Delhi 2018 Round 8: Arkadij Naiditsch's victory is almost certain!

by Sagar Shah - 15/01/2018

Arkadij Naiditsch made quick work of Karthikeyan Murali's Berlin Wall. He played strong and logical chess and moved to 7.5/8. He is now one point ahead of the entire field. It was also a day of upsets - Andrey Deviatkin beat Farrukh Amonatov, Ziaur Rahman got the better of Ivan Rozum, Akash Iyer beat Vitaly Sivuk and Sammed Shete was able to defeat Timur Gareyev. The tournament seems to be running Naiditsch's way as he faces the unheralded Akash Iyer in the ninth round. Will the Tamil Nadu boy be able to stop the Azeri super-power? We will know today! For now, here's the round eight report.

There are two dreams of every organizer of a grandmaster tournament in India:

1. Participation in huge numbers

2. Norms getting scored

At the Delhi International 2018, Bharat Singh Chauhan and his team have fulfilled both their dreams. They were able to accommodate nearly 2250 players in A, B and C categories combined and they have been successful in getting huge number of players close to their norm chances in the event. We will come to the norm seekers later. For now let's focus on the all important top board clash between Arkadij Naiditsch and Karthikeyan Murali. Both of them were on 6.5/7 and it was clear that the one who would win this game, will have the best chances to win the tournament.

Let the game begin! | Photo: Niklesh Jain

Karthikeyan went for the Berlin and played a relatively unknown line. When I was young I read this very nice book on the Berlin by John Cox. In it he mentions that the e6 bishop is very important for Black and hence it should be protected from being exchanged. Hence, the two squares that should be controlled are the d4 square and the g5 square.

The d4 square is out of reach for White (Naiditsch) because of the knight on f5, but the g5 square is available and he played Ng5 and took on e6. That is the reason why I feel Be7 before Be6 was more accurate. In any case Karthikeyan go absolutely no play in the game. White just doubled on the d-file and going into the minor piece endgame with the exchange of rooks was dangerous because the kingside pawns were over extended. All in all it turned out to be a one-sided battle that was won by the Azeri player in 29 moves.

Andrei Deviatkin is showing some of the best chess of his life here and is on 6.5/8. He beat Farrukh Amonatov in the eighth round | Photo: Niklesh Jain

Deviatkin doesn't like opening theory, he prefers chess960! But if he manages to get out of the opening without any issues, he is an extremely strong player. This is what he showed Farrukh Amonatov in the eighth round, as he slowly and steadily built up a menacing advantage. This was a great game which is worth studying and learning from.

I liked this poetic position where the bishops are surely superior to the rooks! | Photo: Niklesh Jain

It seemed as if Ziaur Rahman had run out of steam after his loss to Arkadij Naiditsch. But the Bangladeshi GM proved that it was too early to write him off as he beat another strong grandmaster Ivan Rozum (2595). | Photo: Niklesh Jain

Domination is the right word for Ziaur's victory over Ivan. Just have a look at the diagrammed position below:

The knight on d4 is powerful. The bishop on g2 is passive. And Black is beginning his play on the kingside with g5-h5.

What would you play as Black?

One of the common errors made by all the inexperienced players is that they always keep playing with their active pieces. But experienced guys like Ziaur know that it is important to bring all the pieces to the party! And hence, the correct move is ...Kf6! Black activates his king and once his majesty joins in, the attack is going to be unstoppable. Ziaur Rahman won in style.

One player who has surprised everyone with his chess is Akash PC Iyer. Just have a look at his scorecard: | Photo: Chess Illustrated

Win against Solodovnichenko, draws with David and Tiviakov and now another win against Sivuk! This takes him to the top board in the penultimate round!

White (Sivuk) has just played his bishop to c3 in this position. How should Black (Akash Iyer) close the game?

"Neighbour's envy, owner's pride!" | Photo: Niklesh Jain

Sammed Jayakumar Shete closed the game with a fine tactic! Can you spot what Black played here?

In the battle between two Delhi players it was Abhijeet Gupta who came up on top! | Photo: Niklesh Jain

Youngster D. Gukesh has not been able to shine at the event. He is losing 15 Elo points, but has made a comeback by winning three points in the last four rounds. | Photo: Niklesh Jain

Each one of them has worked day in and out to make this tournament a success! | Photo: Niklesh Jain

A famous personality in Indian chess: IM Vishal Sareen with his wonderful family!

Norm chances at the event:

By Priyadarshan Banjan

Delhi GM Open 2018 has been home to several norm seekers over the years and this edition is no different. Tamil Nadu's IM Aakash Pc Iyer needs a draw on the top table against the top seed Naiditsch to score a GM norm. Maharashtra's IM Md. Nubairshah Shaikh needs a win against IM P. Karthikeyan, rated 2497, to score a GM norm.

Can Nubairshah Shaikh beat P. Karthikeyan and score his maiden GM norm? | Photo: Niklesh Jain

West Bengal's Kaustuv Kundu rated 2324 needs a draw against IM Harsha Bharathakoti to score an IM norm. Arjun Tiwari of the Railways with a humble rating for 2179 has outperformed the expectations and now needs a draw in the final round against IM Rahul Sangma to score an IM norm.

Arjun Tiwari doesn't need an IM norm. He has plenty of them. But it is always a nice feeling to score one more just to remind everyone that you are as strong as an IM! | Photo: Niklesh Jain

Maharashtra's Sammed Shete rated 2337 has completed his IM norm requirements with a round to spare. Shete had caused a flutter in the eighth round when he defeated GM Timur Gareyev of the USA rated 2605.

Sammed Shete is a changed man after he played at the National Premier 2017 this year! | Photo: Niklesh Jain

Results of round 8:

Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.
1	1	GM	Naiditsch Arkadij	2701	6½	1 - 0	6½	GM	Karthikeyan Murali	2580	8
2	24	GM	Deviatkin Andrei	2471	5½	1 - 0	5½	GM	Amonatov Farrukh	2636	2
3	5	GM	Rozum Ivan	2595	5½	0 - 1	5½	GM	Rahman Ziaur	2472	23
4	26	IM	Vignesh N R	2470	5½	½ - ½	5½	GM	Sengupta Deep	2586	6
5	7	GM	Tiviakov Sergei	2584	5½	1 - 0	5½	IM	Harsha Bharathakoti	2451	30
6	12	GM	David Alberto	2553	5½	½ - ½	5½	GM	Dzhumaev Marat	2434	32
7	13	GM	Sivuk Vitaly	2550	5½	0 - 1	5½		Akash Pc Iyer	2415	35
8	16	GM	Vaibhav Suri	2542	5½	½ - ½	5½	IM	Mohammad Nubairshah Shaikh	2380	42
9	71		Koustav Chatterjee	2288	5½	½ - ½	5½	GM	Pruijssers Roeland	2536	18
10	3	GM	Gupta Abhijeet	2610	5	1 - 0	5	IM	Hemant Sharma (Del)	2348	48
11	4	GM	Gareyev Timur	2605	5	0 - 1	5		Sammed Jaykumar Shete	2337	49
12	54		Kaustuv Kundu	2324	5	½ - ½	5	GM	Tran Tuan Minh	2548	14
13	15	GM	Lalith Babu M R	2542	5	½ - ½	5		Saravana Krishnan P.	2323	56
14	19	IM	Karthikeyan P.	2497	5	1 - 0	5		Sankalp Gupta	2303	65
15	21	GM	Horvath Adam	2484	5	1 - 0	5	IM	Kathmale Sameer	2300	66
16	37	IM	Sardana Rishi	2402	5	½ - ½	5	GM	Deepan Chakkravarthy J.	2475	22
17	28	IM	Khusenkhojaev Muhammad	2462	5	1 - 0	5	FM	Gajwa Ankit	2284	72
18	92	WIM	Srija Seshadri	2203	5	0 - 1	5	IM	Nitin S.	2422	34
19	33	IM	Sindarov Javokhir	2429	4½	1 - 0	5		Tiwari Arjun	2179	98
20	73	FM	Rathanvel V S	2284	4½	0 - 1	4½	GM	Tukhaev Adam	2570	10

Standings after round 8:

Rk.	SNo		Name	sex	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	1	GM	Naiditsch Arkadij		AZE	2701	7,5	0,0	40,5	45,0
2	23	GM	Rahman Ziaur		BAN	2472	6,5	0,0	39,0	42,5
3	7	GM	Tiviakov Sergei		NED	2584	6,5	0,0	38,5	42,5
4	8	GM	Karthikeyan Murali		IND	2580	6,5	0,0	37,5	40,5
5	35		Akash Pc Iyer		IND	2415	6,5	0,0	34,0	37,5
6	24	GM	Deviatkin Andrei		RUS	2471	6,5	0,0	30,0	33,0
7	12	GM	David Alberto		ITA	2553	6,0	0,0	39,5	42,5
8	16	GM	Vaibhav Suri		IND	2542	6,0	0,0	38,5	42,5
9	42	IM	Mohammad Nubairshah Shaikh		IND	2380	6,0	0,0	38,5	41,5
10	71		Koustav Chatterjee		IND	2288	6,0	0,0	38,0	41,0
11	49		Sammed Jaykumar Shete		IND	2337	6,0	0,0	38,0	41,0
12	6	GM	Sengupta Deep		IND	2586	6,0	0,0	37,5	41,0
13	18	GM	Pruijssers Roeland		NED	2536	6,0	0,0	36,0	39,5
14	3	GM	Gupta Abhijeet		IND	2610	6,0	0,0	36,0	38,5
15	21	GM	Horvath Adam		HUN	2484	6,0	0,0	35,0	39,0
16	26	IM	Vignesh N R		IND	2470	6,0	0,0	33,5	36,5
17	19	IM	Karthikeyan P.		IND	2497	6,0	0,0	32,5	36,5
18	34	IM	Nitin S.		IND	2422	6,0	0,0	32,5	35,5
19	28	IM	Khusenkhojaev Muhammad		TJK	2462	6,0	0,0	32,0	35,5
20	32	GM	Dzhumaev Marat		UZB	2434	6,0	0,0	31,0	34,0

Pairings for round 9:

Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.
1	35		Akash Pc Iyer	2415	6½		7½	GM	Naiditsch Arkadij	2701	1
2	23	GM	Rahman Ziaur	2472	6½		6½	GM	Tiviakov Sergei	2584	7
3	8	GM	Karthikeyan Murali	2580	6½		6½	GM	Deviatkin Andrei	2471	24
4	3	GM	Gupta Abhijeet	2610	6		6	IM	Vignesh N R	2470	26
5	6	GM	Sengupta Deep	2586	6		6		Koustav Chatterjee	2288	71
6	34	IM	Nitin S.	2422	6		6	GM	David Alberto	2553	12
7	32	GM	Dzhumaev Marat	2434	6		6	GM	Vaibhav Suri	2542	16
8	18	GM	Pruijssers Roeland	2536	6		6	IM	Khusenkhojaev Muhammad	2462	28
9	42	IM	Mohammad Nubairshah Shaikh	2380	6		6	IM	Karthikeyan P.	2497	19
10	49		Sammed Jaykumar Shete	2337	6		6	GM	Horvath Adam	2484	21