Sharjah 02+03: Adhiban leads as Indians sparkle
Adhiban Baskaran is back! After a scintillating TATA Steel tournament and a depressing Aeroflot Open, the Indian No. 3 is back doing what he does best—play good, sharp chess. And inspired by their hero, the remaining pack of Indians are playing sparkling chess as well. Find out how.
Sharjah 02+03: Adhiban leads as Indians sparkle
Photos by Maria Emelianova
When was the last time you saw a tournament on foreign soil where 50% of the players are Indians!? Welcome to Sharjah Masters 2017, a tournament the AICF should adopt as its own (so that they can at least announce in the speeches that we have an Indian super tournament, a great step forward for Indian chess)!
Anyhow, we will discuss strong Indian tournaments (or their lack thereof) in a different article. For now, let's jump straight into the heart of the matter and see some chess:
Adhiban is coming on the back of a spectacular Wijk Aan Zee and a depressing Aeroflot tournament. In any case, he seems to have recovered himself and is playing some sparkling chess.
Adhiban sacrificed his knight on e2. What crushing trick had he foreseen?
[Event "1st Sharjah Masters 2017"] [Site "Sharjah"] [Date "2017.03.25"] [Round "3"] [White "Adhiban, B."] [Black "Idani, Pouya"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B23"] [WhiteElo "2682"] [BlackElo "2576"] [Annotator "TA"] [PlyCount "86"] [EventDate "2017.??.??"] [SourceDate "2003.06.08"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 d6 3. f4 g6 4. d4 cxd4 {B23: Closed Sicilian: Lines without g3} 5. Qxd4 Nf6 6. Bd3 Nc6 (6... Bg7 7. Nf3 O-O 8. Qf2 a6 9. O-O b5 10. Qh4 b4 11. Nd5 e6 12. Nxf6+ Qxf6 {1/2-1/2 (50) Rapport,R (2721)-Edouard,R (2617) Gibraltar 2016}) 7. Qf2 Bg7 {LiveBook: 4 Games} 8. Nf3 Nb4 9. O-O Nxd3 10. cxd3 O-O 11. Qh4 $146 (11. h3 b5 12. Nd4 {1/2-1/2 (23) Kadric,D (2546)-Troff,K (2528) Dallas 2016}) 11... b5 12. a3 Bb7 13. f5 b4 (13... gxf5 $11 14. Bh6 Bxh6 15. Qxh6 Ng4) 14. axb4 $16 Qb6+ 15. Kh1 Qxb4 16. Bd2 Qb6 17. Ne2 Rac8 ({ Black should play} 17... Rae8 $14) 18. Bc3 h6 19. fxg6 fxg6 20. Qg3 Qe3 21. Qxg6 ({White should try} 21. Rfe1 $16) 21... Qxe2 {[#]} (21... Qxd3 $14 22. Nf4 (22. Ng3 Bxe4 23. Nxe4 Qxe4 24. Qxe4 Nxe4 25. Bxg7 Kxg7 $11) 22... Bxe4) 22. Nd4 $1 Qg4 {[#]} (22... Qxd3 23. Nf5 $18) 23. Rxf6 $1 Qxg6 (23... exf6 24. Qxg4 ) 24. Rxg6 Kh7 25. Re6 Rf7 26. Nf5 Bf8 27. Rxa7 Bd5 28. exd5 Rxf5 29. h3 { Strongly threatening Rxd6.} Rxd5 30. Bf6 Rc1+ 31. Kh2 Rf1 32. d4 $36 {White is really pushing.} Rdf5 33. Bxe7 Rf7 34. Bxf8 Rxa7 35. Rxh6+ {Endgame KRR-KRB} Kg8 36. Bxd6 Rf2 $2 (36... Ra6 $16 {was worth a try.}) 37. Be5 $18 Ra5 38. b4 Rb5 $2 (38... Raa2) 39. Rh8+ Kf7 40. Rb8 {White is clearly winning.} Rxb8 41. Bxb8 Ke6 42. Ba7 {aiming for d5+!} Rf7 43. Bc5 Kd5 1-0
S.P. Sethuraman was playing at the very top against Wang Hao who played some seriously aggressive moves. It is another story if they were objectively accurate, but they sure were scary!
In fact, Sethu simply had to play ...Qd5 here and he would have had an edge. Instead, he blundered with Nh6, to which Wang Hao gleefully replied Bxh6 gxh6, because....
White to play and win. It is a two move tactic.
[Event "1st Sharjah Masters 2017"] [Site "Sharjah"] [Date "2017.03.25"] [Round "3"] [White "Wang, Hao"] [Black "Sethuraman, S P."] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C88"] [WhiteElo "2683"] [BlackElo "2629"] [Annotator "TA"] [PlyCount "47"] [EventDate "2017.??.??"] [SourceDate "2003.06.08"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. a4 Bb7 9. d3 d5 10. exd5 Nxd5 11. Nbd2 f6 $146 {C88: Closed Ruy Lopez: Anti-Marshall Systems} (11... Nf4 12. Ne4 Kh8 13. Bxf4 exf4 14. axb5 axb5 15. Rxa8 Bxa8 16. d4 Na5 17. Ba2 Nc4 18. Qe2 Bd5 19. Ned2 Nxd2 20. Nxd2 Bxa2 21. Qxe7 {1/2-1/2 (32) Hracek,Z (2614)-Plachetka,J (2402) Slovakia 2006}) 12. axb5 axb5 13. Rxa8 Bxa8 {The position is equal.} 14. c4 (14. Ba2 $142) 14... bxc4 $11 15. Nxc4 ({Much worse is} 15. dxc4 Nf4 16. c5+ Kh8 $17) 15... Kh8 16. d4 $1 Bb4 17. Re4 Nde7 18. Rh4 ({Don't play} 18. dxe5 Qxd1+ 19. Bxd1 Nxe5 20. Rxe5 fxe5 21. Nfxe5 Be4 $17) (18. Rg4 $11) 18... Nf5 $17 19. Rh3 $1 {White has been playing very aggressively and though these may not be objectively the best moves, practically speaking, you would rather enjoy attacking with white here, won't you?} Ncxd4 ({But not} 19... exd4 20. Qd3 g6 21. g4 $11) 20. Nxd4 exd4 21. Qg4 {[#]} Nh6 $2 (21... Qd5 $1 $17 {keeps the pressure on. Strongly threatening ...Re8.} 22. Bd2 Bxd2 23. Nxd2 Qc6 {Black has a big advantage as the Nf5 is taboo because} 24. Qxf5 Qxg2#) 22. Bxh6 $18 gxh6 $2 {[#]} (22... Qe7 23. Bd2 Bxd2 24. Nxd2 Qe1+ 25. Nf1 Qe4) 23. Rg3 $1 Rg8 {[#]} 24. Nd6 $1 1-0
Lalith Babu M.R. was doing fine against...
...IM K. Rathnakaran, until a blunder left the former in tears.
[Event "1st Sharjah Masters 2017"] [Site "Sharjah"] [Date "2017.03.24"] [Round "2"] [White "Lalith Babu M R"] [Black "Rathnakaran, K."] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "E97"] [WhiteElo "2593"] [BlackElo "2383"] [Annotator "ChessBase"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "4r2k/1p4bp/p2p2p1/3P4/P4p2/1P3Q1P/3qNPP1/2R3K1 w - - 0 28"] [PlyCount "4"] [EventDate "2017.??.??"] [SourceDate "2003.06.08"] [TimeControl "5400+30"] {[#]} 28. Rc4 $4 {0 Lalith must have thought that if Rxe2, then simply Rc8+ wins back the bishop. Same with Qxe2, when Qxe2 Rxe2 Rc8+ wins back the bishop. } (28. Kf1 Kg8 $15) 28... Qe1+ {0 But Lalith obviously missed this simple intermezzo.} (28... Rxe2 29. Rc8+ Bf8 30. Rxf8+ $16) (28... Qxe2 29. Qxe2 Rxe2 30. Rc8+ Bf8 31. Rxf8+ $16) 29. Kh2 {0} Rxe2 {0 And now the problem for Lalith is that if Rc8+, simply Re8.} 0-1
GM Vishnu Prasanna looks happy with his 2.0/3.
GM S.L. Narayanan is also on 2.0/3.
GM Dronavalli Harika is also on 2.0/3.
IM Padmini Rout is on 1.0/3.
CM Bhakti Kulkarni is on 1.0/3.
IM Srinath Narayanan gazing into the future—he was swatted to pulp by Gawain Jones in the second round and is on 2.0/3.
IM Praggnanandhaa R. has displayed Houdini-acts to survive all three of his games against 2650+ opposition! He is on 1.5/3.
Against Eltaj Safarli, he managed to hold fort...
[Event "1st Sharjah Masters 2017"] [Site "Sharjah"] [Date "2017.03.25"] [Round "3"] [White "Salem, A R Saleh"] [Black "Praggnanandhaa R"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D58"] [WhiteElo "2652"] [BlackElo "2455"] [Annotator "ChessBase"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "5k2/3n4/4R2p/8/2B3Pr/4P3/6K1/8 w - - 0 60"] [PlyCount "84"] [EventDate "2017.??.??"] [SourceDate "2003.06.08"] [TimeControl "5400+30"] {[#]} 60. Kg3 $16 {0} Rh1 {0} 61. Bd5 {0} Re1 {0} 62. Kf2 {0} Rd1 {0} 63. Bf3 { 0} Rd2+ {0} 64. Kg3 {0} Kg7 {0} 65. Kf4 {0} Nf8 {0} 66. Ra6 {0} Ng6+ {0} 67. Kg3 {0} Ne5 {0} 68. Be4 {0} Nc4 {0} 69. Rg6+ {0} Kf7 {0} 70. Rxh6 {0} Nxe3 {0} 71. Kf4 {0} Nd5+ {0} 72. Ke5 {0} Ne3 {0} 73. Kf4 {0} Nd5+ {0} 74. Kg5 {0} Rd4 { 0} 75. Bf5 {0} Ne3 {0} 76. Rf6+ {0} Kg7 {0} 77. Be6 {0} Re4 {0} 78. Rf7+ {0} Kg8 {0} 79. Rf6+ {0} Kg7 {0} 80. Rg6+ {0} Kh7 {0} 81. Kh5 {0} Re5+ {0} 82. g5 { 0} Ng2 {0} 83. Rh6+ {0} Kg7 {0} 84. Kg4 {0} Ra5 {0} 85. Rf6 {0} Ra4+ {0} 86. Kg3 {0} Ne3 {0} 87. Kf3 {0} Nc2 {0} 88. Bd5 {0} Nd4+ {0} 89. Kf4 {0} Ne6+ {0} 90. Kf5 {0} Nd4+ {0} 91. Ke5 {0} Ne2 {0} 92. Rc6 {0} Rg4 {0} 93. Rc7+ {0} Kg6 { 0} 94. Be4+ {0} Kxg5 {0} 95. Bf3 {0} Rg3 {0} 96. Rf7 {0} Kg6 {0} 97. Rf6+ {0} Kg7 {0} 98. Rf5 {0} Kg6 {0} 99. Bh5+ {0} Kh6 {0} 100. Bxe2 {0} Re3+ {0} 101. Kf6 {0} Rxe2 {Amazing. Praggu magically survived this! Never back down—never, never, never!}1/2-1/2
But his Round 3 effort against Salem AR Saleh takes the cake. Just look at the poor rook on h4. Indeed, White has a good advantage but both the players have about 2 minutes left on the clock. Let the moves tell the story...
[Event "1st Sharjah Masters 2017"] [Site "Sharjah"] [Date "2017.03.24"] [Round "2"] [White "Praggnanandhaa R"] [Black "Safarli, Eltaj"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C54"] [WhiteElo "2455"] [BlackElo "2680"] [Annotator "TA"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "5rk1/1pp2r2/2n1p3/p6p/P1N1p1p1/2Pn4/1PNRRPPP/6K1 b - - 0 28"] [PlyCount "28"] [EventDate "2017.??.??"] [SourceDate "2003.06.08"] {[#]} 28... b6 {For reasons unknown, Safarli decides to give back the e4 pawn.} (28... Rf4 $17 {And Black is putting a lot of pressure on the white forces, thanks to the extra, and at the same time powerful, pawn on e4.} 29. g3 R4f6 30. Rxe4 Nxf2 $19) 29. Rxe4 Nc5 ({Much worse is} 29... Nxf2 $6 30. Rxe6 Nd8 31. Re5 $16) 30. Re1 Rf4 31. N2a3 R8f7 {The position is equal.} 32. g3 Re4 33. Rxe4 Nxe4 34. Re2 Nc5 35. Nb5 Rd7 36. Kg2 e5 37. h3 ({Don't take} 37. Nxe5 $2 Re7 38. b4 axb4 39. cxb4 Nxa4 40. Nxc7 Rxe5 $19) 37... e4 38. hxg4 hxg4 39. Rd2 { Threatening Rxd7.} Nd3 40. Re2 Nc5 41. Rd2 {With the idea Rxd7.} Nd3 42. Re2 1/2-1/2
On 1.0/3 is Nihal Sarin. He lost to Arkadij Naiditsch (2702) and Xu Xiangyu (2502) but he surely learned a lot in the space of 2 games. Have a look...
Against Naiditsch, a long, complex fight resulted in this position where Nihal has an advantage but has a minute left on the clock while his opponent has twenty.
He grabs his chance and goes for a win, only to find that he has been tricked! And then he loses thanks to one small error—the placement of his rook.
A tough day at work for the young man.
[Event "1st Sharjah Masters 2017"] [Site "Sharjah"] [Date "2017.03.24"] [Round "2"] [White "Nihal Sarin"] [Black "Naiditsch, Arkadij"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "E94"] [WhiteElo "2386"] [BlackElo "2702"] [Annotator "TA"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "8/1p2R3/2p3p1/2Pk2N1/5p1P/2n5/1r3PP1/6K1 w - - 0 42"] [PlyCount "34"] [EventDate "2017.??.??"] [SourceDate "2003.06.08"] {[#]} 42. Rg7 $1 $16 {White is the one pushing for a win but he is down on time. Naiditsch clearly knew this even before he reached this position. He must have sensed that his young opponent was furiously trying to find a win with only 1 minute left—a fact naiditsch used to his advantage!} b5 { ...b4 is the strong threat.} 43. cxb6 $1 (43. Rxg6 b4 44. h5 b3 $17) 43... c5 44. b7 $1 ({Don't play} 44. Rxg6 $6 c4 45. Kh2 Ne2 $11) 44... c4 45. Rc7 (45. Kh2 $1 $16) 45... Ne2+ 46. Kh2 {Black must now prevent Rd7+.} (46. Kf1 $1 Nc3 47. g3 fxg3 48. fxg3 $16) 46... c3 47. Nf7 Rb3 48. Nd8 $2 {Nihal finally goes wrong in time pressure. The position is complex but he had to find} (48. f3 Nd4 49. Rxc3 Rxb7 50. Ng5 $14 {White is a clear pawn ahead.}) 48... Kd6 $1 49. Rc6+ Kd7 50. Rc8 $1 {[#]} Rxb7 $1 51. Rxc3 {Strongly threatening Rd3+.} (51. Nxb7 Kxc8) 51... Kxd8 $15 {KRN-KR} ({Much worse is} 51... Nxc3 $6 52. Nxb7 Ke6 53. Kh3 $16) 52. Rc6 {But as it happens, the game can still be drawn.} Rh7 53. Kh3 g5 54. Kg4 gxh4 55. Re6 $2 {[#]} (55. Ra6 $15 Rg7+ 56. Kh3) (55. Rc4 $1 { is an idea that should lead to a draw practically.} Rg7+ (55... f3 56. Kxf3 { and white has no check on d4.})) 55... f3 $1 {The big difference between Re6 and Rc4 is that White has a knight fork if Kxf3 in this position. A fact neatly missed by Nihal with seconds on the clock.} 56. gxf3 h3 (56... Ng1 $142 57. Ra6 Kc8 58. Ra8+ Kb7 59. Ra1 h3 60. Rb1+ Kc6 61. Rc1+ Kd5 62. Rd1+ Ke6 63. Re1+ Kf6 64. Kf4 h2 65. Ra1 Rf7 66. Ra5 Ne2+ 67. Ke4 Re7+ 68. Kd5 h1=Q 69. Ra6+ Kf7 70. Rg6 Kxg6 71. Kd6 Qc1 $1 72. Kxe7 Qc7+ 73. Ke8 Kf6 74. Kf8 Qf7#) 57. Ra6 {[#]} Rh4+ $1 {A beautiful end to the game.} ({Don't go for} 57... h2 $2 58. Ra8+ Ke7 59. Ra7+ Kf8 60. Rxh7 $18) (57... Kc8 $142 58. Ra8+ Kb7 59. Ra1 {[#]} Ng1 $1 60. Rxg1 Rg7+ 61. Kxh3 Rxg1 62. Kh2 Rg8 63. Kh3 Kc6 64. f4 Kd6 65. Kh4 Ke6 66. Kh5 Kf5 67. Kh4 Rg7 68. f3 Rg8 69. Kh3 Kxf4 70. Kh2 Kxf3 71. Kh1 Kf2 72. Kh2 Rh8#) 58. Kxh4 h2 0-1
In this next game, he rejects a draw to sacrifice his queen, but White had a strategic resouce he had overlooked:
[Event "1st Sharjah Masters 2017"] [Site "Sharjah"] [Date "2017.03.25"] [Round "3"] [White "Xu, Xiangyu"] [Black "Nihal Sarin"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E12"] [WhiteElo "2503"] [BlackElo "2386"] [Annotator "ChessBase"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "r2q1rk1/pb3p1p/1p3bp1/n2P4/8/P2B1N2/1B1Q1PPP/R4RK1 w - - 0 18"] [PlyCount "27"] [EventDate "2017.??.??"] [SourceDate "2003.06.08"] [TimeControl "5400+30"] {[#]} 18. Qh6 {0} Bxb2 {0 He decides to sacrifice the queen!} (18... Re8 19. Ng5 Qxd5 20. Qxh7+ Kf8 21. Qh6+ $11 {is a dead draw.}) 19. Ng5 {0} Qxg5 {0} 20. Qxg5 {0} Bxa1 {0} 21. Rxa1 {0 Unfortunately, the problem with this position is not black's pieces, which can activated reasonably quickly. The problem is that white has a very simple plan: h4-h5-h6! And if plack plays h5 to stop white from playing h5, white can break with g4, and attack anyway. This simple plan is more than enough for white to win!} Rad8 {0} 22. Be4 {0} Rfe8 {0} 23. h4 {0} h6 {0} 24. Qf6 {0} Rd7 {0} 25. f3 {0} h5 {0} 26. Rd1 {0} Nb3 {0} 27. g4 {0} hxg4 {0} 28. h5 {0} gxh5 {0} 29. Qg5+ {0} Kf8 {0} 30. Qh6+ {0} Ke7 {0} 31. Bf5 {0 No doubt this game would lead to some intorspections and Nihal will try to strike back stronger.} 1-0
Searching for his IM title is Rakesh Kulkarni on 1.0/3.
GM R.R. Laxman is on 1.5/3.
Serious on the board but incredibly funny off it—Pawan Dodeja is on 2.0/3.
Learn from the classics—Yuri Kuzubov of Ukraine plays the Dark Goggles Gambit, first invented by Pal Benko, popularized later by Vladimir Kramnik and Hikaru Nakamura.
While some other players have a more natural style of avoiding hypnosis—close them eyes! Good.
Round 4 on 2017/03/26
| Bo. | No. | Name | FED | Rtg | Pts. | Result | Pts. | Name | FED | Rtg | No. | ||
| 1 | 5 | GM | Wang Hao | CHN | 2683 | 3 | 3 | FM | Sadhwani Raunak | IND | 2218 | 134 | |
| 2 | 135 | WGM | Safranska Anda | FRA | 2217 | 3 | 3 | GM | Adhiban B. | IND | 2682 | 6 | |
| 3 | 138 | CM | Aditya Mittal | IND | 2183 | 3 | 3 | GM | Jones Gawain C B | ENG | 2676 | 10 | |
| 4 | 153 | CM | Mendonca Leon Luke | IND | 2110 | 3 | 3 | GM | Fressinet Laurent | FRA | 2662 | 16 | |
| 5 | 20 | GM | Oleksiyenko Mykhaylo | UKR | 2643 | 3 | 3 | WFM | Srija Seshadri | IND | 2166 | 142 | |
| 6 | 21 | GM | Kravtsiv Martyn | UKR | 2641 | 3 | 3 | WFM | Cholleti Sahajasri | IND | 2120 | 152 | |
| 7 | 11 | GM | Akopian Vladimir | ARM | 2675 | 2½ | 3 | Al Yaghshi M. Hisham | SYR | 2056 | 164 | ||
| 8 | 2 | GM | Kryvoruchko Yuriy | UKR | 2708 | 2½ | 2½ | Arjun K | IND | 2232 | 130 | ||
| 9 | 17 | GM | Amin Bassem | EGY | 2660 | 2½ | 2½ | Kavinda Akila | SRI | 2084 | 156 | ||
| 10 | 19 | GM | Kuzubov Yuriy | UKR | 2643 | 2½ | 2½ | CM | Nikhil Magizhnan | IND | 2077 | 161 |