Can Karthik Venkataraman win MPL 59th National Senior Chess Championship?

by Shahid Ahmed - 03/01/2023

GM Karthik Venkataraman is someone who generally plays the first half of the tournament in an energy saving mode. In the second half, he unleashes his super-strong side where his opponents can only hope to avoid his wrath. After a 4.5/6 start, he scored 5/6 in the last six games, including a hat-trick of wins. He is now the sole leader heading into the final round 9.5/12. He will face GM Visakh N R in the final round. Visakh also had a fantastic 2022 where he won several Open tournaments consecutively in Europe. It is quite fitting that they are facing each other for a championship match in the Round 13 which starts today at 9 a.m. IST today. Photo: Shahid Ahmed

Too close to call

The MPL 59th National Senior Chess Championship 2022 can be won by anyone. GM Karthik Venkataraman (AP) needs a win over GM Visakh N R (RSPB) to win the tournament. While a draw would allow GM Abhijeet Gupta (PSPB) to catch up if he manages to beat IM Sayantan Das (RSPB) who is on a five-game winning streak. It is clear that Sayantan has all the momentum he needs which his opponent does not. As many as six players are at 8.5/12.

GM Karthik Venkataraman is on the verge of winning MPL 59th National Senior Chess Championship 2022 | Photo: Shahid Ahmed

Koustav - Karthik: 0-1

GM Karthik Venkataraman (AP, 2503) opted for a long castle in the Open Catalan against GM Koustav Chatterjee (WB, 2508). He had no trouble equalizing out of the opening. Despite having a bishop pair, Koustav was not allowed to maximize them. Karthik used his knights quite well which eventually created trouble for his opponent.

Position after 30.Ba5

The black knights were so well placed at b5 and d5, that White had almost no good idea to execute. 30.Ba5? allowed Nbc3 31.Rxd5 cost White an exchange Nxe2 32.Rxe5 Nxc1 33.Bxd8 Rxe5 Black is now completely winning as White does not have enough compensation for the lost exchange.

Abhijeet - Aronyak

The choice of passive line in the Nimzo-Indian, combined with a passive play caused IM Aronyak Ghosh (RSPB, 2521) to lose his first game of the event against GM Abhijeet Gupta (PSPB, 2601).

Position after 30...Kf7

30...Rxb7 31.Nxb7 Re8 is still better for White. However, it is not immediately over for Black. 30...Kf7 walked into trouble 31.a6 Na5 32.Rxc7 Rxc7 33.Nb7 Nc6 34.Rc1 and there is no way for Black to avoid material loss.

Hari Madhavan - Sayantan: 0-1

IM Hari Madhavan (TN, 2385) launched an ambitious attack against IM Sayantan Das (RSPB, 2475) and had to pay a heavy price for it.

Position after 19.Rf3

White should have taken the c4-pawn first 19.dxc4 Qxc4 and then went 20.Rf3. Instead, he directly went 19.Rf3 ignoring Black's counter-attack on the queenside. 19...c3 20.Bc1 made things worse Rfe8 21.Rh3 h6 22.Rg3? cxb2 23.Bxb2 Nxf4 24.Qf3 Be5 25.Qf2 f5 26.Nd2 Qxc2 27.Nc4 Ne2+ and White resigned.

Deepan - Visakh: 0-1

GM Visakh N R (RSPB, 2544) used his tactical alertness to grab a pawn against GM Deepan Chakkravarthy (RSPB, 2457).

Position after 14...Bxf2+

14..Bxf2+ dropped a pawn 15.Kxf2 Qb6+ 16.Be3 Rxd1 17.Bxb6 Rxf1+ 18.Bxf1 axb6. Having a rook and bishop on the board, the extra pawn might not be enough to win the game but it was surely enough for Black to push for a win.

Position after 34...b5

White needed to trade the pawns to keep drawing chances 35.axb6 Kxb6 36.Bd3. Instead, 35.Be2 f5 36.Bd3 Be6 gave Black a decisive advantage and he won the game in another ten moves.

A total of 196 players including 18 GMs and 27 IMs are taking part in this tournament organized by Delhi Chess Association. The event is taking place in New Delhi from 22nd December 2022 to 3rd January 20233. The 13-round Swiss league tournament has a time control of 90 minutes for 40 moves followed by 30 minutes with an increment of 30 seconds from move no.1

Replay Round 12 games

Round 12 results

Bo.	No.		Name	Typ	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Typ	Rtg	Club/City	No.	PGN
1	8	IM	Koustav Chatterjee	U20	2508	West Bengal	8½	0 - 1	8½	GM	Karthik Venkataraman		2503	Andhra Pradesh	10	PGN
2	3	GM	Gupta Abhijeet		2601	PSPB	8	1 - 0	8½	IM	Aronyak Ghosh	U20	2521	RSPB	7	PGN
3	32		Hari Madhavan N B	U20	2385	Tamil Nadu	8½	0 - 1	8	IM	Das Sayantan		2475	RSPB	18	PGN
4	20	GM	Deepan Chakkravarthy J.		2457	RSPB	8	0 - 1	8	GM	Visakh N R		2544	RSPB	5	PGN
5	22	IM	Harshavardhan G B	U20	2434	Tamil Nadu	7½	½ - ½	8	IM	Srihari L R	U18	2429	Tamil Nadu	25	PGN
6	26	IM	Anuj Shrivatri	U18	2414	Madhya Pradesh	7½	½ - ½	7½	GM	Sethuraman S.P.		2642	PSPB	1	PGN
7	30	FM	Panesar Vedant	U20	2387	Maharashtra	7½	½ - ½	7½	GM	Iniyan P	U20	2507	Tamil Nadu	9	PGN
8	12	IM	Vignesh N R		2493	RSPB	7½	½ - ½	7½	GM	Chanda Sandipan		2475	West Bengal	17	PGN
9	36	GM	Laxman R.R.		2372	RSPB	7½	0 - 1	7½	IM	Shyaamnikhil P		2490	RSPB	13	PGN
10	27	IM	Mehar Chinna Reddy C.H.		2405	RSPB	7½	0 - 1	7½	GM	Mitrabha Guha		2487	West Bengal	14	PGN
11	19	GM	Venkatesh M.R.		2459	PSPB	7	½ - ½	7½	IM	Nitin S.		2372	RSPB	37	PGN
12	4	GM	Mendonca Leon Luke	U16	2566	Goa	7	½ - ½	7		Subhayan Kundu		2319	West Bengal	51	PGN
13	15	GM	Sengupta Deep		2486	PSPB	7	½ - ½	7	IM	Rajesh V A V		2314	RSPB	53	PGN
14	21	IM	Das Arghyadip		2438	RSPB	7	½ - ½	7		Sahoo Utkal Ranjan		2333	Odisha	46	PGN
15	23	IM	Mohammad Nubairshah Shaikh		2433	Maharashtra	7	½ - ½	7	CM	Soham Kamotra	U18	2329	Jammu and Kashmir	48	PGN
16	28	IM	Audi Ameya		2401	Goa	7	1 - 0	7	IM	Ratnakaran K.		2304	RSPB	55	PGN
17	38		Sanket Chakravarty	U18	2367	West Bengal	7	½ - ½	7	IM	Kushagra Mohan	U18	2390	Telangana	29	PGN
18	34	IM	Ajay Krishna S		2383	Tamil Nadu	7	1 - 0	7		Badrinath S.		1938	Puducherry	105	PGN
19	6	GM	Shyam Sundar M.		2526	Tamil Nadu	6½	1 - 0	6½		Nagare Kaivalya Sandip	U16	2124	Maharashtra	80	PGN
20	64		Sai Vishwesh.C		2219	Tamil Nadu	6½	½ - ½	6½	GM	Neelotpal Das		2384	PSPB	33	PGN

Details

Standings after Round 12

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB4	TB5
1	10	GM	Karthik Venkataraman	IND	2503	Andhra Pradesh	9,5	84	90	70,50	0	7
2	3	GM	Gupta Abhijeet	IND	2601	PSPB	9	87	93	68,00	0	9
3	5	GM	Visakh N R	IND	2544	RSPB	9	84,5	91	67,25	0	7
4	18	IM	Das Sayantan	IND	2475	RSPB	9	71,5	76,5	57,25	0	8
5	7	IM	Aronyak Ghosh	IND	2521	RSPB	8,5	89	96	66,00	0	6
6	8	IM	Koustav Chatterjee	IND	2508	West Bengal	8,5	88	94	62,75	0	7
7	14	GM	Mitrabha Guha	IND	2487	West Bengal	8,5	87,5	94	65,00	0	6
8	32		Hari Madhavan N B	IND	2385	Tamil Nadu	8,5	82,5	88	59,75	0	7
9	25	IM	Srihari L R	IND	2429	Tamil Nadu	8,5	79	84,5	58,75	0	5
10	13	IM	Shyaamnikhil P	IND	2490	RSPB	8,5	75	80	55,50	0	6
11	1	GM	Sethuraman S.P.	IND	2642	PSPB	8	89	93,5	60,00	0	6
12	9	GM	Iniyan P	IND	2507	Tamil Nadu	8	82,5	88	57,00	0	5
13	30	FM	Panesar Vedant	IND	2387	Maharashtra	8	80	86	54,75	0	5
14	22	IM	Harshavardhan G B	IND	2434	Tamil Nadu	8	80	85	54,00	0	5
15	26	IM	Anuj Shrivatri	IND	2414	Madhya Pradesh	8	78,5	84	53,75	0	6
16	17	GM	Chanda Sandipan	IND	2475	West Bengal	8	77,5	83	53,00	0	6
17	12	IM	Vignesh N R	IND	2493	RSPB	8	77,5	82,5	52,25	0	6
18	34	IM	Ajay Krishna S	IND	2383	Tamil Nadu	8	77,5	82,5	50,75	0	7
19	28	IM	Audi Ameya	IND	2401	Goa	8	77,5	81,5	51,50	0	6
20	37	IM	Nitin S.	IND	2372	RSPB	8	75,5	81	52,50	0	7

Details

Round 13 pairings

Bo.	No.		Name	Typ	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Typ	Rtg	Club/City	No.
1	10	GM	Karthik Venkataraman		2503	Andhra Pradesh	9½		9	GM	Visakh N R		2544	RSPB	5
2	18	IM	Das Sayantan		2475	RSPB	9		9	GM	Gupta Abhijeet		2601	PSPB	3
3	7	IM	Aronyak Ghosh	U20	2521	RSPB	8½		8½	GM	Mitrabha Guha		2487	West Bengal	14
4	32		Hari Madhavan N B	U20	2385	Tamil Nadu	8½		8½	IM	Koustav Chatterjee	U20	2508	West Bengal	8
5	13	IM	Shyaamnikhil P		2490	RSPB	8½		8½	IM	Srihari L R	U18	2429	Tamil Nadu	25
6	1	GM	Sethuraman S.P.		2642	PSPB	8		8	GM	Deepan Chakkravarthy J.		2457	RSPB	20
7	9	GM	Iniyan P	U20	2507	Tamil Nadu	8		8	IM	Anuj Shrivatri	U18	2414	Madhya Pradesh	26
8	28	IM	Audi Ameya		2401	Goa	8		8	IM	Vignesh N R		2493	RSPB	12
9	17	GM	Chanda Sandipan		2475	West Bengal	8		8	FM	Panesar Vedant	U20	2387	Maharashtra	30
10	37	IM	Nitin S.		2372	RSPB	8		8	IM	Harshavardhan G B	U20	2434	Tamil Nadu	22
11	15	GM	Sengupta Deep		2486	PSPB	7½		8	IM	Ajay Krishna S		2383	Tamil Nadu	34
12	48	CM	Soham Kamotra	U18	2329	Jammu and Kashmir	7½		7½	GM	Shyam Sundar M.		2526	Tamil Nadu	6
13	46		Sahoo Utkal Ranjan		2333	Odisha	7½		7½	GM	Venkatesh M.R.		2459	PSPB	19
14	49	IM	Avinash Ramesh	U18	2327	Tamil Nadu	7½		7½	IM	Das Arghyadip		2438	RSPB	21
15	23	IM	Mohammad Nubairshah Shaikh		2433	Maharashtra	7½		7½	GM	Karthikeyan P.		2316	RSPB	52
16	99		Adireddy Arjun	U12	1980	Telangana	7½		7½	IM	Mehar Chinna Reddy C.H.		2405	RSPB	27
17	29	IM	Kushagra Mohan	U18	2390	Telangana	7½		7½	FM	Krishnan Ritvik	U16	2266	Maharashtra	56
18	51		Subhayan Kundu		2319	West Bengal	7½		7½	GM	Laxman R.R.		2372	RSPB	36
19	53	IM	Rajesh V A V		2314	RSPB	7½		7½		Sanket Chakravarty	U18	2367	West Bengal	38
20	42	IM	Utsab Chatterjee	U20	2350	West Bengal	7½		7½	IM	Saravana Krishnan P.		2244	Tamil Nadu	59

Details

Links

Delhi Chess Association

Tournament Regulations

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