Asian Continental 04+05: Aravindh crosses 2600 by beating Kasimdzhanov
The Indian contingent in China is very much in the race for the World Cup spots. Aravindh Chithambaram may have become the second youngest Indian to breach the 2600 barrier after he defeated former FIDE World Champion Rustam Kasimdzhanov. Report with analysis.
Asian Continental 04+05: Aravindh crosses 2600 by beating Kasimdzhanov
Photos by Lennart Ootes
[Event "Asian Continental-ch Open 2017"]
[Site "Chengdu"]
[Date "2017.05.16"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Aravindh, Chithambaram VR"]
[Black "Kasimdzhanov, Rustam"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D02"]
[WhiteElo "2588"]
[BlackElo "2698"]
[PlyCount "95"]
[Site "Chengdu"]
[Date "2017.05.16"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Aravindh, Chithambaram VR"]
[Black "Kasimdzhanov, Rustam"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D02"]
[WhiteElo "2588"]
[BlackElo "2698"]
[PlyCount "95"]
1. d4 d5 2. Bf4 Nf6 3. e3 c5 4. c3 Nc6 5. Nd2 e6 6. Ngf3 Bd6 7. Bg3 O-O 8. Bb5
{D02: 1 d4 d5 2 Nf3 sidelines, including 2...Nf6 3 g3 and 2...Nf6 3 Bf4} Bxg3 (
8... a6 9. Bxc6 bxc6 10. Qa4 Rb8 11. Qa3 Bxg3 12. hxg3 cxd4 13. cxd4 a5 14. O-O
Qb6 15. b3 Ba6 {1-0 (24) Carlsen,M (2840)-Anand,V (2779) Doha 2016}) 9. hxg3
Qb6 10. Bxc6 {The position is equal.} bxc6 11. Qc2 Rb8 12. b3 $146 ({
Predecessor:} 12. Rb1 cxd4 13. cxd4 Ba6 14. b4 Qb5 15. Qd1 Nd7 {0-1 (34)
Kamsky,G (2670)-Yudin,S (2530) Kazan 2016}) 12... cxd4 13. cxd4 (13. exd4 $11
c5 14. dxc5 Qxc5 15. Ne5) 13... Ba6 $15 14. g4 h6 (14... Rfc8 $1 $17 15. g5 Qb5
) 15. Ne5 Qb5 16. Ndf3 $2 (16. O-O-O Rfc8 $17) (16. Qd1 $1 $11 {and White
stays safe.}) 16... Rfc8 (16... Ne4 $19 {is more deadly. ...c5 is the strong
threat.} 17. Nd7 c5 18. Nxf8 Rc8) 17. g5 $17 Ne4 18. gxh6 gxh6 19. Qd1 {
[#] Threatening Nd2.} Nc3 $1 ({Of course not} 19... f6 $6 20. Nd2 $11) 20. Qc2
{Strongly threatening Ng5.} c5 ({Black should try} 20... Rb7 $17 {Threatens to
win with ...c5.} 21. Ng4 Kg7) 21. Ng5 $1 $11 {Intending Qh7+ and mate.} Ne4 22.
Nxe4 dxe4 23. Qd2 cxd4 24. exd4 Rd8 (24... Rb7 $11) 25. O-O-O $16 Rbc8+ 26. Kb1
Qe2 27. Rxh6 $40 {Black needs to defend precisely.} Bd3+ 28. Nxd3 {White wants
to mate with Qg5+.} Qxd2 29. Rxd2 Rxd4 30. Rh3 e5 ({Better is} 30... Rcd8) 31.
Rc2 Rxc2 32. Kxc2 exd3+ 33. Rxd3 $18 {Endgame KR-KR} Rf4 {[#]} 34. f3 $1 e4 $2
(34... Rf6 35. Rd5 Rg6) 35. Rd4 f5 (35... Rf5 {might work better.} 36. Rxe4 Kf8
) 36. fxe4 fxe4 37. Ra4 Kf7 38. Rxa7+ Ke6 39. Kd2 Rg4 40. Ke3 Ke5 $2 (40... Kf5
41. Ra5+ Ke6) 41. Ra5+ {White is clearly winning.} Kd6 42. Kd4 Rxg2 43. Kxe4
Kc6 44. Kd3 Kb6 45. Ra4 Kb5 46. Kc3 Rg3+ 47. Kb2 Rg2+ 48. Ka3 {Precision:
White = 73%, Black = 28%.} 1-0
{D02: 1 d4 d5 2 Nf3 sidelines, including 2...Nf6 3 g3 and 2...Nf6 3 Bf4} Bxg3 (
8... a6 9. Bxc6 bxc6 10. Qa4 Rb8 11. Qa3 Bxg3 12. hxg3 cxd4 13. cxd4 a5 14. O-O
Qb6 15. b3 Ba6 {1-0 (24) Carlsen,M (2840)-Anand,V (2779) Doha 2016}) 9. hxg3
Qb6 10. Bxc6 {The position is equal.} bxc6 11. Qc2 Rb8 12. b3 $146 ({
Predecessor:} 12. Rb1 cxd4 13. cxd4 Ba6 14. b4 Qb5 15. Qd1 Nd7 {0-1 (34)
Kamsky,G (2670)-Yudin,S (2530) Kazan 2016}) 12... cxd4 13. cxd4 (13. exd4 $11
c5 14. dxc5 Qxc5 15. Ne5) 13... Ba6 $15 14. g4 h6 (14... Rfc8 $1 $17 15. g5 Qb5
) 15. Ne5 Qb5 16. Ndf3 $2 (16. O-O-O Rfc8 $17) (16. Qd1 $1 $11 {and White
stays safe.}) 16... Rfc8 (16... Ne4 $19 {is more deadly. ...c5 is the strong
threat.} 17. Nd7 c5 18. Nxf8 Rc8) 17. g5 $17 Ne4 18. gxh6 gxh6 19. Qd1 {
[#] Threatening Nd2.} Nc3 $1 ({Of course not} 19... f6 $6 20. Nd2 $11) 20. Qc2
{Strongly threatening Ng5.} c5 ({Black should try} 20... Rb7 $17 {Threatens to
win with ...c5.} 21. Ng4 Kg7) 21. Ng5 $1 $11 {Intending Qh7+ and mate.} Ne4 22.
Nxe4 dxe4 23. Qd2 cxd4 24. exd4 Rd8 (24... Rb7 $11) 25. O-O-O $16 Rbc8+ 26. Kb1
Qe2 27. Rxh6 $40 {Black needs to defend precisely.} Bd3+ 28. Nxd3 {White wants
to mate with Qg5+.} Qxd2 29. Rxd2 Rxd4 30. Rh3 e5 ({Better is} 30... Rcd8) 31.
Rc2 Rxc2 32. Kxc2 exd3+ 33. Rxd3 $18 {Endgame KR-KR} Rf4 {[#]} 34. f3 $1 e4 $2
(34... Rf6 35. Rd5 Rg6) 35. Rd4 f5 (35... Rf5 {might work better.} 36. Rxe4 Kf8
) 36. fxe4 fxe4 37. Ra4 Kf7 38. Rxa7+ Ke6 39. Kd2 Rg4 40. Ke3 Ke5 $2 (40... Kf5
41. Ra5+ Ke6) 41. Ra5+ {White is clearly winning.} Kd6 42. Kd4 Rxg2 43. Kxe4
Kc6 44. Kd3 Kb6 45. Ra4 Kb5 46. Kc3 Rg3+ 47. Kb2 Rg2+ 48. Ka3 {Precision:
White = 73%, Black = 28%.} 1-0
In the women's section, WIM Vaishali R., IM Padmini Rout, and WGM Soumya Swaminathan are in the race with 3.5/5, a point behind the leader IM Pham Le Thao Nguyen (2331).
Vaishali in particular played an impressive game annotated here by GM Srinath Narayanan:
[Event "16th Asian Continental w"]
[Site "Chengdu CHN"]
[Date "2017.05.14"]
[Round "3.7"]
[White "Vaishali, R."]
[Black "Gong, Qianyun"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C03"]
[WhiteElo "2272"]
[BlackElo "2298"]
[Annotator "Srinath,Narayanan"]
[PlyCount "53"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2003.06.08"]
[Site "Chengdu CHN"]
[Date "2017.05.14"]
[Round "3.7"]
[White "Vaishali, R."]
[Black "Gong, Qianyun"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C03"]
[WhiteElo "2272"]
[BlackElo "2298"]
[Annotator "Srinath,Narayanan"]
[PlyCount "53"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2003.06.08"]
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 Be7 4. Ngf3 Nf6 5. e5 Nfd7 6. Bd3 c5 7. c3 b6 8. Ne4
Qc7 9. Ng3 Ba6 10. Bg5 Bxg5 11. Nxg5 Bxd3 12. Qxd3 h6 13. Nxe6 $5 fxe6 14. Qg6+
Kf8 $2 {Avaritia, one of the seven deadly sins.} (14... Kd8 {is the right
direction, away from White's heavy artillery.} 15. Qxg7 (15. Qxe6 cxd4 16. cxd4
Qc4 $132) 15... Re8 16. Qxh6 Nc6 17. Rc1 b5 18. O-O Kc8) 15. O-O Nxe5 16. dxe5
Qf7 17. Qc2 {With the weakning of Black's king, White has got returns on her
investment with interest.} Nc6 18. f4 Kg8 19. f5 $1 Rf8 20. Rae1 h5 21. h4 Qe7
22. Qa4 Na5 23. f6 Qf7 24. Nf5 gxf6 (24... exf5 {might've put up better
resistance, but not by much.} 25. e6 Qxf6 26. e7 Kh7 27. exf8=Q Rxf8 28. Qd7
$18) 25. Nd6 Qe7 26. Rxf6 Kh7 27. Qc2+ 1-0
Qc7 9. Ng3 Ba6 10. Bg5 Bxg5 11. Nxg5 Bxd3 12. Qxd3 h6 13. Nxe6 $5 fxe6 14. Qg6+
Kf8 $2 {Avaritia, one of the seven deadly sins.} (14... Kd8 {is the right
direction, away from White's heavy artillery.} 15. Qxg7 (15. Qxe6 cxd4 16. cxd4
Qc4 $132) 15... Re8 16. Qxh6 Nc6 17. Rc1 b5 18. O-O Kc8) 15. O-O Nxe5 16. dxe5
Qf7 17. Qc2 {With the weakning of Black's king, White has got returns on her
investment with interest.} Nc6 18. f4 Kg8 19. f5 $1 Rf8 20. Rae1 h5 21. h4 Qe7
22. Qa4 Na5 23. f6 Qf7 24. Nf5 gxf6 (24... exf5 {might've put up better
resistance, but not by much.} 25. e6 Qxf6 26. e7 Kh7 27. exf8=Q Rxf8 28. Qd7
$18) 25. Nd6 Qe7 26. Rxf6 Kh7 27. Qc2+ 1-0
Pairings of the next round for IND
Rd. | Bo. | No. | Name | FED | Rtg | Pts. | Result | Pts. | Name | FED | Rtg | No. | ||
6 | 1 | 6 | GM | Wang Hao | CHN | 2680 | 4½ | 4 | GM | Aravindh Chithambaram Vr. | IND | 2588 | 15 | |
6 | 3 | 17 | GM | Sengupta Deep | IND | 2586 | 3½ | 3½ | GM | Yu Yangyi | CHN | 2743 | 1 | |
6 | 4 | 7 | GM | Adhiban B. | IND | 2672 | 3½ | 3½ | GM | Karthikeyan Murali | IND | 2585 | 18 | |
6 | 5 | 20 | GM | Sadorra Julio Catalino | PHI | 2575 | 3½ | 3½ | GM | Ganguly Surya Shekhar | IND | 2653 | 8 | |
6 | 9 | 5 | GM | Vidit Santosh Gujrathi | IND | 2687 | 3 | 3 | GM | Batchuluun Tsegmed | MGL | 2525 | 26 | |
6 | 10 | 9 | GM | Sethuraman S.P. | IND | 2633 | 3 | 3 | IM | Yeoh Li Tian | MAS | 2470 | 35 | |
6 | 13 | 25 | GM | Lalith Babu M R | IND | 2529 | 3 | 3 | GM | Wen Yang | CHN | 2607 | 14 | |
6 | 15 | 21 | GM | Sandipan Chanda | IND | 2575 | 3 | 3 | GM | Gomez John Paul | PHI | 2474 | 34 | |
6 | 28 | 54 | GM | Sriram Jha | IND | 2390 | 2 | 2 | IM | Tran Minh Thang | VIE | 2409 | 51 | |
6 | 5 | 4 | IM | Padmini Rout | IND | 2380 | 3½ | 3½ | Ren Xiaoyi | CHN | 2257 | 21 | ||
6 | 6 | 6 | WGM | Soumya Swaminathan | IND | 2359 | 3½ | 3½ | WIM | Vaishali R | IND | 2272 | 17 | |
6 | 7 | 2 | IM | Khademalsharieh Sarasadat | IRI | 2450 | 3 | 3 | WGM | Kiran Manisha Mohanty | IND | 2160 | 29 | |
6 | 8 | 10 | WGM | Gomes Mary Ann | IND | 2318 | 3 | 3 | IM | Mohota Nisha | IND | 2260 | 19 | |
6 | 12 | 18 | WIM | Pratyusha Bodda | IND | 2269 | 2½ | 2½ | Du Yuxin | CHN | 2046 | 37 | ||
6 | 13 | 22 | WIM | Nandhidhaa Pv | IND | 2252 | 2½ | 2½ | WFM | Mendoza Shania Mae | PHI | 2019 | 42 | |
6 | 15 | 16 | WGM | Swati Ghate | IND | 2280 | 2 | 2 | WFM | Doan Thi Van Anh | VIE | 1997 | 45 |