60th National Championship 2023 R1-2: Balkishan upsets P Karthikeyan

by Shahid Ahmed - 18/08/2023

12-year-old Mitul K H (KAR) gave a massive scare to GM Surya Sekhar Ganguly (PSPB) in the first round of 60th National Chess Championship 2023. The kid got himself a huge decisive advantage against the six-time consecutive National champion. However, he was unable to make the most out of his opportunity. Similarly, in the second roundk, Ajay Kumar Rai (DASCB) got himself a substantial advantage against the top seed, GM Abhijeet Gupta (PSPB). However, he misplayed and blundered a piece to lose the game. Balkishan Anand (KAR) scored the first big upset of the tournament as he defeated GM P Karthikeyan (RSPB). Round 3 starts today at 3 p.m. IST. Photos: Siddhant Mahajan

Mitul and Ajay Kumar Rai cause a big scare to Ganguly and Abhijeet

The defending champion, GM Karthik Venkataraman is not taking part in this event. After his fantastic stint at the FIDE World Cup 2023, he is now seen in action at the 29th Abu Dhabi Masters 2023. Thus, a new champion is guaranteed to be crowned. The total prize fund of the tournament is ₹3000000. The top three prizes are ₹600000, ₹500000 and ₹400000 each.

Ajay Kumar Rai (DASCB) played fantastic against GM Abhijeet Gupta (PSPB)

Mitul - Surya, Round 1

Position after 20...fxe5

Mitul K H (1688) gave the six-time consecutive National champion, GM Surya Sekhar Ganguly (2583) a massive scare. 20...fxe5 allowed White to go 21.Nb5 Qd8 22.Nxa7+ Kb8 23.Nxc6+ Bxc6 24.Qxe5+ Kc8 25.Bb5 Qf6 26.Bxc6? Qxe5+ 27.fxe5 bxc6 and Black managed to avert disaster. Instead of trading bishops, White needed to retreat his bishop back 25.Bd3 Rxg2 26.Kf1 would have maintained the substantial advantage for White.

Mitul K H was very close to creating a major upset in the first round

Ajay Kumar Rai- Abhijeet Gupta, Round 2

Position after 45...Rf8

Ajay Kumar Rai (1890) got himself a fantastic position against GM Abhijeet Gupta (2625). White had a firm grip. All he needed to do was not rush. 46.Nxc5 is a flashy move which does not contribute anything to White's position. Instead, it allows his opponent to get back in the game. Since Black is aiming for Rxf3, 46.Kf2 is a viable choice. 46.Nxc5 Qc8 47.Ra7 Rf7 48.a5 e4 49.Qe3?? White lost the knight for nothing and eventually the game too.

Some notable results

Round 1

IM Aronyak Ghosh (RSPB) - Ashvin K Makwana (AICFB): 0.5-0.5

IM P Shyam Nikhil (RSPB) - Pranay Akula (TEL): 0.5-0.5

IM Sidhant Mohapatra (RSPB) - Shubhi Gupta (UP): 0.5-0.5

Nyna Gorli (AP) - GM Laxman R R (RSPB): 0.5-0.5

Round 2

Md. Reyan (BIH) - GM Vishnu Prasanna V (TN): 0.5-0.5

Balkishan A (KAR) - GM P Karthikeyan (RSPB): 1-0

Rebecca Jesumarian (TN) - GM Sriram Jha (LIC): 0.5-0.5

Tanmay Rajbongshi (ASM) - IM D K Sharma (LIC): 0.5-0.5

Nirnay Garg (HAR) - IM Anup Deshmukh (MAH): 1-0

Lalitaditaayyanar Boominathan (MAH) - WGM Kiran Manisha Mohanty (LIC): 0.5-0.5

Saharsha Challa (TEL) - IM Sidhant Mohapatra (RSPB): 0.5-0.5

Video Gallery

Inauguration Ceremony | Video: Maharashtra Chess Association

Interview with GM Abhimanyu Puranik | Video: Maharashtra Chess Association

Interview with Bharat Singh Chauhan | Video: Maharashtra Chess Association

A total of 352 players including 18 GMs, 17 IMs and a WGM are taking part in this tournament from various states across the country. The eleven-round Swiss League Rating tournament is taking place at Boxing Hall, Shri Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex in Pune, Maharashtra from 16th to 26th August 2023. The time control of the event is 90 minutes for 40 moves followed by 30 minutes with an increment of 30 seconds from move no.1

Replay Round 1-2 games

Round 2 results

Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	Club/City	No.	PGN
1	97		Ajay, Kumar Rai	1890	DASCB	1	0 - 1	1	GM	Gupta, Abhijeet	2625	PSPB	1	PGN
2	2	GM	Puranik, Abhimanyu	2611	AAI	1	1 - 0	1	CM	Ebenezer, Joseph	1866	TN	101	PGN
3	100		Swayham, P Das	1867	GUJ	1	0 - 1	1	GM	Sethuraman, S.P.	2591	PSPB	3	PGN
4	4	GM	Ganguly, Surya Shekhar	2583	PSPB	1	+ - -	1		Aditya, P Melani	1851	GUJ	103
5	104		Shadhursshaan, R	1848	TN	1	0 - 1	1	GM	Ghosh, Diptayan	2568	WB	5	PGN
6	6	GM	Visakh, N R	2540	RSPB	1	1 - 0	1		Sharnarthi, Viresh	1848	MAH	105	PGN
7	8	GM	Mitrabha, Guha	2505	WB	1	1 - 0	1	AGM	Sparsh, Khandelwal	1844	CHAT	107	PGN
8	106		Devesh, Anand Naik	1846	GOA	1	0 - 1	1	GM	Iniyan, P	2502	TN	9	PGN
9	10	GM	Vignesh, N R	2501	RSPB	1	1 - 0	1		Aakash, G	1833	TN	109	PGN
10	108		Patil, Priyanshu	1835	MAH	1	0 - 1	1	GM	Das, Sayantan	2489	RSPB	11	PGN
11	12	GM	Sengupta, Deep	2474	PSPB	1	1 - 0	1		Awadh, Chaitanya	1823	MP	113	PGN
12	14	GM	Akash, G	2456	TN	1	1 - 0	1		Pradeep, Tiwari	1814	DASCB	115	PGN
13	110		Madhvendra, Pratap Sharma	1833	MP	1	0 - 1	1	GM	Deepan, Chakkravarthy J.	2446	RSPB	15	PGN
14	16	IM	Neelash, Saha	2435	RSPB	1	1 - 0	1	WFM	Potluri, Supreetha	1810	AP	117	PGN
15	112		Rupam, Mukherjee	1827	WB	1	0 - 1	1	GM	Venkatesh, M.R.	2434	PSPB	17	PGN
16	18	IM	Anuj, Shrivatri	2420	MP	1	1 - 0	1		Majumder, Shrayan	1807	MAH	119	PGN
17	20	IM	Das, Arghyadip	2413	RSPB	1	+ - -	1		Sushanth, Kamabathula	1802	TEL	121
18	114		Reyan, Md.	1818	BIH	1	½ - ½	1	GM	Vishnu, Prasanna. V	2411	TN	21	PGN
19	22	IM	Srihari, L R	2407	TN	1	1 - 0	1		Sarvade, Mihiir	1795	MAH	123	PGN
20	116		Priansh, Das	1813	ODI	1	0 - 1	1	IM	Krishna, C R G	2405	RSPB	23	PGN

Details

Standings after Round 2

Rk.	SNo		Name	sex	FED	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB4	TB5
1	1	GM	Gupta, Abhijeet		IND	2625	PSPB	2	1	2	2,00	0	2
	2	GM	Puranik, Abhimanyu		IND	2611	AAI	2	1	2	2,00	0	2
	3	GM	Sethuraman, S.P.		IND	2591	PSPB	2	1	2	2,00	0	2
	4	GM	Ganguly, Surya Shekhar		IND	2583	PSPB	2	1	2	2,00	0	2
	6	GM	Visakh, N R		IND	2540	RSPB	2	1	2	2,00	0	2
	9	GM	Iniyan, P		IND	2502	TN	2	1	2	2,00	0	2
	10	GM	Vignesh, N R		IND	2501	RSPB	2	1	2	2,00	0	2
	12	GM	Sengupta, Deep		IND	2474	PSPB	2	1	2	2,00	0	2
	15	GM	Deepan, Chakkravarthy J.		IND	2446	RSPB	2	1	2	2,00	0	2
	17	GM	Venkatesh, M.R.		IND	2434	PSPB	2	1	2	2,00	0	2
	18	IM	Anuj, Shrivatri		IND	2420	MP	2	1	2	2,00	0	2
	23	IM	Krishna, C R G		IND	2405	RSPB	2	1	2	2,00	0	2
	24	IM	Nitin, S.		IND	2386	RSPB	2	1	2	2,00	0	2
	25	IM	Mehar, Chinna Reddy C.H.		IND	2384	RSPB	2	1	2	2,00	0	2
	26	CM	Soham, Kamotra		IND	2381	J&K	2	1	2	2,00	0	2
	27		Sahoo, Utkal Ranjan		IND	2367	ODI	2	1	2	2,00	0	2
	33	IM	Konguvel, Ponnuswamy		IND	2250	PSPB	2	1	2	2,00	0	2
	34		Srihari, L		IND	2236	PUD	2	1	2	2,00	0	2
	43	IM	Praveen, Kumar C		IND	2167	TN	2	1	2	2,00	0	2
	48	FM	Dhananjay, S		IND	2133	CHAT	2	1	2	2,00	0	2

Details

Round 3 pairings

Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	Club/City	No.
1	1	GM	Gupta, Abhijeet	2625	PSPB	2		2	FM	Dhananjay, S	2133	CHAT	48
2	49		Thanki, Hemal Karsanji	2128	BSNL	2		2	GM	Puranik, Abhimanyu	2611	AAI	2
3	3	GM	Sethuraman, S.P.	2591	PSPB	2		2	CM	John, Veny Akkarakaran	2127	KER	50
4	4	GM	Ganguly, Surya Shekhar	2583	PSPB	2		2		Apoorv, Kamble	2082	KAR	52
5	5	GM	Ghosh, Diptayan	2568	WB	2		2		Vignesh, Advaith Vemula	2018	TEL	62
6	55	CM	Nagare, Kaivalya Sandip	2071	MAH	2		2	GM	Visakh, N R	2540	RSPB	6
7	61		Pattnayak, Nilsu	2020	ODI	2		2	GM	Mitrabha, Guha	2505	WB	8
8	9	GM	Iniyan, P	2502	TN	2		2		Ambarish, Sharma	1993	WB	68
9	65		Bharadia, Yash	1997	RAJ	2		2	GM	Vignesh, N R	2501	RSPB	10
10	11	GM	Das, Sayantan	2489	RSPB	2		2	AFM	Pawar, Harshit	1970	DEL	72
11	75		Lad, Mandar Pradip	1954	GOA	2		2	GM	Sengupta, Deep	2474	PSPB	12
12	76		Anup, Shankar R	1951	TN	2		2	GM	Akash, G	2456	TN	14
13	15	GM	Deepan, Chakkravarthy J.	2446	RSPB	2		2		Ram, S. Krishnan	1941	BSNL	82
14	87		Bhosale, Shriraj	1930	MAH	2		2	IM	Neelash, Saha	2435	RSPB	16
15	17	GM	Venkatesh, M.R.	2434	PSPB	2		2		Mehta, Naitik R	1931	GUJ	86
16	89		Tripathy, B C	1930	JHAR	2		2	IM	Anuj, Shrivatri	2420	MP	18
17	20	IM	Das, Arghyadip	2413	RSPB	2		2	FM	Ramakrishna, J.	1922	TEL	92
18	91		Kartik, Kumar Singh	1925	MAH	2		2	IM	Srihari, L R	2407	TN	22
19	23	IM	Krishna, C R G	2405	RSPB	2		2		Jani, Kushal R	1913	GUJ	94
20	93		Umashankar, A	1920	PUD	2		2	IM	Nitin, S.	2386	RSPB	24

Details

Links

Tournament Details

Maharashtra Chess Association

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