Montcada 07-09: Shyam Sundar ties for first
XXIV Open Internacional Ciutat De Montcada began on 25 June 2016 at Montcada, a municipality in Catalonia, Spain. The Indians, traditionally, have made a beeline for playing the Catalonian circuit, often going in groups to play and enjoy. The year 2016, though, saw Indians invade Spain. A total of 117 players are participating in the Montcada tournament and 32 of them are Indians, that is, 27%! Indian grandmaster Shyam Sundar M. tied for the first place but took the second place on the tie-break. Snehal Bhosale scored an IM norm and IM Himanshu Sharma made a GM norm. An illustrated report.
Montcada 07-09: Shyam Sundar ties for first
XXIV Open Internacional Ciutat De Montcada began on 25 June 2016 at Montcada, a municipality in Catalonia, Spain. The charm of this tournament is that it is a part of the Catalonian circuit of chess tournaments that are all held in the same region, one after the other. For a travelling chessplayer, a centralized rented apartment would mean he/she gets a series of back-to-back chess events, for a reasonably small investment. A quality tournament with an average rating of 2200, with only one round per day, is indeed a dream scenario for enjoying a chess tournament and at the same time do a bit of tourism.
The Indians, traditionally, have made a beeline for playing the Catalonian circuit, often going in groups to play and enjoy. The year 2016, though, saw Indians invade Spain. A total of 117 players are participating in the Montcada tournament and 32 of them are Indians! The group is second-highest by numbers, behind the Spanish themselves. The day is not far when the Indian contingent will make for the most number of players in a non-Indian tournament.
At the end of six rounds, GM Shyam Sundar M. had been sharing the lead with three others on 5.0/6.
The game turned out to be a very crucial eventually. White entered this forced sequence because he had foreseen a neat way to win a pawn, and the game, here.
[Site "Hotel Sercotel Ciutat de Montc"]
[Date "2016.07.01"]
[Round "7.1"]
[White "Shyam, Sundar M"]
[Black "Cori, Jorge"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B47"]
[WhiteElo "2530"]
[BlackElo "2602"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "2r2k2/5pp1/pQ6/7p/qPp1R3/6P1/2P2PKP/8 w - - 0 33"]
[PlyCount "37"]
[EventDate "2016.06.25"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "ESP"]
36. Rxc6 Ra8 37. Kf3 Kf8 38. Ke3 Ke7 39. Kd4 h4 40. gxh4 Rh8 41. Rxa6 Rxh4+ 42.
Kc5 Rh5+ 43. Kb6 Rxh2 44. c4 Rxf2 45. c5 g5 46. c6 g4 47. c7 Rc2 48. Ra8 f5 49.
c8=Q Rxc8 50. Rxc8 Kf7 51. Kc5 1-0
Although he lost the penultimate round to Argentine GM Peralta Fernando (2588), he was able to pull off an important victory in the final round with some help from his opponent.
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.07.03"]
[Round "9.4"]
[White "Shyam, Sundar M"]
[Black "Vera Siguenas, Deivy"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A15"]
[WhiteElo "2530"]
[BlackElo "2492"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "6k1/5p1p/6p1/1q2p3/1n2P1Q1/1P1nB1PP/3R2BK/1r6 b - - 0 33"]
[PlyCount "12"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2003.06.08"]
[TimeControl "5400+30"]
[WhiteClock "0:05:21"]
[BlackClock "0:05:51"]
Kh7 35. Qf8 Qb7 36. Qh6+ Kg8 37. Bc5 {with the idea of Bf8.} Qc8 38. Be7 Qe6
39. Bxb4 Rxb3 $18 (39... Nxb4 40. Rd8+ Qe8 41. Rxe8#)) 35. Bh6+ $1 {132} Kf6 {4
} (35... Kxh6 36. Qh8+ (36. Qf8+ Kh7 37. Qxf7+ Kh6 $11) 36... Kg5 37. h4+ Kg4
38. Qf6 {unstoppable mate.}) 36. Qd8+ {94} (36. g4 $1 {with the idea Qd8#,
which is unstoppable.} hxg4 37. hxg4 g5 38. Bf8 {leading to Qf5# beautiful.})
36... Ke6 {2} 37. Bf8 {236} Qd7 {123} 38. Rxd3 {41} Qxd8 {39} (38... Nxd3 39.
Qb6+ Qd6 40. Qxd6#) 39. Rxd8 {6} 1-0
Black found a beautiful way to set the dark squares on fire. 17...Nfd5! 18. Qe4 Nxe3 19. Qxe3 and now, Black invades on the dark squares.
[Site "Hotel Sercotel Ciutat de Montc"]
[Date "2016.07.02"]
[Round "8.18"]
[White "Akesson, Ralf"]
[Black "Snehal, Bhosale"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E10"]
[WhiteElo "2445"]
[BlackElo "2174"]
[PlyCount "72"]
[EventDate "2016.06.25"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "ESP"]
fxe6 9. e5 dxe5 10. Nxe5 Qd4 11. Nd3 Nbd7 12. Be3 Qd6 13. Nb3 Qc7 14. Qf3 O-O
15. Nf4 (15. Qxa8 Bb7 16. Qxa7 Ra8 17. Qxa8+ Bxa8 18. h3 Be4 19. Nd2 Bb7 20.
O-O-O $14) 15... Nb6 16. Be2 Bd6 17. Nh5 Nfd5 $1 18. Qe4 Nxe3 19. Qxe3 {
and now, Black invades on the dark squares.} a5 20. Rd1 a4 21. Nc1 Be5 22. Bf3
Ra7 23. Qe2 Kh8 24. Be4 Ba6 25. Bd3 a3 26. b3 Bc3+ 27. Kf1 Bd4 28. f3 Qd6 29.
Ng3 Raf7 30. Qc2 Qe7 31. Rd2 Qh4 32. Re2 Nd7 33. Re4 Qh6 34. Nce2 (34. Rxd4
cxd4 35. Be4 Ne5 36. Nd3 $19) 34... Bb7 35. Rg4 Ne5 36. h3 Qe3 (36... Rxf3+ 37.
gxf3 Rxf3+ 38. Ke1 Nxd3+ 39. Kd1 Nb2+ 40. Ke1 Bf2+ 41. Kf1 Bxg3+ 42. Kg2 Qe3
$19) 0-1
Himanshu Sharma delivered a powerful performance to register a GM norm and eighth place finish on the tie-break after being tied for second.
[Site "Hotel Sercotel Ciutat de Montc"]
[Date "2016.07.01"]
[Round "7.7"]
[White "Himanshu, Sharma"]
[Black "Oliva Castaneda, Kevel"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B85"]
[WhiteElo "2389"]
[BlackElo "2500"]
[PlyCount "77"]
[EventDate "2016.06.25"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "ESP"]
Be7 9. a4 Nc6 10. Be3 O-O 11. Kh1 Re8 12. Bf3 Na5 13. Qe1 Rb8 14. Rd1 Bf8 15.
Qh4 Nc4 16. Bc1 Nd7 17. g4 b6 18. Bg2 Bb7 19. Rd3 Qd8 20. g5 g6 21. b3 Na5 22.
Rh3 h5 23. f5 exf5 24. exf5 Bxg2+ 25. Kxg2 Bg7 26. f6 Bf8 27. b4 Nb7 28. Nc6
Qc8 29. Nxb8 Qxb8 30. Nd5 Nd8 31. Re1 Ne5 32. Qe4 Ne6 33. Rc3 Ng4 34. h3 Nc7
35. Qxe8 Nxe8 36. hxg4 Qb7 37. Rxe8 Qxd5+ 38. Kh2 Kh7 39. Rc7 1-0
Memorable Moves:
There is only one way to win. IM Ortega of Cuba went wrong and allowed Yogit S. (2252) to pick the point. What idea could have won white the game?
Seriously folks, give it a try before you check out the solution, it is beautiful.
[Site "Hotel Sercotel Ciutat de Montc"]
[Date "2016.06.30"]
[Round "6.16"]
[White "Ortega Amarelle, Mariano"]
[Black "Yogit, S."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E11"]
[WhiteElo "2473"]
[BlackElo "2252"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "2r3k1/1b3qpp/4p3/1pPpQp2/rP1R3P/6PB/4PP2/3R2K1 b - - 0 30"]
[PlyCount "37"]
[EventDate "2016.06.25"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "ESP"]
33. Rd8+ Kf7 34. R8d7+ Kg6 35. Rxb7 $18) (32... Kf7 33. exd5 Bxd5 34. Bf1 Bc6
$14) 33. exd5 Rxd5 34. Bg2 Rxd4 35. Rxd4 Bxg2 36. Kxg2 Kf8 37. Rd7 Rxb4 38. c6
Ke8 39. Rxh7 Rc4 40. c7 b4 41. h5 b3 42. h6 (42. c8=Q+ Rxc8 43. h6 b2 44. Ra7
$3 {is the only move that wins!}) 42... b2 43. Rh8+ (43. c8=Q+ $1 Rxc8 44. Ra7
$3 {the only move that wins, as} (44. Rb7 b1=Q (44... Rc7 45. Rxc7 b1=Q 46. h7
$18) 45. Rxb1 Kf7 $11) 44... b1=Q 45. h7 Qe4+ 46. Kh2 Qb4 47. h8=Q+ Qf8 48.
Qh5+ Kd8 49. Qd1+ {geometry!}) (43. Rg7 Kf8 $1 {Prophylaxis saves the game for
black.} 44. Rd7 Kg8 45. Rd8+ Kh7 46. Rb8 Rxc7 47. Rxb2 Rc6 $15) 43... Kf7 44.
c8=Q (44. h7 b1=Q 45. Rf8+ Kxf8 46. h8=Q+ Ke7 47. Qd8+ Kf7 48. Qd7+ $11) 44...
Rxc8 45. Rxc8 b1=Q 46. Rc7+ Kg8 47. h7+ Kh8 48. Kh3 Qf1+ 0-1
Final Standings:
| Rk. | SNo | Name | Typ | sex | Gr | FED | RtgI | RtgN | Club/City | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | ||
| 1 | 2 | GM | Cordova Emilio | PER | 2602 | 0 | PERU | 7,0 | 39,0 | 49,0 | 2740 | ||||
| 2 | 10 | GM | Shyam Sundar M. | IND | 2530 | 0 | INDIA | 7,0 | 37,5 | 48,5 | 2703 | ||||
| 3 | 7 | IM | Gomez Garrido Camilo Ernesto | CUB | 2546 | 2544 | CUBA | 7,0 | 36,5 | 47,5 | 2670 | ||||
| 4 | 3 | GM | Cori Jorge | PER | 2602 | 0 | PERU | 6,5 | 43,0 | 54,5 | 2712 | ||||
| 5 | 4 | GM | Peralta Fernando | 2610 | ARG | 2588 | 2571 | CAT-Escola D'Escacs De Barcelona | 6,5 | 40,5 | 52,0 | 2708 | |||
| 6 | 5 | GM | Vocaturo Daniele | 2602 | ITA | 2576 | 2602 | CAT-Mollet, Club D'escacs | 6,5 | 40,0 | 51,0 | 2631 | |||
| 7 | 16 | IM | Henriquez Villagra Cristobal | CHI | 2491 | 0 | CHILE | 6,5 | 40,0 | 50,5 | 2652 | ||||
| 8 | 36 | IM | Himanshu Sharma | A | IND | 2389 | 0 | INDIA | 6,5 | 37,5 | 47,0 | 2586 | |||
| 9 | 22 | IM | Swayams Mishra | IND | 2465 | 0 | INDIA | 6,5 | 36,5 | 46,5 | 2534 | ||||
| 10 | 20 | GM | Cuartas Jaime Alexander | 2537 | COL | 2468 | 2468 | CAT-Peona i Peo, C.E. | 6,0 | 40,5 | 51,0 | 2629 |
Check the complete standings here.
Games in PGN