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National Amateur set for a tense finish

by ChessBase India - 09/11/2016

The SBI Life National Amateur 2016 is taking place from the 5th to the 11th of November in Mumbai. The tournament was dominated from the start by CM Aditya Mittal who was off to a flier with 7.0/7. However, in the ninth round he suffered a defeat against Raahul V.S. With two rounds to go Raahul V.S. and Omkar Kadav lead the event with 8.0/9. Two more players are right behind them on 7.5/9. The tournament is poised for an exciting finish. An illustrated report.

The fifth edition of National Amateur Championship is being held from the 5th to the 11th of November 2016 in Mumbai. SBI Life is the title sponsor of the event.

The beautiful tournament hall at the Thakur college in Kandivali

The top 16 boards are powered by DGT and live games are broadcasted on the official website

The organizing team and arbiters of the event led by Praful Zaveri (second from right)
Although the tournament is open for players below 2300, the top seed of the event is just 2089. What can be the reason for no player above 2100 attending the tournament? One of the reasons is surely the prize fund. Total fund is Rs.1,00,000 and the first prize is Rs.21,000. For many people, travelling all the way to Mumbai, playing in the gruelling 11-round event and having no guarantee that your entry will be sponsored for the World Amateur even if you win the Nationals, are some of the reasons. Bear in mind, the organizers are not to be blamed for this prize fund, as the amount is already decided by AICF in advance.

Starting rank

No.   Name FideID RtgI Club/City
1   Audi Ameya 25034430 2089 Goa
2   Raahul V S 25035525 2062 TN
3   Chakravarthy Y V K 5029546 2055 AP
4 CM Aditya Mittal 35042025 2040 MAH
5   Mahindrakar Indrajeet 35023721 2009 MAH
6   Upadhyay R 5001773 1949 MAH
7   Smaraki Mohanty 5072573 1936 ODI
8   Rupesh Ranjan 5045690 1934 BIH
9   Nair Sanjeev 5026202 1931 MAH
10   Niklesh Kumar Jain 5037921 1908 MP
It's an eleven round event and after nine rounds this is how things stand:
Round 10 on 2016/11/10 at 09.30 AM
Bo.   Name IRtg Club Pts Res. Pts   Name IRtg Club
1   Raahul V S 2062 TN 8   8   Kadav Omkar 1865 MAH
2 CM Aditya Mittal 2040 MAH 7½   7½   Chakravarthy Y V K 2055 AP
3   Audi Ameya 2089 Goa 7   7   Panesar Vedant 1882 MAH
4   Sharma Pankaj 1875 Punjab 7   7   Upadhyay R 1949 MAH
5   Bandekar Aditya 1644 MAH 7   7   Rupesh Ranjan 1934 BIH
6   Pankaj Sindhu 1856 HAR 6½   7   Devansh Ratti 1814 MAH
7   Mahindrakar Indrajeet 2009 MAH 6½   6½   Kasar Prashant 1658 MAH
8   Nair Sanjeev 1931 MAH 6½   6½   Kulkarni Saurabh P 1597 MAH
9   Roneet Das 1658 MAH 6½   6½   Aditya Guhagarkar 1817 MAH
10 CM Mullick Raahil 1568 MAH 6½   6½   Bhandarkar Dinesh 1765 MAH

Full pairings can be found here.

10-year-old Aditya Mittal was leading the tournament with 7.0/7. He drew his eighth round game and maintained his half point lead. However, in the ninth round he lost to...

...13-year-old Raahul V S of Tamil Nadu
[Event "SBI Life 5th National 2016"]
[Site "Mumbai"]
[Date "2016.11.09"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Aditya , Mittal"]
[Black "Raahul V S"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D44"]
[WhiteElo "2140"]
[BlackElo "2010"]
[Annotator "Sagar Shah"]
[PlyCount "112"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventCountry "IND"]
[SourceTitle "playchess.com"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[TimeControl "5400+30"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 {[%emt 0:00:00]} e6 {[%emt 0:00:00]} 3. Nc3 {[%emt 0:00:00]} c6
{[%emt 0:01:52]} 4. Nf3 {[%emt 0:00:08]} Nf6 {[%emt 0:02:45]} 5. Bg5 {[%emt 0:
00:05]} dxc4 {[%emt 0:02:51]} 6. e4 {[%emt 0:00:36]} b5 {[%emt 0:00:09]} 7. e5
{[%emt 0:00:05]} h6 {[%emt 0:00:02]} 8. Bh4 {[%emt 0:00:04]} g5 {[%emt 0:00:08]
} 9. Nxg5 {[%emt 0:00:02]} hxg5 {[%emt 0:00:08]} 10. Bxg5 {[%emt 0:00:02]} Nbd7
{[%emt 0:02:45] Aditya used the same opening to beat Smaraki Mohanty with the
black pieces. And now he essays it with white!} 11. g3 {[%emt 0:00:18]} Qa5 $5
{[%emt 0:01:35] This is a rare move that has gone out of fashion because White
has already found ways to take advantage against it.} 12. exf6 {[%emt 0:09:00]}
Bb7 {[%emt 0:10:22]} 13. Bg2 {[%emt 0:12:05]} O-O-O {[%emt 0:05:37]} 14. O-O {
[%emt 0:12:58]} Ne5 {[%emt 0:19:53]} 15. Qe2 {[%emt 0:23:19]} (15. dxe5 Rxd1
16. Raxd1 {is some compensation but nothing more.}) 15... Nd3 {[%emt 0:00:10]}
16. Be3 {[%emt 0:00:53]} b4 {[%emt 0:20:41]} 17. Ne4 {[%emt 0:00:45]} Qh5 {
[%emt 0:00:08]} 18. Qxh5 {[%emt 0:00:12]} Rxh5 {[%emt 0:00:02]} 19. b3 $1 {
[%emt 0:10:48] Excellent move by Aditya. He gives Black a dangerous pawn on c3,
but has calculated that he can gain the advantage with accurate moves.} c3 {
[%emt 0:03:08]} 20. Ng5 {[%emt 0:04:44]} (20. a3 $1 {should have been
considered.} a5 (20... bxa3 21. Nxc3 $16) (20... c5 21. Nxc5 Nxc5 22. dxc5 Bxg2
23. Kxg2 Bxc5 24. Bxc5 Rxc5 25. axb4 Rc7 26. Rfd1 $16 {White's position is
clearly for choice.}) 21. axb4 axb4 22. Bf3 Rh8 23. Be2 $18) 20... Rd7 {
[%emt 0:09:40]} 21. Be4 {[%emt 0:00:55]} Nb2 {[%emt 0:00:55]} 22. f4 $6 {
[%emt 0:01:08]} (22. Bf3 Rh8 23. Be2 $16) 22... c5 $1 {[%emt 0:05:41]} 23.
Bxb7+ {[%emt 0:04:56]} Kxb7 {[%emt 0:00:06]} 24. dxc5 {[%emt 0:00:05]} Kc6 {
[%emt 0:00:53] Suddenly Black has everything under control and is already
slightly better.} 25. g4 {[%emt 0:05:39]} Rh4 {[%emt 0:00:10]} 26. Nf3 {
[%emt 0:08:40]} Rxg4+ {[%emt 0:01:33]} 27. Kh1 {[%emt 0:00:05]} Nd3 {[%emt 0:
00:33]} 28. Rad1 {[%emt 0:00:42]} Kc7 {[%emt 0:04:33]} 29. c6 $2 {[%emt 0:01:
20]} (29. Bd4 $5 Rxd4 30. Nxd4 Rxf4 $11) 29... Rd5 $1 {[%emt 0:00:29]} 30. Bd4
{[%emt 0:02:04]} Nb2 {[%emt 0:03:10]} 31. Rc1 {[%emt 0:01:14]} Bd6 {[%emt 0:00:
25] All of White's pawns are weak and Raahul just mops them up.} 32. Ne5 {
[%emt 0:01:23]} Rh4 {[%emt 0:00:43]} 33. Bf2 {[%emt 0:01:03]} Rxf4 {[%emt 0:00:
47]} 34. Nxf7 {[%emt 0:00:09]} Nd3 {[%emt 0:00:46]} 35. Nxd6 {[%emt 0:01:03]}
Nxf2+ {[%emt 0:00:06]} 36. Kg2 {[%emt 0:00:35]} Rxd6 {[%emt 0:00:08]} (36...
Rg5# {it is surprising that Raahul missed this mate.}) 37. Rxf2 {[%emt 0:00:08]
} Rxf2+ {[%emt 0:00:15]} 38. Kxf2 {[%emt 0:00:02]} e5 {[%emt 0:00:01]} 39. Ke2
{[%emt 0:01:26]} Rxf6 {[%emt 0:00:06]} 40. Kd3 {[%emt 0:00:33]} Kxc6 {[%emt 0:
00:50]} 41. a3 {[%emt 0:00:14]} Kc5 {[%emt 0:01:03]} 42. Re1 {[%emt 0:00:23]}
Rf3+ {[%emt 0:01:21]} 43. Kc2 {[%emt 0:00:34]} Rf2+ {[%emt 0:00:04]} 44. Kb1 {
[%emt 0:00:45]} Rb2+ {[%emt 0:01:12]} 45. Ka1 {[%emt 0:00:17]} bxa3 {[%emt 0:
00:13]} 46. Rxe5+ {[%emt 0:00:36]} Kd4 {[%emt 0:00:07]} 47. Re1 {[%emt 0:00:35]
} c2 {[%emt 0:00:33]} 48. Rg1 {[%emt 0:00:41]} Kc3 {[%emt 0:00:53]} 49. Rg3+ {
[%emt 0:00:21]} Kd2 {[%emt 0:00:20]} 50. Rg2+ {[%emt 0:00:04]} Ke3 {[%emt 0:00:
04]} 51. Rg1 {[%emt 0:00:23]} Rxb3 {[%emt 0:00:14]} 52. Ka2 {[%emt 0:00:55]}
Rc3 {[%emt 0:00:14]} 53. Rg3+ {[%emt 0:00:21]} Kd2 {[%emt 0:00:01]} 54. Rg2+ {
[%emt 0:00:19]} Ke1 {[%emt 0:00:04]} 55. Rg1+ {[%emt 0:00:07]} Kf2 {[%emt 0:00:
05]} 56. Rc1 {[%emt 0:00:04]} Ke2 {[%emt 0:00:04]} 0-1

CM Aparajita Gochhikar is the top woman player in the event and is currently on 6.0/9 (Image source:Orisports.com)
What's the best way to spend your diwali vacation? Play chess! 

ChessBase India is giving away three months of ChessBase premium account for the best game of the day. Here are the winners:

Round one

Round four

Round five

Round six

Round seven

Round eight

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