthikeyan playing Kunte, which looked like a likely draw, a win here would prove to be a vital boost to Vidit's chances.

  

Vidit had a tough time with the white pieces as he took on...

Drawcula: Neelotpal Das, who essayed a curious opening against the Nimzo-Indian

In the 3.Nf3 line of the Nimzo, Neelotpal played 3...d6, followed by ...e5, improving the bishop on c8, and then followed it up with ...Bxc3. This resulted in harmonious play for Black, and he reached the following position.

A normal rook move like ...Rh4 or ...Rh7 to be followed up wth ...Qh8 is the most logical plan here, however, Neelotpal went wrong with...

35...Rh3, when Vidit smartly went 36. Bxh3 Nxh3+ 37. Kf1 Nf4 38. Ng2! Nd3 39. Qe3 Nxe1 40. Nxe1 and Black cannot make progress!

After the round, this curious case attracted a lot of experts who wanted to have a look

Murali Karthikeyan quipped,"I thought you were playing 35...Rh4, when your hand slipped a square forward to play ...Rh3 instead." This started a laugh riot
[Event "53rd National Premier ch-IND"
[Site "Tiruvarur"]
[Date "2015.11.26"]
[Round "11"]
[White "Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi"]
[Black "Neelotpal, Das"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "E32"]
[WhiteElo "2651"]
[BlackElo "2475"]
[PlyCount "97"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]
[EventCountry "IND"]
[TimeControl "40/5400+30:1800+30"]
1. d4 {48} Nf6 {0} 2. c4 {9} e6 {0} 3. Nc3 {8} Bb4 {87} 4. Qc2 {9} O-O {28} 5.
Nf3 {16} d6 {63} 6. g3 {20} Nc6 {212} 7. Bg2 {10} e5 {171} 8. d5 {408} Ne7 {230
} 9. O-O {16} Bxc3 {765} 10. Qxc3 {90} Bg4 {277} 11. h3 {717} Bh5 {172} 12. Re1
{919} b5 {550} 13. e4 {352} a6 {222} 14. c5 {365} Nd7 {351} 15. g4 {293} Bg6 {
15} 16. c6 {15} Nc5 {49} 17. Nd2 {22} b4 {288} 18. Qg3 {506} a5 {445} 19. Nc4 {
65} Qb8 {86} 20. Bd2 {648} f6 {269} 21. b3 {127} a4 {138} 22. Qe3 {128} Bf7 {
442} 23. Rab1 {23} Ng6 {213} 24. a3 {107} Nxb3 {108} 25. Bxb4 {10} Qd8 {96} 26.
Bc3 {239} Nf4 {41} 27. Bf1 {72} h5 {216} 28. Nd2 {100} hxg4 {124} 29. hxg4 {6}
Nc5 {37} 30. Rb5 {151} g5 {79} 31. Rxc5 {129} dxc5 {7} 32. Qxc5 {58} Kg7 {29}
33. Nc4 {155} Rh8 {14} 34. Ne3 {293} Bg6 {208} 35. f3 {72} Rh3 {177} 36. Bxh3 {
52} Nxh3+ {3} 37. Kf1 {10} Nf4 {123} 38. Ng2 {33} Nd3 {38} 39. Qe3 {92} Nxe1 {
31} 40. Nxe1 {45} Qh8 {77} 41. Kg2 {875} Qh7 {341} 42. Nd3 {36} Rh8 {138} 43.
Nf2 {11} Qh2+ {55} 44. Kf1 {85} Qg3 {138} 45. Be1 {244} Bf7 {519} 46. Ba5 {326}
Rb8 {348} 47. Bb4 {26} Rh8 {82} 48. Ba5 {114} Rb8 {13} 49. Bb4 {9} 1/2-1/2

Abhijit Kunte - Murali Karthikeyan

 Abhijit Kunte could not break the KID of...

 ...the leader Murali Karthikeyan, who improved his position to the hilt, but found no way to go for the kill
[Event "53rd National Premier ch-IND"]
[Site "Tiruvarur"]
[Date "2015.11.26"]
[Round "11"]
[White "Kunte, Abhijit"]
[Black "Karthikeyan, Murali"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "E67"]
[WhiteElo "2515"]
[BlackElo "2498"]
[PlyCount "59"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]
[EventCountry "IND"]
[TimeControl "40/5400+30:1800+30"]
1. Nf3 {66} Nf6 {0} 2. g3 {56} g6 {0} 3. Bg2 {19} Bg7 {7} 4. O-O {87} O-O {28}
5. d4 {10} d6 {13} 6. c4 {13} Nbd7 {76} 7. Nc3 {89} e5 {43} 8. e3 {42} Re8 {146
} 9. a4 {43} a5 {386} 10. b3 {57} c6 {418} 11. h3 {23} exd4 {185} 12. exd4 {282
} Nf8 {490} 13. Be3 {298} Bf5 {390} 14. Rc1 {85} Ne4 {209} 15. Nxe4 {375} Bxe4
{23} 16. d5 {7} Bxf3 {719} 17. Bxf3 {137} c5 {70} 18. Bd2 {380} Bd4 {338} 19.
Qc2 {49} Qf6 {126} 20. Kg2 {6} Nd7 {369} 21. Rce1 {52} b6 {113} 22. Rxe8+ {122}
Rxe8 {12} 23. Re1 {6} Ne5 {327} 24. Qe4 {276} Kg7 {197} 25. Qf4 {307} Qxf4 {136
} 26. gxf4 {27} Nxf3 {6} 27. Kxf3 {5} Rxe1 {12} 28. Bxe1 {6} Kf6 {83} 29. Ke4 {
8} Kg7 {35} 30. Kf3 {20} 1/2-1/2

 

Will the penultimate round give us a new leader?

Praneeth Surya - M.R. Venkatesh

Praneeth sacrificed a piece against Venkatesh to expose the latter's king, but objectively, this was wrong -- he was losing. However, everything is fair in love, war and time-pressure, and Venky went horribly wrong.

Praneeth is having the tournament of his life and is currently joint second in the crosstable! He has a realistic shot at the GM-norm if he wins his Round 12 game
[Event "53rd National Premier ch-IND"]
[Site "Tiruvarur"]
[Date "2015.11.26"]
[Round "11"]
[White "K Praneeth Surya"]
[Black "Venkatesh, M R."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B30"]
[WhiteElo "2413"]
[BlackElo "2464"]
[PlyCount "83"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]
[EventCountry "IND"]
[TimeControl "40/5400+30:1800+30"]
1. e4 {0} c5 {0} 2. Nf3 {10} Nc6 {0} 3. Bb5 {13} e6 {0} 4. O-O {55} Nge7 {8} 5.
Re1 {28} Ng6 {36} 6. c3 {94} a6 {8} 7. Bf1 {122} Be7 {32} 8. d4 {44} cxd4 {15}
9. cxd4 {11} d5 {8} 10. Nc3 {59} O-O {534} 11. g3 {70} dxe4 {185} 12. Nxe4 {23}
b6 {12} 13. Bg2 {688} Ra7 {420} 14. Be3 {474} Rd7 {262} 15. Qe2 {484} Bb7 {107}
16. h4 {268} Bb4 {1569} 17. Red1 {460} Nge7 {17} 18. a3 {1129} Bd6 {31} 19. Bg5
{283} Qa8 {386} 20. Ne5 {310} Bxe5 {261} 21. dxe5 {12} Nd4 {48} 22. Qd3 {635}
Ng6 {192} 23. f4 {108} Rc8 {210} 24. Rac1 {191} Rxc1 {62} 25. Rxc1 {1} Nf8 {132
} 26. Re1 {416} h6 {309} 27. Bf6 {135} Kh8 {321} 28. Qd1 {67} Nf5 {382} 29. Qh5
{25} Kg8 {61} 30. Bxg7 {41} Kxg7 {28} 31. g4 {22} Ng3 {223} 32. Nxg3 {10} Bxg2
{3} 33. g5 {64} Bh3 {5} 34. Re2 {19} Nh7 {118} 35. Kh2 {25} Bf5 {400} 36. gxh6+
{29} Kh8 {56} 37. Nxf5 {10} exf5 {10} 38. Qxf5 {22} Rc7 {38} 39. e6 {55} Re7 {
30} 40. Rg2 {39} Qf8 {48} 41. Rg7 {85} Qxg7 {0} 42. hxg7+ {57} 1-0

Praneeth made the time-control with 40.Rg2 and heaved a sigh of relief, taking a break to freshen up

In a bad position, with his seconds ticking away, Venky played the losing 40...Qf8

He came, he saw...

...and he conquered! 41.Rg7 forced Venky to resign

K. Rathnakaran - Shyam Sundar M.

 Rathnakaran looked to be in trouble in the middlegame, but he survived...

Shyam Sundar's onslaught
[Event "53rd National Premier ch-IND"]
[Site "Tiruvarur"]
[Date "2015.11.26"]
[Round "11"]
[White "Rathnakaran, K."]
[Black "Shyam, Sundar M"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B11"]
[WhiteElo "2447"]
[BlackElo "2481"]
[PlyCount "96"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]
[EventCountry "IND"]
[TimeControl "40/5400+30:1800+30"]
1. e4 {0} c6 {29} 2. Nc3 {0} d5 {22} 3. Nf3 {0} Bg4 {29} 4. h3 {0} Bxf3 {19} 5.
Qxf3 {0} e6 {39} 6. d3 {75} Nd7 {172} 7. Qg3 {47} Qb6 {851} 8. Be2 {39} g6 {37}
9. O-O {102} Bg7 {15} 10. Kh1 {62} Ne7 {88} 11. a4 {71} O-O {184} 12. Qd6 {316}
Qd8 {76} 13. Bg5 {84} Re8 {411} 14. a5 {148} h6 {475} 15. Bh4 {476} Nc8 {1428}
16. Bxd8 {703} Nxd6 {3} 17. Bh4 {136} dxe4 {593} 18. Nxe4 {107} Nxe4 {9} 19.
dxe4 {6} Nc5 {2} 20. f3 {171} Bxb2 {77} 21. Rab1 {73} Bd4 {105} 22. Rb4 {432}
e5 {45} 23. f4 {59} b5 {540} 24. axb6 {91} axb6 {2} 25. fxe5 {169} Bxe5 {235}
26. Bc4 {223} Ra7 {5} 27. Rxb6 {319} Nxe4 {178} 28. Rxc6 {85} Kg7 {4} 29. Bd5 {
236} Ng3+ {183} 30. Bxg3 {7} Bxg3 {2} 31. c4 {152} f5 {217} 32. Rb6 {90} h5 {62
} 33. Rb3 {119} h4 {14} 34. Rb7+ {9} Rxb7 {5} 35. Bxb7 {5} Re5 {69} 36. Kg1 {62
} g5 {64} 37. Bf3 {18} Kf6 {61} 38. Rb1 {110} Ke6 {56} 39. Kf1 {39} Kd6 {13}
40. Rb6+ {81} Kc5 {27} 41. Rb5+ {1844} Kxc4 {1848} 42. Rxe5 {7} Bxe5 {2} 43.
Ke2 {60} Kd4 {14} 44. Bb7 {16} g4 {7} 45. hxg4 {15} fxg4 {1} 46. Bc8 {14} h3 {2
} 47. gxh3 {7} gxh3 {2} 48. Bxh3 Kd5 1/2-1/2

 

Shyam is not quite happy about the way things have panned out for him

Shyaamnikhil P. - Deep Sengupta

 P. Shyaamnikhil was happy to hold...

...Deep Sengupta
[Event "53rd National Premier ch-IND"]
[Site "Tiruvarur"]
[Date "2015.11.26"]
[Round "11"]
[White "Shyaamnikhil P"]
[Black "Sengupta, Deep"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "E44"]
[WhiteElo "2436"]
[BlackElo "2589"]
[PlyCount "158"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]
[EventCountry "IND"]
[TimeControl "40/5400+30:1800+30"]
1. c4 {20} Nf6 {40} 2. d4 {209} e6 {5} 3. Nc3 {39} Bb4 {6} 4. e3 {18} b6 {47}
5. Nge2 {27} Ne4 {237} 6. Bd2 {34} Nxd2 {52} 7. Qxd2 {8} Bb7 {13} 8. a3 {18}
Be7 {112} 9. Nf4 {315} O-O {7} 10. Be2 {337} d6 {92} 11. O-O {349} Nd7 {35} 12.
Qd1 {62} e5 {564} 13. dxe5 {258} dxe5 {111} 14. Nfd5 {7} c6 {25} 15. Nxe7+ {37}
Qxe7 {5} 16. Ne4 {11} Rfd8 {336} 17. Qd6 {447} Kf8 {27} 18. Rfd1 {60} Nf6 {647}
19. Qxe7+ {12} Kxe7 {1} 20. Nc3 {12} c5 {404} 21. f3 {26} Bc6 {747} 22. Kf2 {20
} Rxd1 {152} 23. Rxd1 {7} Rd8 {3} 24. Rxd8 {157} Kxd8 {2} 25. Bd3 {63} Ke7 {118
} 26. Bc2 {59} Ne8 {141} 27. Ba4 {299} Bxa4 {21} 28. Nxa4 {6} Nd6 {3} 29. b3 {6
} Nb7 {258} 30. Nb2 {231} Na5 {43} 31. b4 {12} cxb4 {31} 32. axb4 {6} Nc6 {8}
33. b5 {8} Na5 {204} 34. Ke2 {8} Kd6 {141} 35. Kd3 {30} Nb3 {9} 36. Kc3 {61}
Nc5 {3} 37. Nd3 {285} Ne6 {178} 38. Nb4 {548} f5 {270} 39. Nd5 {33} h5 {135}
40. Kd3 {1057} Nc5+ {197} 41. Kc3 {1815} Ne6 {1808} 42. Kd3 {6} h4 {306} 43.
Kc3 {913} Ng5 {491} 44. h3 {36} Ne6 {3} 45. Kb4 {255} Nc5 {0} 46. Kc3 {0} e4 {0
} 47. f4 {0} Nd3 {0} 48. Nb4 {0} Ne1 {0} 49. Kd2 {0} Nxg2 {0} 50. Na6 {0} g5 {0
} 51. fxg5 {0} f4 {0} 52. exf4 {0} Nxf4 {0} 53. Ke3 {0} Ke5 {64} 54. Nb8 {0}
Nxh3 {9} 55. Nc6+ {0} Kf5 {4} 56. g6 {0} Kxg6 {10} 57. Kxe4 {0} Kh5 {153} 58.
Kf3 {202} Ng5+ {36} 59. Kf4 {5} Ne6+ {123} 60. Kf3 {6} Ng5+ {4} 61. Kf4 {5} Nf7
{348} 62. Nxa7 {59} Nd6 {1} 63. Nc6 {89} Nxc4 {5} 64. Ne7 {37} Nb2 {110} 65.
Nd5 {15} Nd3+ {18} 66. Kf3 {22} Ne5+ {4} 67. Kf4 {11} Nd7 {2} 68. Ne7 {31} Nf6
{15} 69. Nc8 {159} Nd5+ {5} 70. Kf3 {7} Kg5 {8} 71. Nd6 {11} Nf6 {107} 72. Nc4
{78} Nd7 {6} 73. Kg2 {30} Kg4 {39} 74. Ne3+ {5} Kf4 {100} 75. Nd5+ {10} Kg4 {12
} 76. Ne3+ {5} Kf4 {10} 77. Nd5+ {5} Ke4 {30} 78. Nxb6 {7} Nxb6 {3} 79. Kh3 {6}
Kd5 1/2-1/2

Swapnil Dhopade - P. Karthikeyan

 Swapnil Dhopade did not find anything of substance against...

P. Karthikeyan
[Event "53rd National Premier ch-IND"]
[Site "Tiruvarur"]
[Date "2015.11.25"]
[Round "11"]
[White "Swapnil, S Dhopade"]
[Black "Karthikeyan, P."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "E15"]
[WhiteElo "2497"]
[BlackElo "2441"]
[PlyCount "56"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]
[EventCountry "IND"]
[TimeControl "40/5400+30:1800+30"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Bb4+ 5. Nbd2 Ba6 6. Qc2 O-O 7. Bg2 d5 8. O-O
Bb7 9. cxd5 exd5 10. Ne5 Re8 11. Ndf3 Ne4 12. Bf4 Bd6 13. Nd3 Na6 14. Rac1 c5
15. dxc5 bxc5 16. Bxd6 Qxd6 17. Nd2 Qb6 18. b3 Nf6 19. e3 h6 20. a3 Rac8 21.
Rfe1 Rc7 22. h3 Rec8 23. Nb2 Qa5 24. Ra1 Qb5 25. e4 c4 26. bxc4 dxc4 27. Bf1
Nc5 28. Nbxc4 Ncxe4 1/2-1/2 

Arghyadip Das - S.P. Sethuraman

 

Arghyadip unleashed a furious attack against Sethu's king, but the latter had everything under control with some excellent calculations.

[Event "53rd National Premier ch-IND"]
[Site "Tiruvarur"]
[Date "2015.11.26"]
[Round "11"]
[White "Das, Arghyadip"]
[Black "Sethuraman, S P."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B06"]
[WhiteElo "2456"]
[BlackElo "2651"]
[PlyCount "102"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]
[EventCountry "IND"]
[TimeControl "40/5400+30:1800+30"]
1. e4 g6 2. d4 Bg7 3. Nc3 d6 4. g3 Nf6 5. Bg2 O-O 6. Nge2 Nbd7 7. O-O c5 8. h3
Rb8 9. Be3 b6 10. Re1 a6 11. Qd2 Bb7 12. Rad1 cxd4 13. Nxd4 b5 14. Bh6 Bxh6 15.
Qxh6 e5 16. Nf3 b4 17. Nd5 Bxd5 18. exd5 Rc8 19. Re2 Qa5 20. Ng5 Rfe8 21. Rd3
Qxa2 22. Re4 Rc4 23. Rf3 Rxe4 24. Nxe4 Nxe4 25. Rxf7 Kxf7 26. Qxh7+ Kf6 27.
Qxd7 Re7 28. Qc8 Qa1+ 29. Kh2 Kg7 30. Bxe4 Qe1 31. Qg4 Qxf2+ 32. Kh1 Qf6 33. h4
Rf7 34. Bg2 a5 35. b3 Qf5 36. Qc4 Qf2 37. Kh2 Qd2 38. Kh3 Qc3 39. Qg4 Rf5 40.
Qe2 Qc8 41. Kh2 Qc5 42. Kh3 Rf2 43. Qg4 Qxc2 44. Qd7+ Kh6 45. Qe7 Qf5+ 46. g4
Qd3+ 47. Kh2 Qxd5 48. g5+ Kh5 49. Qh7+ Kg4 50. Qd7+ Kf4 51. Qh3 Qxg2+ 0-1

 

Pairings for Round 12:

 

Ranking Crosstable:

Download all games in PGN.

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