Shyam Sundar wins HCT Rapid in Goa
GM Shyam Sundar is a strong rapid player and he made that fact quite evident by winning the HCT Rapid event held at Goa on 23rd and 24th of April. But it was not an easy victory. Going into the last round Shyam was trailing Karnataka's Gahan M G by half a point. The winner would be decided based on this crucial encounter. And Shyam delivered. He beat Gahan and lifted the winner's trophy and a cheque of Rs. 25,000. Follow this exciting last round game with annotations by the grandmaster himself. A tournament report with GM analysis.
The Hotel Calangute Tower All India FIDE Rapid Rating Chess Tournament was organized by Mormugao Taluka Chess Association and held at Centenary Hall, Baina, Vasco, Goa on the 23rd and 24th of April 2016. The event attracted special attention due to the participation of two grandmasters Shyam Sundar and Tejas Bakre along with many strong youngsters like Gahan M.G, Ritviz Parab, Rohan Ahuja and Abhimanyu Puranik. India's former National Rapid Champion Ram. S. Krishnan was also present fighting it out for the first prize of Rs.25,000.
Top-seeded GM Shyam Sundar (2488) of TN won the tournament with 8 points at the end of 9 rounds and received prize money of Rs.25,000 and winner's trophy. Ritviz Parab (2163) of Geno Pharma, Goa, stood 2nd with 8 points on a lower tie breaker. IM Abhimanyu Puranik (2208) of Maharashtra finished 3rd with 8 points. Shyam won 7 games and was held to draws by Goa’s IM Rohan Ahuja (2149) and Chander Raju (1840) of Kerala. Ritviz Parab won eight games and lost one game to Gahan M G (2296).
Analysis by GM Shyam Sundar
My opponent played very well and he was leading by half a point. Naturally I had to win this game to fight for the top spot.
(Laptop and desktop users can click on the magnifying glass on the top right of the board to enjoy the analysis in full-screen mode)
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.04.26"]
[Round "9.1"]
[White "Gahan M.G"]
[Black "M.Shyamsundar"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A00"]
[WhiteElo "2296"]
[BlackElo "2488"]
[PlyCount "92"]
[SourceDate "2007.05.24"]
Bc6 9. Bd2 Nd7 10. Nc3 Nxc3 11. Bxc3 dxe5 12. dxe5 Nc5 13. Bc2 Qxd1+ {I felt I
would be slightly better in this queenless middlegame as my B on c6 is very
strong} 14. Rxd1 Rc8 (14... Na4 15. Bd4 Be7 $11) 15. O-O Na4 16. Bxa4 (16. Bd4
Nxb2 17. Bxb2 Bxf3 $17) 16... Bxa4 17. Rc1 {I felt this was the critical
moment of the game and took 5 mins for my next move} Be7 (17... Bc6 18. Nd4 Bd5
19. Bb4 $11) (17... b6 {I didn't want to weaken the c6 square}) 18. Bd4 (18. Bb4
Kd7 19. Bxe7 Kxe7 $15) 18... Ra8 (18... Rxc1 19. Rxc1 $14) 19. Bc5 Bd8 (19...
Bc6 20. Nd4 $14) (19... Bxc5 20. Rxc5 {White gets some activity here}) 20. Nd4
h5 {This was the point of my previous move as I felt that this was the only
way for me to bring my R into the game as both my Bs control all the important
squares in the c file} 21. f4 a6 {I wanted to defend my P on a7 before moving
my R to c8} 22. f5 Bd7 23. fxe6 fxe6 24. Rc3 Rc8 {we both were down to less
than 5 mins and I felt I was slightly better here} 25. Bd6 Bb6 (25... Rxc3 26.
bxc3 {I felt this position would be hard to crack for me}) 26. Rxc8+ Bxc8 27.
Rd1 g5 28. Kf1 Rh7 29. Ke2 Rf7 30. g3 Bd7 31. Rd2 h4 32. a4 (32. gxh4 gxh4)
32... h3 {I felt it would be better if I fix the pawn structure on the Kside} (
32... Bxa4 33. Nxe6 {I felt he gets some piece activity}) 33. b3 g4 34. Ke1 Ba7
{I was down to seconds and played a waiting move} (34... Bxa4 35. bxa4 Ba5 36.
Nb3 (36. Nxe6 Bxd2+ 37. Kxd2 Rf2+ 38. Ke3 Rxh2 39. Ng7+ Kf7 $19) 36... Bxd2+
37. Nxd2 $11) (34... Bc6 $17) (34... Ba5 35. b4 Bb6 36. a5 $11) 35. Ne2 (35.
Bb4 $15) 35... Bf2+ 36. Kd1 Be3 37. Rd3 Rf1+ 38. Kc2 Bg5 $19 39. Bc5 Bc6 40.
Rd4 Be3 41. Rc4 Bxc5 42. Rxc5 Rf2 43. Kd3 Rxh2 44. Nd4 Rg2 45. Nxc6 h2 46. Nd4
h1=Q 0-1
Goa's upcoming talent Amey Audi defeated GM Tejas Bakre and IM Abhimanyu Puranik. He scored 7.0/9 points and stood seventh. Newly minted International Master Rohan Ahuja defeated GM Tejas Bakre and held winner Shyam Sundar to a draw. Second seed Tejas Bakre had a forgettable tournament finishing eleventh. Shri Subramanian T. V. of Tamilnadu won the veteran prize — an outstanding achievement to be still playing chess at the age of 83 years!
Final Ranking after 9 Rounds
| Rk. | SNo | Name | FED | Rtg | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | |
| 1 | 1 | GM | Shyam Sundar M. | IND | 2488 | 8,0 | 53,0 | 47,5 | 51,75 |
| 2 | 7 | Ritviz Parab | IND | 2163 | 8,0 | 50,5 | 45,5 | 48,00 | |
| 3 | 6 | IM | Puranik Abhimanyu | IND | 2208 | 8,0 | 50,0 | 45,5 | 47,50 |
| 4 | 4 | Gahan M G | IND | 2296 | 7,5 | 53,0 | 48,0 | 46,50 | |
| 5 | 3 | Ram S. Krishnan | IND | 2318 | 7,5 | 53,0 | 47,5 | 46,25 | |
| 6 | 22 | Mani Bharathy | IND | 1774 | 7,5 | 51,5 | 46,5 | 44,00 | |
| 7 | 12 | Audi Ameya | IND | 1965 | 7,0 | 54,0 | 49,0 | 42,50 | |
| 8 | 8 | IM | Rohan Ahuja | IND | 2149 | 7,0 | 53,5 | 48,5 | 41,25 |
| 9 | 30 | Anant Prabhudesai | IND | 1673 | 7,0 | 51,5 | 45,5 | 39,00 | |
| 10 | 10 | Niraj Saripalli | IND | 2016 | 7,0 | 50,5 | 45,0 | 40,50 |
Complete list of final standings
Other Prize winners
Best Female (Above 18)
Miss Nandhini Saripalli (6.5) Goa.
Best Rated (1500-1900)
1st Sneha Ghatpande (6.5),
2nd Snehil Shetty (6),
3rd Brendan Peroz (6),
4th Shane Braganza(6).
Best Rated (1000-1499)
1st Nagaraj Naik (6.5),
2nd Siddhant Dharwar (6.5),
3rd Sahil Shetty (6.5).
4th Tanvi Vasudev Hadkonkar(6.5).
Best Unrated
1st Abhishek Shastry (5.5),
2nd Chokalingam P (5.5),
3rd Gangnaik Santosh (5.5),
4th Soham Dhuri (5).
Best Goan Player Boys
1st Kantak Adv. P.M. (6),
2nd Dias Aston (6),
3rd Bhimappa Harijan (6),
04th Parsekar Anirudh (6).
Best Goan Player Girls
1st Thorat Aishwarya (6),
2nd Swera Ana Braganza (6),
3rd Chopdekar Gunjal (6),
4th Prabhugaokar Aditee(6).
Best Under 15 Girls
1st Gaayathri S (6),
2nd Khan Faiziya (5).
Best Under 15 Boys
1st Harsh M Averi (6),
2nd Aryan Shamrao Raikar (6).
Best Under 13 Girls
1st Naik Vrunda V (5.5),
Tejal Sunil Lotlikar (5).
Best Under 13 Boys
1st Thorat Sanjay (6),
2nd Porob Vraj (6).
Best Under 11 Girls
1st Alaya D Cruz (5.5),
2nd Sarah Gayle Fernandes (5).
Best Under 11 Boys
1st Barde Om (6),
2nd Colaco Vernon Jesus (6).
Best Under 9 Girls
1st Srilaxmi Kamat (4.5),
2nd Anushka Arora (3).
Best Under 9 Boys
1st Colaco Reuben (5),
2nd Sairaj Dilip Vernekar (5).
Best Under 7 Girls
1st Shruiya Patil (3.5),
2nd Valanka Fernandes (3).
Best Under 7 Boys
1st Parth Kamat (4),
2nd Aarav Kamat (3.5).
Best Murmugoa Taluka Boys
1st Kiran Shantaram Chopdekar (6),
2nd Sanjil Hoble(6).
Best Murmugoa Taluka Girls
1. Charuta J Shetye (4.5),
Ikra Sarfaraz (3).