Pardubice 2016: Visakh surprises with third place finish

by Priyadarshan Banjan - 04/08/2016

The Czech Open held in Pardubice is one of those events that is just a joy to follow and see unfold. Chess is its greatest focus with a very strong open, followed by opens of all kinds for every variant. 32 Indians took part in the main event and Visakh N.R. registered a GM norm finished third. Check out our illustrated report.

Pardubice 2016: Visakh surprises with third place finish

The Czech Open held in Pardubice is one of those events that is just a joy to follow and see unfold. chess is its greatest focus with a very strong open, followed by opens of all kinds for every variant.

32 Indians took part in the main event — a grandmaster open with 42 GMs and 59 IMs in a 291-player-field.

The tournament was won by Armenian GM Sergei Movsesian (2666) with 7.5/9.

The crucial step forward was this blazing destruction of GM Surya Shekhar Ganguly.

[Event "Czech Open 2016"] [Site "?"] [Date "2016.07.29"] [Round "?"] [White "Movsesian, Sergei"] [Black "Ganguly, Surya Shekhar"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2666"] [BlackElo "2676"] [PlyCount "43"] [EventDate "2016.??.??"] [SourceDate "2003.06.08"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nc3 Qc7 6. Be3 a6 7. Bd3 Nf6 8. O-O b5 9. Nxc6 Qxc6 10. a3 Bc5 $2 {A hole in the Indian GM's armour.} (10... Bb7 {is the overwhelming best move.}) 11. Qf3 Bxe3 12. Qxe3 $2 ({Perhaps caught by surprise, the Armenian grandmaster misses the most effective punishment, though he will get another chance soon enough.} 12. fxe3 $1 {The king is going to be stuck in the center a while since} O-O {would lead to a disaster after} 13. Qh3 {and the threat is e5 and ideas such as Rxf6 and Qxh7 mate.} e5 { the only way to really prevent it, albeit very ugly.} (13... h6 $2 14. Rxf6 $1 gxf6 15. Qxh6 {and Black is helpless against the many threats.} f5 16. Qg5+ Kh8 17. Rf1 {and it is game over.})) 12... d6 13. a4 b4 14. Nd5 $1 Rb8 (14... Nxd5 15. exd5 Qc5 (15... Qxd5 {loses a rook to} 16. Be4) 16. dxe6 Bxe6 17. Qe2 O-O 18. Bxa6 {and White is much better.}) 15. Qg5 $1 {White now plays impeccably and wraps up the game in record time.} Nxd5 16. Qxg7 $1 Rf8 17. exd5 Qxd5 18. Rfe1 {A master class in attack. Black's king is going nowhere and White has other trumps in the position such as a torpedo pawn on the h-file even if mate is not delivered.} h5 19. Rad1 Qc5 20. b3 Ke7 21. Bc4 Qf5 ({If} 21... Bd7 22. Rd5 Rg8 23. Qh7 Qc6 24. Qxh5 {and Black's position is collapsing.}) 22. Rxd6 ( 22. Rxd6 {Black resigned in view of} Qf6 (22... Kxd6 23. Qxf8+ Kc6 24. Bd3 Qf6 25. Be4+ Kc7 26. Qc5+ Kd7 27. Rd1+ {etc.})) 1-0

Surya Shekhar Ganguly (2676)

An uncharacteristically quick loss for Ganguly, who was the leader until then. He ended with 6.5/9 for the eleventh place.

The podium winners with the official mascot, the mischievous black knight.

IM Visakh N.R. (2431) played brilliantly, performing at 2662, for a well-deserved GM norm with a score of 7.0/9.

[Event "A - CZECH OPEN 2016"]
[Site "Pardubice (CZE)"]
[Date "2016.07.28"]
[Round "7.9"]
[White "VISAKH, N."]
[Black "NOVIKOV, Stanislav"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A45"]
[WhiteElo "2431"]
[BlackElo "2528"]
[PlyCount "67"]
[EventDate "2016.07.22"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Bg5 e6 3. Nd2 c5 4. e3 Be7 5. c3 b6 6. Ngf3 Bb7 7. Bd3 d5 8. Ne5
O-O 9. O-O Ne4 10. Bxe7 Qxe7 11. Nxe4 dxe4 12. Bc2 f6 13. Nc4 Nd7 14. dxc5 Ba6
15. c6 Nc5 16. Qd6 Rf7 17. Qxe7 Rxe7 18. Nd6 Bxf1 19. Kxf1 Rd8 20. Rd1 f5 21.
Rd4 Rc7 22. Nb5 Rxd4 23. exd4 Na6 24. Nxc7 Nxc7 25. c4 Kf7 26. b4 Ke7 27. c5 b5
28. Bb3 Nd5 29. a3 g5 30. f3 exf3 31. Bxd5 exd5 32. gxf3 h5 33. Kg2 Kd8 34. f4
1-0

One of India's most consistent performers this year has been GM G.N. Gopal (2574). He scored 7.0/9 as well but was fifth on the tie-break.

IM Anurag Mhamal (2392) had a phenomenal run as well en route to his 6.5/9, 2603 performance and a final GM norm along with +50 in rating.

[Event "A - CZECH OPEN 2016"] [Site "Pardubice (CZE)"] [Date "2016.07.24"] [Round "3.10"] [White "GUREVICH, Daniel"] [Black "ANURAG, Mhamal"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D30"] [WhiteElo "2459"] [BlackElo "2392"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "r3qrk1/pb4pp/1pnbp3/3pNp1n/3P3P/5NP1/PP1BPPB1/R2Q1RK1 w - - 0 14"] [PlyCount "48"] [EventDate "2016.07.22"] [TimeControl "6000+910"] [WhiteClock "0:20:05"] [BlackClock "0:08:02"] 14. Rc1 $2 Nxd4 $1 {Of course, winning a pawn. The end is worth witnessing.} 15. Nxd4 Bxe5 16. Bb4 Rf7 17. e3 Nf6 18. Nf3 Bc7 19. Bc3 e5 20. b3 Rd8 21. Bb2 Bb8 22. Rc2 h6 23. Qa1 Ng4 24. Re1 Re7 25. Rce2 Qg6 26. Nh2 Nf6 27. Nf3 Rde8 28. Qd1 Bd6 29. a3 Kh8 30. Rd2 Bb8 31. Bh3 Ne4 32. Rxd5 Nxg3 33. fxg3 Qxg3+ 34. Bg2 e4 35. Rf1 exf3 36. Rxf3 Qh2+ 37. Kf1 Ba6+ 0-1

IM P. Konguvel (2379 | Photo: V. Saravanan) played at 2587 for his 6.5/9 with +25 in rating.

IM Praggnanandhaa R. (2429) almost pulled off a GM norm, but sadly suffered a loss too many while reaching 5.5/9.

White (Praggu) to play and mate.

[Event "Czech Open 2016"] [Site "?"] [Date "2016.07.29"] [Round "?"] [White "Praggnanandhaa, R."] [Black "Krejci, Jan"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2429"] [BlackElo "2504"] [PlyCount "103"] [EventDate "2016.??.??"] [SourceDate "2003.06.08"] 1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 c6 3. Bg2 Bg4 4. d3 Nd7 5. O-O Ngf6 6. Qe1 e5 7. e4 dxe4 8. dxe4 Bxf3 9. Bxf3 Bc5 10. Nd2 O-O 11. Qe2 Re8 12. a4 a5 13. Bg2 Nf8 14. Nf3 Ng6 15. b3 Qc7 16. Bg5 Nd7 17. Rad1 h6 18. Bh3 Ndf8 19. Bc1 Rad8 20. Bb2 Ba7 21. Bf5 f6 22. Ba3 Qf7 23. Nd2 Ne6 24. Nc4 Nd4 25. Qg4 Nf8 26. Bxf8 Qxf8 $2 { A losing mistake. The youngest IM in history has finally led his opponent astray.} ({The zwischenzug} 26... Nxf5 $1 {was necessary to neutralise the danger on the light squares around Black's king.} 27. exf5 Rxf8 28. Nxa5 Rd5 { White is better thanks to the extra pawn, but Black's centralised pieces and strong bishop provide some compensation.}) 27. Bg6 Re7 28. c3 Nxb3 29. Rxd8 Qxd8 30. Rd1 Qf8 31. Nd6 Nc5 {[#] White had plenty of time, so possibly a case of nerves or just an oversight, he misses the easiest and most straightforward win.} 32. Qe2 $2 (32. Bf5 $1 {was best, and not hard to find considering the nature of the position. The idea is just Qg6 and Qh7 mate. The knight on d6 covers the light squares so Black cannot prevent this with his queen.} Bb8 { (what else?)} 33. Qg6 Bxd6 34. Rxd6 Rc7 35. Rxf6 $3 {and possibly White missed this tactical shot in his analysis if he saw this line at all.} Qxf6 36. Qe8+ Qf8 37. Bh7+ Kxh7 38. Qxf8 {and White is crushing thanks to the disjointed black pieces. Ex:} b6 39. Qf5+ g6 40. Qxe5 {and the passed pawns are all powerful.}) 32... Rd7 33. Qc4+ Kh8 34. Nf7+ Qxf7 $2 {not at all forced.} (34... Rxf7 35. Bxf7 Kh7 36. h4 g6 {was only the exchange down and left the queen alive, but perhaps Black thought it was necessary to enter desperation mode and try to confuse the issue as best as he could.}) 35. Bxf7 $2 (35. Qxf7 $1 { was best. Black is still facing imminent mating threats through the light squares with the queen and bishop duo.}) 35... Rxd1+ 36. Kg2 Rd8 37. Bg6 Rb8 38. h4 b5 39. axb5 cxb5 40. Qf7 Bb6 41. Qe7 b4 42. cxb4 axb4 43. Qd6 Ba7 44. Qc7 Ra8 45. Bf7 b3 46. Bd5 b2 47. Bxa8 b1=Q 48. Qxa7 Nd3 49. Bd5 Kh7 50. Qa8 h5 51. Bf7 Ne1+ 52. Kh3 1-0

Bhakti-Richterova: White to play

Gahan-Kraus: White to play

White (IM Girish Kaushik) had set up a 'chaar aana' trap by playing Rc4-c2 in the previous move. Black missed it and put the queen on d6. White to play.

Brajdic-Prantik: Black to play

Final Standings:

Rk.	SNo		Name	Typ	sex	Gr	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	2	GM	MOVSESIAN Sergei	F			ARM	2666	7,5	2487	42,5	53,5
2	3	GM	LAZNICKA Viktor	F			CZE	2654	7,0	2458	39,5	51,0
3	62	IM	VISAKH N R	F		U18	IND	2431	7,0	2442	40,0	50,5
4	65	IM	VETOSHKO Volodymyr	F		U18	UKR	2430	7,0	2438	37,0	48,0
5	7	GM	GOPAL G.N.	F			IND	2565	7,0	2433	39,5	51,0
6	5	GM	NABATY Tamir	F			ISR	2622	7,0	2420	40,0	52,0
7	9	GM	STOCEK Jiri	F			CZE	2550	7,0	2417	38,0	49,0
8	13	GM	ZAKHARTSOV Viacheslav V.	F			RUS	2532	7,0	2415	40,5	52,0
9	21	GM	SCHLOSSER Philipp	F			GER	2509	7,0	2415	37,5	48,5
10	19	GM	KOVALEV Andrei	F			BLR	2513	7,0	2380	34,5	44,5
11	1	GM	GANGULY Surya Shekhar	F			IND	2676	6,5	2454	41,0	52,5
12	25	IM	YUFFA Daniil	F			RUS	2502	6,5	2437	37,5	48,5
13	4	GM	KRAVTSIV Martyn	F			UKR	2631	6,5	2415	42,0	53,5
14	16	GM	CVEK Robert	F			CZE	2522	6,5	2404	37,5	47,5
15	6	GM	KONONENKO Dmitry	F			UKR	2621	6,5	2400	36,5	47,0
16	32	IM	SMIRNOV Anton	F		U18	AUS	2478	6,5	2365	36,0	47,5