Dubai Open: Vidit Gujrathi's Squeeze

by Priyadarshan Banjan - 10/04/2017

43% of the players playing in Dubai are Indians. Go figure. After the Sharjah Masters, the Dubai Open 2017 has turned into a mini-India as strong grandmasters and young talents compete for ratings and norms. Vidit Gujrathi is playing impressive chess to be the joint leader with 6.0/7, with two others. Report.

Dubai Open: Vidit Gujrathi's Squeeze

The annual Dubai Open has always been a hot destination for Indian chess players. They get to play a super-strong tournament with plenty of chances to score norms and increase the rating. The even started with 90 Indians (out of 208 players), which was reduced to 89 after it was revealed that one of them was a cheater.

India's best bet in the starting list was GM Vidit Gujrathi, who began the even with an Elo 2670. Apart from him, there were several other strong grandmasters competing, followed by a horde of young talents.

With 43% of players being Indians, would any of them take the podium?

Vidit thinks he can do it. He has remained solid throughout, drawing two games and losing none. He won his fifth game of the event by beating...

...Azeri GM Eltaj Safarli (2680) in a beautiful squeeze with the white pieces.

Vidit played a beautiful positional game out of a Bogo-Indian as Safarli was left shuffling his pieces in the last three ranks for the major part of the game. Frustrated, he lashed out with ...e5 and Vidit smashed him to a pulp.

[Event "19th Dubai Open 2017"]
[Site "Dubai"]
[Date "2017.04.09"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi"]
[Black "Safarli, Eltaj"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E11"]
[WhiteElo "2670"]
[BlackElo "2680"]
[Annotator "TA"]
[PlyCount "131"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2003.06.08"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Bb4+ 4. Bd2 Qe7 5. g3 Bxd2+ 6. Qxd2 Nc6 {E11:
Bogo-Indian} 7. b3 d5 8. Bg2 Ne4 {LiveBook: 3 Games. The position is equal.} 9.
Qb2 Qb4+ $146 (9... b6 10. O-O Bb7 11. Nc3 O-O-O 12. Rac1 Kb8 13. e3 f5 14. a3
{0-1 (30) Goganov,A (2605)-Moiseenko,A (2695) Jerusalem 2015}) 10. Nfd2 $1 ({
Reject} 10. Nbd2 dxc4 11. Qc2 Nxd2 12. Qxd2 cxb3 13. axb3 Bd7 $11) 10... Nxd2
11. Nxd2 dxc4 {[#]} 12. Rc1 $1 O-O 13. Rxc4 Qb6 14. O-O Rd8 (14... Ne7 $142)
15. e3 (15. Bxc6 $142 $1 bxc6 16. Rfc1) 15... Ne7 16. Rfc1 c6 17. h4 Bd7 18.
Qa3 Nd5 19. Ne4 Be8 20. Nc5 Qc7 21. Qb2 Nb6 22. R4c2 Nd7 23. Nd3 a5 24. Nc5
Nxc5 25. Rxc5 Rd6 26. Qa3 Qd8 27. Bf3 f6 28. Qb2 Bf7 29. Kg2 Rd7 30. a3 Rd6 31.
b4 axb4 32. Qxb4 Rd7 33. Rb1 Re7 34. a4 Bg6 35. Rd1 Bf7 36. a5 Qc7 37. Qc3 h6
38. Be2 Be8 39. Rb1 Kh8 40. Bd3 Rd8 41. Be4 Kg8 42. Rb6 Kh8 43. Qb4 Ra8 44. Rc1
f5 45. Bd3 Rd8 46. Be2 e5 (46... Kh7 $16 {keeps fighting.} 47. Rb1 c5 48. dxc5
(48. Qxc5 Qxc5 49. dxc5 Rd5 $18) 48... e5) 47. dxe5 Qxe5 48. Bf3 Qc7 {[#]} (
48... Bf7 $16 {might work better.}) 49. Rb1 $1 $18 Rdd7 50. Qc5 Rf7 $2 (50...
Qe5 {was necessary.} 51. Qxe5 Rxe5 52. Rxb7 Rxa5) 51. Bh5 {White is clearly
winning.} Rd5 52. Qc3 f4 53. Bxf7 f3+ 54. Kh2 Qxf7 55. Rxb7 Bd7 56. e4 Rd6 57.
a6 Qa2 58. R7b2 (58. Qc5 $142 Rd2 59. Qf8+ Qg8 60. Qxg8+ Kxg8 61. a7 Rxf2+ 62.
Kg1) 58... Qxa6 59. Qxf3 {Strongly threatening Qf8+.} Rf6 60. Qe3 Qc4 61. e5
Rf7 62. Rb4 Qc2 63. R1b2 Qf5 64. Rf4 Qh3+ 65. Kg1 Bf5 66. g4 (66. Rb8+ $142 Kh7
67. Qb3) 1-0

(Analyzes with the Tactical Analysis feature of ChessBase 14. Use it to improve your chess.)

GM Gawain Jones won his fourth consecutive game to join Vidit in the lead with 6.0/7.

Besides Gawain and Vidit, the third person in the lead is Venezuelan GM Eduardo Bonelli Iturrizaga (2671). who beat...

IM P. Karthikeyan (2507).

The Venezuelan started an offensive on the kingside with a massive attack but misplayed allowing the Indian to stage a comeback. Karthikeyan started an attack on the queenside, but Iturrizaga had a tactic ready.withstand the attack.

[Event "19th Dubai Open 2017"]
[Site "Dubai"]
[Date "2017.04.09"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Iturrizaga Bonelli, Eduardo"]
[Black "Karthikeyan, P."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A25"]
[WhiteElo "2671"]
[BlackElo "2507"]
[Annotator "TA"]
[PlyCount "145"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2003.06.08"]

1. c4 e5 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 Nc6 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. d3 O-O 6. Bd2 Re8 7. e4 {A25:
English Opening vs King's Indian with ...Nc6 but without early d3} (7. Nf3 Bxc3
8. Bxc3 d6 9. O-O h6 10. a3 {1/2-1/2 (10) Talla,V (2423) -Mirumian,V (2513)
Orlova 2011}) 7... a5 8. Nge2 Nd4 $146 (8... h6 9. h3 d6 10. O-O Bc5 11. Kh2
Nd4 12. Nxd4 Bxd4 13. Rb1 c6 14. f4 Rb8 {0-1 (58) Voiska ,M (2330)-Vo,H (2261)
Istanbul 2000}) 9. O-O {The position is equal.} c6 10. h3 h6 11. Nxd4 exd4 12.
Ne2 Bxd2 13. Qxd2 c5 14. f4 d6 15. g4 Nh7 16. Ng3 Qh4 17. Qf2 Ra7 18. Rae1 b6
19. Re2 Rae7 20. Qe1 {aiming for Nf5.} Kh8 21. b3 g6 22. f5 gxf5 23. gxf5 Rg8
24. Kh2 $1 (24. Rf3 $2 Ng5 25. Rf1 Nxh3+ 26. Bxh3 Qxg3+ 27. Qxg3 Rxg3+ 28. Kh2
Rxd3 $19) 24... Nf6 25. Bf3 $1 Rg5 26. Rg1 Qf4 27. Rf2 Re8 28. Bd1 (28. Bh5 Qh4
29. Be2 Reg8 $11) 28... Qe5 29. Qd2 Reg8 30. Rf4 Kh7 31. Qf2 Nd7 32. Be2 Nf6
33. Rg2 a4 34. bxa4 Bd7 35. Bd1 Ra8 36. Rh4 Bxa4 $2 ({Black should play} 36...
Rag8 $11) 37. Qd2 $1 $16 (37. Bxa4 $6 Rxa4 38. Kh1 Rb4 $11) 37... Kg7 $2 {[#]}
(37... Rag8 $16 {is a better defense.} 38. Bxa4 Nh5 39. Rxh5 Rxh5) 38. Rxh6 $1
$18 Kxh6 39. h4 Nh7 40. hxg5+ Nxg5 41. Kg1 (41. Bxa4 $142 Rxa4 42. Kh1) 41...
f6 {[#]} 42. Bxa4 (42. Nh5 $1 $18 Bxd1 43. Qxd1) 42... Rxa4 $14 43. Qe2 $36 {
Strongly threatening Qh5+. White has some pressure.} Ra7 $2 (43... Kg7 $14) 44.
Qh5+ $18 Kg7 {intending ...Kg8.} 45. Qg6+ Kf8 46. Nh5 {Qh6+ is the strong
threat.} Rf7 47. Qh6+ ({Don't take} 47. Rb2 $6 d5 $18) 47... Ke7 {[#]} 48. Nxf6
$1 Nf3+ $2 (48... Qxf6 {is a better chance.} 49. Qxg5 Qxg5 50. Rxg5 Rf8) 49.
Kf2 {Hoping for Nd5+.} Qxf6 50. Qxf6+ Kxf6 51. Kxf3 {Endgame KR-KR} Rh7 52.
Rg6+ Ke7 53. Kg2 Rh8 54. e5 dxe5 (54... Rh5 $142 55. Re6+ (55. exd6+ Kd7 $16) (
55. Rxd6 Rxf5 56. Rxb6 Rxe5 $16) 55... Kf7 56. exd6 Rg5+ 57. Kh3 Rxf5) 55. Rxb6
Kf7 56. Re6 Ra8 (56... e4 $142 57. dxe4 Rd8) 57. Rxe5 Ra3 58. Rxc5 Rxd3 59. Rd5
Kf6 60. Kf2 Ra3 61. Ke2 (61. Rxd4 Kxf5 62. Rd2 Ke5 $14) 61... Rc3 62. c5 (62.
Rxd4 Kxf5 63. Kd2 Ra3 $16) 62... Ra3 63. Kd2 ({Not} 63. Rxd4 Kxf5 64. Kd2 Ke6
$16) 63... Rc3 64. a4 ({Less strong is} 64. Rxd4 Rxc5 65. Rh4 Kg5 $16) 64...
Ra3 65. Rxd4 {White mates.} Ke5 66. Rc4 Kd5 67. Rf4 Rh3 68. f6 Rh8 69. f7 Rf8
70. a5 Kxc5 71. a6 Kb6 72. Rf6+ Ka7 73. Ke3 1-0

(Analyzes with the Tactical Analysis feature of ChessBase 14. Use it to improve your chess.)

GM Abhijeet Gupta is praying for a good finish. He is on 5.0/7.

GM S.L. Narayanan is on 4.5/7.

Tania Sachdev drew two 2600 but then has struggled as she is stuck on 3.5/7.

IM Praggnanandhaa R. is on 4.5/7.

Pairings of the next round for IND

Rd.	Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.
8	2	8	GM	Vidit Santosh Gujrathi	2670	6		5½	GM	Korobov Anton	2695	1
8	9	30	GM	Lalith Babu M R	2571	5		5	GM	Rakhmanov Aleksandr	2665	10
8	12	17	GM	Zhigalko Sergei	2639	5		5	IM	Vignesh N R	2411	56
8	13	19	GM	Gupta Abhijeet	2607	5		5	IM	Xu Xiangyu	2503	40
8	14	38	IM	Karthikeyan P.	2507	5		5	GM	Bok Benjamin	2605	20
8	16	15	GM	Salgado Lopez Ivan	2641	4½		5	IM	Siva Mahadevan	2363	70
8	17	53	IM	Nitin S.	2432	4½		4½	GM	Mchedlishvili Mikheil	2602	21
8	18	23	GM	Tari Aryan	2597	4½		4½	GM	Laxman R.R.	2403	59
8	20	61		Iniyan P	2399	4½		4½	GM	Abasov Nijat	2588	26
8	21	27	GM	Antipov Mikhail Al.	2586	4½		4½	IM	Rathnakaran K.	2383	64
8	24	35	GM	Sunilduth Lyna Narayanan	2551	4½		4½		Sidhant Mohapatra	2341	76
8	25	37	GM	Mastrovasilis Athanasios	2524	4½		4½		Kulkarni Rakesh	2325	78
8	26	39	IM	Kuybokarov Temur	2504	4½		4½		Harikrishnan.A.Ra	2305	85
8	27	73	FM	Saeed Ishaq	2360	4½		4½	IM	Stany G.A.	2495	42
8	28	77		Dhulipalla Bala Chandra Prasad	2337	4½		4½	IM	Salomon Johan	2487	44
8	30	49	IM	Visakh N R	2464	4½		4½		Ashwath R.	2242	100
8	31	51	IM	Praggnanandhaa R	2447	4½		4½		Arjun K	2232	102
8	32	41	GM	Debashis Das	2501	4		4	WIM	Khalafova Narmin	2303	86
8	33	45	GM	Deepan Chakkravarthy J.	2483	4		4		Arjun Kalyan	2280	91
8	34	101		Dodeja Pawan	2235	4		4	GM	Kotanjian Tigran	2469	48
8	35	50	IM	Shyaamnikhil P	2454	4		4		Sankalp Gupta	2265	94
8	37	54	IM	Asadli Vugar	2431	4		4	CM	Gukesh D	2260	96
8	38	57	IM	Viani Antonio Dcunha	2410	4		4	WIM	Zarkovic Mila	2256	98
8	39	118		Yohan J.	2164	4		4	IM	Padmini Rout	2400	60
8	40	63	IM	Kanter Eduard	2383	4		4		Kumar Gaurav	2172	115
8	42	71	FM	Thakur Akash	2363	4		4		Jeet Jain	2078	139
8	43	107	FM	Sadhwani Raunak	2218	4		4	WGM	Charkhalashvili Inga	2362	72
8	44	79	IM	Rajesh V A V	2324	4		4		Vijay Anand M.	1956	168
8	45	81	WGM	Gomes Mary Ann	2316	4		4	CM	Mullick Raahil	1710	203
8	47	55	IM	Tania Sachdev	2429	3½		3½	FM	Mohammad Fahad Rahman	2182	114
8	48	65	IM	Yap Kim Steven	2379	3½		3½		Pranav V	2149	121
8	51	130	WFM	Cholleti Sahajasri	2120	3½		3½		Raahul V S	2306	84
8	52	87	CM	Kulkarni Bhakti	2286	3½		3½	CM	Mendonca Leon Luke	2110	131
8	53	89	WIM	Pratyusha Bodda	2281	3½		3½		Ebner Johann	2028	155
8	54	126		Vantika Agrawal	2130	3½		3½	FM	Kuznetsov Mikhail V.	2279	92
8	55	136		Priyanka Nutakki	2084	3½		3½	WGM	Maisuradze Nino	2273	93
8	56	164		Doshi Moksh Amitbhai	1974	3½		3½		Aliyev Ravan	2256	99
8	57	104		Jayakumaar S	2229	3½		3½		Al Yaghshi M. Hisham	2056	147
8	58	106		Jaiswal Puneet	2219	3½		3½		Velieva Hurma	1997	162
8	59	110		Dimarucut Francis Erwin	2211	3½		3½		Krithigga K	1708	204
8	60	146		Sameir Ramez	2062	3½		3½	AGM	Nishant Malhotra	2197	111
8	61	112	CM	Aditya Mittal	2183	3½		3½		Siddharth Sabharishankar	1950	169
8	63	142	WFM	Tarini Goyal	2077	3		3		Saurabh Anand	2284	88
8	65	97	FM	El Jawich Amro	2259	3		3		Panesar Vedant	2036	151
8	66	105		Prithu Gupta	2226	3		3		Nayak Rajesh	2034	152
8	67	154		Priyanka K	2030	3		3		Abbasov Vusal	2211	109
8	70	117	WFM	Srija Seshadri	2166	3		3		Fernandez Dandel	2022	157
8	72	132		Baivab Mishra	2105	3		3		Dushyant Sharma	2013	159
8	73	171		Nair Sanjeev	1938	3		3	WFM	Salonika Saina	2098	133
8	74	134		Salah Romany	2096	3		3	WCM	Isha Sharma	1878	179
8	75	140	WIM	Gagare Shalmali	2077	3		3		Panda Sambit	1959	167
8	76	194		De Silva Gihan	1759	2½		2½		Harini S.	2150	119
8	77	122	WIM	Maroroa Sue	2148	2½		2½		Shourya Jain	1879	178
8	78	124	WGM	Makropoulou Marina	2144	2½		2½		Saranya Y	1890	176
8	79	128	IM	Feldman Vladimir	2121	2½		2½		Pankaj Sindhu	1819	188
8	80	174		Saksham Rautela	1908	2½		2½	WFM	Hallaeva Bahar	2083	137
8	81	138		Pranav Anand	2083	2½		2½		Reyes Danilo G.	1750	198
8	82	182		Makhija Aashna	1858	2½		2½	CM	Nikhil Magizhnan	2077	141
8	83	196		Narendran Gouthaman	1757	2½		2½	WFM	Ovezdurdiyeva Jemal	2073	145
8	86	202		Narendran V	1716	2½		2½	WFM	Alattar Ghayda M.	1999	161
8	87	210		Jijo Joy	1589	2½		2½	WFM	Boshra Alshaeby	1992	163
8	88	165		Abdulkarim Ali	1972	2½		2½		Mohammed Fawwaaz	1386	214
8	89	190		Srimathi R	1810	2		2		Asmar Elie	2043	149
8	90	160		Ali Abdulaziz	2007	2		2		Thrish Karthik	1817	189
8	91	187		Sarvesh Kumar A	1827	2		2	AGM	Srihari L R	1922	173
8	95	186		Salem Ahmed Salem	1830	2		2		Singh Gurmeher	1433	213
8	98	191		Alem Ali Hussien	1795	1		1½		Aditya Varun Gampa	1552	212
8	99	177		Tejaswini Reddy S.	1889	1		1		Kulniyaz Mohammed Ali	1575	211