Isle of Man 07: Harika beats Hou Yifan!

by Sagar Shah - 08/10/2016

This was the 23rd encounter between them and it was the first time that the Indian emerged victorious! Yes, Harika Dronavalli was able to beat the reigning World Champion Hou Yifan at the seventh round of the Isle of Man International 2016. In another positive result for Indians, 18-year-old S.L.Narayanan crushed his Armenian opponent Sergei Movsesian in just 27 moves! Vidit Gujrathi lost on the top board against Pavel Eljanov when he overstretched in what was an equal position. Check out the illustrated report.

Photos by Harry Gielen

It was a mixed day for the Indian fans at the seventh round of the chess.com Isle of Man International 2016. While Vidit Gujrathi slumped to a loss on the top board against Pavel Eljanov with the white pieces, two positive results more than made up for this. Harika was able to get the better of the reigning World Women's Champion Hou Yifan and S.L. Narayanan crushed his highly rated Armenian opponent Sergei Movsesian in just 27 moves! Let's have a look at these two exciting games.

Harika vs Hou Yifan

Harika and Hou Yifan have been playing against each other since a decade now. The Chinese player has five wins to her credit with 17 draws. This was the first win in any format for the Indian!

Harika opened the game with 1.c4 and Hou Yifan chose the slightly rare 1...b6. The Botvinnik setup is what Harika went for and her position out of the opening was quite solid. But then came a critical moment where the Indian showed her real intentions.

White could have played 13.d4 here and gained a comfortable slight edge. However, the position is also easier for Black to play as a couple of minor pieces come off the board. Hence, Harika went for 13.Rac1 which kept more tension on the board. It was a clear indication that she wanted to fight for the full point.

Hou Yifan was able to secure the e5 square for her knight. However, the d6 pawn was weak and this gave White the advantage in the middlegame.

Exchanging the queens was an excellent decision by Harika. The pawn on f6 was really a thorn in Black's camp.

Isn't this a picturesque position! Everything went downhill for the World Champion as Harika was able to create two passers in the middle of the board!

[Event "chess.com IoM Masters"]
[Site "Douglas ENG"]
[Date "2016.10.07"]
[Round "7.13"]
[White "Harika, Dronavalli"]
[Black "Hou, Yifan"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A10"]
[WhiteElo "2528"]
[BlackElo "2649"]
[Annotator "Sagar Shah"]
[PlyCount "89"]
[EventDate "2016.10.01"]

{Harika and Hou Yifan have played 22 times against each other in the last 10
years. The Chinese grandmaster has won five times and rest 17 games have ended
in draws. This was the first time that Harika managed to outwit the reigning
World Champion.} 1. c4 b6 $5 {Hou Yifan tries to mix it up out of the opening.}
2. Nc3 Bb7 3. e4 c5 4. Nge2 Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. g3 g6 7. Bg2 Bg7 8. O-O {The
Botvinnik setup chosen by Harika is one of the easiest way for White to play.
It can be used against many openings and hence a knowledge of it can be highly
useful. Whatever Black does, White's setup remains the same. The pawns are on
c4-d3-e4 and g3, the knights stand on c3 and e2 and the bishop goes to g2.
After this the plans vary. Sometimes White can go for Be3-Qd2 and Bh6.
Sometimes Rb1 followed by queenside expansion with a3-b4, and as Harika played
in the game - f4-g4 with a kingside attack. The system is highly flexible and
quite easy to understand.} Nc6 9. h3 {Stopping Ng4 and getting ready to play
Be3.} O-O 10. Be3 Rc8 11. Qd2 {d4 is not yet possible because the c4 pawn
would be hanging.} Re8 12. b3 Nd7 13. Rac1 (13. d4 {This was definitely
possible.} cxd4 14. Nxd4 Nxd4 15. Bxd4 Bxd4 16. Qxd4 Qc7 17. Rac1 $14 {
According to me White has the slightly preferable position thanks to her space
advantage, but the position is simplified and hence easier for Black to play.
It is interesting to note that Harika didn't go for this. Maybe she wanted to
keep the position more complicated and fight for the full point.}) 13... a6 14.
f4 $5 {And there we go! White starts the kingside offensive.} Nd4 15. g4 e6 16.
Ng3 Rc7 17. g5 b5 {Overall Black's position looks very cohesive. White cannot
easily play f5 as then the knight on d7 is waiting to jump into e5. Meanwhile
it is not so clear What Harika must do.} 18. Rce1 b4 19. Nce2 Nxe2+ 20. Rxe2
Nb8 21. d4 $5 cxd4 22. Bxd4 Bxd4+ 23. Qxd4 e5 {Hou Yifan gets the e5 square
for her knight with this move, but in return the f-file is opened up for the
white pieces and the d6 pawn is weakened. The position should be round about
equal.} 24. Qd2 exf4 25. Qxf4 Nc6 26. Rd2 Ne5 27. Rfd1 {Both sides have their
own trumps, but it seems that the knight on e5 is not as dangerous as it looks
and the d6 pawn weakness definitely counts for something more.} Rd7 28. h4 {
Bh3 is a big threat now.} Qe7 29. Nh1 $5 {A Nimzovian idea! The knight will go
from f2-d3 in order to evict the one on e5.} (29. Bh3 Rdd8 30. Kg2 $1 {
Threatening c5 which is not so easy to meet.} (30. c5 d5 31. exd5 Qxc5+ $17))
29... Kg7 30. Rf1 Red8 31. Qf6+ $5 Qxf6 32. gxf6+ Kf8 {The pawn on f6 is a
thorn in Black's position and Harika quite correctly realized that when she
went for the queen exchange.} 33. Rfd1 Rc7 34. Nf2 Ke8 35. Kh2 Rc6 36. Kg3 Kd7
37. Nd3 $1 Ke6 $2 (37... Nxd3 38. Rxd3 Re8 39. e5 $1 $18) 38. Nxe5 Kxe5 39.
Rd5+ Kxf6 40. e5+ Ke6 41. c5 (41. R5d2 Rb6 42. c5 $18 {was the fastest way to
win.}) 41... f5 42. exd6 {Out of nowhere Harika has two amazingly strong
passers and they are on dark squares which means that the bishop can remove
the blockaders!} Rd7 43. Re1+ Kf6 44. Rde5 Rc8 45. Re6+ {Hou Yifan rightly
resigned as Re7 comes next and Harika would win an entire piece and her two
strong pawns would still remain. A very interesting battle and great fighting
chess showcased by the Indian.} 1-0

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S.L. Narayanan vs Sergei Movsesian

There is absolutely no doubt about the fact that Sergei Movsesian is a world class player. His currently rating is 2677, but a few years ago when he was on the peak of his career, his highest rating was 2752!

But when you have a close look at the game between S.L. Narayanan and the Armenian grandmaster, you will see that the latter could do absolutely nothing in the game. It was clear that Sergei had a bad day at the office, but the perfection with which he was wiped out speaks volumes about S.L. Narayanan's talent.

After 15 moves of the opening White had each and every piece in the game, while Black lacks space and plans

Deja vu? Harika and S.L. Narayanan had a similar strategy today! Get the pawns on e5 and c5 and finish off the game!

[Event "chess.com IoM Masters"]
[Site "Douglas ENG"]
[Date "2016.10.07"]
[Round "7.9"]
[White "Sunilduth Lyna, Narayanan"]
[Black "Movsesian, Sergei"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E11"]
[WhiteElo "2536"]
[BlackElo "2677"]
[Annotator "Sagar Shah"]
[PlyCount "53"]
[EventDate "2016.10.01"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Bb4+ 4. Nbd2 O-O 5. a3 Be7 6. e4 d6 $5 {These
systems are more positional in nature.} (6... d5 {is the other main move in
the position that leads to very aggressive positions after} 7. e5 Nfd7 8. Bd3
c5 9. h4 $5) 7. Bd3 Nbd7 8. O-O e5 9. b4 exd4 10. Nxd4 Re8 11. Bb2 Bf8 {
Black plays in typical Nimzowitsch style. Restraint against the e4 pawn and
then slowly and steadily looking out for the d6-d5 break.} 12. Qc2 c6 13. N4b3
b6 $6 (13... Ne5 14. Be2 Ng6 {looked more to the point, but after} 15. f4 Bd7
16. Rae1 {White looks better.}) 14. f4 $1 g6 15. Rae1 {White's play is just so
natural!} Bb7 16. e5 $1 {The best part about White's play is that he hardly
wastes time. Everything is in place so let's get going!} Nh5 17. c5 $1 {
Amazing move. White wants to destroy the d6 pawn so that he can either play
f4-f5 or open the f-file for his rooks. And the other interesting point to
note is that Harika too beat Hou Yifan with her pawns on e5 and c5!} (17. f5
dxe5 {is better for White but not as much as in the game.}) 17... d5 (17...
dxc5 18. f5 $1 $18) (17... dxe5 18. fxe5 Bg7 19. Bc4 $18) 18. f5 {S.L.
Narayanan makes it look so easy!} Qg5 19. Nf3 Qg4 20. e6 fxe6 21. fxe6 (21.
fxg6 {was also quite strong.}) 21... Ndf6 (21... Rxe6 22. h3 $18) 22. h3 Qf4
23. Bxg6 hxg6 24. Qxg6+ Bg7 25. Ng5 Qg3 26. Be5 Qh4 27. Nd4 {The knight is
coming to f5 and in general the black king is just a few moves away from being
mated! What a resounding victory for the GM from Kerala!} 1-0

S.L. Narayanan showed the world that he is not a player to be messed with!

Vidit's loss on the top board against Pavel Eljanov was perhaps the worst news for Indian supporters in round seven

Vidit played the same line that was witnessed in the Anand vs Carlsen Match in 2014 in Sochi. It had been proved that White gets absolutely no advantage out of the opening. Yet, Vidit employed the line. Clearly he had a new idea up his sleeve which he revealed with the move d6!? The pawn on d6 was both a strength and a weakness. At a certain moment it would have been wise for Gujrathi to settle for a draw. However, he was overambitious and pushed his pawn to g4 after which Eljanov played with precision, won the d6 pawn and converted the endgame.

[Event "chess.com IoM Masters"]
[Site "Douglas ENG"]
[Date "2016.10.07"]
[Round "7.1"]
[White "Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi"]
[Black "Eljanov, Pavel"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E15"]
[WhiteElo "2686"]
[BlackElo "2741"]
[Annotator "Sagar Shah"]
[PlyCount "114"]
[EventDate "2016.10.01"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Bb4+ 5. Bd2 Be7 6. Nc3 Bb7 7. Bg2 c6 8. e4 {
The players are following the game Anand-Carlsen from their World Championship
Match in 2014. Sergei Tiviakov in his video on CBM 168 mentions that if White
wants to fight for an advantage he must refrain from the move 8.e4 and instead
go for castling. As things went in this game, we cannot really argue with what
Tiviakov says.} d5 9. exd5 cxd5 10. Ne5 O-O 11. O-O Nc6 12. cxd5 Nxe5 $1 {
Of course the line that Black is walking is quite narrow. He has to make all
the accurate moves in order to equalize. But you can be rest assured that a
player of Eljanov's calibre has it all worked out at home.} 13. d6 Nc6 14. dxe7
Qxe7 15. Bg5 h6 16. d5 Na5 17. d6 {This is the first move where the game
deviates from the Anand-Carlsen World Championship Match. Vishy had taken on
f6. Vidit comes up with this natural move, but now it is open for debate
whether the pawn on d6 is a strength or a weakness.} (17. Bxf6 Qxf6 18. dxe6
Bxg2 $1 19. exf7+ Qxf7 20. Kxg2 Nc4 21. Qb3 Rad8 $11 {And with some further
analysis it has been proved that Black is equal in this position.}) 17... Qd8
18. Bxf6 Qxf6 19. Qe2 Bxg2 20. Kxg2 Qd8 21. Rfd1 Qd7 22. Rd4 Rac8 23. Rad1 Nc6
24. R4d2 Na5 {Vidit could have settled for a draw here with Rd4 but instead he
went for something more ambitious. Not that the position warrants it, but his
age definitely does!} 25. g4 $5 {I would say after this move, all three
results are possible. White tries to play acctively but at the sam time
weakens his own king. Objectively this is not a great move.} Rfd8 26. Ne4 Nc4
27. Rc2 Ne5 28. Rdc1 Rxc2 29. Rxc2 Qb7 30. f3 Qd5 31. Rd2 Qc4 32. Qe1 f5 33.
gxf5 exf5 34. Qg3 Qe6 (34... Nxf3 $5 $17) 35. Nc3 Nc4 36. Re2 Qxd6 37. Qxd6
Rxd6 {The pawn is lost and the rest was not so difficult for Eljanov.} 38. b3
Rd3 39. Nb5 Ne3+ 40. Kf2 Nd1+ 41. Ke1 Nc3 42. Nxc3 Rxc3 43. Re7 Rxf3 44. Rxa7
Rh3 45. Rb7 Rxh2 46. a4 h5 47. Rxb6 h4 48. Kf1 h3 49. Rb4 Ra2 50. Kg1 g5 51.
Rb5 Rg2+ 52. Kh1 Rf2 53. Kg1 h2+ 54. Kh1 g4 55. Rc5 g3 56. Rc1 f4 57. a5 f3 0-1

Tiviakov in CBM 168 discusses this line played by Vidit and comes to the conclusion that if White wants to play for an advantage he should stay away from 8.e4 and instead go for 8.0-0.

As you can see reading the ChessBase Magazine can give you an edge over your opponents in terms of opening trends and knowledge. The latest issue CBM 174 has been released just a few days ago. You can now get it from our online shop for just Rs. 699/-

Check out the contents of CBM 174

Hemant Sharma's dream tournament continued as he was able to hold the reigning Dutch Champion Jorden van Foreest (above) to a draw

GM Vishnu Prasanna has scored three consecutive victories and is now on 4.5/7

Rank after Round 7

Rk.	SNo		Name	sex	FED	Rtg	TB1	Rp	n	w	we	w-we	K	rtg+/-
1	5	GM	Eljanov Pavel		UKR	2741	6,5	2972	7	6,5	5,12	1,38	10	13,8
2	1	GM	Caruana Fabiano		USA	2813	6,0	2913	7	6	5,27	0,73	10	7,3
3	2	GM	So Wesley		USA	2794	5,5	2784	7	5,5	5,46	0,04	10	0,4
4	3	GM	Nakamura Hikaru		USA	2787	5,0	2697	7	5	5,56	-0,56	10	-5,6
	4	GM	Adams Michael		ENG	2745	5,0	2726	7	5	5,04	-0,04	10	-0,4
	8	GM	Rodshtein Maxim		ISR	2687	5,0	2784	7	5	4,00	1,00	10	10,0
	9	GM	Vidit Santosh Gujrathi		IND	2686	5,0	2713	7	5	4,63	0,37	10	3,7
	10	GM	Naiditsch Arkadij		AZE	2684	5,0	2766	6	4,5	3,81	0,69	10	6,9
	11	GM	Shirov Alexei		LAT	2679	5,0	2757	6	4,5	3,84	0,66	10	6,6
	15	GM	Melkumyan Hrant		ARM	2653	5,0	2570	7	5	5,48	-0,48	10	-4,8
	21	GM	Howell David W L		ENG	2644	5,0	2683	7	5	4,47	0,53	10	5,3
	22	GM	Grandelius Nils		SWE	2642	5,0	2759	7	5	3,78	1,22	10	12,2
	26	GM	Bok Benjamin		NED	2594	5,0	2740	7	5	3,54	1,46	10	14,6
	29	GM	Donchenko Alexander		GER	2581	5,0	2534	7	5	5,31	-0,31	10	-3,1
	35	GM	Sunilduth Lyna Narayanan		IND	2536	5,0	2692	7	5	3,46	1,54	10	15,4
	36	GM	Harika Dronavalli	w	IND	2528	5,0	2698	7	5	3,36	1,64	10	16,4
	74	IM	Wallace John Paul		AUS	2355	5,0	2683	7	5	2,05	2,95	10	29,5

Player overview for IND

SNo		Name	Rtg	FED	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Pts.	Rk.	Rp	K	rtg+/-	Group
9	GM	Vidit Santosh Gujrathi	2686	IND	1	1	1	0	1	1	0	5,0	7	2713	10	3,70	Master
23	GM	Gupta Abhijeet	2626	IND	1	½	1	0	1	0	1	4,5	23	2589	10	-1,70	Master
28	GM	Lalith Babu M R	2586	IND	1	½	½	1	0	0	1	4,0	41	2435	10	-11,60	Master
32	GM	Aravindh Chithambaram Vr.	2564	IND	1	0	1	½	½	1	½	4,5	26	2498	10	-4,50	Master
33	GM	Shyam Sundar M.	2552	IND	0	1	½	1	½	½	1	4,5	27	2442	10	-8,10	Master
35	GM	Sunilduth Lyna Narayanan	2536	IND	1	0	1	1	½	½	1	5,0	15	2692	10	15,40	Master
36	GM	Harika Dronavalli	2528	IND	1	½	0	1	1	½	1	5,0	16	2698	10	16,40	Master
37	GM	Vishnu Prasanna. V	2522	IND	1	0	½	0	1	1	1	4,5	29	2527	10	1,10	Master
43	GM	Gagare Shardul	2480	IND	½	1	0	0	1	½	1	4,0	44	2389	10	-7,50	Master
45	IM	Puranik Abhimanyu	2471	IND	1	0	1	½	1	0	1	4,5	32	2470	10	1,40	Master
52	IM	Visakh N R	2456	IND	0	0	1	½	1	1	½	4,0	48	2367	10	-6,50	Master
54	IM	Praggnanandhaa R	2442	IND	1	0	1	½	0	1	0	3,5	62	2440	10	1,10	Master
55	GM	Sundararajan Kidambi	2429	IND	1	0	½	1	1	0	0	3,5	63	2426	10	0,80	Master
60	IM	Karavade Eesha	2421	IND	1	½	0	1	½	½	½	4,0	49	2506	10	9,60	Master
62	IM	Tania Sachdev	2414	IND	1	½	½	½	0	1	½	4,0	50	2473	10	8,30	Master
64	IM	Das Arghyadip	2400	IND	1	0	1	½	½	½	0	3,5	67	2386	10	1,20	Master
71		Hemant Sharma (del)	2371	IND	0	1	1	1	0	1	½	4,5	35	2543	20	34,80	Master
72		Harsha Bharathakoti	2363	IND	½	0	1	0	1	0	1	3,5	69	2414	20	8,20	Master
82	FM	Karthik Venkataraman	2317	IND	½	0	1	1	0	0	1	3,5	75	2411	20	16,40	Master
93	FM	Rakesh Kumar Jena	2247	IND	0	1	0	1	½	0	0	2,5	104	2249	20	-3,20	Master
97	WIM	Parnali S Dharia	2228	IND	½	0	0	1	1	0	0	2,5	105	2269	20	4,60	Master
110	AGM	Vardan Nagpal	2117	IND	0	1	0	0	0	1	1	3,0	99	2156	40	7,60	Master
115	FM	Tiwari Ashwani	2090	IND	0	0	½	0	½	1	0	2,0	119	2067	20	-8,00	Master
126	WIM	Gagare Shalmali	1989	IND	½	0	½	0	1	½	½	3,0	101	2285	20	37,60	Master
127	WFM	Swati Mohota	1948	IND	0	0	½	0	1	½	½	2,5	113	2122	20	24,60	Master
128	WFM	Kotepalli Sai Nirupama	1944	IND	0	½	0	½	1	½	0	2,5	114	2130	20	24,80	Master

Pairings of the next round for IND

Rd.	Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.
8	5	21	GM	Howell David W L	2644	5		5	GM	Vidit Santosh Gujrathi	2686	9
8	6	10	GM	Naiditsch Arkadij	2684	5		5	GM	Sunilduth Lyna Narayanan	2536	35
8	7	11	GM	Shirov Alexei	2679	5		5	GM	Harika Dronavalli	2528	36
8	10	33	GM	Shyam Sundar M.	2552	4½		4½	GM	Fressinet Laurent	2676	13
8	14	37	GM	Vishnu Prasanna. V	2522	4½		4½	GM	Gupta Abhijeet	2626	23
8	16	45	IM	Puranik Abhimanyu	2471	4½		4½	GM	L'ami Erwin	2605	25
8	17	71		Hemant Sharma (del)	2371	4½		4½	GM	Aravindh Chithambaram Vr.	2564	32
8	20	62	IM	Tania Sachdev	2414	4		4	GM	Meier Georg	2648	19
8	21	52	IM	Visakh N R	2456	4		4	GM	Bachmann Axel	2645	20
8	23	28	GM	Lalith Babu M R	2586	4		4	IM	Lou Yiping	2458	50
8	24	31	GM	Brunello Sabino	2566	4		4	IM	Karavade Eesha	2421	60
8	26	43	GM	Gagare Shardul	2480	4		4		Balint Vilmos	2334	76
8	29	39	GM	Hillarp Persson Tiger	2513	3½		3½		Harsha Bharathakoti	2363	72
8	33	54	IM	Praggnanandhaa R	2442	3½		3½	IM	Peek Marcel	2319	81
8	34	84	FM	Jackson James P	2311	3½		3½	GM	Sundararajan Kidambi	2429	55
8	35	58	IM	Alvarado Diaz Alejandro	2425	3½		3½	FM	Karthik Venkataraman	2317	82
8	38	64	IM	Das Arghyadip	2400	3½		3½	FM	Lyell Mark	2190	103
8	45	75		Van Foreest Lucas	2350	3		3	AGM	Vardan Nagpal	2117	110
8	49	126	WIM	Gagare Shalmali	1989	3		3	WIM	Osmanodja Filiz	2299	87
8	53	93	FM	Rakesh Kumar Jena	2247	2½		2½		Pasini Nicolo	2101	114
8	54	97	WIM	Parnali S Dharia	2228	2½		2½		Harari Zaki	2061	118
8	56	107	CM	Herbold Manfred	2155	2½		2½	WFM	Kotepalli Sai Nirupama	1944	128
8	57	112	WFM	De Rosa Mariagrazia	2102	2½		2½	WFM	Swati Mohota	1948	127
8	61	115	FM	Tiwari Ashwani	2090	2		2		Fathallah Joe	1990	125