World Youth 2019 Round 4: Srihari LR beats top seed Sreeshwan in under-14 section to claim sole lead

by Sagar Shah - 05/10/2019

At the end of the fourth round of the World Youth 2019, we have one section where a sole leader has emerged. In under-14 open section Srihari LR claimed the pole position by beating top seed Sreeshwan Maralakshikari. The game was so good that it was given the "ChessBase Game of the day prize"! Divya Deshmukh, the top seed in under-14 section lost her game to a player rated over 400 points below her. Rudik Makarian, Aronyak Ghosh in under-16 open and Leya Garifullina and Nazerke Nurgali in under-16 girls are the four other players on a perfect score of 4.0/4. We bring you a detailed report with pictures, game, analysis from the Hotel Renaissance in Mumbai.

The difference between a strong grandmaster and a strong International Master is not huge, but it does show at critical moments in the game. Take for example the interesting game between Praggnanandhaa and Petriashvili. Pragg is a strong GM now with an Elo of 2567, just 14 years old, but already quite experienced. Petriashvili, on the other hand, is rated 2441 and is a strong International Master from Georgia. They played each other in round four of the World Youth under-18 championships 2019 and after 15 moves the following position was reached:

Praggnanandhaa vs Petriashvili

Black has just played his bishop to d6. Pragg had an important decision to make. Should he play 16.Nc4 or 16.Bg3. The latter was safer, while the former meant that the h2 pawn is en prise. What would you choose?

Pragg's choice of Nc4 was interesting, but Bg3! was a simple and strong move that would have given White a clear edge. After 16.Nc4, white took the pawn on h2, and after Kh1 we reached the following position:

Black to move

It was important here for Black to understand that White is threatening Qc5 along with a clamp on the dark squares with Nd6+. Hence, Black should have just castled. Yes, g3 is the main issue after that but when the a8-h1 diagonal is opened up, Black can look out for tactics beginning with ...d5! The position is still unclear, but objectively Black's chances are better. Petriashvili played ...Bf4 in the above position and after Qc5 White was back in the driver's seat. Pragg managed to win the game after that. As you can see the window for grabbing the initiative/advantage is really small and if you don't take them at the right moment then against strong GMs like Praggnanandhaa, you won't get a second chance.

We talk to Praggnanandhaa after his win over Petriashvili

Standings in under-18 open

Praggnanandhaa is leading the tournament along with five other players Aryan Gholami from Iran, Viachaslau Zarubitski from Belarus, Iniyan P. Aditya Mittal and Arjun Kalyan from India.

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB4	TB5
1	2	GM	Praggnanandhaa R	IND	2567	3,5	0,0	8,5	10,0	2	3
	3	IM	Gholami Aryan	IRI	2554	3,5	0,0	8,5	10,0	2	3
3	14	IM	Zarubitski Viachaslau	BLR	2435	3,5	0,0	8,0	10,0	2	3
4	5	GM	Iniyan P	IND	2509	3,5	0,0	8,0	10,0	1	3
5	16	IM	Aditya Mittal	IND	2430	3,5	0,0	7,5	9,5	2	3
6	8	IM	Arjun Kalyan	IND	2483	3,5	0,0	6,5	8,0	1	3
7	1	GM	Sargsyan Shant	ARM	2580	3,0	0,0	9,5	12,5	2	2
8	29	FM	Garidmagnai Byambasuren	MGL	2327	3,0	0,0	9,0	10,5	2	2
9	13	IM	Petriashvili Nikoloz	GEO	2441	3,0	0,0	8,5	10,5	2	3
10	6	IM	Gumularz Szymon	POL	2505	3,0	0,0	7,5	9,5	2	2

Aditya Mittal, just 13 years old, has been showing some very interesting endgame technique. In round four he managed to score a win from a position that looked completely equal. Check out this video and learn from the youngster.

The top board game between Iniyan and Aryan Gholami ended in a draw | Photo: Amruta Mokal

In the girls under 18 section we have Honorata Kucharska and Viktoria Radeva who are in the lead with 3.5/4. Top seed and defending champion Polina Shuvalova is currently on 3.0/4. She had some excellent chances to beat her opponent Honorata Kucharska, when the latter took too many risks. But the game eventually ended in a draw. We speak to Shuvalova after her game and analyze this complex game with her:

Standings after round 4 in girls under-18

Rk.	SNo		Name	sex	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB4	TB5
1	18	WFM	Kucharska Honorata	w	POL	2114	3,5	0,0	8,0	9,0	2	3
2	8	WFM	Radeva Viktoria	w	BUL	2277	3,5	0,0	7,5	8,5	2	3
3	7	WGM	Obolentseva Alexandra	w	RUS	2282	3,0	0,0	9,0	10,5	2	2
4	13	WFM	Serikbay Assel	w	KAZ	2208	3,0	0,0	8,5	10,5	2	2
	14	WIM	Cervantes Landeiro Thalia	w	USA	2176	3,0	0,0	8,5	10,5	2	2
6	1	WIM	Shuvalova Polina	w	RUS	2412	3,0	0,0	8,5	10,0	2	2
7	6	WIM	Vantika Agrawal	w	IND	2283	3,0	0,0	8,0	10,0	2	2
8	16	WFM	Nilssen Ellen Fredericia	w	DEN	2137	3,0	0,0	8,0	9,5	2	2
9	2	WIM	Munkhzul Turmunkh	w	MGL	2332	3,0	0,0	8,0	8,5	2	2
10	12	WFM	Shpanko Nadiia	w	UKR	2213	3,0	0,0	7,5	9,5	3	2

In the under-16 open section Sankalp Gupta was playing on the top board against Rudik Makarian of Russia. The game was oscillating between equality and slight advantage for White (Sankalp). However, at some point the Indian IM went wrong and landed up losing a piece.

Sankalp Gupta tried too hard and in the end had to concede the full point | Photo: Amruta Mokal

Aronyak Ghosh showed the power of two bishops as he outplayed his opponent Lucas Tomiello. Aronyak joins Rudik at the top with 4.0/4. | Photo: Rupali Mullick

Standings for round 4 in under-16

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB4	TB5
1	7	IM	Makarian Rudik	RUS	2386	4,0	0,0	8,0	9,5	2	4
	8	CM	Aronyak Ghosh	IND	2380	4,0	0,0	8,0	9,5	2	4
3	5	FM	Daghli Arash	IRI	2387	3,5	0,0	8,0	10,0	2	3
4	1	IM	Niemann Hans Moke	USA	2439	3,5	0,0	7,5	9,0	2	3
5	13	IM	Pogosyan Stefan	RUS	2364	3,5	0,0	6,5	8,0	2	3
6	17	FM	Moksh Amit Doshi	IND	2328	3,5	0,0	6,0	7,5	2	3
7	20	CM	Kushagra Mohan	IND	2309	3,0	0,0	8,5	9,5	2	2
8	34		Tomiello Lucas Costamilan	BRA	2107	3,0	0,0	8,5	9,0	2	3
9	10	IM	Sankalp Gupta	IND	2369	3,0	0,0	8,0	10,0	2	3
10	31	FM	Lumachi Gabriele	ITA	2207	3,0	0,0	8,0	9,0	2	3

Leya Garifullina managed to outplay Lakshmi C with the black pieces to be one of the girls under-16 section | Photo: Amruta Mokal

Nazerke Nurgali beat Saina Salonika and moved to 4.0/4. Nurgali and Garifullina lead in the under-16 girls section. | Photo: Amruta Mokal

Standings in under-16 girls after round 4

Rk.	SNo		Name	sex	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB4	TB5
1	1	WCM	Garifullina Leya	w	RUS	2330	4,0	0,0	9,0	11,5	2	4
2	4	WFM	Nurgali Nazerke	w	KAZ	2194	4,0	0,0	8,0	9,5	2	4
3	2	WFM	Beydullayeva Govhar	w	AZE	2289	3,5	0,0	7,5	9,5	2	3
4	7	WFM	Mahdian Anousha	w	IRI	2103	3,5	0,0	7,0	9,0	2	3
5	28	WFM	Lakshmi C	w	IND	1859	3,0	0,0	9,0	10,5	2	3
6	14	WFM	Bommini Mounika Akshaya	w	IND	2017	3,0	0,0	9,0	10,0	2	3
7	11	WFM	Salonika Saina	w	IND	2051	3,0	0,0	8,5	9,5	2	3
8	6	WFM	Loskutova Viktoriya	w	RUS	2149	3,0	0,0	7,5	9,0	2	3
	17		Juhasz Judit	w	HUN	2004	3,0	0,0	7,5	9,0	2	3
10	10		Zhang Xiao	w	CHN	2053	3,0	0,0	7,5	9,0	2	2

Divya Deshmukh was dubbed as the favourite to win the under-14 girls section. With 2358, she was a solid 50 points ahead of the second seed Rakshitta Ravi and a 200-point gap separated her and the third seed. But the game of chess is always unpredictable and this is what happened in the fourth round of the World Youth Championships 2019. Divya lost her game to Bat-Erdene Mungunzul from Mongolia (1912).

Bat-Erdene Mungunzul vs Divya Deshmukh, Round 4

Black's position is worse, but Divya moved her queen to d8 and simply gave up the a6 pawn. After that it as pretty ease for Mungunzul to score the full point

Dhyana Patel and Eline Roebers drew their game on the top board to move to 3.5/4 | Photo: Amruta Mokal

As many as seven girls are in the lead with 3.5/4. This is one section where the fight for the title is going to be quite intense.

Standings after round 4 in the under-14 girls

Rk.	SNo		Name	sex	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB4	TB5
1	9	WFM	Dhyana Patel	w	IND	1995	3,5	0,0	9,5	10,5	1	3
2	5		Roebers Eline	w	NED	2083	3,5	0,0	9,0	10,5	2	3
3	7		Poliakova Varvara	w	BLR	2042	3,5	0,0	8,0	9,5	2	3
4	2	WIM	Rakshitta Ravi	w	IND	2310	3,5	0,0	7,5	8,5	2	3
	14		Kurmangaliyeva Liya	w	KAZ	1936	3,5	0,0	7,5	8,5	2	3
6	4	WFM	Nasyrova Ekaterina	w	RUS	2137	3,5	0,0	7,0	8,5	2	3
7	16	WCM	Mungunzul Bat-Erdene	w	MGL	1912	3,5	0,0	7,0	8,0	2	3
8	21	WCM	Ince Safiye Oyku	w	TUR	1840	3,0	0,0	9,0	10,5	2	3
9	59		Mirlankyzy Azaliia	w	KGZ	1473	3,0	0,0	8,5	10,5	2	3
10	13	WCM	Ghomi Parnian	w	IRI	1948	3,0	0,0	8,5	9,5	2	2

Srihari LR managed to beat top seed Sreeshwan Maralakshikari in under-14 open section and is now the sole leader with 4.0/4 | Photo: Sagar Shah

In the previous round Sreeshwan was lucky as he converted a completely minus position into a win. But this time he wasn't fortunate enough as Srihari played one powerful move after another to win the game.

Srihari analyzes his win over Sreeshwan Maralakshikari

It was a powerful game by Srihari and for this we award him with the best game of the day prize by ChessBase. He is awarded the vol.1 of Fabiano Caruana's navigating the Ruy Lopez:

Standings in the under-14 section after four rounds

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB4	TB5
1	12	FM	Srihari L R	IND	2283	4,0	0,0	8,0	10,0	2	4
2	3	IM	Suleymanli Aydin	AZE	2426	3,5	0,0	9,0	11,0	2	3
3	55		Abinandhan R	IND	1830	3,5	0,0	8,5	10,5	2	3
4	17		Kolay Alex	USA	2164	3,5	0,0	8,0	9,5	1	3
5	6		Samant Aditya S	IND	2334	3,5	0,0	7,5	8,5	2	3
6	5	FM	Pranav Anand	IND	2351	3,5	0,0	7,0	9,0	2	3
7	21		Poltorak Sebastian	POL	2130	3,5	0,0	7,0	8,5	1	3
8	24		Manish Kumar (2006)	IND	2108	3,5	0,0	6,5	7,0	2	3
9	27		Bochnicka Vladimir	SVK	2053	3,0	0,0	9,0	11,0	2	2
10	14	FM	Aaryan Varshney	IND	2239	3,0	0,0	8,5	10,5	2	2

Video and Photo Gallery:

We speak to the well known grandmaster, trainer and commentator Dimitri Komarov. He speaks about how he tried to change the mindset of chess players in Sri Lanka, his current assignment with the UAE team and lastly about Nihal Sarin. Komarov is of the opinion that when it comes to positional play Nihal is stronger than Magnus Carlsen!

Elene Kostava is playing in the under-18 girls section. She is also a journalist by profession as she works in the Georgian Chess TV. We speak with Elene on different topics that includes chess in Georgia, her experience in India and her future plans!

It has been an excellent gesture by the organizers to provide tea, coffee, and cookies absolutely free of cost to not only the players, but also the coaches, parents and accompanying persons! | Photo: Amruta Mokal

Huge number of water bottles are consumed each day!

When the players are not allowed to bring their own pens, you need to have a huge stock of pens! | Photo: Amruta Mokal

With over 450 youngsters taking part in six different categories, the arbiters have their hands full | Photo: Amruta Mokal

So many claims for threefold repetitions have to be carefully observed | Photo: Amruta Mokal

Hote Renaissance by the Marriott Group is where the tournament is held. It is a five star property | Photo: Amruta Mokal

It oversees the Powai Lake, which gives many of the rooms a perfect view! | Photo: Amruta Mokal

Most of the international players have hardly gone outside the hotel. But within the premises they have enjoyed themselves! | Photo: Amruta Mokal

Now this player has come well prepared for a long game! | Photo: Amruta Mokal

For the parents of the players fighting it out inside the playing hall, this proves to be a great bonding time! | Photo: Amruta Mokal

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