IIFL Wealth 06+07: Entertaining Chess!

by Priyadarshan Banjan - 05/02/2016

Chess, entertainment, happiness -- the players and parents of the juniors at the IIFL Wealth Mumbai International and Junior Tournament are having a gala time as the event approaches its final leg. The Junior tournament has a handful of leaders, with no clarity on how the tournament will end while the Open saw G.A. Stany taking the lead by beating Shardul Gagare, but then losing to Swapnil Dhopade to allow him and Himal Gusain to share the lead with 6.5/7. An illustrated report.

IIFL Wealth 06+07: Entertaining Chess!

Many have wondered why people, so many of them, play chess. The promoters of the game give 'n' number of reasons, some factual while some are made-up, about why a person plays or should play chess.

Honestly, chess just makes the person playing it feel happy. Chess is the pathway to happiness and pleasure. The IIFL Wealth Mumbai International Open and Junior Tournament 2016, with its level of infrastructure, has really taken this happiness to a new dimension.

FM Mohammed Fahad Rahman (2278) got a drawish position out of the opening...

...but his opponent was so overawed that he committed errors and lost.

[Event "IIFL Wealth 1st Mumbai-Junior U13"]
[Site "Mumbai"]
[Date "2016.02.02"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Mohammad Fahad, Rahman"]
[Black "Shuban Saha"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A20"]
[WhiteElo "2278"]
[BlackElo "1885"]
[PlyCount "91"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[EventCountry "IND"]
[TimeControl "40/5400+30:1800+30"]

1. c4 e5 2. g3 c6 3. d4 Bb4+ 4. Bd2 Bxd2+ 5. Qxd2 d6 6. Nc3 Nf6 7. Bg2 O-O 8.
Rd1 Qe7 9. d5 c5 10. e4 Bd7 11. Nge2 a6 12. a4 Qe8 13. Ra1 Qc8 14. O-O Bh3 15.
f4 Bxg2 16. Kxg2 Nbd7 17. h3 {3070} h6 {2082} 18. f5 {56} Nh7 {10} 19. Ng1 {48}
Qd8 {96} 20. Nf3 {72} Ng5 {36} 21. Nh2 {116} Nh7 {227} 22. h4 {391} Kh8 {425}
23. Nf3 {170} Ndf6 {35} 24. Kh3 {152} Rg8 {1226} 25. g4 {536} g5 {17} 26. Rg1 {
149} Nd7 {110} 27. Rh1 {214} Qf6 {600} 28. hxg5 {342} Nxg5+ {43} 29. Kg3 {11}
Nxf3 {26} 30. Qxh6+ {102} Qxh6 {19} 31. Rxh6+ {2} Kg7 {43} 32. Rxd6 {2} Nd2 {
501} 33. Rxd7 {2} Nxc4 {4} 34. g5 {311} Kf8 {166} 35. Kg4 {16} Ne3+ {80} 36.
Kf3 {1} Nc4 {4} 37. Rg1 {13} Rb8 {80} 38. g6 {214} fxg6 {13} 39. Rxg6 {20} Nxb2
{249} 40. d6 {49} Nc4 {311} 41. Nd5 Rh8 {234} 42. Rf6+ {124} Ke8 {14} 43. Rff7
{7} Nd2+ {25} 44. Ke2 {71} Rh2+ {4} 45. Kd1 {5} Rh1+ {10} 46. Kc2 {5} 1-0

In the seventh round, Mohammed was held by Maharashtra boy Sankarsha Shelke (2032), who gained a pawn but failed to convert.

Aww...

Angry Birds: They are as competitive on the board as they are cute off it!

Luke tried the Flying Thunder God Technique, but to no avail.

Mumbai's Aditya Mittal (1960)

The seventh round consequently witnessed a Raunak-Aditya clash!

Raunak (2104) had been completely dominating Black (Aditya: 1960) and after making a couple of inaccuracies, was still in possession of an advantage. How will you win this position? White chose the wrong move and ended up drawing.

Gukesh D. (2041) was held to a draw by...

...Om Kharola (1803) in the sixth round.

Captain! I found a weakness!

Hm. The queen must get out of this square.

Seriously, how on earth do they make long moves?!

Water is the universal energy drink

Twelve-year-old Mayuri Savalkar (1260)

Ten-year-old Aditya Savalkar (1549)

The kids with their mother

Success stories are often a case of sacrificing short-term joy for the greater good. The Savalkars exemplify this postulate. The kids' father works as a sub-staff in the Shivaji University at Kolhapur while their mother used to be a tailor who quit her work to support her children in their bid to improve as chessplayers.

Dhanush Ragav (1656)

Time to remove the mask

Complications in the variation!

Oh God, not again!

Vedant Vekhande (1110) is a seven-year-old child, and his friend here was trying to figure out what is happening in his game...

...and he uses his finger to remember the piece moves...

...and he accurately played out his position into a mutual zugzwang! Fun Fact: Look at the clock.

His efforts obviously won him fans

His six-year-old brother Kshatriya Vekhande was an avid kibitzer of his brother's games. Remember their names!

Jaw dropping chess!

When the moves are too bouncy, duck!

Aryan Polakhare (1661) wasn't too happy about his position after he went down a piece for two pawns. He shook off the setback, fought and held.

Dushyant Sharma (1732) won the ChessBase India prize for the Best Game of the Day prize for Round 05.

Aditya won the ChessBase Best Game prize for Round 06.

Vibhav Sigh won the Follow Chess App in a lucky draw

If you liked the pictures, maybe you will just fall in love with this cute little video:

View the pairing for Round 08 here.

Complete results of Round 07.

Watch the games LIVE by clicking the above link.

IIFL Wealth Mumbai International Open 2016

Shardul Gagare (2497) tried to take a risk too many and ended up losing the game to...

...IM G.A. Stany (2421), whose interview you can read here.

Notes by IM Stany:

[Event "Iifl Mumbai Open"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.02.02"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Stany.g.a"]
[Black "Gagare, Shardul"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B12"]
[WhiteElo "2421"]
[BlackElo "2497"]
[Annotator "Stany.g.a"]
[PlyCount "97"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2003.06.08"]

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. Nf3 e6 5. Be2 Nd7 6. O-O Ne7 7. Nbd2 h6 8. Nb3
Bg6 $6 (8... Bh7 {is the theory.The diffrence between Bg6 and Bh7 can be
clearly seen in the game}) 9. a4 Nf5 10. a5 {typical idea in advanced variation
} Be7 11. c4 O-O 12. a6 b6 13. cxd5 cxd5 14. g4 $146 {looks very natural} (14.
Bf4 Rc8 15. Qd2 {1/2-1/2 (54) Huschenbeth,N (2546)-Zherebukh,Y (2614)
Cleveland 2015}) 14... Nh4 15. Nxh4 Bxh4 16. f4 f5 17. Bd3 {if Bishop was on
h7 This move wouldnt have been possible} Be7 (17... Qe8 18. g5 Qd8 19. Qd2) 18.
Qd2 $6 (18. Be3 {was natural move}) 18... Qe8 19. h3 (19. g5 hxg5 20. fxg5 f4
$1 {i didnt see this move when playing Qd2} 21. Rxf4 Rxf4 22. Bxg6 Rg4+) 19...
Rc8 20. Qe2 fxg4 21. hxg4 Bxd3 22. Qxd3 h5 23. g5 Qf7 24. Be3 Qf5 25. Qxf5 exf5
(25... Rxf5 {would have been better as it can leave f5 square for the king
later on} 26. Rac1 Rff8) 26. Rfc1 Kf7 27. Nd2 Nb8 28. Nf3 Ke6 29. Bd2 {With
the idea b4-b5} Nc6 30. Rc3 $1 Nb8 (30... Nb4 31. Rac1 Rxc3 32. Rxc3 Kd7 33.
e6+ Kxe6 34. Re3+) 31. Rcc1 Nc6 32. Rc3 Nb8 {i think this was the turning
point of the game. I almost thought of taking draw by repeating Rc1 because i
was afraid of losing A pawn. But when i looked closely i figured that A pawn
cannot be captured at the moment and Blacks king side pawn are vulnerable so
decided to play} 33. Rac1 $1 Rxc3 34. Rxc3 Bb4 (34... Kd7 {Was probably the
best but i always have a resource with e6+} 35. Rc1 {was my idea} g6 36. e6+
Kxe6 37. Re1+ Kf7 38. Ne5+) (34... Nxa6 35. Rc6+ Kd7 36. Rg6 Rg8 37. Nh4) 35.
Rc7 Bxd2 36. Nxd2 Rf7 37. Rc8 Nxa6 38. g6 $1 {When i saw this move while
playing 33.Rac1 i felt that i have a good chance to win} Rc7 39. Rg8 Re7 40.
Nf3 Nc7 $1 {best try to defend} 41. Rf8 $1 (41. Rd8 $2 Re8 42. Rd6+ Ke7 {
and white will loose the initiative}) 41... Nb5 42. Rd8 Rc7 43. Ng5+ Ke7 44.
Rg8 Rc1+ 45. Kg2 Rc2+ 46. Kh3 Nxd4 47. Rxg7+ Kf8 48. Rf7+ Kg8 49. Nh7 1-0

IM Akshat Khamparia was so lost in the taste of the event's beverage sponsor Society Tea that....

...he could not withstand GM Swapnil Dhopade (2488). Swapnil then went on to beat even IM Stany in the seventh round.

Notes by GM Swapnil:

[Event "1st IIFL Wealth Open, Mumbai, 2016"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.02.02"]
[Round "6.2"]
[White "Khamparia, Akshat"]
[Black "Dhopade, Swapnil"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D24"]
[WhiteElo "2366"]
[BlackElo "2488"]
[PlyCount "52"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d5 3. c4 e6 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. e3 a6 6. a4 b6 $5 {this is a
fighting line as compared to 6...c5.} (6... c5) 7. Bxc4 Bb7 8. O-O Bb4 9. Qb3 (
9. Qe2 {the queen might be better placed here supporting the e4 advance in
future.}) 9... Qe7 10. Rd1 $6 $146 {Rook isn't doing much on the d-file, as
whenever white plays d5 black has Bc3 followed by taking on d5.} (10. e4 $5
Nxe4 11. Re1 (11. Nxe4 Bxe4 12. d5 O-O 13. dxe6 Nc6 14. exf7+ Kh8 15. Bg5 Qc5
16. Be3 Qe7 17. Ng5 Na5 18. Qa2 Nxc4 19. Qxc4 Bg6 20. Qh4 c5 21. Rad1 h6 22.
Qh3 Qf6 23. Rd5 Bxf7 24. Nxf7+ Rxf7 25. b3 Re8 26. Rfd1 Rfe7 27. Qh5 Bc3 28. g3
Kh7 29. Rd6 Re6 30. Rd7 Re5 31. Qe2 Qf5 32. Qd3 Bd4 33. Bxd4 cxd4 34. Rxd4 Qxd3
35. R1xd3 Rf8 36. Kg2 Re2 37. Rf3 Rxf3 38. Kxf3 Rb2 39. Rb4 b5 40. axb5 a5 41.
b6 {1-0 (41) Greenfeld,A (2540)-Godart,F (2399) Avoine 2014}) 11... Nc6 12.
Rxe4 Na5 13. Qc2 Nxc4 14. d5 Qc5 15. dxe6 O-O 16. Rh4 f5 17. Na2 Be4 18. Rxe4
fxe4 19. Qxe4 Rad8 20. Bg5 Nd2 21. Bxd2 Rxd2 22. Rf1 Rxb2 23. Nc1 Rxf2 24. Nd3
R2xf3+ {0-1 (24) Sokolov,I (2657)-Golod,V (2575) Gibraltar 2009}) (10. Bd2 {
was a better choice.} O-O 11. Ne4 (11. Rac1 Nbd7 12. Ne4 Bxd2 13. Nexd2 Rfc8
14. Be2 c5 15. Rfd1 Rab8 16. Qa3 Kf8 17. Nb3 cxd4 18. Qxe7+ Kxe7 19. Nfxd4 Ne4
20. Kf1 g6 21. f3 Nec5 22. Nxc5 Nxc5 23. Rc4 e5 24. Nc2 Nxa4 25. Na3 b5 26.
Rxc8 Rxc8 27. Rd2 Rc1+ 28. Kf2 Ra1 29. Rc2 Kd6 30. Rd2+ Kc7 31. Rc2+ Kb6 32.
Rd2 Ra2 33. Rd6+ Bc6 34. Rf6 Rxb2 35. Kf1 Ra2 36. Nb1 Ra1 37. Bd3 Nc3 38. Kf2
e4 39. Nxc3 exd3 40. Rd6 b4 41. Ne4 Kc7 42. Rxd3 Bxe4 43. fxe4 a5 {0-1 (43)
Kalod,R (2497)-Ghaem Maghami,E (2577) Pardubice 2012}) 11... Bxd2 12. Nexd2
Nbd7 13. Rfc1 Rfc8 14. Be2 c5 15. Nc4 Bd5 16. Qd1 a5 17. h3 h6 18. dxc5 Rxc5
19. Nd4 Rac8 20. b3 Bxc4 21. Rxc4 Rxc4 22. Bxc4 Ne5 23. Ba6 Rc5 24. Rc1 Nd5 25.
Rxc5 Qxc5 26. Qc2 Nb4 27. Qe4 Nec6 28. Bc4 Qe5 {1/2-1/2 (28) Barsov,A (2521)
-Pelletier,Y (2587) Mulhouse 2011}) (10. Ne5 O-O 11. f3 c5 12. dxc5 Bxc5 13.
Nd3 Nc6 14. Nxc5 Qxc5 15. Be2 Rfd8 16. Qc4 Qe7 17. Qh4 Rac8 18. Rd1 Na5 19.
Rxd8+ Rxd8 20. Ra3 e5 21. b4 Nc6 22. b5 axb5 23. axb5 Na5 24. Ra4 Qc7 25. Qe1
Nb3 26. Rc4 Qe7 27. e4 Bc8 28. Nd5 Nxd5 29. exd5 Bb7 30. Qb4 Qxb4 {0-1 (30)
Tadic,B (2500)-Perunovic,M (2589) Zlatibor 2007}) 10... O-O 11. Bd2 Nc6 12. Bf1
$2 (12. Bd3 {this was a better square for the bishop supporting the e4 advance.
If white doesnt get e4 his position will be passive.} Na5 13. Qc2 c5 $15 {
black is slightly better due to the activity of his pieces.}) 12... Na5 13. Qc2
Rac8 14. e4 $5 {an interesting pawn sacrifice. But unfortunately for white he
wont get much compensation for it.} Bxc3 15. bxc3 Nxe4 (15... Bxe4 16. Qb2 Bxf3
17. gxf3 Nh5 18. Bxa6 Rcd8 $15) 16. Be1 $2 (16. Bxa6 Bxa6 17. Qxe4 Bb7 18. Qg4
Bd5 $15) 16... Nd6 $1 {a nice knight manuouvre.} 17. c4 Bxf3 $1 {shattering
whties kingside.} 18. gxf3 Nf5 {the knight is very strong on f5, hitting d4
and can also go to h4 in many variations.} 19. c5 Rcd8 20. Bxa5 $2 {now the d4
pawn falls.} (20. Bc3 $142 Qf6 $17) 20... bxa5 21. Qe4 Qf6 22. Qe5 Nxd4 23.
Qxc7 Rd5 24. f4 Qf5 25. Rac1 Qg4+ (25... Nf3+ $1 26. Kh1 e5 $3 $19 {amazing
mating idea showed by computer which I missed during the game! Black crashes
trhough.}) 26. Kh1 (26. Bg2 Ne2+ 27. Kh1 Nxc1 $19) 26... Nf3 {Akshat resigned
here. It seems a bit premature but the position is quite bad.} (26... Nf3 27.
Bg2 Rh5 28. Bxf3 Qxf3+ 29. Kg1 Qg4+ (29... Rh4 $2 30. Rd8 $1) 30. Kf1 (30. Kh1
Qh3 31. f5 Qf3+ 32. Kg1 Rg5+ 33. Kf1 Rg2 34. Qg3 (34. Rd2 Qg4 $19) 34... Rxg3
35. hxg3 $19) 30... Rxh2 31. Qc6 Qxf4 32. Rc2 h6 $19) 0-1

IM Dinesh Sharma (2356) lost to Himal Gusain, who is having a fantastic few months that has enabled him to cross the 2400 mark.

Himal is just a norm shy of becoming an International Master. He had been stuck in the 2300-2350 bracket for a long time (actually, very long) and his recent few performances are surely a relief to behold. He now shares the lead with Swapnil on 6.5/7, as in the seventh round he beat...

...FM Matta Vinay Kumar (2163).

In the sixth round, Matta Vinay Kumar had won a crazy game against...

... the legendary IM Anup Deshmukh (2225)

[Event "IIFL Wealth Mumbai International Open C"]
[Site "Mount Litera School Internati"]
[Date "2016.02.02"]
[Round "6.5"]
[White "Deshmukh, Anup"]
[Black "Matta, Vinay Kumar"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E90"]
[WhiteElo "2225"]
[BlackElo "2163"]
[PlyCount "126"]
[EventDate "2016.01.28"]
[SourceDate "2003.06.08"]

1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 g6 3. e4 d6 4. d4 Bg7 5. h3 O-O 6. Bg5 Nbd7 7. Nf3 e5 8. dxe5
dxe5 9. Qd2 c6 10. O-O-O Qa5 11. Kb1 Re8 12. Bd3 Qc7 13. Bc2 a5 14. h4 Nb6 15.
c5 Nc4 16. Qe2 b5 17. h5 Nxh5 18. Rxh5 gxh5 19. Nh4 Bg4 20. f3 Be6 21. Nf5 f6
22. Bc1 a4 23. Rh1 a3 24. b3 Qa5 25. Nxg7 Kxg7 26. Qe1 Qb4 27. Rxh5 Bg8 28. Rf5
Rf8 29. Ka1 Na5 30. f4 Be6 31. Rh5 Bf7 32. Rh3 Qxc5 33. Be3 Qd6 34. Qh4 Bg8 35.
f5 b4 36. Rg3+ Kh8 37. Qg4 Rf7 38. Bh6 Qd7 39. Ne2 Rd8 40. Kb1 c5 41. Rd3 Qe7
42. Rd5 Rxd5 43. exd5 e4 44. Qf4 Nb7 45. g4 Nd6 46. Ng3 e3 47. Bd3 Qc7 48. Kc2
Re7 49. Bf8 Bxd5 50. g5 Ne8 51. Qxc7 Rxc7 52. gxf6 Nxf6 53. Bd6 Rc6 54. Be5 Kg8
55. Bb5 Rb6 56. Be2 Bf7 57. Kd3 Nd7 58. Ba1 Rh6 59. Kxe3 Rh3 60. Kf4 Rh2 61.
Ke3 Nb6 62. Ne4 Nd5+ 63. Kd2 Bh5 0-1

Karnataka's Likhita Chilukuri (1867) is known to be a mercurial player and is already increasing 108 elo-points. Always an entertaining company to be around -- he was booking his room online while travelling in a fast moving rickshaw in an expressway, holding his debit card in one hand while entering the number, when the card just vanished, apparently flying away. Legend.

The stare! Ten-year-old Praggnanandhaa R. (2174) and nine-year-old Gukesh D. (2041) are both from Tamil Nadu and were pitted against each other in the Open category, ironically. Gukesh took this round.

National U-13 Champion Bhavik Bharambe held IM Himanshu Sharma in the sixth round and was gifted a point in the seventh as his opponent IM Khamparia didn't turn up.