61st National Championship R4: Raihaan Zahid stuns Lalit Rohit
The fourth round of 61st National Championship 2024 witnessed two major upsets. 12-year-old Raihaan Zahid (TEL) completely decimated GM Lalit Rohit (AP). The boy responded well to delayed Schilemann and launched a devastating attack on the kingside. Vignesh Advaith Vemula (TEL) scored the other upset against GM Abhijeet Gupta (PSPB). India's latest GM P Shyaam Nikhil held the second seed and the defending champion, GM Sethuraman S P (PSPB) to a draw. GM Venkatesh M R (PSPB) played beautiful chess to beat GM Pa Iniyan (TN). IM Viani Antonio Dcunha (KAR) missed a chance to beat the reigning Commonwealth champion, GM Mitrabha Guha (RSPB). Round 5 starts today at 3:30 p.m. IST. Photos: Himank Ghosh
Vignesh Advaith Vemula upsets Abhijeet Gupta, Venkatesh plays beautiful chess against Iniyan
Both Raihaan Zahid (TEL) and GM Venkatesh M R (PSPB) scored two beautiful wins. Their wins only slightly varied the intensity of their attacks on their respective opponent's kingside. GM Sankalp Gupta (MAH) scored the fastest win among the top ten boards against the former National Blitz champion, IM D K Sharma (LIC). Nine players are currently at 4/4. Raihaan is the sole untitled player among them. Former National Junior champion, Neelash Saha (RSPB) and Aronyak Ghosh (RSPB) are the only two IMs in the leaders' pack.
Sethuraman - Shyam
GM Sethuraman S P (PSPB, 2571) sacrificed an exchange against India's latest GM P Shyaam Nikhil (RSPB, 2442). White was unable to maintain his compensation and eventually ended up in a difficult endgame. Find out the correct plan for Black in the above position.
Venkatesh - Iniyan
GM Pa Iniyan (TN, 2547) played 13...Re8. Try to think like GM Venkatesh M R (PSPB, 2387) and find out the incredible move he executed. Only a human can find a beautiful move like this, not computers 14.Rxe7! Rxe7 15.Nb5 Nc5 was Black's best course of action. 15...Qb6? worsened things 16.Nxd6+- Rd7 17.Bxf7+ Rxf7 18.Qd5 Be6 19.Qxe6 White's moves are flowing naturally. He went on to win the game when Black blundered a mate in two moves.
Viani - Mitrabha
The reigning Commonwealth champion, GM Mitrabha Guha (RSPB, 2537) made a big positional mistake 25...Qf4?? Find out what his opponent, IM Viani Antonio Dcunha (KAR, 2378) missed. The game continued 26.g3 Qf3 27.Ra1 c5 and it ended in a draw in the next few moves after the position liquidated into an equal rook endgame.
Aronyak - Mukund
When it comes to the passed pawns, generally the closest to the promotion square are the ones that should be prioritized in getting rid of. In simple words, Mukund Hemant Agarwal (GUJ, 2115) needed to capture the c6-pawn immediately 36...Rxc6 37.Rxa7 Bc5 is one of the ways for Black to stay in the game. 36...a6? 37.c7!+- quickly gave IM Aronyak Ghosh (RSPB, 2535) a decisive advntage 37...Rxc7 38.Rxc7 Bxc7 39.Ke1 Ba5+ 40.Bd2 Bb6 41.Bc3 and White went on to win the game.
Raihaan - Lalit
12-year-old Raihaan Zahid (TEL, 2136) posed a difficult question to former National champion, GM Lalit Rohit (AP, 2494). 17...Bxf5? 18.exf5 e4 19.Rxe4 Bxc3 20.Rb1 Nf6 Black has certainly managed to save his knight at the cost of losing positional advantage. 21.Rc4 Be5 22.g5 Ng8 23.Qd3 Rae8 24.Rh4 h6 25.gxh6 gxh6 26.Bxh6 Black's kingside got obliterated and White won the game in another nine moves.
For more Round 4 photos, please click here.
Replay Round 4 games
Round 4 results
Standings after Round 4
| Rk. | SNo | Name | sex | FED | RtgI | Club/City | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | TB4 | TB5 | n | w | we | w-we | K | rtg+/- | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 16 | IM | Neelash, Saha | IND | 2470 | RLY | 4 | 9 | 12 | 12,00 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3,66 | 0,34 | 10 | 3,4 | |
| 2 | 7 | GM | Sankalp, Gupta | IND | 2546 | MAH | 4 | 9 | 11 | 11,00 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3,63 | 0,37 | 10 | 3,7 | |
| 3 | 15 | GM | Das, Sayantan | IND | 2491 | RLY | 4 | 9 | 10 | 10,00 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3,68 | 0,32 | 10 | 3,2 | |
| 4 | 1 | GM | Ganguly, Surya Shekhar | IND | 2583 | PSPB | 4 | 8,5 | 10,5 | 10,50 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3,45 | 0,55 | 10 | 5,5 | |
| 5 | 5 | GM | Karthik, Venkataraman | IND | 2568 | AP | 4 | 8 | 10,5 | 10,50 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3,59 | 0,41 | 10 | 4,1 | |
| 6 | 12 | GM | Sengupta, Deep | IND | 2516 | PSPB | 4 | 8 | 10 | 10,00 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3,60 | 0,40 | 10 | 4 | |
| 7 | 23 | GM | Venkatesh, M.R. | IND | 2387 | PSPB | 4 | 8 | 9,5 | 9,50 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3,05 | 0,95 | 10 | 9,5 | |
| 8 | 39 | Raihaan, Zahid | IND | 2136 | TEL | 4 | 7 | 9 | 9,00 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 2,69 | 1,31 | 40 | 52,4 | ||
| 9 | 9 | IM | Aronyak, Ghosh | IND | 2535 | RLY | 4 | 6,5 | 8 | 8,00 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3,68 | 0,32 | 10 | 3,2 | |
| 10 | 4 | GM | Ghosh, Diptayan | IND | 2568 | RLY | 3,5 | 9,5 | 12 | 10,25 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 3,5 | 3,44 | 0,06 | 10 | 0,6 | |
| 11 | 25 | IM | Viani, Antonio Dcunha | IND | 2378 | KAR | 3,5 | 9,5 | 11 | 9,25 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 3,5 | 3,05 | 0,45 | 10 | 4,5 | |
| 12 | 19 | GM | Swapnil, S. Dhopade | IND | 2433 | MAH | 3,5 | 9,5 | 10,5 | 8,75 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 3,5 | 3,08 | 0,42 | 10 | 4,2 | |
| 13 | 18 | IM | Shyaam, Nikhil P | IND | 2442 | RLY | 3,5 | 9 | 11 | 9,25 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 3,5 | 3,09 | 0,41 | 10 | 4,1 | |
| 14 | 3 | GM | Sethuraman, S.P. | IND | 2571 | PSPB | 3,5 | 9 | 10,5 | 8,75 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 3,5 | 3,43 | 0,07 | 10 | 0,7 | |
| 15 | 11 | GM | Visakh, N R | IND | 2517 | RLY | 3,5 | 8,5 | 10,5 | 9,00 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 3,5 | 3,68 | -0,18 | 10 | -1,8 | |
| 16 | 10 | GM | Vignesh, N R | IND | 2526 | RLY | 3,5 | 8 | 10 | 8,75 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 3,5 | 3,68 | -0,18 | 10 | -1,8 | |
| 17 | 8 | GM | Mitrabha, Guha | IND | 2537 | RLY | 3,5 | 8 | 9 | 7,25 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 3,5 | 3,47 | 0,03 | 10 | 0,3 | |
| 18 | 20 | GM | Deepan, Chakkravarthy J. | IND | 2423 | RLY | 3,5 | 7,5 | 9,5 | 8,25 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 3,5 | 3,66 | -0,16 | 10 | -1,6 | |
| 19 | 30 | GM | Sriram, Jha | IND | 2309 | LIC | 3,5 | 7,5 | 9 | 7,75 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 3,5 | 3,68 | -0,18 | 10 | -1,8 | |
| 20 | 22 | IM | Ajay, Karthikeyan | IND | 2401 | TN | 3,5 | 7,5 | 9 | 7,50 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 3,5 | 3,68 | -0,18 | 10 | -1,8 |
