National Women's 2019 R09: Chess is a tough game!

by Sagar Shah - 26/07/2019

Do you agree with our title? If you don't, then read on. In this article we are going to show you two games where the critical moment was so difficult to understand that strong players like Soumya Swaminathan and Vantika Agrawal went wrong. Just one wrong move and the game was over. That's why chess is such an unforgiving game. On the other hand Bhakti Kulkarni is playing chess like a person who has just about everything under control. She doesn't miss any tactics. If she gets an advantage she calmly converts it. It's almost as if she cannot put a foot wrong. With 8.5/9 she is now leading the tournament with 1.5 points and has already gained 36 Elo points. In round 10 she takes on K. Priyanka. Will she stop Bhakti Kulkarni? Follow the live games on 26th of July at 10 a.m.

Chess as a sport is quite tough. You have to keep making one good move after another and when you falter, you lose the game! You build a beautiful position, and then one mistake simply spoils it! This is exactly what happened to top seed Soumya Swaminathan against Varshini in round 9 of the National Women's championships 2019. She played the opening really well and until a certain point was clearly better.

Varshini vs Soumya

White has moved in with her rook to e7. Now Soumya must just take the knight on b5 and then play Qc5, she is just winning the game. Instead she went Qc5 directly.

Doesn't seem like a big deal right? Black still looks clearly better! But here Varshini stunned her opponent with an amazing move.

Qe1!!

At first the strength of the move is not apparent. What is so special about it? Can I not just take ...Bxb5? Well, here is the beautiful point of the entire combination. After ...Bxb5,White plays... (would you like to guess the move?)

Nh6+!! A move that is just so easy to miss. It looks like a random check. Just that it isn't! You can work out the details here. The main point being that ...Bxh6 loses to Qe6+ and Qf6+

This is what makes chess so difficult. You just don't understand always when is the critical moment in the game and when is it that you really need to put your head down and calculate. The ideal answer would be to do it on just about every move. But we are after all humans, with finite energy and hence we decide to use our resources in an efficient manner in positions where we think we need to. And sometimes, we are unable to recognize the critical moments, like Soumya did here. She missed either Qe1 or Nh6 and it was all over.

For Soumya Swaminathan, this tournament has not gone as per plans | Photo: Gopakumar Sudhakaran

Varshini now moves to 6.5/9 and has chances of a strong finish | Photo: Gopakumar Sudhakaran

Not convinced that chess is a tough game? Well, let's have a look at another example from round 9 . This is the game between Priyanka K. versus Vantika Agrawal where Vantika faced the same problem as Soumya.

Priyanka K. managed to outwit Vantika Agrawal | Photo: Gopakumar Sudhakaran

Priyanka vs Vantika

Black could have agreed to a draw here with Qb5+ Kd2 and Qa5+ There is no way to avoid the perpetual checks.

When you reach such a position in your game, there is absolutely no way to tell whether you should continue playing for a win or agree to a draw. White's king is exposed on d3 and it could quite be possible that there is a way to mate him. On the other hand, you should also realize that the pawn on e6 is quite potent and Qh6 is coming up next so it is no going to be easy. It is a moment where chess becomes really difficult. Vantika went ahead boldly and played...

...d5. Her point was simple. If White went Qh6 which is the most natural move then she takes dxe4 and then after fxe4 Qd8+! ends the game! But what she didn't notice was...

Priyanka's sly move Bd1! Full credit to the youngster for finding this very important move under pressure. The king is now given a luft on the e2 square and the bishop controls the all important c2 square.

Vantika's bravery went unrewarded as she slumped to a defeat.

Chess is a tough game. Vantika learnt it the hard way today. | Photo: Gopakumar Sudhakaran

Priyanka is now in joint second position along with Vantika on 7.0/9 | Photo: Gopakumar Sudhakaran

While all other players are making errors, there is one super woman in the tournament who just isn't going wrong. In cricketing terms Bhakti is a batsman, who is seeing the cricket ball like a football! In chess term, she is able to keep a close watch on all the tactical and positional moments and is making the right deicisions. In a nut shell she has mastered the art of playing consistent chess. She is on 8.5/9 and has a 1.5 point lead over the field.

Bhakti's scalp in round 9 was Meenakshi Subbaraman | Photo: Gopakumar Sudhakaran

Bhakti is essentially a 1.d4 player. But recently she has begun playing 1.e4 as well. This open mindedness has helped her breach 2400 Elo mark, become an IM and also lead the 46th national championships in such dominating style. Against Meenakshi's Pirc, Bhakti played solid chess, took the centre and managed to win without any real hiccups.

To have a performance of 2586 is simply unbelievable! As Bhakti has never crossed 2400 on the published Elo list, her k-factor is 20. So she is gaining 36 Elo points from the event. If she continues in this fashion she might go back with over 40 points gain! A tremendous performance. | Photo: Gopakumar Sudhakaran

Ranking after round 9

k.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB4	TB5	w-we
1	2	WGM	Kulkarni Bhakti	IND	2388	AI	8,5	0,0	48,0	52,5	49,00	8	1,81
2	14		Priyanka K	IND	2217	TN	7,0	1,0	42,5	46,5	35,50	6	-0,34
3	10	WIM	Vantika Agrawal	IND	2243	DEL	7,0	0,0	52,5	56,5	42,00	6	1,79
4	3	WIM	Divya Deshmukh	IND	2373	MAH	6,5	0,0	49,5	54,0	36,25	5	-0,81
5	9	WIM	Nandhidhaa P V	IND	2259	TN	6,5	0,0	49,5	53,5	34,75	6	0,16
6	18	WGM	Meenakshi Subbaraman	IND	2163	AI	6,5	0,0	48,0	51,5	34,25	5	1,48
7	12	WIM	Michelle Catherina P	IND	2226	TN	6,5	0,0	46,0	50,0	34,25	5	0,03
8	8	WIM	Pratyusha Bodda	IND	2265	AP	6,5	0,0	44,0	48,0	33,00	6	-0,54
9	24	WCM	Mrudul Dehankar	IND	2074	MAH	6,5	0,0	43,0	46,5	31,75	5	1,94
10	6	WGM	Gomes Mary Ann	IND	2303	PSPB	6,5	0,0	42,0	46,0	33,00	5	-0,88
11	22	WIM	Varshini V	IND	2087	TN	6,5	0,0	41,0	45,0	31,00	5	0,17
12	1	WGM	Soumya Swaminathan	IND	2402	PSPB	6,0	0,0	49,0	53,5	33,00	5	-1,44
13	28	WGM	Ramaswamy Aarthie	IND	2020	AI	6,0	0,0	45,5	49,5	32,00	4	2,09
14	4	IM	Vijayalakshmi Subbaraman	IND	2357	AI	6,0	0,0	44,0	49,0	31,25	5	-1,88
15	5	WIM	Srija Seshadri	IND	2306	TN	6,0	0,0	44,0	48,5	30,50	5	-1,59
16	27		Bala Kannamma P	IND	2051	TN	6,0	0,0	44,0	48,0	29,75	5	1,16
17	20	WFM	Jain Nityata	IND	2135	MP	6,0	0,0	43,0	47,0	28,00	6	0,22
18	13	IM	Mohota Nisha	IND	2221	PSPB	6,0	0,0	42,5	46,0	29,25	3	-1,16
19	16	WCM	Sharma Isha	IND	2188	KAR	6,0	0,0	39,5	42,0	26,25	5	-1,04
20	21	WIM	Thipsay Bagyashree Sathe	IND	2093	MAH	5,5	0,0	47,0	51,0	26,25	5	0,13

With 1.5 point lead in the tournament, is it all over? Well, the onus today is on K. Priyanka's shoulders. The youngster from Tamil Nadu, who recently made her IM norm at the 2nd Goa GM International and won the gold in Commonwealth girls under-18 is known to be a giant killer. It is highly possible that she can create the upset of the tournament. Also note, both the players have highly contrasting styles. While Priyanka loves to attack, Bhakti is positionally oriented. This makes the game even more exciting.

The final barrier - Can Priyanka stop Bhakti? | Photo: Gopakumar Sudhakaran

Pairings for round 10

Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	Club/City	No.
1	14		Priyanka K	2217	TN	7		8½	WGM	Kulkarni Bhakti	2388	AI	2
2	10	WIM	Vantika Agrawal	2243	DEL	7		6½	WGM	Gomes Mary Ann	2303	PSPB	6
3	3	WIM	Divya Deshmukh	2373	MAH	6½		6½	WIM	Michelle Catherina P	2226	TN	12
4	22	WIM	Varshini V	2087	TN	6½		6½	WIM	Pratyusha Bodda	2265	AP	8
5	9	WIM	Nandhidhaa P V	2259	TN	6½		6½	WGM	Meenakshi Subbaraman	2163	AI	18
6	4	IM	Vijayalakshmi Subbaraman	2357	AI	6		6½	WCM	Mrudul Dehankar	2074	MAH	24
7	1	WGM	Soumya Swaminathan	2402	PSPB	6		6		Bala Kannamma P	2051	TN	27
8	5	WIM	Srija Seshadri	2306	TN	6		6	WCM	Sharma Isha	2188	KAR	16
9	13	IM	Mohota Nisha	2221	PSPB	6		6	WFM	Jain Nityata	2135	MP	20
10	19	WIM	Parnali S Dharia	2145	MAH	5½		6	WGM	Ramaswamy Aarthie	2020	AI	28

The live game begins at 10 a.m. IST on 26th of July and you can follow it move by move here.

Related news:

	एयर इंडिया की भक्ति फिर बनी नेशनल महिला चैंपियन @ 29/07/2019 by Nitesh srivastava (hi)
	Bhakti goes home richer by Rs.4,00,000, Vantika finishes second and Divya third @ 28/07/2019 by Satanick Mukhuty (en)
	Bhakti Kulkarni is the National Women's Champion 2019 @ 26/07/2019 by Satanick Mukhuty (en)
	Chettinadu Public School - A chess ambient institution in Karaikudi, Tamil Nadu @ 25/07/2019 by Satanick Mukhuty (en)
	National Women's 2019 R08: Bhakti's...Kxd7?! Wow! What sort of a move is that? @ 25/07/2019 by Satanick Mukhuty (en)
	National Women's 2019 Round 7: A day of mistakes and missed chances @ 24/07/2019 by Satanick Mukhuty (en)
	National Women's 2019 R05+06: Lady luck smiles on Vantika, Bhakti beats Divya @ 23/07/2019 by Satanick Mukhuty (en)
	National Women's 2019 Round 4: A bedazzling Bhakti performance! @ 22/07/2019 by Satanick Mukhuty (en)
	National Women's 2019 R02+03: A juxtaposition of gala and tussle @ 21/07/2019 by Satanick Mukhuty (en)
	Live Games from the 46th National Women's Championship 2019 @ 19/07/2019 by ChessBase India (en)
	Who will win the National Women's Championships 2019? @ 19/07/2019 by Satanick Mukhuty (en)