Praggu, Nihal,Divya and Mrudul at the top
Eight rounds have finished at the World Cadets 2016. Four Indians are playing right at the top. They are Praggnanandhaa and Nihal Sarin in under-12 Open section and Nagpur girls Divya Deshmukh and Mrudul Dehankar in girls under-12 category. As three rounds remain, the tournament becomes extremely exciting. Apart from these four, a few more have the chance of securing a spot on the podium if they finish strongly. We have a brief report and also the live games page to follow these top four Indian players.
Eight rounds have finished at the World Cadets 2016 in Batumi, Georgia, and four Indians have an excellent chance of finishing with a medal. This is how our players stand right now.
Player overview for IND
| SNo | Name | Rtg | FED | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | Pts. | Rk. | Group | |
| 1 | IM | Praggnanandhaa R | 2442 | IND | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 7,0 | 1 | Open U12 |
| 5 | FM | Nihal Sarin | 2324 | IND | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 6,5 | 6 | Open U12 |
| 8 | Dhanush Bharadwaj | 2232 | IND | 1 | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4,5 | 42 | Open U12 | |
| 63 | CM | Karthik Kumar Pradeep | 1873 | IND | 1 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4,5 | 55 | Open U12 |
| 64 | CM | Kushagra Mohan | 1872 | IND | 1 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | 5,0 | 36 | Open U12 |
| 117 | Chiranjan Kumarr K S | 1339 | IND | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2,0 | 127 | Open U12 | |
| 5 | CM | Aditya Mittal | 2144 | IND | 1 | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5,5 | 21 | Open U10 |
| 6 | CM | Mendonca Leon Luke | 2133 | IND | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5,5 | 16 | Open U10 |
| 10 | Pranav V | 1994 | IND | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5,5 | 13 | Open U10 | |
| 77 | Hriday Dharmesh Sheth | 1491 | IND | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 4,0 | 81 | Open U10 | |
| 48 | Kadakia Veer | 1273 | IND | ½ | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4,5 | 42 | Open U08 | |
| 52 | Bhagat Kush | 1263 | IND | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 5,0 | 32 | Open U08 | |
| 60 | Vidit Jain | 1236 | IND | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5,0 | 30 | Open U08 | |
| 64 | Midilesh Ms | 1214 | IND | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5,0 | 31 | Open U08 | |
| 67 | Swayham P Das | 1198 | IND | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3,5 | 85 | Open U08 | |
| 77 | Aryan Surya S A | 1026 | IND | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | 0 | 2,5 | 122 | Open U08 | |
| 3 | Rakshitta Ravi | 2068 | IND | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5,0 | 22 | Girls U12 | |
| 16 | WFM | Divya Deshmukh | 1836 | IND | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 6,5 | 3 | Girls U12 |
| 19 | WCM | Mrudul Dehankar | 1809 | IND | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 6,5 | 4 | Girls U12 |
| 22 | Ananya Rishi Gupta | 1788 | IND | 1 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5,0 | 27 | Girls U12 | |
| 34 | Adane Narayani | 1688 | IND | 0 | ½ | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4,5 | 38 | Girls U12 | |
| 44 | WCM | Wankhade Sanskruti | 1344 | IND | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 5,5 | 19 | Girls U10 |
| 65 | Darsana M S | 1256 | IND | 1 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 4,5 | 31 | Girls U10 | |
| 67 | Vishwa Vasnawala | 1240 | IND | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 5,5 | 13 | Girls U10 | |
| 18 | WCM | Shefali A N | 1165 | IND | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4,0 | 43 | Girls U08 |
| 25 | Rout Yashita | 1105 | IND | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 4,5 | 30 | Girls U08 | |
| 30 | Valety Swetha | 1038 | IND | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4,0 | 44 | Girls U08 | |
| 33 | Falak Joni Naik | 1024 | IND | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 5,0 | 28 | Girls U08 |
Praggnanandhaa is still on the number one spot in the boys under-12. However, he is now joined by Nikhil Kumar of United States. The two will face each other today.
Praggnanandhaa played a lacklustre opening against Vincent Keymer in the eighth round. He lost a pawn and was very much on the backfoot. But somehow managed to save himself.
[Event "World Cadets Championship U12B"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.10.27"]
[Round "8.1"]
[White "Praggnanandhaa, R."]
[Black "Keymer, Vincent"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A06"]
[WhiteElo "2442"]
[BlackElo "2402"]
[PlyCount "100"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 c6 3. Bg2 Bg4 4. d3 Nd7 5. O-O Ngf6 6. Qe1 e5 7. e4 dxe4 8.
dxe4 Bc5 9. h3 Bh5 10. Nbd2 O-O 11. Nh4 Re8 12. a4 Bf8 13. Bf3 Bxf3 14. Nhxf3
a5 15. Qe2 Qc8 16. b3 b5 17. Bb2 Qb7 18. Rfd1 Bb4 19. Ra2 Bxd2 20. Rxd2 Nc5 21.
Rd1 Nfxe4 22. Qe3 f6 23. Raa1 b4 24. Nh4 Qa7 25. Nf5 Ng5 26. h4 Nf7 27. h5 Ne6
28. Qe4 Qc5 29. Rd7 Rad8 30. Rad1 Neg5 31. Qe2 e4 32. Nh4 Rxd7 33. Rxd7 Rd8 34.
Qd2 Ne6 35. h6 Rxd7 36. Qxd7 Nf8 37. Qg4 Nxh6 38. Qxe4 Qd6 39. Nf3 Nf7 40. Nd4
Nd8 41. Nf5 Qd7 42. Bd4 Nfe6 43. Bb6 g6 44. Ne3 Nb7 45. Nc4 Ng5 46. Qe2 Qd5 47.
Qe8+ Kg7 48. Qe7+ Kg8 49. Qe8+ Kg7 50. Qe7+ Kg8 1/2-1/2
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.10.27"]
[Round "8.1"]
[White "Praggnanandhaa, R."]
[Black "Keymer, Vincent"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A06"]
[WhiteElo "2442"]
[BlackElo "2402"]
[PlyCount "100"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 c6 3. Bg2 Bg4 4. d3 Nd7 5. O-O Ngf6 6. Qe1 e5 7. e4 dxe4 8.
dxe4 Bc5 9. h3 Bh5 10. Nbd2 O-O 11. Nh4 Re8 12. a4 Bf8 13. Bf3 Bxf3 14. Nhxf3
a5 15. Qe2 Qc8 16. b3 b5 17. Bb2 Qb7 18. Rfd1 Bb4 19. Ra2 Bxd2 20. Rxd2 Nc5 21.
Rd1 Nfxe4 22. Qe3 f6 23. Raa1 b4 24. Nh4 Qa7 25. Nf5 Ng5 26. h4 Nf7 27. h5 Ne6
28. Qe4 Qc5 29. Rd7 Rad8 30. Rad1 Neg5 31. Qe2 e4 32. Nh4 Rxd7 33. Rxd7 Rd8 34.
Qd2 Ne6 35. h6 Rxd7 36. Qxd7 Nf8 37. Qg4 Nxh6 38. Qxe4 Qd6 39. Nf3 Nf7 40. Nd4
Nd8 41. Nf5 Qd7 42. Bd4 Nfe6 43. Bb6 g6 44. Ne3 Nb7 45. Nc4 Ng5 46. Qe2 Qd5 47.
Qe8+ Kg7 48. Qe7+ Kg8 49. Qe8+ Kg7 50. Qe7+ Kg8 1/2-1/2
The battle between two future world class players ended in a draw!
While Praggnanadhaa is on 7.0/8, the other Indian prodigy Nihal Sarin (right) is just a step behind him at 6.5/8. Nihal faces Vincent Keymer today.
Nihal displayed excellent defensive capablities in his eighth round game against Andrew Hong. Sarin had sacrificed a pawn in the opening and hoped for decent compensation. However, his opponent played well and Nihal had to give everything he had to eke out a draw.
[Event "World Cadets Championship U12B"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.10.27"]
[Round "8.2"]
[White "Nihal, Sarin"]
[Black "Hong, Andrew Z"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "E04"]
[WhiteElo "2324"]
[BlackElo "2296"]
[PlyCount "258"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. c4 e6 4. g3 dxc4 5. Bg2 Bb4+ 6. Bd2 a5 7. Qc2 Bxd2+ 8.
Nbxd2 b5 9. a4 c6 10. b3 cxb3 11. Nxb3 O-O 12. O-O Ba6 13. Rfb1 bxa4 14. Nc5
Bb5 15. Nxa4 Na6 16. Nc3 Nb4 17. Qd2 Qe7 18. Ne5 Nfd5 19. e4 Nb6 20. Nxb5 cxb5
21. Bf1 Qb7 22. Bxb5 Qxe4 23. Rc1 Rad8 24. Nc6 Nxc6 25. Bxc6 Qxd4 26. Qxd4 Rxd4
27. Rxa5 g6 28. Kg2 Kg7 29. Rb5 Nc4 30. Rc5 Nd6 31. h4 h5 32. Bf3 Rb8 33. Rd1
Rxd1 34. Bxd1 Rb2 35. Bf3 Kf6 36. Kg1 Nf5 37. Ra5 Nd4 38. Kg2 Nc2 39. Kg1 Rb1+
40. Kh2 Nd4 41. Kg2 Rb2 42. Ra4 Rd2 43. Rb4 Nc2 44. Rb1 Ne3+ 45. Kg1 Nc4 46.
Re1 Ne5 47. Be2 Nc6 48. Bf3 Nd4 49. Kg2 Ke7 50. Rb1 Nc2 51. Rb7+ Kf6 52. Rb1
Ne3+ 53. Kg1 Nf5 54. Ra1 Nd4 55. Kg2 Nb5 56. Rc1 Na3 57. Ra1 Nc4 58. Re1 Nb2
59. Be2 Na4 60. Ra1 Nc5 61. Re1 Ke7 62. Kf1 Kf6 63. Kg2 e5 64. Rc1 Ne4 65. Kf1
Nd6 66. Rc5 e4 67. g4 hxg4 68. Bxg4 Kg7 69. h5 f5 70. Bh3 Kh6 71. hxg6 Kxg6 72.
Ke1 Rd3 73. Bf1 Rd4 74. Ke2 Kg5 75. f3 Kf4 76. fxe4 fxe4 77. Bg2 Nf5 78. Bxe4
Ng3+ 79. Ke1 Nxe4 80. Ra5 Rd3 81. Ke2 Rd2+ 82. Ke1 Rh2 83. Kd1 Ke3 84. Ra8 Nc3+
85. Kc1 Nb5 86. Ra5 Nd4 87. Ra3+ Ke4 88. Kd1 Nc2 89. Ra8 Kd3 90. Rd8+ Nd4 91.
Ke1 Rh6 92. Kf2 Rf6+ 93. Kg3 Ke4 94. Re8+ Ne6 95. Ra8 Rf3+ 96. Kg4 Rf1 97. Kg3
Rg1+ 98. Kf2 Rg4 99. Re8 Rg6 100. Ra8 Rf6+ 101. Kg3 Kf5 102. Kf3 Rf7 103. Ra5+
Kf6 104. Ke3 Rh7 105. Ke4 Rh4+ 106. Ke3 Nc7 107. Rc5 Ne8 108. Ra5 Nd6 109. Ra6
Ke6 110. Kd3 Kd5 111. Ra5+ Kc6 112. Ra6+ Kc5 113. Ra5+ Nb5 114. Ra8 Kd5 115.
Rd8+ Nd6 116. Ke3 Ke5 117. Ra8 Rh3+ 118. Ke2 Nc4 119. Re8+ Kd4 120. Rd8+ Ke4
121. Re8+ Ne5 122. Kd2 Rh2+ 123. Kc3 Re2 124. Ra8 Re3+ 125. Kb4 Kd5 126. Rd8+
Kc6 127. Rc8+ Kb7 128. Rh8 Kb6 129. Rh6+ Nc6+ 1/2-1/2
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.10.27"]
[Round "8.2"]
[White "Nihal, Sarin"]
[Black "Hong, Andrew Z"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "E04"]
[WhiteElo "2324"]
[BlackElo "2296"]
[PlyCount "258"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. c4 e6 4. g3 dxc4 5. Bg2 Bb4+ 6. Bd2 a5 7. Qc2 Bxd2+ 8.
Nbxd2 b5 9. a4 c6 10. b3 cxb3 11. Nxb3 O-O 12. O-O Ba6 13. Rfb1 bxa4 14. Nc5
Bb5 15. Nxa4 Na6 16. Nc3 Nb4 17. Qd2 Qe7 18. Ne5 Nfd5 19. e4 Nb6 20. Nxb5 cxb5
21. Bf1 Qb7 22. Bxb5 Qxe4 23. Rc1 Rad8 24. Nc6 Nxc6 25. Bxc6 Qxd4 26. Qxd4 Rxd4
27. Rxa5 g6 28. Kg2 Kg7 29. Rb5 Nc4 30. Rc5 Nd6 31. h4 h5 32. Bf3 Rb8 33. Rd1
Rxd1 34. Bxd1 Rb2 35. Bf3 Kf6 36. Kg1 Nf5 37. Ra5 Nd4 38. Kg2 Nc2 39. Kg1 Rb1+
40. Kh2 Nd4 41. Kg2 Rb2 42. Ra4 Rd2 43. Rb4 Nc2 44. Rb1 Ne3+ 45. Kg1 Nc4 46.
Re1 Ne5 47. Be2 Nc6 48. Bf3 Nd4 49. Kg2 Ke7 50. Rb1 Nc2 51. Rb7+ Kf6 52. Rb1
Ne3+ 53. Kg1 Nf5 54. Ra1 Nd4 55. Kg2 Nb5 56. Rc1 Na3 57. Ra1 Nc4 58. Re1 Nb2
59. Be2 Na4 60. Ra1 Nc5 61. Re1 Ke7 62. Kf1 Kf6 63. Kg2 e5 64. Rc1 Ne4 65. Kf1
Nd6 66. Rc5 e4 67. g4 hxg4 68. Bxg4 Kg7 69. h5 f5 70. Bh3 Kh6 71. hxg6 Kxg6 72.
Ke1 Rd3 73. Bf1 Rd4 74. Ke2 Kg5 75. f3 Kf4 76. fxe4 fxe4 77. Bg2 Nf5 78. Bxe4
Ng3+ 79. Ke1 Nxe4 80. Ra5 Rd3 81. Ke2 Rd2+ 82. Ke1 Rh2 83. Kd1 Ke3 84. Ra8 Nc3+
85. Kc1 Nb5 86. Ra5 Nd4 87. Ra3+ Ke4 88. Kd1 Nc2 89. Ra8 Kd3 90. Rd8+ Nd4 91.
Ke1 Rh6 92. Kf2 Rf6+ 93. Kg3 Ke4 94. Re8+ Ne6 95. Ra8 Rf3+ 96. Kg4 Rf1 97. Kg3
Rg1+ 98. Kf2 Rg4 99. Re8 Rg6 100. Ra8 Rf6+ 101. Kg3 Kf5 102. Kf3 Rf7 103. Ra5+
Kf6 104. Ke3 Rh7 105. Ke4 Rh4+ 106. Ke3 Nc7 107. Rc5 Ne8 108. Ra5 Nd6 109. Ra6
Ke6 110. Kd3 Kd5 111. Ra5+ Kc6 112. Ra6+ Kc5 113. Ra5+ Nb5 114. Ra8 Kd5 115.
Rd8+ Nd6 116. Ke3 Ke5 117. Ra8 Rh3+ 118. Ke2 Nc4 119. Re8+ Kd4 120. Rd8+ Ke4
121. Re8+ Ne5 122. Kd2 Rh2+ 123. Kc3 Re2 124. Ra8 Re3+ 125. Kb4 Kd5 126. Rd8+
Kc6 127. Rc8+ Kb7 128. Rh8 Kb6 129. Rh6+ Nc6+ 1/2-1/2
In girls under 12 it's the duo from Nagpur who are keeping the Indian flag flying high.
Divya Deshmukh played a fine game to get the better of Mariyam Mkrchtyan. With 6.5/8 she is in the third spot.
Mariyam has just played her rook to d3. How did Divya respond. Black to play.
Divya played the fine move ...Kg7! Now her threat is unstoppable - to play the rook to c8 and down to c2.
[Event "World Cadets Championship U12G"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.10.27"]
[Round "8.4"]
[White "Mkrtchyan, Mariam"]
[Black "Divya, Deshmukh"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D78"]
[WhiteElo "1785"]
[BlackElo "1836"]
[PlyCount "70"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. g3 g6 3. Bg2 d5 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. O-O O-O 6. c4 c6 7. Nc3 dxc4 8. Ne5
Ng4 9. Nxg4 Bxg4 10. h3 Be6 11. e3 Nd7 12. Qe2 Nb6 13. Rd1 Qc8 14. Kh2 Rd8 15.
a3 a5 16. Bd2 Qc7 17. Rac1 h5 18. f4 c5 19. dxc5 Qxc5 20. Bxb7 Rab8 21. Bg2 Qc8
22. Be1 Nd7 23. Nd5 Bxd5 24. Rxd5 e6 25. Rxa5 Rxb2 26. Qxc4 Qb7 27. Qc6 Qb3 28.
Bc3 Bxc3 29. Rxc3 Qa2 30. Rd3 {[%cal Gc3d3]} Kg7 31. Rd4 Rc8 32. Qf3 Rcc2 33.
Rxd7 Rxg2+ 34. Kh1 Rh2+ 35. Kg1 Rbg2+ 0-1
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.10.27"]
[Round "8.4"]
[White "Mkrtchyan, Mariam"]
[Black "Divya, Deshmukh"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D78"]
[WhiteElo "1785"]
[BlackElo "1836"]
[PlyCount "70"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. g3 g6 3. Bg2 d5 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. O-O O-O 6. c4 c6 7. Nc3 dxc4 8. Ne5
Ng4 9. Nxg4 Bxg4 10. h3 Be6 11. e3 Nd7 12. Qe2 Nb6 13. Rd1 Qc8 14. Kh2 Rd8 15.
a3 a5 16. Bd2 Qc7 17. Rac1 h5 18. f4 c5 19. dxc5 Qxc5 20. Bxb7 Rab8 21. Bg2 Qc8
22. Be1 Nd7 23. Nd5 Bxd5 24. Rxd5 e6 25. Rxa5 Rxb2 26. Qxc4 Qb7 27. Qc6 Qb3 28.
Bc3 Bxc3 29. Rxc3 Qa2 30. Rd3 {[%cal Gc3d3]} Kg7 31. Rd4 Rc8 32. Qf3 Rcc2 33.
Rxd7 Rxg2+ 34. Kh1 Rh2+ 35. Kg1 Rbg2+ 0-1
Mrudul Dehankar played excellent chess to draw against the top seed Bibisara Assaubayeva, who was rated 500 points above her. Mrudul is now in the fourth spot.
[Event "World Cadets Championship U12G"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.10.27"]
[Round "8.1"]
[White "Assaubayeva, Bibisara"]
[Black "Mrudul, Dehankar"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D70"]
[WhiteElo "2287"]
[BlackElo "1809"]
[PlyCount "69"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. f3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nb6 6. Nc3 Bg7 7. Be3 O-O 8. Qd2
Nc6 9. O-O-O f5 10. e5 Nb4 11. Kb1 Be6 12. Nh3 Qd7 13. Nf4 Bf7 14. h4 Rfd8 15.
g4 fxg4 16. fxg4 Na4 17. b3 Nxc3+ 18. Qxc3 Nd5 19. Nxd5 Bxd5 20. Bc4 b5 21.
Bxd5+ Qxd5 22. Bg5 Rd7 23. Rhe1 c6 24. e6 Rd6 25. Qc5 Bxd4 26. Qxd5 Rxd5 27.
Bxe7 Re8 28. Bg5 Kg7 29. Bc1 a5 30. g5 c5 31. Bb2 Rd6 32. Bxd4+ cxd4 33. Re5
Rexe6 34. Rxe6 Rxe6 35. Rxd4 1/2-1/2
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.10.27"]
[Round "8.1"]
[White "Assaubayeva, Bibisara"]
[Black "Mrudul, Dehankar"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D70"]
[WhiteElo "2287"]
[BlackElo "1809"]
[PlyCount "69"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. f3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nb6 6. Nc3 Bg7 7. Be3 O-O 8. Qd2
Nc6 9. O-O-O f5 10. e5 Nb4 11. Kb1 Be6 12. Nh3 Qd7 13. Nf4 Bf7 14. h4 Rfd8 15.
g4 fxg4 16. fxg4 Na4 17. b3 Nxc3+ 18. Qxc3 Nd5 19. Nxd5 Bxd5 20. Bc4 b5 21.
Bxd5+ Qxd5 22. Bg5 Rd7 23. Rhe1 c6 24. e6 Rd6 25. Qc5 Bxd4 26. Qxd5 Rxd5 27.
Bxe7 Re8 28. Bg5 Kg7 29. Bc1 a5 30. g5 c5 31. Bb2 Rd6 32. Bxd4+ cxd4 33. Re5
Rexe6 34. Rxe6 Rxe6 35. Rxd4 1/2-1/2
Praggnanandhaa, Nihal, Divya and Mrudul have the best chance of winning medals for India. Others who are within striking distance and need a powerful show in last three rounds are V.Pranav and Leon Mendonca in under 10 boys and Vishwa Vasnawala and Sanskruti Wankhede in girls under 10.