Chennai 08-10: Vijewel of India!
Russian GM Vladimir Belous (2557) won the 8th Chennai Open 2016 by a half-point margin after he scored 8.5/10. However, the 'hero' of the tournament was IM Vijayalakshmi Subbaraman who scored 8.0/10 to finish third on tiebreak. Her sublime show was the best among the Indians, by miles! An illustrated report with pictures, games and tactics!
Chennai 08-10: Vijewel of India!
Photos by Sa Kannan
Vijayalakshmi Subbraman is a legend, you and I know that. Women's chess in India is currently dominated by names such as Koneru Humpy and Dronavalli Harika, with young Padmini Rout and Vaishali R. not far behind them. However, before they were even born a little girl from Chennai was making heads turn, winning almost all the age group Nationals. Viji went on to become India’s first WGM and also the country's first female IM and peaked with a rating of 2485.
At the 2016 Chennai Open, the Indian legend turned the clock back to 2005-06, playing chess at a level that made her what she is in the first place -- the vijewel of India! Although she already is a GM-elect, she scored an additional GM-norm in this event.
GM Vladimir Belous (2557) didn't have a particularly memorable tournament in Delhi and even ended up drawing his first round game in Chennai with a player rated 600 points below him; nevertheless, in a great show of his fighting spirit, Belous won his last two games to clinch the title by a half-point margin.
Viji, on the other hand, played sublime chess to beat GM Anton Demchenko in her crucial penultimate round clash. In the final round, she beat GM Mozharov to finish third on tiebreak with 8.0/10 -- best among the Indians by a point's margin!
[Event "8th Chennai Open International Grandmas"]
[Site "JawaharlalNehruStadium,Chenna"]
[Date "2016.01.24"]
[Round "9.6"]
[White "Vijayalakshmi, Subbaraman"]
[Black "Demchenko, Anton"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E68"]
[WhiteElo "2351"]
[BlackElo "2596"]
[Annotator "JeVousAime"]
[PlyCount "125"]
[EventDate "2016.01.18"]
[EventRounds "10"]
[EventCountry "IND"]
[Site "JawaharlalNehruStadium,Chenna"]
[Date "2016.01.24"]
[Round "9.6"]
[White "Vijayalakshmi, Subbaraman"]
[Black "Demchenko, Anton"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E68"]
[WhiteElo "2351"]
[BlackElo "2596"]
[Annotator "JeVousAime"]
[PlyCount "125"]
[EventDate "2016.01.18"]
[EventRounds "10"]
[EventCountry "IND"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nf3 Bg7 4. g3 O-O 5. Bg2 d6 6. O-O Nbd7 7. Nc3 e5 8. e4
exd4 9. Nxd4 Re8 10. Re1 Nc5 11. Rb1 Bd7 12. Bf4 Ng4 13. h3 Ne5 14. Bf1 Qc8 15.
Kh2 Ned3 16. Bxd3 Bxd4 17. Bf1 Bg7 18. Nd5 c6 19. Nc3 Be5 20. Bxe5 dxe5 21. Qd6
b6 22. Red1 a5 23. b3 Be6 24. a3 Ra7 25. b4 axb4 26. axb4 Rd7 27. bxc5 Rxd6 28.
cxd6 Qa8 29. Rxb6 Qa3 30. Nb1 Qc5 31. Rb2 Ra8 32. Kg1 Kf8 33. Nc3 Rd8 34. Rbd2
Qa5 (34... Bxc4 35. Bxc4 Qxc4 36. Rd3 Rd7 37. f4 exf4 38. gxf4 Ke8 39. Kf2 Rb7
40. Ne2 Rb2) 35. Na2 Ke8 36. Nc1 Qb4 37. Na2 Qa3 38. Nc1 g5 39. Kg2 Qb4 (39...
h5 40. Be2 h4 41. g4 Qb4 42. Na2 Qa4 43. f3 Bxc4 44. d7+ Ke7 45. Nc3 Qb3 46.
Bxc4 Qxc4 47. Rd3 $17) 40. Na2 Qc5 41. Be2 Ra8 42. Nc1 h6 43. d7+ Kd8 44. Nd3
Qa5 45. Ne1 Ra7 46. Nc2 Qc3 47. Ne3 Ra1 48. Bg4 Rxd1 49. Rxd1 Bxc4 50. Nxc4
Qxc4 51. Bf5 Qb4 52. g4 Qa3 53. h4 gxh4 54. Rh1 Kc7 55. Rxh4 c5 56. g5 h5 57.
Rxh5 Qa8 58. Rh1 c4 59. Rc1 Qa4 60. Rb1 Qa5 61. Rd1 Kd8 62. Rh1 Ke7 63. Rh8 1-0
exd4 9. Nxd4 Re8 10. Re1 Nc5 11. Rb1 Bd7 12. Bf4 Ng4 13. h3 Ne5 14. Bf1 Qc8 15.
Kh2 Ned3 16. Bxd3 Bxd4 17. Bf1 Bg7 18. Nd5 c6 19. Nc3 Be5 20. Bxe5 dxe5 21. Qd6
b6 22. Red1 a5 23. b3 Be6 24. a3 Ra7 25. b4 axb4 26. axb4 Rd7 27. bxc5 Rxd6 28.
cxd6 Qa8 29. Rxb6 Qa3 30. Nb1 Qc5 31. Rb2 Ra8 32. Kg1 Kf8 33. Nc3 Rd8 34. Rbd2
Qa5 (34... Bxc4 35. Bxc4 Qxc4 36. Rd3 Rd7 37. f4 exf4 38. gxf4 Ke8 39. Kf2 Rb7
40. Ne2 Rb2) 35. Na2 Ke8 36. Nc1 Qb4 37. Na2 Qa3 38. Nc1 g5 39. Kg2 Qb4 (39...
h5 40. Be2 h4 41. g4 Qb4 42. Na2 Qa4 43. f3 Bxc4 44. d7+ Ke7 45. Nc3 Qb3 46.
Bxc4 Qxc4 47. Rd3 $17) 40. Na2 Qc5 41. Be2 Ra8 42. Nc1 h6 43. d7+ Kd8 44. Nd3
Qa5 45. Ne1 Ra7 46. Nc2 Qc3 47. Ne3 Ra1 48. Bg4 Rxd1 49. Rxd1 Bxc4 50. Nxc4
Qxc4 51. Bf5 Qb4 52. g4 Qa3 53. h4 gxh4 54. Rh1 Kc7 55. Rxh4 c5 56. g5 h5 57.
Rxh5 Qa8 58. Rh1 c4 59. Rc1 Qa4 60. Rb1 Qa5 61. Rd1 Kd8 62. Rh1 Ke7 63. Rh8 1-0
She showed a never say die attitude throughout the tournament as many of her opponents would have an advantage, but Viji would always fight back and wrest the point. However, she too missed her chances. In the antepenultimate round, for example, she was a hair's distance away from beating the second seed...
...GM Ivan Popov (2650)! After winning the Delhi Open 2016, Popov could only manage 21st place here.
[Event "8th Chennai Open International Grandmas"]
[Site "JawaharlalNehruStadium,Chenna"]
[Date "2016.01.23"]
[Round "8.3"]
[White "Popov, Ivan"]
[Black "Vijayalakshmi, Subbaraman"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B30"]
[WhiteElo "2650"]
[BlackElo "2351"]
[Annotator "JeVousAime"]
[PlyCount "120"]
[EventDate "2016.01.18"]
[EventRounds "10"]
[EventCountry "IND"]
[Site "JawaharlalNehruStadium,Chenna"]
[Date "2016.01.23"]
[Round "8.3"]
[White "Popov, Ivan"]
[Black "Vijayalakshmi, Subbaraman"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B30"]
[WhiteElo "2650"]
[BlackElo "2351"]
[Annotator "JeVousAime"]
[PlyCount "120"]
[EventDate "2016.01.18"]
[EventRounds "10"]
[EventCountry "IND"]
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 e5 4. Bc4 d6 5. d3 Be7 6. Nd2 Nf6 7. Nf1 a6 8. a3 b5
9. Ba2 Bg4 10. f3 Be6 11. Nd5 Bxd5 12. exd5 Nb8 13. Ng3 Nbd7 14. O-O O-O 15. f4
Ne8 (15... Re8 16. Qf3 Bf8 17. f5 e4 18. Nxe4 Nxe4 19. dxe4 Be7 20. Bf4 Bf6 21.
Bxd6 Bxb2 22. Rad1 Nf6 23. e5 Bxe5 24. Bxc5 Rc8 25. Bb4 a5 26. Be1 Rxc2 27. Bb3
Rb2 28. a4 Qd6 29. axb5 Bxh2+ 30. Kh1 h5 31. Rf2 Rxf2 32. Bxf2 Ng4 33. Bc2 Qf6
34. Bd3 a4 35. Bf1 a3 36. Rd2 Bd6 37. b6 Qa1 38. Bd4 Qe1 39. Rd1 Qh4+ 40. Qh3
Nf2+ 41. Bxf2 Qxf2 42. f6 Re1 43. Qc8+ Kh7 44. Rxe1 Qxe1 45. Qc2+ g6 46. Kg1
Qe3+ 47. Kh1 Bc5 48. Kh2 Qg1+ {0-1 (48) Steel,H (2175)-Al Sayed,M (2460)
Gibraltar 2007}) 16. Nf5 Bf6 17. c3 a5 18. Kh1 b4 19. d4 (19. fxe5 Nxe5 20. d4
cxd4 21. cxd4 Ng6 22. Bb1 $16) 19... exd4 20. cxd4 bxa3 21. bxa3 g6 22. Nh6+
Kg7 23. Ng4 Bxd4 24. f5 Kh8 25. Rb1 Rb8 (25... Nef6 26. Nxf6 Nxf6 27. fxg6 fxg6
28. Bh6 Rf7 {Black stands better}) 26. Nh6 Nef6 27. Bg5 Qc7 28. Qa4 Rxb1 29.
Bxb1 Kg7 30. Qb3 Qb8 31. Qd3 Qe8 32. Qg3 Qe5 33. Bf4 Qe2 34. Bd3 Qb2 35. fxg6
fxg6 36. Nf5+ Kh8 37. Nxd4 Nh5 38. Be5+ Kg8 39. Rxf8+ Nxf8 40. Qe1 dxe5 41. Nc6
Nf4 42. Be4 c4 43. Nxa5 c3 44. Nc4 Qa2 45. Qxc3 Ne2 46. Qxe5 Qxc4 47. g3 Qc1+
48. Kg2 Qg1+ 49. Kh3 Qf1+ 50. Kg4 h5+ 51. Kg5 Qf7 52. Kh4 Ng1 53. d6 Ne6 54.
Bd5 Nf3+ (54... Kh7 $1 55. Qxe6 (55. Be4 Nf3+ 56. Bxf3 g5+ 57. Kh3 Qxf3 {
follows mate}) 55... Nf3+ $1 $19) 55. Bxf3 g5+ 56. Kh3 Qxf3 57. Qxe6+ Kg7 58.
Qe7+ Kg6 59. Qe8+ Kg7 60. Qe5+ Kg6 1/2-1/2
9. Ba2 Bg4 10. f3 Be6 11. Nd5 Bxd5 12. exd5 Nb8 13. Ng3 Nbd7 14. O-O O-O 15. f4
Ne8 (15... Re8 16. Qf3 Bf8 17. f5 e4 18. Nxe4 Nxe4 19. dxe4 Be7 20. Bf4 Bf6 21.
Bxd6 Bxb2 22. Rad1 Nf6 23. e5 Bxe5 24. Bxc5 Rc8 25. Bb4 a5 26. Be1 Rxc2 27. Bb3
Rb2 28. a4 Qd6 29. axb5 Bxh2+ 30. Kh1 h5 31. Rf2 Rxf2 32. Bxf2 Ng4 33. Bc2 Qf6
34. Bd3 a4 35. Bf1 a3 36. Rd2 Bd6 37. b6 Qa1 38. Bd4 Qe1 39. Rd1 Qh4+ 40. Qh3
Nf2+ 41. Bxf2 Qxf2 42. f6 Re1 43. Qc8+ Kh7 44. Rxe1 Qxe1 45. Qc2+ g6 46. Kg1
Qe3+ 47. Kh1 Bc5 48. Kh2 Qg1+ {0-1 (48) Steel,H (2175)-Al Sayed,M (2460)
Gibraltar 2007}) 16. Nf5 Bf6 17. c3 a5 18. Kh1 b4 19. d4 (19. fxe5 Nxe5 20. d4
cxd4 21. cxd4 Ng6 22. Bb1 $16) 19... exd4 20. cxd4 bxa3 21. bxa3 g6 22. Nh6+
Kg7 23. Ng4 Bxd4 24. f5 Kh8 25. Rb1 Rb8 (25... Nef6 26. Nxf6 Nxf6 27. fxg6 fxg6
28. Bh6 Rf7 {Black stands better}) 26. Nh6 Nef6 27. Bg5 Qc7 28. Qa4 Rxb1 29.
Bxb1 Kg7 30. Qb3 Qb8 31. Qd3 Qe8 32. Qg3 Qe5 33. Bf4 Qe2 34. Bd3 Qb2 35. fxg6
fxg6 36. Nf5+ Kh8 37. Nxd4 Nh5 38. Be5+ Kg8 39. Rxf8+ Nxf8 40. Qe1 dxe5 41. Nc6
Nf4 42. Be4 c4 43. Nxa5 c3 44. Nc4 Qa2 45. Qxc3 Ne2 46. Qxe5 Qxc4 47. g3 Qc1+
48. Kg2 Qg1+ 49. Kh3 Qf1+ 50. Kg4 h5+ 51. Kg5 Qf7 52. Kh4 Ng1 53. d6 Ne6 54.
Bd5 Nf3+ (54... Kh7 $1 55. Qxe6 (55. Be4 Nf3+ 56. Bxf3 g5+ 57. Kh3 Qxf3 {
follows mate}) 55... Nf3+ $1 $19) 55. Bxf3 g5+ 56. Kh3 Qxf3 57. Qxe6+ Kg7 58.
Qe7+ Kg6 59. Qe8+ Kg7 60. Qe5+ Kg6 1/2-1/2
Kumar Gaurav (right) capped his splendid performance with an IM-norm while IM P Shyaamnikhil was left in tears after gaining a good position against...
...the top seed GM Boris Grachev (2652), who finished second with 8.0/10.
[Event "8th Chennai Open International Grandmas"]
[Site "JawaharlalNehruStadium,Chenna"]
[Date "2016.01.23"]
[Round "8.6"]
[White "Shyaamnikhil, P."]
[Black "Grachev, Boris"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B51"]
[WhiteElo "2428"]
[BlackElo "2652"]
[Annotator "JeVousAime"]
[PlyCount "86"]
[EventDate "2016.01.18"]
[EventRounds "10"]
[EventCountry "IND"]
[Site "JawaharlalNehruStadium,Chenna"]
[Date "2016.01.23"]
[Round "8.6"]
[White "Shyaamnikhil, P."]
[Black "Grachev, Boris"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B51"]
[WhiteElo "2428"]
[BlackElo "2652"]
[Annotator "JeVousAime"]
[PlyCount "86"]
[EventDate "2016.01.18"]
[EventRounds "10"]
[EventCountry "IND"]
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bb5+ Nd7 4. c3 Ngf6 5. Qe2 a6 6. Ba4 b5 7. Bc2 Bb7 8. O-O
e6 9. d3 Be7 10. Re1 O-O 11. Nbd2 Qc7 12. Nf1 Ne5 13. Ng5 h6 14. Nh3 Rfe8 15.
f4 Nc6 16. g4 Nh7 17. Ng3 d5 18. Bd2 dxe4 19. dxe4 Rad8 20. Rad1 Nb8 21. Be3
Nd7 22. b3 Nhf8 23. c4 bxc4 24. bxc4 Ng6 25. e5 Nh4 26. Be4 Nf8 27. Bf2 Nfg6
28. Bxb7 Qxb7 29. Ne4 Qc6 $2 (29... Rxd1 $1 30. Rxd1 Rd8 31. Rxd8+ Bxd8 32. Qd3
Be7 $17 33. Qe2 Qb1+ 34. Be1 Nf3+ $1 35. Qxf3 Qxe1+ 36. Qf1 (36. Kg2 Nh4#)
36... Qxe4 $19) 30. Bg3 Rxd1 31. Rxd1 f5 32. exf6 Bxf6 33. Rd6 (33. Nxf6+ gxf6
34. Rf1 $16 {protecting the f3 square}) 33... Bd4+ 34. Bf2 Qa4 35. Bxd4 cxd4
36. Rxd4 e5 37. Rd6 exf4 38. Nhf2 Ne5 39. c5 Qa3 40. Qd1 Qe3 41. Rd8 Rxd8 42.
Qxd8+ Kh7 43. Qd1 Nxg4 0-1
e6 9. d3 Be7 10. Re1 O-O 11. Nbd2 Qc7 12. Nf1 Ne5 13. Ng5 h6 14. Nh3 Rfe8 15.
f4 Nc6 16. g4 Nh7 17. Ng3 d5 18. Bd2 dxe4 19. dxe4 Rad8 20. Rad1 Nb8 21. Be3
Nd7 22. b3 Nhf8 23. c4 bxc4 24. bxc4 Ng6 25. e5 Nh4 26. Be4 Nf8 27. Bf2 Nfg6
28. Bxb7 Qxb7 29. Ne4 Qc6 $2 (29... Rxd1 $1 30. Rxd1 Rd8 31. Rxd8+ Bxd8 32. Qd3
Be7 $17 33. Qe2 Qb1+ 34. Be1 Nf3+ $1 35. Qxf3 Qxe1+ 36. Qf1 (36. Kg2 Nh4#)
36... Qxe4 $19) 30. Bg3 Rxd1 31. Rxd1 f5 32. exf6 Bxf6 33. Rd6 (33. Nxf6+ gxf6
34. Rf1 $16 {protecting the f3 square}) 33... Bd4+ 34. Bf2 Qa4 35. Bxd4 cxd4
36. Rxd4 e5 37. Rd6 exf4 38. Nhf2 Ne5 39. c5 Qa3 40. Qd1 Qe3 41. Rd8 Rxd8 42.
Qxd8+ Kh7 43. Qd1 Nxg4 0-1
Ukraine's GM Yuri Solodovnichenko (2581) was fourth with 7.5/10
His countryman GM Adam Tukhaev (2556) was fifth on tiebreak
Dutch GM Sipke Ernst (2536) was sixth with 7.5/10
After a couple of setbacks in the first-half, Russian GM Artur Gabrielian (2545) came back nicely to score 7.5/10 as well and finish seventh.
The winner: GM Vladimir Belous (2557) if Russia
Final Standings:
| Rk. | SNo | Name | FED | Rtg | Club/City | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | ||
| 1 | 8 | GM | Belous Vladimir | RUS | 2557 | 8,5 | 59,0 | 53,5 | 52,75 | ||
| 2 | 1 | GM | Grachev Boris | RUS | 2652 | 8,0 | 59,0 | 53,5 | 51,25 | ||
| 3 | 34 | IM | Vijayalakshmi Subbaraman | IND | 2351 | TN | 8,0 | 57,0 | 52,0 | 49,25 | |
| 4 | 5 | GM | Solodovnichenko Yuri | UKR | 2581 | 7,5 | 61,5 | 56,5 | 46,25 | ||
| 5 | 9 | GM | Tukhaev Adam | UKR | 2556 | 7,5 | 57,5 | 51,5 | 46,25 | ||
| 6 | 12 | GM | Ernst Sipke | NED | 2536 | 7,5 | 56,0 | 51,0 | 44,00 | ||
| 7 | 11 | GM | Gabrielian Artur | RUS | 2545 | 7,5 | 52,0 | 47,5 | 39,50 | ||
| 8 | 7 | GM | Mozharov Mikhail | RUS | 2559 | 7,0 | 61,5 | 55,5 | 44,00 | ||
| 9 | 10 | GM | Bernadskiy Vitaliy | UKR | 2546 | 7,0 | 60,5 | 55,0 | 42,50 | ||
| 10 | 14 | GM | Dzhumaev Marat | UZB | 2495 | 7,0 | 58,5 | 53,5 | 39,00 |
Check the complete standing here.
Complete results of Round 10.
Download important Round 01-10 games in PGN.
Choice Tactics:
Popov-Vijaylakshmi
Viji did not play this possible variation that ends with...?
Tukhaev-Deepan
White's queen, rook, and bishop have limitless activity. How did he finish?
Gabrielian-Srinath R.
So, what precisely is hanging?
Dzhumaev-Popov
White forced resignation on the 21st move!
You may fearlessly comment the answers below and check if you found the solutions correctly! ChessBase India will bring you a Final report of the tournament soon.