Delhi 08: The big fight!

by Priyadarshan Banjan - 15/01/2016

The antepenultimate round of the 14th Delhi Open 2016 saw the top two seeds take on each other. Meanwhile, Pradeep Kumar was rewarded for his performance until now with an IM-norm. The C-category tournament underway simultaneously is witnessing all sorts of upsets you can think of at the Below-1599 level. It also has some very important stories to tell. We bring you this pictorial report from Delhi.

Delhi 08: The big fight!

The antepenultimate round of the 14th Delhi Open 2016 saw the top two seeds take on each other to play a fighting game replete with some imaginative preparation. The Indian challenge at the top boards saw IM Vignesh NR and IM Sayantan Das lose; the latter losing to GM Lalith Babu.

The playing arena for the A-category Open in all its glory

The eagerly awaited clash between the top seed GM Boris Grachev (2652)...

...and GM Ivan Popov (2650)

Notes by IM Sagar Shah:

[Event "14th Delhi GM-Open 2016"]
[Site "Delhi"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Grachev, Boris"]
[Black "Popov, Ivan"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[PlyCount "58"]

1. d4 {0} d5 {0} 2. c4 {0} e6 {0} 3. Nf3 {0} Nf6 {0} 4. Nc3 {21} c6 {18} 5. Bg5
{54} dxc4 {49} 6. e4 {12} b5 {6} 7. e5 {8} h6 {6} 8. Bh4 {4} g5 {5} 9. Nxg5 {25
} hxg5 {6} 10. Bxg5 {5} Nbd7 {6} 11. exf6 {14} Bb7 {16} 12. g3 {85} c5 {15} 13.
d5 {28} Qb6 {18} 14. Bg2 {29} O-O-O {22} 15. O-O {126} b4 {99} 16. Rb1 {159}
Qa6 {153} 17. dxe6 {104} Bxg2 {48 Believe it or not this position has already
been reached 200 times!} 18. Re1 $5 {250 This was already played by Krylov
against Popov in 2012 and Popov had won. So it could be safe to assume that
Grachev had an improvement.} (18. e7 {has been played in 190 of those 200
games.}) 18... fxe6 {489} 19. Kxg2 {172} bxc3 {48} 20. bxc3 {106 This is
Grachev's big improvement. The position is still equal but Popov has to find
some only moves to maintain equality. Knowing what high level of preparation
he has it is safe to assume that Popov was well prepared.} (20. f7 {was played
by Krylov.}) 20... Qc6+ $1 {179} 21. Kg1 {45} Bh6 $1 {53} 22. Qg4 {173} Bxg5 {
132} 23. Rxe6 $1 {28 There is no time to win back lost material.} Qd5 {67
Black is now two pieces up for a few pawns but White has some nasty tricks!}
24. Qf5 $5 {173} Qa8 {322} (24... Qxf5 25. Rc6# {is something that you wish
for but never really happens in a game!}) 25. Rb5 {173} Rxh2 $1 {92 The
quickest way to draw the game. The threat of mate on h1 forces White to give a
perpetual.} 26. Rxc5+ {32} (26. Kxh2 $2 Rh8+ $19) 26... Nxc5 {7} 27. Qxc5+ {52}
Kb8 {6} 28. Qe5+ {24} Kc8 {7} 29. Qc5+ {24} Kb8 {6} 1/2-1/2

The seductive 24.Qf5 (!) that was so enchanting that...

...numerous players from both the A and C categories left their games en prise!

And some fans resorted to taking the aerial view!

GM Yuri Solodovnichenko (2581) defeated IM Vignesh NR to move to 6.5/8.

Tied with Yuri at the second spot is GM Lalith Babu (2553), who defeated IM Sayantan Das, and...

...GM Czebe Atilla (2466), as he defeated IM Ravi Teja (2385).

Pradeep Kumar (2302) continued his fine run through the tournament as he registered his final IM norm by holding GM Nguyen Duc Hoa (2494) to a draw.

WFM Srija Seshadri (2092) is also assured of a WIM norm. She is a student in the Shri Ram College of Commerce in Delhi and is doing a fine job of balancing her college attendance in the mornings and the tournament games in the afternoons!

Little FM Praggnanandhaa R. (2174) held Uzbek GM Marat Dzhumaev (2495) and is on 4.5/8.

Pairings for Round 09:

Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.
1	2	GM	Popov Ivan	2650	7½		6½	GM	Solodovnichenko Yuri	2581	5
2	21	GM	Czebe Attila	2466	6½		6½	GM	Lalith Babu M R	2553	10
3	18	GM	Nguyen Duc Hoa	2494	6		6	GM	Grachev Boris	2652	1
4	20	IM	Narayanan Srinath	2478	6		6	GM	Sivuk Vitaly	2566	6
5	27	GM	Sriram Jha	2416	6		6	GM	Vaibhav Suri	2552	11
6	12	GM	Bernadskiy Vitaliy	2546	6		6	GM	Nguyen Huynh Minh Huy	2489	19
7	16	GM	Neverov Valeriy	2506	6		6		Pradeep Kumar R A	2302	47
8	29	IM	Das Sayantan	2411	5½		5½	GM	David Alberto	2597	3
9	38		Kulkarni Rakesh	2349	5½		5½	GM	Demchenko Anton	2596	4
10	35	IM	Ravi Teja S.	2385	5½		5½	GM	Mozharov Mikhail	2559	7

View the complete pairing list here.

Complete results of Round 08.

Download important Round 01-08 games in PGN

Watch the games LIVE by clicking the above link.

Category-C Open

As you would expect, or maybe not expect, the C-category tournament is like a multiple sided coin flipped for a toss. You don't know if you will get a heads, tails, or whatever for that matter. However, with three rounds a day, the tournament is progressing at breakneck speed and there are five players tied for the lead with 6.0/6.

Check the pairings for Round 07 here.

We mentioned earlier how fans are resorting to novel methods to catch the grandmasters play in the A-category; while at the same time,...

....they themselves will be playing in the C-category. Personally, I have always believed that this is the way chess can become a spectator sport.

Eighteen-year-old Samir Mondal (1493) of West Bengal uses his left hand to make his moves...

...and his right leg to maintain the scoresheet. Truly, chess is life.

Photos for ChessBase India