Delhi 2018 Round 5+6: Indian, Azerbaijani and Bangladeshi GM lead!

by Sagar Shah - 13/01/2018

The Delhi International 2018 is poised for a super finish! After six rounds we have three leaders - one Azeri, one Bangladeshi and one Indian! Arkadij Naiditsch, Ziaur Rahman and Karthikeyan Murali are on 5.5/6. In this report we look at both the games of these three players. We analyze them to understand how were they able to outplay their strong opponents. We also have a detailed coverage of the B-section which ended today. It was won by Subhra Saha of Kolkata and he took back Rs.2,51,000. He plans to buy a Royal Enfield! Report with excellent photography by Niklesh Jain.

Video report Round 5+6:

Bangladesh's evergreen:

Just like Vishy Anand never ceases to surprise us, the same is the case with Bangladesh's Ziaur Rahman. He has been the top player of Bangladesh for many years. Recently he has shed a lot of rating points, but that does not mean that he can be taken lightly. When inspired, Ziaur Rahman can come up with some of his best chess, as he is doing at the 16th Delhi International 2018. He beat GM Tran Tuan Minh in round 4, followed by GM Farrukh Amonatov in round 5.

Clearing the battlefield before the war begins! | Photo: Niklesh Jain

The game between Amonatov and Ziaur was decided by a blunder by the 2600+ GM. In a position that was quite interesting, Farrukh's mind simply switched off and he blundered a full piece!

Ziaur Rahman had just got his bishop back to e8. Rde2 was necessary with an even position. But Farrukh played Rxe5 here. Can you see how to win?

After exchanging some pleasantries in Bengali, Ziaur Rahman and Deep Sengupta got down to business | Photo: Niklesh Jain

Deep's one reckless move was enough to put him into grave trouble right out of the opening. Ziaur Rahman could have really put a lot of pressure on his opponent, but as he said after the game, playing against three GMs in three rounds had become too strenuous. And so instead of pushing hard, he made a benign move and the game ended in a draw.

An interview with Ziaur Rahman - "I am happy if my son and students perform well at chess!"

The 2700+ GM!

What does it feel like to be the only 2700+ GM in the playing hall? Ask Arkadij Naiditsch. It is not at all easy and everyone is after your blood. Especially if you are facing ambitious and dangerous players like GM Deepan Chakkravarthy.

Deepan had the Azeri GM on the mat. However, he was not able to finish him off. | Photo: Niklesh Jain

Naiditsch took on Vaibhav Suri in the sixth round | Photo: Niklesh Jain

Once Naiditsch had the win over Deepan in the bag, he played a flawless game against Vaibhav Suri with the white pieces to move to 5.5/6 and join Ziaur Rahman at the top.

The Indian hope:

The third leader of the event Karthikeyan Murali | Photo: Niklesh Jain

Usually at such International Opens, it's the international players who take away all the goodies. But Karthikeyan Murali is here to ensure that Indians get their due! In the fifth round he launched a great attack against the talented Arjun Erigaisi's king.

White to play. Can you launch an attack like Karthikeyan does? How do you start?

After his win over Arjun, Karthikeyan played with the white pieces again and got an even position out of the opening against Himal Gusain. But later he managed to weave some of his magic in the rook endgame and scored the full point. Have a look at this instructive game:

Marat Dzhumaev's birthday was celebrated in style by the organizers. This is the 13th time that the Uzbek GM is celebrating his birthday at the Delhi International 2018. | Photo: Niklesh Jain

WIM Angela Franco, who has travelled all the way from Colombia, is playing a fine tournament. She beat Rahul Sangma in the fourth round and then Shailesh Dravid in the sixth | Photo: Amruta Mokal

Travelling 55 hours from Colombia to India - Interview with Angela Franco in Spanish

David Llada is mesmerising the crowd at the Delhi International with his sublime photography! Here is one of his pictures that we like a lot: | Photo: Niklesh Jain

ChessBase India's co-founder and Creative Head Amruta Mokal | Photo: David Llada

A few words must be said about the man in the picture above - Anandh Babu. He has been travelling from one tournament to the next right from the World Youth Olympiad 2017. He makes sure that all the games are shown live. Often there are insurmountable technical difficulties, but Anandh always has a solution. The games that you can see on ChessBase live, Follow Chess, as well as Official websites, is thanks to his efforts. He is truly powering chess in India. Without the live games, no one would be able to follow the tournament. It's been nearly one and a half month and he is away from his wife and young son. Of course, he misses them, but right now the family has to wait. After this tournament, Anandh will finally go to his hometown in Chennai.

In what was one of the biggest upsets of the tournament, IM Himal Gusain beat Commonwealth Champion Abhijeet Gupta | Photo: Niklesh Jain

As intense as it can get! | Photo: Amruta Mokal

Results Round 5

Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.
1	2	GM	Amonatov Farrukh	2636	3½	0 - 1	4	GM	Rahman Ziaur	2472	23
2	22	GM	Deepan Chakkravarthy J.	2475	3½	0 - 1	3½	GM	Naiditsch Arkadij	2701	1
3	31	IM	Gusain Himal	2450	3½	1 - 0	3½	GM	Gupta Abhijeet	2610	3
4	6	GM	Sengupta Deep	2586	3½	1 - 0	3½	IM	Sindarov Javokhir	2429	33
5	36		Arjun Kalyan	2407	3½	½ - ½	3½	GM	Tiviakov Sergei	2584	7
6	8	GM	Karthikeyan Murali	2580	3½	1 - 0	3½	FM	Erigaisi Arjun	2386	40
7	35		Akash Pc Iyer	2415	3½	1 - 0	3½	GM	Solodovnichenko Yuri	2571	9
8	10	GM	Tukhaev Adam	2570	3½	0 - 1	3½	IM	Mohammad Nubairshah Shaikh	2380	42
9	12	GM	David Alberto	2553	3½	1 - 0	3½		Koustav Chatterjee	2288	71
10	16	GM	Vaibhav Suri	2542	3½	1 - 0	3½	GM	Roy Chowdhury Saptarshi	2318	59

Results Round 6

Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.
1	23	GM	Rahman Ziaur	2472	5	½ - ½	4½	GM	Sengupta Deep	2586	6
2	1	GM	Naiditsch Arkadij	2701	4½	1 - 0	4½	GM	Vaibhav Suri	2542	16
3	8	GM	Karthikeyan Murali	2580	4½	1 - 0	4½	IM	Gusain Himal	2450	31
4	12	GM	David Alberto	2553	4½	½ - ½	4½		Akash Pc Iyer	2415	35
5	4	GM	Gareyev Timur	2605	4	½ - ½	4½	IM	Mohammad Nubairshah Shaikh	2380	42
6	5	GM	Rozum Ivan	2595	4	1 - 0	4		Arjun Kalyan	2407	36
7	7	GM	Tiviakov Sergei	2584	4	1 - 0	4		Sammed Jaykumar Shete	2337	49
8	13	GM	Sivuk Vitaly	2550	4	1 - 0	4		Saravana Krishnan P.	2323	56
9	37	IM	Sardana Rishi	2402	4	0 - 1	4	GM	Tran Tuan Minh	2548	14
10	51	WGM	Gomes Mary Ann	2328	4	½ - ½	4	GM	Pruijssers Roeland	2536	18

Pairing Round 7

Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.
1	23	GM	Rahman Ziaur	2472	5½		5½	GM	Naiditsch Arkadij	2701	1
2	14	GM	Tran Tuan Minh	2548	5		5½	GM	Karthikeyan Murali	2580	8
3	26	IM	Vignesh N R	2470	5		5	GM	Rozum Ivan	2595	5
4	6	GM	Sengupta Deep	2586	5		5	GM	Sivuk Vitaly	2550	13
5	35		Akash Pc Iyer	2415	5		5	GM	Tiviakov Sergei	2584	7
6	42	IM	Mohammad Nubairshah Shaikh	2380	5		5	GM	David Alberto	2553	12
7	72	FM	Gajwa Ankit	2284	5		4½	GM	Vaibhav Suri	2542	16
8	2	GM	Amonatov Farrukh	2636	4½		4½	IM	Sindarov Javokhir	2429	33
9	34	IM	Nitin S.	2422	4½		4½	GM	Gareyev Timur	2605	4
10	18	GM	Pruijssers Roeland	2536	4½		4½	IM	Shyaamnikhil P	2397	38

Group B:

Group B was won by Subhra Saha with a score of 9.0/10. He won the crucial last round against Pankaj Sharma to win the event as the sole leader on 9.0/10.

The crucial last round struggle between Subhra Saha and Pankaj Sharma | Photo: Niklesh Jain

The tension when Rs. 2,51,000 is at stake! | Photo: Niklesh Jain

Subhra Saha with the winners' trophy and a cash prize of Rs, 2,51,000. On the left of your screen is Madhusoodanan K.R and on the right Tirtha Sarkar | Photo: Niklesh Jain

Niklesh Jain speaks with Subhra Saha on his last round encounter with Pankaj Sharma

As I walked through the B section yesterday I realized so many people in India play chess just for the fun of the game. I would go to board 250 of 300 and there would be a middle-aged man who has left all his work and has come to Delhi from a far-off place investing in hotel, travel and just about everything. He knows that there isn't much of a chance to win a prize, yet he plays with full concentration and focus. This is nothing but the love for the game of chess. We should congratulate the Delhi Chess Association for getting together 748 chess loving people under one roof for the B-category. 1400 expected in the C-section!

Photo gallery by Niklesh Jain

Passion for chess! 84-year-old T.V. Subramaniam | Photo: Niklesh Jain

Watch this interview of the 84-year-old man where he disagrees with Bobby Fischer's famous statement - Chess Is Life

The dignitaries on dais for the closing ceremony of the B-group | Photo: Niklesh Jain

Two key personnel of the Delhi Chess Association - Vishal Sareen (left) and A.K. Verma | Photo: Niklesh Jain

If Bharat Singh finds it heavy, it is heavy! | Photo: Niklesh Jain

Subhra Saha's ticket to buying a Royal Enfield! | Photo: Niklesh Jain

For all the pictures of the winners of the closing ceremony, click here.

Rank after Round 10

Rk.	SNo		Name	Typ	sex	FED	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	203		Subhra Saha			IND	1727	Wes	9,0	0,0	65,5	70,0
2	202		Madhusoodanan K.R.			IND	1727	Ker	8,5	0,0	67,0	72,0
3	167		Tirtha Sarkar			IND	1759	Wes	8,5	0,0	63,0	67,0
4	88		Sathya Giri V			IND	1842	TN	8,5	0,0	59,5	63,0
5	157		Deepak Rai			IND	1773	Del	8,5	0,0	57,5	62,0
6	32		Punit Indora			IND	1905	Har	8,5	0,0	57,0	62,5
7	7		Thounaojam Gobin Luwang			IND	1971	NEMan	8,0	0,0	64,5	68,0
8	25		Shubham			IND	1915	Del	8,0	0,0	63,5	68,0
9	144		Chittari Abhishek Varma			IND	1784	Mah	8,0	0,0	62,0	67,0
10	13	CM	Sharma Pankaj			IND	1940	Pun	8,0	0,0	62,0	66,0
11	2		Panta Sumit			NEP	1990		8,0	0,0	61,5	66,5
12	54		Vinodh Kumar B.			IND	1878	Pon	8,0	0,0	60,5	65,0
13	16		Sandip Dey			IND	1933	Wes	8,0	0,0	59,5	65,0
14	98		Raju O A			IND	1836	Ker	8,0	0,0	58,0	63,0
15	83		Rohit Ramanan T G			IND	1844	TN	8,0	0,0	57,0	62,5
16	90		Warude Satyam			IND	1841	Mah	8,0	0,0	55,0	59,5
17	73		De Silva Osheen			SRI	1856		8,0	0,0	53,5	56,0
18	5		Joy Lazar M.A.			IND	1976	Ker	8,0	0,0	53,0	57,0
19	68		Dave Kantilal	S60		IND	1861	Raj	7,5	0,0	61,0	66,0
20	409		Suhaib Ahmad			IND	1528	UP	7,5	0,0	60,5	65,5