Sharjah 04+05: Children Warriors

by Albert Silver - 28/03/2017

Rounds four and five of the Sharjah Master open saw the final confrontations between hugely disparate ratings, with top boards still facing as much as 600 Elo differences. It wasn’t all fun and games for the favorites though, with Gawain Jones tweeting about ‘near perfect defense’ from his 10-year-old opponent. Illustrated report with videos and analysis.

Sharjah 04+05: Children Warriors

Photos by Maria Emelianova

Meet CM Aditya Mittal, 10 years old, who faced...

... GM Gawain Jones in round four, one of the leaders. The photo above is not merely a chance to suggest it was not an easy fight.

Surprised on moves 1, 2+ 3. After 10yr old opp exhausted me with near perfect defence yesterday decided to take pragmatic draw. #Shjmasters
— Gawain Jones (@GMGawain) March 27, 2017

It was not just him, though:

Wang Hao faced 11-year-old FM Sadhwani Raunak, rated 2218 in round four. Wang won. (Find all the games below).

In the sixth round, he came close to winning against Argentine GM Alan Pichot, but it was not to be.

It almost seems like everyone is going to be baptized with a tough fight against a youngster:

These Indian prodigies are tough... It took an effort of GM Schroeder to win against 10-year-old CM Mendonca, rated 400 less! #shjmasters pic.twitter.com/MECamg3rL4
— Sharjah Masters (@shj_masters) March 27, 2017

Gabriel Sargissian vs Srinath Narayanan

IM Srinath Narayanan analyzes his very entertaining draw against Armenian GM Gabriel Sargissian (2666).

Praggnanandhaa vs Abdulkarim

11-year-old Paggnanandhaa plays an excellent game, with a dose of chaos (left in the notes) and shares his analysis and what he saw

The surprises aren't only coming from the kids either.

19-year-old WFM Srija Seshadri, rated a modest 2166 FIDE, started with three easy wins over sub-2000 opponents, only to face a 2643 rated GM in round four. She drew! But that was not the only surprise. The biggest one was when she faced another 2643 rated GM in round five, and drew him as well! Go girl, go!

Video report on round four by Daniel King

In this short video, you will find live footage of Jones and the exhausting opponent mentioned above, as well as comments by Srija Seshadri after her first GM draw

Pawan Dodeja vs Matthias Bluebaum

Matthias Bluebaum, the German no.2, finds himself against a hyper-aggressive rival who refuses to be intimidated—India's Pawan Dodeja. What ensues is a dynamic battle, handled with aplomb. An interesting and instructive game.

Daniel King with Murad Abdulla as they plot their next videos. The slew of video analysis, interviews, and reports have been a delight to follow.

Priyanka Nutakki v Rasmus Svane

19-year-old GM Rasmus Svane shows how he converted an endgame in textbook fashion.

Indian GM Sethuraman may have lost to Wang Hao in round three, but with four other wins, he is still very much in the mix. It shows how tough the event is that with 4.0/5 he is still only 25th in the standings this far.

Daniel King analyzes Amin Bassem vs Akila

This is the opening Amin Bassem hoped would bring a swift and easy victory. It turned out a lot harder than he had expected.

Imagine being nearly 600 Elo over your opponent. You imagine an easy win and thus try to bully your way to it with a highly irregular opening, but instead find yourself questioning your strategy as your opponent responds well. Daniel King shares insights on how to handle this 'blitz' opening play.

A look at the playing hall. Notice the very comfortable chairs for all players, something all players will appreciate.

Standings after five rounds

Rk	SNo	Ti.	Name	FED	Rtg	Pts	TB	rtg+/-
1	6	GM	Adhiban B.	IND	2682	4,5	13,5	8,3
2	10	GM	Jones Gawain C B	ENG	2676	4,5	13,0	8,6
3	5	GM	Wang Hao	CHN	2683	4,5	12,0	7,6
4	16	GM	Fressinet Laurent	FRA	2662	4,5	10,0	5,7
5	21	GM	Kravtsiv Martyn	UKR	2641	4,5	9,5	7,1
6	38	GM	Svane Rasmus	GER	2570	4,5	9,5	7,6
7	11	GM	Akopian Vladimir	ARM	2675	4,0	12,5	1,1
	28	GM	Adly Ahmed	EGY	2593	4,0	12,5	6,2
9	17	GM	Amin Bassem	EGY	2660	4,0	12,0	1,5
10	2	GM	Kryvoruchko Yuriy	UKR	2708	4,0	11,5	-0,5
11	4	GM	Naiditsch Arkadij	AZE	2702	4,0	11,0	-0,5
12	35	GM	Idani Pouya	IRI	2576	4,0	10,5	2,4
13	19	GM	Kuzubov Yuriy	UKR	2643	4,0	10,5	-2,9
14	46	GM	Schroeder Jan-Christian	GER	2543	4,0	10,5	3,3
15	22	GM	Bluebaum Matthias	GER	2632	4,0	10,5	-1,5
16	45	GM	Pichot Alan	ARG	2556	4,0	10,0	2,2
17	47		Xu Yinglun	CHN	2540	4,0	10,0	2,7
18	36	GM	Maghsoodloo Parham	IRI	2576	4,0	10,0	0,2
19	15	GM	Mareco Sandro	ARG	2664	4,0	10,0	-1,6
	40	GM	Fier Alexandr	BRA	2568	4,0	10,0	-1,5
21	31	GM	Gledura Benjamin	HUN	2588	4,0	9,5	2,9
22	48	GM	Harika Dronavalli	IND	2539	4,0	9,0	2,1
23	49	GM	Vishnu Prasanna. V	IND	2534	4,0	9,0	2,6
24	57	GM	Deepan Chakkravarthy J.	IND	2483	4,0	8,0	10,7
25	23	GM	Sethuraman S.P.	IND	2629	4,0	8,0	2,7
26	142	WFM	Srija Seshadri	IND	2166	4,0	7,5	29,2
27	9	GM	Anton Guijarro David	ESP	2676	3,5	13,0	-4,6
28	20	GM	Oleksiyenko Mykhaylo	UKR	2643	3,5	12,0	-5,3
29	80	GM	Laxman R.R.	IND	2403	3,5	11,5	10,4
30	12	GM	Iturrizaga Bonelli Eduardo	VEN	2673	3,5	11,5	-4,7

Click for complete standings