GM Sriram Jha wins Bhopal Open 2016
GM Sriram Jha won the 4th Bhopal Open 2016 held from the 20th-25th of December 2016. He scored 8.5/10 and emerged ahead of Srinath Rao thanks to a better tiebreak. His last round win against Anup Deshmukh was a perfect demonstration of what Sriram is so good at. Simple, purposeful and logical play. We have the game annotated for you, as well as impression, stories and videos from the event. Do not miss the end of the article for a discussion on the most number of wins tiebreak.
It was the last round of the Bhopal Open 2016. Srinath Rao was leading the event together with IM Anup Deshmukh on 8.0/9. Behind them was a pack of three players GM Sriram Jha, Ankit Gajwa and Anish Gandhi on 7.5/9. This was how the pairing looked in the last round.
| Srinath Rao (8.0) | Ankit Gajwa (7.5) |
| GM Sriram Jha (7.5) | IM Anup Deshmukh (8.0) |
| Anish Gandhi (7.5) | Chakravarthi Reddy (7.0) |
The first tiebreak was direct encounter and the second one was the most number of wins. In case there was a tie between Srinath Rao and Anup Deshmukh, the former would win as he had won their individual encounter.
The grandmaster from Delhi had some different intentions. Sriram played a super solid game with the white pieces, not giving Anup Deshmukh any sort of chances. He won the battle and moved to 8.5/10. On top board Srinath Rao drew his game against Ankit Gajwa. Rao also scored to 8.5/10. However, he had seven wins and three draws, Sriram Jha on the other hand had eight wins, one draw and a loss. As the third board between Anish Gandhi and Chakravarthi Reddy ended in a draw, Jha was adjudged as the champion of the 4th Bhopal Open.
a glittering trophy and a ChessBase 14
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.12.25"]
[Round "10"]
[White "Jha, Sriram"]
[Black "Deshmukh, Anup"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D43"]
[WhiteElo "2426"]
[BlackElo "2234"]
[Annotator "Sagar Shah"]
[PlyCount "59"]
fighting for the first, a draw would mean that he would be pushed back. Anup
Deshmukh was in good form, so it was not going to be an easy game.} 1. d4 Nf6
2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 c6 4. Nc3 d5 {Playing the Meran ensures a fighting game of
chess.} 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bxf6 {This is relatively the safer way to play.} (6. Bh4 {
leads to the dangerous lines of the Moscow Variation.} dxc4 7. e4 g5 8. Bg3 b5
{and so on.}) 6... Qxf6 7. Qb3 {Preparing e4 by taking control of the b4
square.} Qd8 (7... Nd7 8. e4 dxe4 9. Nxe4 Qf4 10. Bd3 e5 {is the modern
approach.} (10... Be7 {is the old line.}) 11. dxe5 Nxe5 12. Nxe5 Qxe5 13. O-O
Be7 14. Rfe1 O-O 15. Ng3 Qc7 $11 {0-1 (47) Belov,V (2614)-Anand,V (2803)
Berlin 2015}) 8. e4 dxe4 9. Nxe4 Qa5+ {Making three moves in a row with the
queen is not particularly a great idea.} 10. Nc3 Be7 11. Bd3 O-O 12. O-O Na6 $6
(12... Nd7 {attempting to break with c5 later or just going to f6 was much
better. N on a6 is not particularly useful.}) 13. Rad1 Rb8 14. Bb1 (14. a3 b5
15. Ne5 $16) 14... g6 {Black's kingside already starts looking a bit loose.}
15. Qc2 Bf6 16. Rfe1 {What I like tremendously about Sriram's play is logical
simplicity with which he has played. Developed and centralized all his pieces.}
Bg7 17. Ne5 c5 18. d5 $1 (18. Nxg6 $1 {was also strong.} fxg6 19. Qxg6 Rf6 20.
Qh7+ Kf8 21. dxc5 $18 {not the easiest positions to assess. But let's put it
this way, the bishop is going to g6, the knight to e4 and Black's army is
completely out of the game.}) 18... Nb4 (18... exd5 19. Nxg6 fxg6 20. Qxg6 Bf5
21. Bxf5 $18) 19. Qb3 exd5 20. cxd5 Bxe5 21. Rxe5 Bg4 22. f3 Qb6 23. Qc4 Bd7
24. a3 Rfe8 $5 {As always Anup is tricky. But his position is just bad.} (24...
Na6 25. Re7 $18) 25. f4 (25. Rxe8+ Rxe8 26. Ne4 Na6 27. Qc3 $18) 25... Na6 26.
d6 Rxe5 (26... Be6 27. Qe2) 27. fxe5 Qxb2 28. Bxg6 {Black's position falls
apart.} Be6 29. Bxf7+ $1 Bxf7 (29... Kxf7 30. Rf1+ $18) 30. e6 {A powerful
game by the grandmaster.} 1-0
After the event came to an end, we caught up with the winner and asked him about his decision to play in this event, the problem of double rounds, what are his future plans and also a thing or two about his wife Viji, whom he considers to be one of the most talented players he has ever seen.
The story of Srinath Rao is inspiring. The boy lives in Pune and has stopped his studies so that he can pursue his passion - chess. He plays all over India, trying to win prize money, so that he can sponsor his trips to Europe and foreign countries. It's this determination and dedication which makes him a winner in life.
IM Anup Deshmukh finished third and went home with Rs.30,000. Anup is a highly respected figure in Indian chess. He is two years older than Vishy Anand and the two have crossed swords on many occasions. Anup has also beaten Anand a few times. But, the thing that is most impressive about Deshmukh is his generosity. He has trained hundreds of talented players for absolutely no fees. They include players like Abhijeet Gupta, Parimarjan Negi, Swapnil Dhopade, and many others. You feel happy when such a selfless person plays well. And now the ever-optimistic Anup has a new aim. "A lot of people become grandmasters when they are young. I want to set an example by becoming a grandmaster after 50 years of age!" The IM from Nagpur who has just turned 49 has all our support!
Final Ranking after 10 Rounds
| Rk. | SNo | Name | FED | Rtg | Club/City | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | |
| 1 | 1 | GM | Sriram Jha | IND | 2426 | LIC | 8,5 | 0,0 | 8,0 | 63,5 |
| 2 | 5 | FM | Srinath Rao S.V. | IND | 2250 | MAH | 8,5 | 0,0 | 7,0 | 65,0 |
| 3 | 6 | IM | Deshmukh Anup | IND | 2234 | MAH | 8,0 | 0,0 | 8,0 | 66,5 |
| 4 | 12 | Mokal Amruta Sunil | IND | 2107 | MAH | 8,0 | 0,0 | 8,0 | 61,0 | |
| 5 | 4 | FM | Gajwa Ankit | IND | 2279 | Delhi | 8,0 | 0,0 | 7,0 | 66,0 |
| 6 | 16 | Aishwin Daniel | IND | 1966 | MP(Bhopal) | 8,0 | 0,0 | 7,0 | 58,0 | |
| 7 | 9 | Gandhi Anish | IND | 2167 | MAH | 8,0 | 0,0 | 6,0 | 67,0 | |
| 8 | 23 | Awadh Chaitanya | IND | 1833 | MP | 7,5 | 0,0 | 7,0 | 59,5 | |
| 9 | 20 | Anchit Vyas | IND | 1886 | MP | 7,5 | 0,0 | 7,0 | 59,0 | |
| 10 | 19 | Sudarshan Malga | IND | 1900 | MP | 7,5 | 0,0 | 7,0 | 57,5 | |
| 11 | 18 | Anuj Shrivatri | IND | 1960 | MP | 7,5 | 0,0 | 7,0 | 57,0 | |
| 12 | 36 | Saxena Anshul | IND | 1620 | MP(Bhopal) | 7,5 | 0,0 | 7,0 | 53,5 | |
| 13 | 11 | Tiwari Arjun | IND | 2146 | RAILWAY | 7,5 | 0,0 | 6,0 | 62,0 | |
| 14 | 7 | IM | Chakravarthi Reddy M | IND | 2230 | AP | 7,5 | 0,0 | 6,0 | 61,0 |
| 15 | 28 | Bandekar Aditya | IND | 1717 | MAH | 7,5 | 0,0 | 6,0 | 57,0 | |
| 16 | 21 | Mraduhas Tripathi | IND | 1868 | MP | 7,0 | 0,0 | 7,0 | 58,0 | |
| 17 | 31 | Prakash Yadav | IND | 1688 | MP | 7,0 | 0,0 | 7,0 | 57,5 | |
| 18 | 27 | Ayush Bhai Mehta | IND | 1719 | MP | 7,0 | 0,0 | 7,0 | 57,5 | |
| 19 | 67 | Malviya Mohit | IND | 1375 | MP(Bhopal) | 7,0 | 0,0 | 7,0 | 56,5 | |
| 20 | 34 | Devang Bisani | IND | 1656 | MP | 7,0 | 0,0 | 7,0 | 56,5 | |
| 21 | 41 | Sharma Varun | IND | 1558 | MP(Bhopal) | 7,0 | 0,0 | 7,0 | 56,0 | |
| 22 | 29 | Sikka Sumit | IND | 1708 | MP(Bhopal) | 7,0 | 0,0 | 7,0 | 54,5 | |
| 23 | 190 | Rishabh Jain | IND | 0 | MP | 7,0 | 0,0 | 6,0 | 59,0 | |
| 24 | 24 | Gupta Dinesh | IND | 1741 | MP | 7,0 | 0,0 | 6,0 | 58,5 | |
| 25 | 25 | Bhogal Rupesh | IND | 1732 | MAH | 7,0 | 0,0 | 6,0 | 57,0 | |
| 26 | 17 | Sakalle Abhisar | IND | 1963 | MP | 7,0 | 0,0 | 5,0 | 57,5 |
Most number of wins tiebreak
More and more tournaments are beginning to use the most number of wins tiebreak. In this tiebreak the player that has scored most number of wins finishes ahead of the player who has the same number of points but more draws. For example: If you have scored 8.0/10 with eight wins and two losses, your tiebreak is better than a person who has 6 wins and 4 draws. In the Bhopal Open, one player who was badly affected by this rule was Anish Gandhi.
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