Baku 04: The team's on a roll!

by Priyadarshan Banjan - 06/09/2016

As Vidit sealed his victory and moved to 4.0/4, he ended up helping Team India record its fourth straight victory at the Baku 2016 Olympiad. The thing about this Olympiad for India is that all the players in the team are simply playing at their best. An individual player will flow when the team flows, and the team will flow when the individual players flow. Vidit's 4.0/4, coupled with the remaining players extracting the most out of their positions on the board, means that the team is among the six leaders going into the fifth round. We have an illustrated report with analysis by GM Daniel King, video interview with IM Tania Sachdev, and more.

Baku 04: The team's on a roll!

As Vidit sealed his victory and moved to 4.0/4, he ended up helping Team India record its fourth straight victory at the Baku 2016 Olympiad. The 22-year-old Nashik grandmaster is on a roll, and the team's results can only gert better from this point because it does not put too much pressure on Harikrishna and others. Usually, this would mean that the other players can continue to play their usual brand of chess, with a safe bet on Vidit doing his job in every game.

But the thing about this Olympiad for India is that all the players in the team are simply playing at their best. An individual player will flow when the team flows, and the team will flow when the individual players flow. Ostensibly, this is what is happening.

Vidit's 4.0/4, coupled with the remaining players extracting the most out of their positions on the board, means that the team is among the six leaders going into the fifth round. [Photo: Paul Truong]

Black just played 24...Nf6, but this move has a significant drawback.

[Event "WCO 2016"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.09.05"]
[Round "4.7"]
[White "Vidit Santosh Gujrathi"]
[Black "Quesada Perez Yuniesky"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E17"]
[WhiteElo "2669"]
[BlackElo "2636"]
[PlyCount "83"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[WhiteClock "0:32:08"]
[BlackClock "0:30:03"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Bb7 5. Bg2 Be7 6. O-O O-O 7. Re1 d5 8. cxd5
exd5 9. Nc3 Nbd7 10. Bf4 c5 11. Rc1 Ne4 12. Nxe4 dxe4 13. Nd2 f5 14. Nc4 Nf6
15. dxc5 Bxc5 16. Bd6 Bxd6 17. Nxd6 Qd7 18. Nxb7 Qxb7 19. Qb3+ Qd5 20. Qxd5+
Nxd5 21. f3 exf3 22. exf3 Rad8 23. Bf1 Kh8 24. Bc4 Nf6 (24... f4 25. Kf2 g6 26.
a3 Kg7 $14) 25. Re7 Rd2 26. Bb3 Rxb2 27. Rxa7 Rd8 28. Rac7 h5 29. Rc8 Rxc8 30.
Rxc8+ Kh7 31. Rc2 Rb1+ 32. Kf2 Kh6 33. h4 Rh1 34. Rc6 f4 35. Kg2 Rb1 36. gxf4
Rb2+ 37. Kg3 b5 38. Rb6 b4 39. f5 Rb1 40. Rxb4 Nd5 41. Rb8 Kh7 42. f6 1-0

GM B. Adhiban (2671) [Photo: Gopakumar S.]

Full credits to both Adhiban and Sethuraman for holding tough positions with the black pieces. Adhibandefended hard to win his draw.

[Event "WCO 2016"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.09.05"]
[Round "4.6"]
[White "Bruzon Batista Lazaro"]
[Black "Adhiban B."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A21"]
[WhiteElo "2623"]
[BlackElo "2671"]
[PlyCount "132"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[WhiteClock "0:00:46"]
[BlackClock "0:04:32"]

1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Bb4 3. Nd5 Na6 4. g3 Ba5 5. Bg2 c6 6. Nc3 Nf6 7. Nf3 d6 8. O-O
O-O 9. d3 h6 10. Bd2 Re8 11. a3 Be6 12. h3 Bc7 13. Rc1 Nc5 14. Qc2 a5 15. b3
Rc8 16. d4 Ncd7 17. d5 cxd5 18. cxd5 Nxd5 19. Ng5 N5f6 20. Nxe6 fxe6 21. Bxb7
Rb8 22. Bc6 Rf8 23. Nb5 Bb6 24. Nxd6 Nc5 25. b4 axb4 26. axb4 Qxd6 27. bxc5
Qxc6 28. cxb6 Qxc2 29. Rxc2 Rxb6 30. Rfc1 e4 31. Be3 Ra6 32. Kg2 Rfa8 33. Bd4
Ra2 34. e3 Rxc2 35. Rxc2 Re8 36. Rc5 Re7 37. g4 Kf7 38. Kg3 Rd7 39. h4 Nd5 40.
Rc4 Rb7 41. Ra4 Rd7 42. Be5 Nf6 43. g5 hxg5 44. hxg5 Rd5 45. Kf4 Nd7 46. Ra7 g6
47. Bf6 Kf8 48. Kxe4 Nc5+ 49. Kf3 Rf5+ 50. Kg4 Ne4 51. f4 (51. Bg7+ Kg8 52. f4
Rf7 53. Rxf7 Kxf7 54. Bd4 Nd6 55. Kf3 Ke8 56. Be5 Nf7 57. Ke4 Kd7 58. Ba1 Nd6+
59. Ke5 Ke7 60. Bc3 Nf7+ 61. Ke4 Ke8 62. Kd3 Kd7 63. e4 Nd6 64. Ke3 Nf7 65. Kf3
Nd6 66. Be5 Nf7 67. Bd4 Nd6 68. Bc5 Nf7 69. Kg4 Kc6 70. Be7 Kd7 71. Bf8 Kc6 72.
Ba3) 51... Nxf6+ 52. gxf6 Rxf6 53. Kg5 Rf7 54. Ra6 Ke7 55. Kxg6 Rf6+ 56. Kg5
Rf5+ 57. Kg4 Rb5 58. e4 Rb1 59. Ra7+ Kf6 60. e5+ Kg6 61. Re7 Rb6 62. Rd7 Rb1
63. Rd8 Kf7 64. Rd7+ Kg6 65. Re7 Rb6 66. Ra7 Rb1 1/2-1/2

GM S.P. Sethuraman (2640) [Photo: D. Llada]

Sethu, playing with the black pieces, gained an edge out of nowhere, but then squandered his lead, and left his opponent with an advantagous position. But it soon petered out to a draw.

[Event "WCO 2016"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.09.05"]
[Round "4.8"]
[White "Ortiz Suarez Isan Reynaldo"]
[Black "Sethuraman S.P."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A06"]
[WhiteElo "2581"]
[BlackElo "2640"]
[PlyCount "103"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[WhiteClock "0:08:18"]
[BlackClock "0:03:14"]

1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 c6 3. Bg2 Bg4 4. c4 e6 5. cxd5 exd5 6. O-O Nf6 7. d3 Nbd7 8.
Nc3 Bd6 9. Qc2 O-O 10. e4 dxe4 11. dxe4 Bxf3 12. Bxf3 Bc5 13. Bf4 Qe7 14. Rad1
Ne5 15. Bg2 Rad8 16. Qe2 Rxd1 17. Nxd1 Rd8 18. Ne3 g6 19. Rd1 Rd4 20. Rxd4 Bxd4
21. b3 b5 22. h3 Nfd7 23. Nc2 Bb6 24. Be3 f6 25. f4 Nf7 26. Kh2 Qd6 27. Bxb6
Nxb6 28. Ne3 Kg7 29. Qb2 h5 30. h4 Qd3 31. Qc1 Qd4 32. Kh1 c5 33. e5 fxe5 34.
f5 c4 35. fxg6 Kxg6 36. Qc2+ e4 37. Bxe4+ Kf6 38. Qf2+ Ke6 39. Bg2 (39. Bf5+
Ke7 40. Bg6 Nd6 41. Bxh5 $14) 39... Nd6 40. bxc4 bxc4 41. Qe2 Qe5 42. Bh3+ Kf7
43. Qf3+ Ke7 44. Nf5+ Nxf5 45. Bxf5 Nd5 46. Kh2 Nf6 47. Qb7+ Kd6 48. Qa6+ Kd5
49. Qa5+ Kd6 50. Qa6+ Kd5 51. Qa5+ Kd6 52. Qa6+ 1/2-1/2

The Indian team with the arbiters and AICF officials.

Pairings for Round 05:

Women's Section

Things were not too rosy for the Indian women's team. The team was pitted against Israel, seeded lower than India. A victory here would have meant useful in the long run, but the team could only draw the match, with some difficulties. Harika and Soumya settled for draws with their respective opponents. The teams traded wins on the second and third boards.

The ever-positive GM Dronavalli Harika was held to a draw yet again. (Photo: M. Emelianova)

Unfortunately for the team, IM Padmini Rout ended up losing with the black pieces. [Photo: Gopakumar S.]

But IM Tania Sachdev had already won her game, comfortably, with the white pieces, meaning that India at least held the draw. [Photo: Gopakumar S.]

[Event "WCO 2016"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.09.05"]
[Round "4.11"]
[White "Tania Sachdev"]
[Black "Klinova Masha"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A41"]
[WhiteElo "2402"]
[BlackElo "2290"]
[PlyCount "67"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[WhiteClock "0:16:38"]
[BlackClock "0:06:03"]

1. d4 d6 2. c4 e5 3. Nc3 exd4 4. Qxd4 Nc6 5. Qd2 Nf6 6. b3 a5 7. Bb2 a4 8. Rd1
axb3 9. axb3 Be6 10. e3 Nb4 11. Nge2 Be7 12. Nd4 O-O 13. Be2 d5 14. Nxe6 fxe6
15. O-O c6 16. e4 Qb6 17. e5 Ne8 18. Bg4 Nc7 19. Na4 Qa7 20. Bc3 b5 21. cxb5
cxb5 22. Bd4 Qb7 23. Nc5 Bxc5 24. Bxc5 Nba6 25. Bxf8 Rxf8 26. b4 Qb6 27. Qd4
Qxd4 28. Rxd4 Re8 29. f4 g6 30. Rc1 Re7 31. Rc6 Kf7 32. Rb6 Ke8 33. Be2 Kd7 34.
Rxa6 1-0

Watch Tania talk about her win, the team's morale, etc. in conversation with Anastasia Karlovich.

Pairings for Round 05:

Impressions

Albert Silver, reporting for our international page, writes: There is no point beating around the bush, it was all about top-seed Russia facing off against Ukraine. The reasons this was enough to hands rubbed in anticipation are manifold, and all worthy ones. The geopolitical tensions between the two nations recently are far beyond mere diplomatic spats, and what is more: the two countries are crazy about chess, with enormous national pride invested in the game, so you can be sure, the audience in their respective homes was huge. Read the full report here.

Always cordial, always smiling... before the unsheathe their blades (Photo: D. Llada)

WGM Dana Reizniece-Ozola (2292) [Photo: M. Emelianova]

WGM Dana Reizniece-Ozola caused a flutter by defeating the women's world champion Hou Yifan! But there is something about her that is even more jaw-dropping than her win over Hou. She plays on the first board for Lativia and is also the country's Minister of Finance! See her Bio at her Wikipedia page.

In the video by GM Daniel King, you will see notes on the Russian games, Magnus Carlsen, and Hou Yifan's defeat

The colourful figures in the Expo Zone show they know how to strike a pose [Photo: D. Llada]

Sometimes, the players need lucky charms... [Photo: M. Emelianova]

Games in PGN for Open and Women

Other Pairings

Official Website