No gain in Al Ain!
The Al Ain Classic 2015 was won by the Chinese GM Wang Hao with a fantastic score of 8.5/9. 29 Indians participated in this event including top players like Abhijeet Gupta, Deep Sengupta, Lalith Babu, Vaibhav Suri and many more GMs. However the best we would muster was Vaibhav's 21st place with a score of 5.5/9. It was surely not a tournament meant for Indians players as no one could achieve anything special. We give you an overview of the Indian players and have some superb analysis of selected games by IM Prathamesh Mokal.
All photos by WGM Emkhtuul Altan Ulzii (unless otherwise stated)
The Al Ain Classic was held from the 23rd to the 30th of December 2015 in Hotel Hili Rayhaan by Rotana. The tournament attracted 127 participants from 31 countries. As many as 52 grandmasters took part in the event, which gave the tournament a hefty rating average of 2352. This is quite surprising because the Al Ain Classic clashed with the Qatar Masters Open. Someone rightly said, "As 2015 comes to an end, it seems like all the players above 2600 are in the Middle-East!"
From an Indian perspective, the event was nearly a disaster. 29 Indian players went to Al Ain to fight for the first prize of US $13,000. When such a huge Indian contingent goes to a foreign country we usually return with a bag full of achievements (Check out Qatar Masters Open 2015). In spite of big names like Abhijeet Gupta, Deep Sengupta, Lalith Babu, Vaibhav Suri, Diptayan Ghosh (all above 2550), the best we could manage was Vaibhav's 21st place finish.
Al Ain, also know as the garden city of UAE, is the second largest city in the emirate of Abu Dhabi. It lies 160 kilometres to the east of the capital Abu Dhabi and 120 kilometres south of Dubai. Al-Ain, Abu Dhabi and Dubai form a geographic triangle in the country and Al-Ain shares its inland border with Oman. Just in case, you decided to walk from Mumbai to Al Ain, you should know that it is 5660 km away and will take you 1144 hours! Maybe taking a three-hour flight to Dubai is simpler!
The tournament was held in the five starred Hili Rayhaan by Rotana Group (picture by Amruta Mokal)
The rooms were luxurious and spacious and provided the perfect environment for good chess preparation (picture by Amruta Mokal)
The well-lit dining hall was the place where you could find absolutely sumptuous food. Unlike many other tournaments which only provide breakfast, invited players at the Al Ain Chess Classic were treated to three meals a day - breakfast, lunch and dinner. (picture by Amruta Mokal)
Naturally, all the players including GM Abhijeet Gupta enjoyed this hospitality to the fullest! (picture by Prathamesh Mokal)
Coming back to the tournament, just to give you an idea how strong the tournament was, here are the top ten seeds of the event:
You know the tournament is strong when Alexei Shirov is the fifth seed!
It all started perfectly for the Indians. Lalith Babu was on a roll as he demolished Yuriy Kuzubov and Robert Hovhannisyan in the third and fourth rounds respectively, to move to a perfect 4.0/4.
After a 4.0/4 start, Lalith could only score a half point out of the remaining five rounds. He drew against Kryvoruchko but lost to Wang Hao, Abhijeet Gupta, Zahar Effimenko and Shota Azaladze. Lalith usually finishes the tournament very well, but the Al Ain Classic was an exception.
While the Andhra GM's win over Yuri Kuzubov was quite nice, his fourth round victory over Robert Hovhannisyan was a perfect example of how difficult it is to maintain control in chess.
Lalith Babu - Hovhannisyan
Lalith as White changed the direction of the game 360 degrees! How did he do it?
Black had been dominating the game right from the start. But his last move had been inaccurate. This gave Lalith the chance to exchange the queens with 29.Qe5! The important point is that the queen has to be taken. Say, a move like 29...Qxh2 would lose instantly to 30.Qb8+ dragging out the king and after 31.Bb4+ the combo of the queen and the bishop would be enough to gain a decisive advantage. Robert was forced to exchange on e5 with 29...Qxe5 but after 30.dxe5 the rook on g6 and the bishop on g2 which looked so menacing with the queen, were now completely misplaced! The position is by no means winning for White but the Armenian player kept making mistakes and soon Lalith was able to score the full point.
In the fifth round, the only two players on 4.0/4 Wang Hao and Lalith Babu played against each other. Lalith who is widely known in India as the Caro-Kann expert used his favourite opening as black. But somehow he just emerged with a bad position out of the opening. IM Prathamesh Mokal annotated this game in quite some depth which he published on the ChessBase website.We now reproduce it here:
[Event "Al Ain Classic 2015"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2015.12.26"]
[Round "5.1"]
[White "Wang, Hao"]
[Black "Lalith, Babu"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B12"]
[WhiteElo "2707"]
[BlackElo "2553"]
[PlyCount "49"]
[EventDate "2015.12.24"]
1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. Nf3 e6 5. Be2 Nd7 6. O-O h6 7. Nbd2 Ne7 8. Nb3
Bg6 {Generally White wants to take advantage of Black's crampness in this
variation. Black pieces often fight for the same squares} 9. a4 Nf5 10. g4 {
Wang Hao brings out his novelty in the crucial round.} ({So far White has
played} 10. a5 {in this position, with games by many top players as well.})
10... Nh4 11. Nxh4 Qxh4 12. f4 f5 (12... h5 $5 {may be worth a try but after}
13. g5 {it at least looks dangerous, with the Black Queen cut off.}) 13. Bd3
Be7 14. Bd2 h5 15. gxf5 Bxf5 16. Bxf5 exf5 17. Rf3 Qg4+ 18. Kh1 Qg6 (18... h4
$14 {with a slight edge for White.}) 19. Rg3 Qf7 $2 {The decisive error. This
gives White a chance to sacrifice e5-e6 at the right moment.} ({Better was}
19... Qh6 {or Qh7 but again Black's position is unenviable.}) 20. Qg1 Nf8 {
Almost a surrender, but there was hardly any way out.} (20... Rg8 21. e6 Qxe6
22. Re1 Qf6 23. Rge3 $18) (20... Rh7 21. e6 Qxe6 22. Re1 $18) ({Black's best
bet was} 20... Kf8 {but after} 21. Rg6 $16 {he is totally cramped.}) 21. Rxg7
Qe6 22. Qg2 O-O-O 23. Rg1 Re8 24. Qh3 Rh6 25. R1g5 {A nice shot to end the
game.} (25. R1g5 Bxg5 26. Nc5 {traps the Queen.}) 1-0
[Site "?"]
[Date "2015.12.26"]
[Round "5.1"]
[White "Wang, Hao"]
[Black "Lalith, Babu"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B12"]
[WhiteElo "2707"]
[BlackElo "2553"]
[PlyCount "49"]
[EventDate "2015.12.24"]
1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. Nf3 e6 5. Be2 Nd7 6. O-O h6 7. Nbd2 Ne7 8. Nb3
Bg6 {Generally White wants to take advantage of Black's crampness in this
variation. Black pieces often fight for the same squares} 9. a4 Nf5 10. g4 {
Wang Hao brings out his novelty in the crucial round.} ({So far White has
played} 10. a5 {in this position, with games by many top players as well.})
10... Nh4 11. Nxh4 Qxh4 12. f4 f5 (12... h5 $5 {may be worth a try but after}
13. g5 {it at least looks dangerous, with the Black Queen cut off.}) 13. Bd3
Be7 14. Bd2 h5 15. gxf5 Bxf5 16. Bxf5 exf5 17. Rf3 Qg4+ 18. Kh1 Qg6 (18... h4
$14 {with a slight edge for White.}) 19. Rg3 Qf7 $2 {The decisive error. This
gives White a chance to sacrifice e5-e6 at the right moment.} ({Better was}
19... Qh6 {or Qh7 but again Black's position is unenviable.}) 20. Qg1 Nf8 {
Almost a surrender, but there was hardly any way out.} (20... Rg8 21. e6 Qxe6
22. Re1 Qf6 23. Rge3 $18) (20... Rh7 21. e6 Qxe6 22. Re1 $18) ({Black's best
bet was} 20... Kf8 {but after} 21. Rg6 $16 {he is totally cramped.}) 21. Rxg7
Qe6 22. Qg2 O-O-O 23. Rg1 Re8 24. Qh3 Rh6 25. R1g5 {A nice shot to end the
game.} (25. R1g5 Bxg5 26. Nc5 {traps the Queen.}) 1-0
Quite a rout by the Chinese player who went on to win the tournament with a score of 8.5/9.
Abhijeet Gupta also started off the event quite well with a score of 3.5/4 but lost his fifth round encounter to Alexei Shirov. The opening seen in the game between Gupta and Shirov was witnessed in the famous Kramnik-Giri, Qatar 2014. While Giri had opted for the safe 9...cxb3, Shirov went ahead with the most critical move 9...b4 establishing a protected passer on the c3 square. After that the game was a complete mess with Shirov (Black) having this beautiful armada of pawns on b4, c3, d3, and e4! Once again Prathamesh brings us all the action. It's a game not worth missing:
[Event "Al Ain Classic 2015"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2015.12.26"]
[Round "5.2"]
[White "Gupta, Abhijeet"]
[Black "Shirov, Alexei"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E04"]
[WhiteElo "2613"]
[BlackElo "2676"]
[Annotator "Mokal,Prathamesh"]
[PlyCount "82"]
[EventDate "2015.12.24"]
1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 e6 5. g3 dxc4 6. Bg2 b5 7. Ne5 a6 8. O-O
Bb7 9. b3 b4 10. Na4 c3 11. Nc4 a5 12. a3 Ba6 13. axb4 axb4 14. Nc5 Bxc5 15.
dxc5 Qxd1 16. Rxd1 O-O 17. Bf4 Nd5 {Shirov's novelty.} ({Previously Black had
played} 17... Nbd7 18. Bxc6 {and the erred with} Bxc4 $2 {giving White an easy
win after} 19. Rxa8 Rxa8 20. Bxa8 Bxb3 21. Rd4 $18 g5 22. Rxb4 Nxc5 23. Bxg5
Kg7 24. Kf1 Nfd7 25. Ke1 f5 26. Be3 c2 27. Kd2 Ba4 28. Bxc5 Nxc5 29. Rc4 {
1-0 Gleizerov,E (2546)-Solodovnichenko,Y (2543)/Koge 2013/CBM 154 Extra}) 18.
Bxd5 (18. Bd6 {is a decent alternative.}) 18... cxd5 (18... exd5 {also looks
as Black keeps his pawn mass without allowing White a passed pawn in the
c-file.}) 19. Nb6 Nc6 (19... Bxe2 {involved complex calculations, ideal for
the engines, but probably a bit too much for mortals.} 20. Rxa8 (20. Nxa8 Bxd1
21. Rxd1 Na6 22. Nb6 Nxc5) 20... Bxd1 21. Rxb8 Rxb8 22. Bxb8 f6 23. c6 (23.
Nxd5 exd5 24. c6 Kf7 25. Bd6 Ke6 26. Bxb4 d4) (23. Bf4 e5 24. Bc1 Bxb3 25. c6
d4) 23... e5 (23... c2 24. Bf4) 24. f3 (24. c7 Bg4 $19) 24... c2 (24... Bxf3
25. Kf2 c2 26. Kxf3 c1=Q 27. c7 $13) 25. c7 c1=Q 26. c8=Q+ Qxc8 27. Nxc8 Bxb3
28. Bd6 Bd1 29. Bxb4 Bxf3 $11) 20. Nxa8 Rxa8 21. Ra2 Bb7 22. Rxa8+ Bxa8 23. Bc7
(23. Ra1 Bb7 {and the Rook does not get an entry.}) 23... e5 $1 {As Rxd5 does
not work, it is time to get the pawns rolling.} 24. Kf1 (24. Rxd5 c2 $19) 24...
f6 25. Ke1 d4 ({The problem with} 25... Nd4 {is the opposite coloured Bishop
endgame.} 26. Rxd4 exd4 27. Ba5 $11) 26. Ra1 Bb7 27. Ba5 e4 28. Ra4 Nxa5 29.
Rxa5 d3 30. c6 {White covers d5.} (30. Ra7 d2+ 31. Kd1 Bd5 $19) 30... Bxc6 31.
Rc5 Bd7 32. Rc4 Bb5 33. Rc5 (33. Rxb4 c2 34. Kd2 e3+ $1 35. fxe3 dxe2 $19) (33.
Rxe4 dxe2 {keeps the White pieces tied down for a while as} 34. Rxb4 $2 {
loses to} c2) 33... Ba6 34. Rc6 Bb7 35. Rc4 $2 {Decisive mistake. The
d5-square had to be covered.} (35. Rd6 {was better}) (35. Rc5 {was also
possible.}) 35... Bd5 $1 36. Rxb4 Kf7 {Black now thretens ...c2, Kd2 de2 and
even if that threat is stopped White will soon end up in zugzwang as the Black
King makes his presence felt.} 37. e3 (37. Rd4 $2 c2 38. Kd2 dxe2 $19) (37. Rb8
Ke6 {will be somewhat similar to the ga,e.} (37... c2 38. Rc8)) 37... Ke6 38.
h3 h5 39. Kd1 Kd6 40. Kc1 Kc5 41. Rb8 Be6 (41... Be6 42. Rb7 Kc6 43. Rb4 g6 $22
{Zugzwang} 44. h4 {leaves the g4-square for the Bishop.} (44. Kd1 {drops the
h3-pawn and then again Black Bishop will use the g4-square.} Kc5 45. Rb7 Bxh3
$19) 44... Kc5 45. Rb7 d2+) 0-1
[Site "?"]
[Date "2015.12.26"]
[Round "5.2"]
[White "Gupta, Abhijeet"]
[Black "Shirov, Alexei"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E04"]
[WhiteElo "2613"]
[BlackElo "2676"]
[Annotator "Mokal,Prathamesh"]
[PlyCount "82"]
[EventDate "2015.12.24"]
1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 e6 5. g3 dxc4 6. Bg2 b5 7. Ne5 a6 8. O-O
Bb7 9. b3 b4 10. Na4 c3 11. Nc4 a5 12. a3 Ba6 13. axb4 axb4 14. Nc5 Bxc5 15.
dxc5 Qxd1 16. Rxd1 O-O 17. Bf4 Nd5 {Shirov's novelty.} ({Previously Black had
played} 17... Nbd7 18. Bxc6 {and the erred with} Bxc4 $2 {giving White an easy
win after} 19. Rxa8 Rxa8 20. Bxa8 Bxb3 21. Rd4 $18 g5 22. Rxb4 Nxc5 23. Bxg5
Kg7 24. Kf1 Nfd7 25. Ke1 f5 26. Be3 c2 27. Kd2 Ba4 28. Bxc5 Nxc5 29. Rc4 {
1-0 Gleizerov,E (2546)-Solodovnichenko,Y (2543)/Koge 2013/CBM 154 Extra}) 18.
Bxd5 (18. Bd6 {is a decent alternative.}) 18... cxd5 (18... exd5 {also looks
as Black keeps his pawn mass without allowing White a passed pawn in the
c-file.}) 19. Nb6 Nc6 (19... Bxe2 {involved complex calculations, ideal for
the engines, but probably a bit too much for mortals.} 20. Rxa8 (20. Nxa8 Bxd1
21. Rxd1 Na6 22. Nb6 Nxc5) 20... Bxd1 21. Rxb8 Rxb8 22. Bxb8 f6 23. c6 (23.
Nxd5 exd5 24. c6 Kf7 25. Bd6 Ke6 26. Bxb4 d4) (23. Bf4 e5 24. Bc1 Bxb3 25. c6
d4) 23... e5 (23... c2 24. Bf4) 24. f3 (24. c7 Bg4 $19) 24... c2 (24... Bxf3
25. Kf2 c2 26. Kxf3 c1=Q 27. c7 $13) 25. c7 c1=Q 26. c8=Q+ Qxc8 27. Nxc8 Bxb3
28. Bd6 Bd1 29. Bxb4 Bxf3 $11) 20. Nxa8 Rxa8 21. Ra2 Bb7 22. Rxa8+ Bxa8 23. Bc7
(23. Ra1 Bb7 {and the Rook does not get an entry.}) 23... e5 $1 {As Rxd5 does
not work, it is time to get the pawns rolling.} 24. Kf1 (24. Rxd5 c2 $19) 24...
f6 25. Ke1 d4 ({The problem with} 25... Nd4 {is the opposite coloured Bishop
endgame.} 26. Rxd4 exd4 27. Ba5 $11) 26. Ra1 Bb7 27. Ba5 e4 28. Ra4 Nxa5 29.
Rxa5 d3 30. c6 {White covers d5.} (30. Ra7 d2+ 31. Kd1 Bd5 $19) 30... Bxc6 31.
Rc5 Bd7 32. Rc4 Bb5 33. Rc5 (33. Rxb4 c2 34. Kd2 e3+ $1 35. fxe3 dxe2 $19) (33.
Rxe4 dxe2 {keeps the White pieces tied down for a while as} 34. Rxb4 $2 {
loses to} c2) 33... Ba6 34. Rc6 Bb7 35. Rc4 $2 {Decisive mistake. The
d5-square had to be covered.} (35. Rd6 {was better}) (35. Rc5 {was also
possible.}) 35... Bd5 $1 36. Rxb4 Kf7 {Black now thretens ...c2, Kd2 de2 and
even if that threat is stopped White will soon end up in zugzwang as the Black
King makes his presence felt.} 37. e3 (37. Rd4 $2 c2 38. Kd2 dxe2 $19) (37. Rb8
Ke6 {will be somewhat similar to the ga,e.} (37... c2 38. Rc8)) 37... Ke6 38.
h3 h5 39. Kd1 Kd6 40. Kc1 Kc5 41. Rb8 Be6 (41... Be6 42. Rb7 Kc6 43. Rb4 g6 $22
{Zugzwang} 44. h4 {leaves the g4-square for the Bishop.} (44. Kd1 {drops the
h3-pawn and then again Black Bishop will use the g4-square.} Kc5 45. Rb7 Bxh3
$19) 44... Kc5 45. Rb7 d2+) 0-1
With 3.5/5, Abhijeet scored a win against Mu Ke from China in the sixth round and set up an all-Indian clash in the seventh round.
India's best hopes for a top finish faced off against each other in the seventh round and the game was low on accuracy quotient but extremely high on entertainment!
Prathamesh made a nice observation in his annotations to this game. Usually, it is the side with the isolated pawn that gets the attacking chances. But in this particular case, it was the side playing against the isolated pawn who had its forces aimed at opponent's king.
[Event "Al Ain Classic 2015"]
[Site "Al Ain"]
[Date "2015.12.28"]
[Round "7.4"]
[White "Gupta, Abhijeet"]
[Black "Lalith, Babu M.R"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E46"]
[WhiteElo "2613"]
[BlackElo "2553"]
[Annotator "Mokal,Prathamesh"]
[PlyCount "83"]
[EventDate "2015.12.23"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "UAE"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. Nge2 d5 6. a3 Bd6 7. Ng3 c5 8. dxc5
Bxc5 9. b4 Be7 10. cxd5 exd5 11. Bd3 a5 12. b5 Re8 13. O-O Nbd7 14. Bb2 Nc5 15.
Nce2 Be6 16. Nf4 Bf8 17. Bc2 Rc8 18. Rc1 g6 {Interestingly Black has the
isolated pawn and White is attacking. All White's minor pieces seem to be
either aiming at or gathering around the black monarch, so sooner or later an
attacking sacrifice is likely to be in the offing.} 19. Ngh5 $5 {Gupta decides
that it is sooner rather than later. But this decision is very unclear. Maybe
he could manoeuvre a bit more?} Nxh5 20. Nxh5 gxh5 21. Qxh5 f5 ({Worth
considering was} 21... Ne4 22. f3 Qg5 23. Qxg5+ Nxg5 24. h4 {White wins back
the piece but Black has} Bc5 {creating problems on e3.}) 22. Bxf5 Bxf5 23. Qxf5
{White has 2 pawns for the piece but the Black King is exposed making things a
bit tense.} Qd7 24. Qh5 Bg7 25. Bxg7 Kxg7 26. Rcd1 Rcd8 27. Rd4 Ne4 28. f3 Nf6
$6 {This allows White to keep the Black King in the middle of the board.} ({
Better was} 28... Nc3 $5 {so that} 29. Qg5+ {could be answered by} Kh8 $15) 29.
Qg5+ Kf7 30. Rf4 Qe6 31. e4 d4 32. Qh6 {Idea Qh7.} Ke7 33. Qh4 {Idea e5} Qe5
34. Rf5 Qe6 35. Rf4 Qe5 36. Rf5 {A repetition to get closer to the 40-move
mark.} Qe6 37. f4 $16 {And now Back cannot stop Re5 without losing some
material.} d3 38. Re5 d2 39. Rd1 h5 40. Rxe6+ Kxe6 41. Qh3+ Kf7 42. e5 1-0
[Site "Al Ain"]
[Date "2015.12.28"]
[Round "7.4"]
[White "Gupta, Abhijeet"]
[Black "Lalith, Babu M.R"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E46"]
[WhiteElo "2613"]
[BlackElo "2553"]
[Annotator "Mokal,Prathamesh"]
[PlyCount "83"]
[EventDate "2015.12.23"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "UAE"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. Nge2 d5 6. a3 Bd6 7. Ng3 c5 8. dxc5
Bxc5 9. b4 Be7 10. cxd5 exd5 11. Bd3 a5 12. b5 Re8 13. O-O Nbd7 14. Bb2 Nc5 15.
Nce2 Be6 16. Nf4 Bf8 17. Bc2 Rc8 18. Rc1 g6 {Interestingly Black has the
isolated pawn and White is attacking. All White's minor pieces seem to be
either aiming at or gathering around the black monarch, so sooner or later an
attacking sacrifice is likely to be in the offing.} 19. Ngh5 $5 {Gupta decides
that it is sooner rather than later. But this decision is very unclear. Maybe
he could manoeuvre a bit more?} Nxh5 20. Nxh5 gxh5 21. Qxh5 f5 ({Worth
considering was} 21... Ne4 22. f3 Qg5 23. Qxg5+ Nxg5 24. h4 {White wins back
the piece but Black has} Bc5 {creating problems on e3.}) 22. Bxf5 Bxf5 23. Qxf5
{White has 2 pawns for the piece but the Black King is exposed making things a
bit tense.} Qd7 24. Qh5 Bg7 25. Bxg7 Kxg7 26. Rcd1 Rcd8 27. Rd4 Ne4 28. f3 Nf6
$6 {This allows White to keep the Black King in the middle of the board.} ({
Better was} 28... Nc3 $5 {so that} 29. Qg5+ {could be answered by} Kh8 $15) 29.
Qg5+ Kf7 30. Rf4 Qe6 31. e4 d4 32. Qh6 {Idea Qh7.} Ke7 33. Qh4 {Idea e5} Qe5
34. Rf5 Qe6 35. Rf4 Qe5 36. Rf5 {A repetition to get closer to the 40-move
mark.} Qe6 37. f4 $16 {And now Back cannot stop Re5 without losing some
material.} d3 38. Re5 d2 39. Rd1 h5 40. Rxe6+ Kxe6 41. Qh3+ Kf7 42. e5 1-0
With 5.5/7, Abhijeet was poised for a superb finish but lost both eighth and ninth rounds to Wang Hao and Alexander Areschenko to be relegated to the 23rd position
Vaibhav Suri (left) beat Martin Kravstiv with the white pieces in the fourth round
[Event "Al Ain Classic 2015"]
[Site "Al Ain"]
[Date "2015.12.26"]
[Round "4.9"]
[White "Vaibhav, Suri"]
[Black "Kravtsiv, Martyn"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E15"]
[WhiteElo "2552"]
[BlackElo "2623"]
[PlyCount "75"]
[EventDate "2015.12.23"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "UAE"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Ba6 5. b3 Bb4+ 6. Bd2 Be7 7. Nc3 d5 8. cxd5
exd5 9. Bg2 O-O 10. O-O Re8 11. Ne5 Bb7 12. Rc1 Nbd7 13. Nb5 c5 14. Bf4 Nf8 15.
Bh3 a6 16. Nc3 cxd4 17. Na4 b5 $6 {How to continue with White?} 18. Nc6 $1 (18.
Nc5 $2 Bxc5 19. Rxc5 Ne4) (18. Nxf7 $5 Qa5 (18... Kxf7 19. Bc7 $16)) 18... Bxc6
19. Rxc6 Bb4 $6 ({The point is that} 19... bxa4 20. Bc7 $16 {traps the Queen.})
({Better was} 19... Ba3 20. Nb6 Ra7 {although White keeps a significant
advantage.}) 20. Nb6 Bc3 (20... Ra7 21. Qxd4 $16 {White will soon win some
material as Black's pieces are very awkwardly placed.}) 21. Bc7 Qe7 22. Nxa8
Rxa8 23. Bb6 $16 {winning} Qe5 24. Qd3 N8d7 25. f4 Qh5 26. Bxd7 Nxd7 27. Bxd4
Bxd4+ 28. Qxd4 Re8 29. e4 Nf6 30. exd5 h6 31. Rc2 Nxd5 32. Qc5 Kh7 33. Rd2 Nxf4
34. Qxh5 Nxh5 35. Rxf7 Nf6 36. Rc2 Ng4 37. Rcc7 Re1+ 38. Kg2 1-0
[Site "Al Ain"]
[Date "2015.12.26"]
[Round "4.9"]
[White "Vaibhav, Suri"]
[Black "Kravtsiv, Martyn"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E15"]
[WhiteElo "2552"]
[BlackElo "2623"]
[PlyCount "75"]
[EventDate "2015.12.23"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "UAE"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Ba6 5. b3 Bb4+ 6. Bd2 Be7 7. Nc3 d5 8. cxd5
exd5 9. Bg2 O-O 10. O-O Re8 11. Ne5 Bb7 12. Rc1 Nbd7 13. Nb5 c5 14. Bf4 Nf8 15.
Bh3 a6 16. Nc3 cxd4 17. Na4 b5 $6 {How to continue with White?} 18. Nc6 $1 (18.
Nc5 $2 Bxc5 19. Rxc5 Ne4) (18. Nxf7 $5 Qa5 (18... Kxf7 19. Bc7 $16)) 18... Bxc6
19. Rxc6 Bb4 $6 ({The point is that} 19... bxa4 20. Bc7 $16 {traps the Queen.})
({Better was} 19... Ba3 20. Nb6 Ra7 {although White keeps a significant
advantage.}) 20. Nb6 Bc3 (20... Ra7 21. Qxd4 $16 {White will soon win some
material as Black's pieces are very awkwardly placed.}) 21. Bc7 Qe7 22. Nxa8
Rxa8 23. Bb6 $16 {winning} Qe5 24. Qd3 N8d7 25. f4 Qh5 26. Bxd7 Nxd7 27. Bxd4
Bxd4+ 28. Qxd4 Re8 29. e4 Nf6 30. exd5 h6 31. Rc2 Nxd5 32. Qc5 Kh7 33. Rd2 Nxf4
34. Qxh5 Nxh5 35. Rxf7 Nf6 36. Rc2 Ng4 37. Rcc7 Re1+ 38. Kg2 1-0
That was a fine victory! But defeats to Kryvoruchko and Motylev meant that the Delhi lad had to be content with the 21st position. Yet Vaibhav can be quite happy with his tournament as the score of 5.5/9 gave him eight Elo points from the event.
GM Deep Sengupta enjoying some grocery shopping in the Hili Mall which is right next to the official hotel (picture by Prathamesh Mokal)
Deep scored 5.5/9 but was nowhere close to his best form in the tournament. He lost two games to lower rated opponents Visakh NR and Eldar Gasanov. A 39th place finish and -7.5 rating points is not something he would be happy with.
Abhijit Kunte suffered from bad health as he had to leave the tournament after just three rounds. He was on 1.5/3.
GM Debashis Das did not play much in the last two months. This rustiness was clearly seen as he scored just 4.5 points and lost 17.6 Elo points.
It is very rare that the super solid Diptayan Ghosh loses rating points. But at the Al Ain Classic he didn't have a particularly smooth event. Yet -4 Elo is all that he lost. He scored 5.0/9 and finished 41st.
Top Goan player Anurag Mhamal scored 5.0/9
The highest rated Indian woman player WGM Bhakti Kulkarni had a forgettable tournament. She lost 24 Elo points and could manage to score only 4.0/9.
WFM Rucha Pujari is currently trying to balance the roles of a player as well as a chess coach. She scored 4.0/9. The girl from Kolhapur recently opened Ruchess Academy in her home town.
Indians did have something to cheer as Parnali Dharia gained 96 Elo points at the event. She beat higher rated players like Harsha Bharathakoti, Samir Saiid and Khayala Abdulla.
The Chinese players continue their dominance in the world of chess, as Wang Hao won the tournament with a score of 8.5/9!
Sasikumar Anusweud kept the Indian flag flying by winning the under-2000 section
An overview of the Indian performers at the event:
| SNo | Name | Rtg | FED | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Pts. | Rk. | K | rtg+/- | Group | |
| 18 | GM | Gupta Abhijeet | 2613 | IND | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5,5 | 23 | 10 | -0,40 | Al-Ain Classic |
| 31 | GM | Sengupta Deep | 2563 | IND | ½ | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 5,5 | 39 | 10 | -7,50 | Al-Ain Classic |
| 32 | GM | Lalith Babu M.R. | 2553 | IND | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4,5 | 57 | 10 | 1,70 | Al-Ain Classic |
| 33 | GM | Vaibhav Suri | 2552 | IND | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | 5,5 | 21 | 10 | 7,60 | Al-Ain Classic |
| 35 | IM | Ghosh Diptayan | 2550 | IND | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5,0 | 41 | 10 | -3,80 | Al-Ain Classic |
| 38 | GM | Gopal G.N. | 2525 | IND | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 5,5 | 37 | 10 | -3,00 | Al-Ain Classic |
| 41 | GM | Vishnu Prasanna. V | 2514 | IND | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | 5,5 | 29 | 10 | 3,40 | Al-Ain Classic |
| 42 | GM | Kunte Abhijit | 2507 | IND | 1 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1,5 | 122 | 10 | -0,80 | Al-Ain Classic |
| 44 | GM | Debashis Das | 2505 | IND | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 4,5 | 74 | 10 | -17,60 | Al-Ain Classic |
| 46 | GM | Deepan Chakkravarthy J. | 2496 | IND | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 5,0 | 52 | 10 | -2,60 | Al-Ain Classic |
| 47 | GM | Ankit R. Rajpara | 2489 | IND | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 5,5 | 33 | 10 | 1,70 | Al-Ain Classic |
| 50 | IM | Swayams Mishra | 2477 | IND | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 5,0 | 47 | 10 | -0,90 | Al-Ain Classic |
| 61 | IM | Das Sayantan | 2411 | IND | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | 5,0 | 46 | 10 | 6,90 | Al-Ain Classic |
| 65 | IM | Prathamesh Sunil Mokal | 2393 | IND | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 0 | 4,0 | 81 | 10 | -22,50 | Al-Ain Classic |
| 66 | IM | Anurag Mhamal | 2390 | IND | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 5,0 | 56 | 10 | -3,60 | Al-Ain Classic |
| 67 | IM | Visakh N R | 2388 | IND | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5,0 | 45 | 10 | 11,30 | Al-Ain Classic |
| 69 | Harsha Bharathakoti | 2362 | IND | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0,0 | 127 | 20 | -37,00 | Al-Ain Classic | |
| 75 | WGM | Kulkarni Bhakti | 2328 | IND | 0 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 4,0 | 80 | 20 | -24,40 | Al-Ain Classic |
| 80 | Aradhya Garg | 2316 | IND | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3,0 | 104 | 20 | -25,20 | Al-Ain Classic | |
| 83 | CM | Nitish Belurkar | 2304 | IND | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | 4,5 | 67 | 20 | 1,20 | Al-Ain Classic |
| 86 | Iniyan P | 2275 | IND | ½ | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4,0 | 83 | 40 | 10,40 | Al-Ain Classic | |
| 91 | Ashwath R. | 2252 | IND | 0 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3,5 | 99 | 20 | -5,40 | Al-Ain Classic | |
| 92 | Yogit S | 2239 | IND | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 4,0 | 82 | 40 | 12,80 | Al-Ain Classic | |
| 97 | Jayakumaar S | 2169 | IND | 0 | 1 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 0 | 4,0 | 84 | 20 | 27,40 | Al-Ain Classic | |
| 99 | WFM | Pujari Rucha | 2158 | IND | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 4,0 | 91 | 20 | -6,20 | Al-Ain Classic |
| 103 | Arjun Kalyan | 2107 | IND | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 3,5 | 100 | 40 | 79,60 | Al-Ain Classic | |
| 107 | Rahul Srivatshav P | 2086 | IND | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 4,0 | 88 | 40 | 74,80 | Al-Ain Classic | |
| 113 | WIM | Parnali S Dharia | 2002 | IND | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 4,5 | 75 | 40 | 96,40 | Al-Ain Classic |
| 124 | WFM | Tarini Goyal | 1826 | IND | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 3,0 | 111 | 40 | 41,20 | Al-Ain Classic |
Final standings:
| Rk. | SNo | Name | Typ | Gr | FED | Rtg | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | K | rtg+/- | ||
| 1 | 2 | GM | Wang Hao | CHN | 2707 | 8,0 | 41,5 | 40,25 | 0,0 | 10 | 21,8 | |||
| 2 | 5 | GM | Shirov Alexei | LAT | 2676 | 6,5 | 44,5 | 34,75 | 0,0 | 10 | 10,9 | |||
| 3 | 21 | GM | Pashikian Arman | ARM | 2606 | 6,5 | 42,5 | 33,00 | 0,0 | 10 | 15,2 | |||
| 4 | 24 | GM | Pantsulaia Levan | GEO | 2598 | 6,5 | 41,5 | 31,00 | 0,0 | 10 | 15,2 | |||
| 5 | 1 | GM | Kryvoruchko Yuriy | UKR | 2711 | 6,5 | 40,5 | 34,00 | 0,0 | 10 | 0,4 | |||
| 6 | 4 | GM | Areshchenko Alexander | UKR | 2677 | 6,5 | 39,5 | 32,50 | 0,0 | 10 | 4,3 | |||
| 7 | 17 | GM | Oleksiyenko Mykhaylo | UKR | 2616 | 6,5 | 38,0 | 33,25 | 0,0 | 10 | 1,8 | |||
| 8 | 16 | GM | Kravtsiv Martyn | UKR | 2623 | 6,5 | 37,5 | 32,50 | 0,0 | 10 | 3,8 | |||
| 9 | 15 | GM | Hovhannisyan Robert | ARM | 2624 | 6,5 | 37,0 | 34,25 | 0,0 | 10 | 5,6 | |||
| 10 | 9 | GM | Efimenko Zahar | UKR | 2647 | 6,5 | 37,0 | 29,75 | 0,0 | 10 | 6,7 | |||
| 11 | 13 | GM | Mchedlishvili Mikheil | GEO | 2635 | 6,0 | 42,5 | 31,75 | 0,0 | 10 | 4,4 | |||
| 12 | 19 | GM | Onischuk Vladimir | UKR | 2612 | 6,0 | 40,5 | 31,00 | 0,0 | 10 | 1,6 | |||
| 13 | 12 | GM | Rakhmanov Aleksandr | RUS | 2640 | 6,0 | 39,5 | 29,00 | 0,0 | 10 | 2,3 | |||
| 14 | 26 | GM | Andriasian Zaven | ARM | 2594 | 6,0 | 39,0 | 29,25 | 0,0 | 10 | 5,4 | |||
| 15 | 8 | GM | Motylev Alexander | RUS | 2653 | 6,0 | 38,0 | 28,50 | 0,0 | 10 | -1,2 | |||
| 16 | 7 | GM | Zhigalko Sergei | BLR | 2655 | 6,0 | 38,0 | 27,50 | 0,0 | 10 | 0,3 | |||
| 17 | 25 | GM | Azarov Sergei | BLR | 2595 | 6,0 | 37,0 | 26,75 | 0,0 | 10 | 0,5 | |||
| 18 | 30 | GM | Kulaots Kaido | EST | 2574 | 6,0 | 35,5 | 26,75 | 0,0 | 10 | 3,0 | |||
| 19 | 10 | GM | Anton Guijarro David | ESP | 2640 | 6,0 | 33,5 | 26,75 | 0,0 | 10 | -8,3 | |||
| 20 | 37 | GM | Zeng Chongsheng | CHN | 2530 | 5,5 | 44,5 | 29,50 | 0,0 | 10 | 15,7 |
Complete results of 127 players
On a parting note we would like to leave you with this cute miniature played by GM Vishnu Prasanna:
[Event "Al Ain Classic 2015"]
[Site "Al Ain"]
[Date "2015.12.26"]
[Round "4.27"]
[White "Vishnu, Prasanna. V"]
[Black "Ahmed, Fareed"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A30"]
[WhiteElo "2514"]
[BlackElo "1970"]
[PlyCount "23"]
[EventDate "2015.12.23"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "UAE"]
[Site "Al Ain"]
[Date "2015.12.26"]
[Round "4.27"]
[White "Vishnu, Prasanna. V"]
[Black "Ahmed, Fareed"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A30"]
[WhiteElo "2514"]
[BlackElo "1970"]
[PlyCount "23"]
[EventDate "2015.12.23"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "UAE"]
1. c4 e6 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 c5 4. Nf3 g6 5. d4 cxd4 6. Nxd4 Bg7 7. Nb5 d5 8. Bf4
Na6 9. Nd6+ Kf8 10. Nc3 d4 11. Qxd4 Nd5 12. Bh6 1-0
Na6 9. Nd6+ Kf8 10. Nc3 d4 11. Qxd4 Nd5 12. Bh6 1-0
IM Prathamesh Mokal did a heroic job at the Al Ain Classic 2015 by playing and at the same time reporting for ChessBase. His own performance at the tournament was surely affected to some extent by this hectic schedule, but he made sure that the best performers and interesting games from the event reached the world audience. In this article all the games have been annotated by him. You can find all his ChessBase articles on Al Ain Classic over here.