Leon and Souhardo dominate First Saturday November 2020
While the number of over-the-board has dwindled a lot since the Coronavirus Pandemic took over early this year, one Indian kid has continued his quest to become India's next GM. 14-year-old IM Leon Mendonca Luke won First Saturday GM November 2020 emphatically with an unbeaten 7.5/9 and a performance of 2688. Since he has crossed 2500 this month, he is just a GM-norm away from becoming India's next GM. 13-year-old Souhardo Basak secured his second IM-norm with a score of 7.0/9 and a performance of 2477. He is an IM-norm and 2400 rating away from becoming India's next IM. 18-year-old Shubham Bandikatte scored 7.0/10 to win the FM section. Photo: IO Nagy Laszlo
Leon makes his second GM-norm in 24 days
Leon Mendonca made his second GM-norm with a performance of 2688 and scored an unbeaten 7.5/9 to win First Saturday GM November. He defeated two GMs - Tibor Fogarasi, Keith Arkell and drew with GM Vojtech Plat. Leon has already crossed 2500, so he is just a norm away from becoming India's latest GM. 13-year-old Souhardo Basak won the IM Round Robin with a score of 7.0/9. Despite starting with a loss against IM Andrew J Muir, he managed to win the next six games and also beat IM Adam Szeberenyi and IM Endre Vegh. He drew the last round against WIM Julianna Terbe to score his second IM-norm with a performance of 2477.
Leon's best win
Leon beat former European and World Senior champion GM Keith Arkell in Round 6 of the tournament. The English GM made a tactical error which Leon capitalized upon with ease.
Leon - Arkell, Round 6
Find out why 21...Bb7 is a blunder.
Replay Leon's games
Final Standings of the GM section
| Rk. | SNo | Name | FED | Rtg | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | Rp | n | w | we | w-we | K | rtg+/- | ||
| 1 | 10 | IM | Mendonca Leon Luke | IND | 2516 | 7,5 | 0,0 | 29,75 | 2668 | 9 | 7,5 | 5,95 | 1,55 | 10 | 15,5 | |
| 2 | 5 | FM | Petkov Momchil | BUL | 2409 | 6,0 | 0,0 | 24,25 | 2532 | 9 | 6 | 4,53 | 1,47 | 10 | 14,7 | |
| 3 | 1 | GM | Plat Vojtech | CZE | 2562 | 5,5 | 0,5 | 22,50 | 2434 | 8 | 4,5 | 5,75 | -1,25 | 10 | -12,5 | |
| 4 | 4 | IM | Subelj Jan | SLO | 2403 | 5,5 | 0,5 | 21,75 | 2488 | 9 | 5,5 | 4,44 | 1,06 | 10 | 10,6 | |
| 5 | 2 | FM | Vanczak Tamas | HUN | 2350 | 4,5 | 0,0 | 16,25 | 2414 | 9 | 4,5 | 3,74 | 0,76 | 20 | 15,2 | |
| 6 | 3 | FM | Seemann Jakub | POL | 2306 | 4,0 | 0,0 | 16,50 | 2376 | 9 | 4 | 3,17 | 0,83 | 20 | 16,6 | |
| 7 | 9 | FM | Papp Levente | HUN | 2403 | 3,5 | 1,0 | 14,25 | 2328 | 9 | 3,5 | 4,44 | -0,94 | 10 | -9,4 | |
| 8 | 7 | FM | Dobrovoljc Vid | SLO | 2393 | 3,5 | 0,0 | 13,50 | 2329 | 9 | 3,5 | 4,32 | -0,82 | 20 | -16,4 | |
| 9 | 8 | GM | Arkell Keith C | ENG | 2383 | 3,0 | 0,0 | 11,50 | 2304 | 8 | 3 | 3,92 | -0,92 | 10 | -9,2 | |
| 10 | 6 | GM | Fogarasi Tibor | HUN | 2350 | 2,0 | 0,0 | 8,25 | 2194 | 9 | 2 | 3,74 | -1,74 | 10 | -17,4 |
Souhardo makes his second IM-norm
Despite starting the tournament with a loss, Souhardo won his next six games consecutively. His best win was against Federico Rocco (2183) of England in Round 6.
Rocco - Souhardo, Round 6
Find out how should black continue after 32.Rg1.
Replay Souhardo's games
Final Standings in the IM section
| Rk. | SNo | Name | FED | Rtg | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | Rp | n | w | we | w-we | K | rtg+/- | ||
| 1 | 8 | Souhardo Basak | IND | 2216 | 7,0 | 0,0 | 29,25 | 2477 | 9 | 7 | 4,01 | 2,99 | 20 | 59,8 | ||
| 2 | 7 | IM | Szeberenyi Adam | HUN | 2376 | 5,5 | 0,0 | 23,25 | 2319 | 9 | 5,5 | 6,12 | -0,62 | 10 | -6,2 | |
| 3 | 9 | Geher Koppany | HUN | 2319 | 5,0 | 1,0 | 19,50 | 2289 | 9 | 5 | 5,37 | -0,37 | 20 | -7,4 | ||
| 4 | 1 | IM | Vegh Endre | HUN | 2213 | 5,0 | 0,0 | 20,50 | 2300 | 9 | 5 | 3,96 | 1,04 | 10 | 10,4 | |
| 5 | 2 | WIM | Terbe Julianna | HUN | 2269 | 4,5 | 1,0 | 20,50 | 2251 | 9 | 4,5 | 4,70 | -0,20 | 20 | -4,0 | |
| 6 | 5 | Tancsa Tamas | HUN | 2092 | 4,5 | 1,0 | 16,75 | 2271 | 9 | 4,5 | 2,44 | 2,06 | 40 | 82,4 | ||
| 7 | 10 | Rocco Federico | ENG | 2183 | 4,5 | 1,0 | 16,50 | 2261 | 9 | 4,5 | 3,56 | 0,94 | 40 | 37,6 | ||
| 8 | 3 | IM | Muir Andrew J | SCO | 2266 | 4,0 | 0,0 | 18,75 | 2208 | 9 | 4 | 4,68 | -0,68 | 10 | -6,8 | |
| 9 | 6 | FM | Exposito Amaro Josue | ESP | 2334 | 2,5 | 1,0 | 9,00 | 2078 | 9 | 2,5 | 5,56 | -3,06 | 20 | -61,2 | |
| 10 | 4 | FM | Lyell Mark | ENG | 2261 | 2,5 | 0,0 | 12,50 | 2086 | 9 | 2,5 | 4,60 | -2,10 | 20 | -42,0 |
18-year-old Shubham Bandikatte scored 7.0/10 and gained 143 Elo rating points to win the FM section which was a Double Round-Robin event.
Replay Shubham's games
Final Standings in the FM section
| Rk. | SNo | Name | FED | Rtg | RtgI | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | n | w | we | w-we | K | rtg+/- | ||
| 1 | 5 | AGM | Bandikatte Shubham | IND | 1512 | 1512 | 7,0 | 1,5 | 34,50 | 10 | 7 | 3,42 | 3,58 | 40 | 143,2 | |
| 2 | 2 | FM | Mayer Istvan | HUN | 1859 | 1859 | 7,0 | 0,5 | 29,00 | 10 | 7 | 8,44 | -1,44 | 20 | -28,8 | |
| 3 | 4 | Monduk Laszlo | HUN | 1585 | 1585 | 4,5 | 1,5 | 16,75 | 10 | 4,5 | 4,54 | -0,04 | 40 | -1,6 | ||
| 4 | 3 | Szurkos Andras | HUN | 1612 | 1612 | 4,5 | 0,5 | 19,25 | 10 | 4,5 | 4,98 | -0,48 | 20 | -9,6 | ||
| 5 | 6 | Sainbayar Anuurai | ENG | 1583 | 1583 | 4,0 | 0,0 | 19,00 | 10 | 4 | 4,54 | -0,54 | 20 | -10,8 | ||
| 6 | 1 | Nemeth Otto | HUN | 1554 | 1554 | 3,0 | 0,0 | 18,00 | 10 | 3 | 4,08 | -1,08 | 20 | -21,6 |
