Barberà 06-09: Karthikeyan Murali joint first!
A total of 97 players are participating in the XXXIX Open Internacional de Barberà del Vallès "A" tournament and 31 of them are Indians! The Indian challenge was led by GM Shyam Sundar M. and GM Murali Karthikeyan, followed by an array of international masters and under-rated Indians. In the end, after nine rounds of play, GM Murali Karthikeyan tied for the first place with Chilean IM Cristobal Henriquez and was second on the tiebreak. And Tamil Nadu youngster P. Iniyan scored his maiden International Master norm. A briefly illustrated report.
Barberà 06-09: Karthikeyan Murali joint first!
The Indians, traditionally, have made a beeline for playing the Catalonian circuit, often going in groups to play and enjoy. The year 2016, though, saw Indians invade Spain. A total of 97 players are participating in the XXXIX Open Internacional de Barberà del Vallès "A" tournament and 31 of them are Indians! The group is second-highest by numbers, behind the Spanish themselves. The day is not far when the Indian contingent will make for the most number of players in a non-Indian tournament.
The Indian challenge was led by GM Shyam Sundar M. and GM Murali Karthikeyan, followed by an array of International masters and under-rated Indians. The tournament was won by Chilean International Master Cristobal Henriquez on tie-break.
In a French Tarrasch variation, White quickly gained initiative on the king side after a series of inaccuracies from Black in the opening. White dominated the center with his pieces and conducted a successful attack. Black resigned on move 27.
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.07.12"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Karthikeyan , Murali"]
[Black "Swayams, Mishra"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C03"]
[WhiteElo "2513"]
[BlackElo "2457"]
[PlyCount "53"]
[SourceDate "2016.07.13"]
Na6 9. e5 Nd7 10. c3 Naxc5 11. Bc2 b6 12. Re1 Ba6 13. Qe3 Qc7 14. Nd4 Rfe8 15.
b4 axb4 16. cxb4 Ne4 17. Nxe4 dxe4 18. Qxe4 g6 19. Bd2 Bb7 20. Qf4 Bd5 21. a3
f6 22. Rac1 Qb7 23. Qg3 Nxe5 24. f4 Nf7 25. Bxg6 Bd6 26. Nxe6 Bxe6 27. Be4+ 1-0
14-year-old Iniyan P was the impressive Indian player in the array, as he came off successfully with a maiden IM Norm. He defeated GM Shyam Sunder M. in the 8th round. He finished sixth after drawing his final round game against Armenian GM Grigoryan Karen H. The Catalan trip has so far been a success for this promising Tamil Nadu youngster.
[Site "C/ Torre d’en Gorgs, nº 40"]
[Date "2016.07.11"]
[Round "8.5"]
[White "Iniyan, P."]
[Black "Shyam, Sundar M"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E32"]
[WhiteElo "2346"]
[BlackElo "2526"]
[PlyCount "115"]
[EventDate "2016.07.04"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "ESP"]
[WhiteClock "0:15:12"]
[BlackClock "0:06:38"]
Bxc3 9. Qxc3 Nbd7 10. b4 a5 11. b5 Re8 12. Ba3 Rc8 13. Rac1 Ba8 14. Rfd1 h6 15.
c5 Bd5 16. Qb2 bxc5 17. dxc5 dxc5 18. Ne5 Nxe5 19. Qxe5 Nd7 20. Qc3 Bxg2 21.
Kxg2 Rb8 22. Qxa5 Ra8 23. Qc3 Qc8 24. Kg1 c6 25. Bb2 e5 26. Qd3 Ra7 27. a4 cxb5
28. axb5 Qb7 29. Ra1 Rxa1 30. Bxa1 Nf8 31. h4 Ne6 32. Qc4 Nd4 33. Qxc5 Nxe2+
34. Kh2 Qf3 35. Qe3 Nd4 36. Qxf3 Nxf3+ 37. Kg2 e4 38. Rb1 Rb8 39. b6 Rb7 40.
Bc3 f6 41. Rb4 Ne5 42. Bxe5 fxe5 43. Kf1 Kf7 44. Ke2 Ke6 45. Ke3 Kd5 46. h5 Kc5
47. Rb1 Rxb6 48. Rxb6 Kxb6 49. Kxe4 Kc6 50. Kxe5 Kd7 51. Kf5 Ke7 52. Kg6 Kf8
53. f4 Kg8 54. f5 Kf8 55. f6 Kg8 56. f7+ Kf8 57. g4 Ke7 58. Kxg7 1-0
[Site "C/ Torre d’en Gorgs, nº 40"]
[Date "2016.07.11"]
[Round "8.6"]
[White "Swayams, Mishra"]
[Black "Arizmendi Martinez, Julen Luis"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D55"]
[WhiteElo "2457"]
[BlackElo "2501"]
[PlyCount "68"]
[EventDate "2016.07.04"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "ESP"]
[WhiteClock "0:59:36"]
Bxe7 Qxe7 9. Nxd5 exd5 10. Rc1 Be6 11. Bd3 Rc8 12. O-O c5 13. e4 Nd7 14. dxc5
Rxc5 15. Rxc5 Qxc5 16. Ng5 Nf8 17. Nxe6 fxe6 18. exd5 Qxd5 19. Qb1 Rd8 20. Rd1
g6 21. g3 Rd6 22. Bc2 Qe5 23. Re1 Qf6 24. Re2 Nd7 25. Qe1 a5 26. a3 Kg7 27. b4
axb4 28. axb4 Nb8 29. Ba4 Nc6 30. Bxc6 Rxc6 31. Qd1 Qf3 32. b5 Rc7 33. Qd4+ Kf7
34. Re1 Rb7 1-0
Some choice tactics:
Final Standings:
| Rk. | Name | FED | 1.Rd | 2.Rd | 3.Rd | 4.Rd | 5.Rd | 6.Rd | 7.Rd | 8.Rd | 9.Rd | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | ||
| 1 | IM | Henriquez Villagra Cristobal | CHI | 41w1 | 90b1 | 15w1 | 64b1 | 7w1 | 4b1 | 5w½ | 2b½ | 3w0 | 7,0 | 52,0 | 41,5 | 0,0 | |
| 2 | GM | Karthikeyan Murali | IND | 61b1 | 8w½ | 47b1 | 22w1 | 14b0 | 64w1 | 19b1 | 1w½ | 9w1 | 7,0 | 49,5 | 38,5 | 0,0 | |
| 3 | IM | Gurevich Daniel | USA | 49b1 | 39w1 | 44b0 | 35w1 | 15b0 | 28w1 | 23b1 | 14w1 | 1b1 | 7,0 | 48,0 | 36,5 | 0,0 | |
| 4 | IM | Gomez Garrido Camilo Ernesto | CUB | 38w1 | 27b1 | 20w½ | 10b½ | 30w1 | 1w0 | 15b1 | 7b½ | 24w1 | 6,5 | 51,0 | 39,0 | 0,0 | |
| 5 | GM | Grigoryan Karen H. | ARM | 85b1 | 23w1 | 22b½ | 18w½ | 44b1 | 9w½ | 1b½ | 11w1 | 6b½ | 6,5 | 50,0 | 39,5 | 0,0 | |
| 6 | Iniyan P | IND | 94b1 | 16w½ | 31b½ | 54w1 | 9b0 | 51w1 | 18b1 | 13w1 | 5w½ | 6,5 | 44,0 | 36,0 | 0,0 | ||
| 7 | GM | Alvarez Pedraza Aramis | CUB | 91b1 | 28w1 | 35b1 | 44w1 | 1b0 | 14w½ | 11b½ | 4w½ | 8b½ | 6,0 | 49,0 | 38,5 | 0,0 | |
| 8 | Liu Chang | CHN | 58w1 | 2b½ | 17w½ | 33b½ | 21w½ | 77b1 | 10w½ | 20b1 | 7w½ | 6,0 | 48,0 | 37,5 | 0,0 | ||
| 9 | IM | Swayams Mishra | IND | 82w1 | 21b0 | 38w1 | 90b1 | 6w1 | 5b½ | 24w½ | 16w1 | 2b0 | 6,0 | 47,5 | 38,0 | 0,0 | |
| 10 | IM | Gual Pascual Antonio | ESP | 55b1 | 36w½ | 65b1 | 4w½ | 16b½ | 29w½ | 8b½ | 22w1 | 14b½ | 6,0 | 46,5 | 36,5 | 0,0 |
Click here to see the complete standings.