MCL 2016 03: Combatants hold Navigators

MCL 2016 03: Combatants hold Navigators

At the end of two rounds, Pune Sangli Nok-99 Navigators had literally pummelled their opposition to submission, plundering nine of the twelve points up for grabs for each team on the double-round first day. The second day of the 2016 Maharashtra Chess League saw a single round on a calm Sunday evening. The crowd was understandably excited to see the chess action, which is the whole point behind the league.

Pune Sangli Nok-99 Navigators vs. Thane Combatants:

White is threatening to break with 42. a5, and so immediate action with 41...Nf7 followed by ...Re6 was needed. Rucha, plyaing black, chose 41...Kf7 42. a5 bxa5 43. Ra6 Ke8 44. Rxa5 that white went on to convert.

Navigators' GM B. Adhiban managed to get an advantageous position against Pune TruMasters' IM Swayams Mishra, but it petered out by the time he reached the endgame. Swayams, though, missed his chance to hold Adhiban!

It is true that White is attacking the h7 pawn, he also has a veiled threat — to break with h5. Hence, Swayams Mishra should play 54... h5! 55. gxh6 Bxh6 56. h5 gxh5 57. Nxh5 Kd5 is a dead draw.

Instead, Swayams chose to go 54. ...h6? instead. Adhiban quickly lashed out with 55. h5 himself, gxh5 56. Nxh5 hxg5 57. fxg5 with a winning game.

Thus, WGM Gomes and GM Adhiban had scored crucial victories for Pune Sangli Nok-99 Navigators. Would they continue to bulldoze though the field. It looked like that until there was a minor reversal of fortunes.

Yes, she should have. Varshini played 55...Rb7 straightaway, letting her opponent GM Vishnu Prasanna to win a crucial point for his team the TrusMasters! Due to Varshini's 55...Rb7, the problem is that after 56. dxe5+ Kxe5 57. Nf3+, Black has no options but play Kd6 58. e5+ Ke7 59. Rxh7+, losing a pawn.

Had she played 55...cxd4 instead, then 56. exd4 and now Rb7  because 57. dxe5+ Kxe5 58. Nf3+ allows Kf4, which was not possible before! Black is alright and must have held, winning the match for the Navigators.

This win allowed Pune TruMasters to hold a rampaging Pune Sangli  Navigators to a 3.0-3.0 draw.

Jalgaon Battlers vs. Mumbai Movers

GM Abhijeet Gupta of Mumbai Movers repeated the position against GM S.L. Narayanan of Battlers fairly early. This left the remaining five games to decide the result.

In a game replete with mistakes, Hagawane let go off multiple chances, the biggest of which came in the end when in a drawn position, she blundered a rook. Curiously, this was the only game that Mumbai Movers' managed to win!

But Ghosh did not see the simple continuation that may have won him the game! In any case, the result would not have changed the situation for Mumbai Movers as they would have lost the match anyway.

Ahmednagar Checkers vs.Thane Combatants

Deshpande was clearly playing for a draw all throughout and made many tacit draw offers by repeating moves. Sasikiran decided to throw everything, including the proverbial kitchen sink, at his opponent — only that it was wrong.

Sasi sacrificed an exchange for some compensation but it backfired horribly and he was just losing. So from fighting for a draw, Combatants were now in a position to even win, if Deshpande converted. He didn't and in time pressure, just blundered the game away.

Good players are sometimes lucky. Ahmednagar Checkers  took the round 3.5-2.5.

The title sponsor of the event is the Persistent Systems, a technology services company with a revenue of US $ 308 Million in 2014-15, and supported by deAsra Foundation, an entrepreneurship consultancy company.

Anand Deshpande had many pearls of wisdom to share. "We do not plan ahead 10-20 years ahead, but instead focus on the immediate future, the coming 3-5 years and what we can do in that time," he said about his approach to his business. He also highlighted the bigger picture — the idea is to take up a problem and solve it, put everything on it. That is how the deAsra Foundation came into existence. The problem it intends to solve is job creation for the future by enabling entrepreneurship today.

On being asked why he decided to sponsor the MCL, he simply said, "Abhijit (Kunte) came to me asking for sponsorship for this event, and he basically looked like a good guy, so I decided to go ahead!"

The fourth edition of the Maharashtra Chess League (MCL), the only professional league in India, is being held from June 11 -15, 2016 at the PYC Hindu Gymkhana, Pune. The six-team event with six players a side will be a rapid tournament (25mins + 05 sec increment) where the teams initially play a round-robin followed by a knockout between four teams to decide the winners.

Rank table (updated after Round 04):