Chennai 07-10: Tukhaev gallops away with the Indian Circuit

by Niklesh Jain - 27/01/2017

With the final round of the 2017 Chennai Open, the Indian circuit that has been running since a month came to a successful end. The total prize fund of this circuit already touched the Rs. 80-lakh-mark. But as has been announced already, the next years' edition of the same circuit will have a prize fund of Rs. 1 crore. Meanwhile, Adam Tukhaev galloped away with the Chennai Open title as expected. Find out how.

Chennai 07-10: Tukhaev gallops away with the Indian Circuit

With the 2017 Chennai Open, the Indian circuit has come to a close, and in comparison to the previous editions, this year the tournament scaled new heights. The number of local players outperforming their foreign colleagues was very high. But on the other hand, this is probably one of those rare instances when no norms were scored in an Indian GM Open!

Ukrainian GM Adam Tukhaev was in great form as he maintained his consistency throughout the tournament.

His win in the sixth and seventh rounds against grandmasters David Alberto and Adam Horvath proved crucial in the campaign that began with seven successive victories and ended with three solid draws securing the title.

[Event "9th Chennai Open International Grandmast"]
[Site "Chennai India"]
[Date "2017.01.21"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Tukhaev, Adam"]
[Black "David, Alberto"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "2516"]
[BlackElo "2569"]
[PlyCount "115"]
[EventDate "2017.01.18"]
[Source "MonRoi"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Bb4 5. exd5 Qxd5 6. Bxf6 Bxc3+ 7. bxc3 gxf6
8. Nf3 c5 9. Bd3 cxd4 10. O-O dxc3 11. Qe1 Nc6 12. Qxc3 e5 13. Rab1 Rg8 14. Bc4
Qd4 15. Qxd4 Nxd4 16. Nxd4 exd4 17. Rfd1 Bh3 18. Bd5 Rd8 19. Bxb7 Be6 20. Bc6+
Kf8 21. Rb4 Rg5 22. a4 Re5 23. h3 Re2 24. Rdxd4 Rxd4 25. Rxd4 Rxc2 26. Bb5 Ke7
27. Rh4 Bf5 28. Rh5 Be4 29. f3 Rc1+ 30. Kf2 Bb1 31. Rd5 Rc7 32. g4 Ba2 33. Rh5
Bb1 34. Kg3 Rc3 35. Be2 Bc2 36. Ra5 Rc7 37. h4 Kf8 38. Ra6 Ke7 39. g5 fxg5 40.
hxg5 Rd7 41. Bb5 Rc7 42. Kg4 Kf8 43. f4 Re7 44. Rd6 Re4 45. a5 Rb4 46. Be2 Bb3
47. Bd3 Be6+ 48. Kf3 Ra4 49. Ra6 Ra3 50. Ke2 Bg4+ 51. Kd2 Ra2+ 52. Ke3 Ra3 53.
Kd4 Ra4+ 54. Ke5 Kg7 55. Rxa7 h6 56. f5 hxg5 57. f6+ Kh6 58. Ra8 1-0

Before the final round, Adam had a chat explaining his game that you can watch below.

[Event "9th Chennai Open International Grandmast"]
[Site "Chennai India"]
[Date "2017.01.24"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Deviatkin, Andrei"]
[Black "Tukhaev, Adam"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteElo "2499"]
[BlackElo "2516"]
[PlyCount "58"]
[EventDate "2017.01.18"]
[Source "MonRoi"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. Bg5 Bg7 4. Nbd2 d5 5. e3 O-O 6. Be2 c5 7. c3 Nbd7 8. O-O
b6 9. h3 Bb7 10. a4 a6 11. Qb1 Qe8 12. Bf4 Ne4 13. Nxe4 dxe4 14. Nd2 e5 15.
dxe5 Bxe5 16. Nc4 Qe6 17. Rd1 Bxf4 18. exf4 Bd5 19. Ne3 Bb3 20. Rd2 c4 21. Nxc4
Bxc4 22. Bxc4 Qxc4 23. Rxd7 Qe2 24. Qc1 e3 25. Qxe3 Qxb2 26. Rad1 Rac8 27. R1d3
Qa1+ 28. Kh2 Qxa4 29. R3d4 Qc2 1/2-1/2

In this manner, he took home the prize of Rs. 2 lakhs, in addition to the Rs. 3 lakhs that he won in Mumbai!

GM David Alberto settled for a draw against IM S. Nitin to score 8.0/10 and finish second on the tiebreak.

[Event "9th Chennai Open International Grandmast"]
[Site "Chennai India"]
[Date "2017.01.24"]
[Round "9"]
[White "David, Alberto"]
[Black "Neverov, Valeriy"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "2569"]
[BlackElo "2478"]
[PlyCount "51"]
[EventDate "2017.01.18"]
[Source "MonRoi"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bb5+ Nd7 4. d4 cxd4 5. Qxd4 a6 6. Bxd7+ Bxd7 7. Bg5 h6 8.
Bh4 Nf6 9. Nc3 g5 10. Bg3 Bg7 11. O-O-O Nh5 12. Qe3 Rc8 13. Nd5 Nxg3 14. hxg3
Qa5 15. Kb1 Qc5 16. Qd2 e6 17. Nb4 a5 18. Nd3 Qb6 19. e5 g4 20. Nh2 Ba4 21. b3
h5 22. Qg5 Rg8 23. Qxh5 Rc7 24. c4 Bxb3 25. Nxg4 Rxc4 26. Nb2 1-0

After losing to Tukhaev, David finished with 3.5/4 which turned out to be the key.

David Alberto won Rs. 1, 50, 000 for this efforts.

Hungarian grandmaster Czebe Attila (2491) was third in the tiebreak with 8.0/10 and talked with Puneet Jaiswal of Delhi in this interview.

Here is a crucial victory Attila scored over Indian GM Sahaj Grover that helped him take the third place:

[Event "9th Chennai Open International Grandmast"]
[Site "Chennai India"]
[Date "2017.01.23"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Czebe, Attila"]
[Black "Grover, Sahaj"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "2491"]
[BlackElo "2467"]
[PlyCount "65"]
[EventDate "2017.01.18"]
[Source "MonRoi"]

1. g3 Nf6 2. Nf3 b6 3. Bg2 Bb7 4. O-O g6 5. d3 Bg7 6. e4 d6 7. Nh4 e5 8. f4
Nbd7 9. Nc3 Nh5 10. fxe5 dxe5 11. Nf5 Bf8 12. Nh6 f6 13. Bh3 Bc5+ 14. Kh1 Qe7
15. Nd5 Bxd5 16. exd5 Ng7 17. Bg2 Bd6 18. Be3 f5 19. Qd2 Rf8 20. Rae1 O-O-O 21.
Bg5 Nf6 22. g4 Qd7 23. gxf5 gxf5 24. Bh3 Nxd5 25. Bxd8 Nf4 26. Rxf4 exf4 27.
Be7 Bxe7 28. Qg2 f3 29. Qxg7 Qc6 30. Rf1 f2+ 31. Bg2 Qe6 32. Rxf2 Kb8 33. Nxf5
1-0

WGM Gulrukhbegim Tokhijonova was leading among the women before her final round loss to Sahaj Grover spoiled her tournament. She spiritedly praised Indian food and culture and said that winning games against Indian players is not easy.

[Event "9th Chennai Open International Grandmast"]
[Site "Chennai India"]
[Date "2017.01.24"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Tiwari, Arjun"]
[Black "Tokhirjonova, Gulrukhbegim"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "2169"]
[BlackElo "2284"]
[PlyCount "84"]
[EventDate "2017.01.18"]
[Source "MonRoi"]

1. e4 e6 2. d3 d5 3. Nd2 Nf6 4. Ngf3 c5 5. g3 Nc6 6. Bg2 Be7 7. O-O O-O 8. Re1
b5 9. e5 Nd7 10. Nf1 Qc7 11. Bf4 Bb7 12. h4 Rfc8 13. N1h2 Qd8 14. Ng5 h6 15.
Nh3 Nf8 16. Qg4 Kh8 17. h5 b4 18. Qf3 Nd4 19. Qd1 Rab8 20. Qd2 Nh7 21. g4 a5
22. c3 Nb5 23. Nf3 bxc3 24. bxc3 d4 25. c4 Nc3 26. Kh2 a4 27. a3 Bc6 28. Rg1
Bxf3 29. Bxf3 Ng5 30. Bh1 Rb3 31. Bxg5 hxg5 32. Rg2 Rcb8 33. f4 Nb1 34. Qc1 Qa5
35. Rc2 gxf4 36. Nxf4 Qc7 37. Qe1 Bf6 38. Re2 Nc3 39. Kg1 Nxe2+ 40. Qxe2 Bxe5
41. Nh3 Bh2+ 42. Kf1 Rb1+ 0-1

IM S. Nitin (2427) sailed through choppy waters in the first few rounds before he finally found the wind in his sails to tie for the second place, taking the fifth position on the tiebreak. He was the best among the Indians.

[Event "9th Chennai Open International Grandmast"]
[Site "Chennai India"]
[Date "2017.01.24"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Bernadskiy, Vitaliy"]
[Black "Nitin, S."]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "2540"]
[BlackElo "2427"]
[PlyCount "41"]
[EventDate "2017.01.18"]
[Source "MonRoi"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Qf3 g6 7. h3 Bg7 8. Be3
Nc6 9. O-O-O Bd7 10. g4 Rc8 11. Kb1 O-O {Nxd4 Bxd4} 12. e5 {Ba7} Be6 13. g5 Nd7
{Qd3 b6 Qxd6 Ra8} 14. Bc4 {Rxa7 Bxe6 fxe6 Qxe6} Kh8 15. Rd3 Nc5 {Rxd8} 16. Nxe6
{Rd6 Rxf2 Rg1} Nd4 {Rxb6 Ra8} 17. Rc1 Ne2 18. Nxe2 {Rxe2 c4 Rxe4 c5 Rf4 Re6
Rf7 b4} Kg8 19. a4 {Rb7 Rb6} Rc7 20. a5 {Re7 Kc2 e4 Re1 e3 Re2 Re4 Kb3} Bxe5 {
c6 Rd8 Rxa6 Rd3 Ka4} 21. Rd2 {Re1 e2 Ra8 Kf7 a6 Bd6 Ra7 Ke6 Rb7 Rd1 c7 Bxc7
Rxe2 Rxe2 Rxc7 Ra2 Kb5 Rd5 Rc5 Rxc5 bxc5 Kd7 Kb6 Kc8 c6 Ra1 h4 Ra2 c7 Ra1} 0-1

GM Sahaj Grover returned to serious competition while on a break from his studies in the United States. He was performing well in this tournament but for a few hiccups. Here is his nice final round win:

[Event "9th Chennai Open International Grandmast"]
[Site "Chennai"]
[Date "2017.01.25"]
[Round "10"]
[White "Tokhirjonova, Gulrukhbegim"]
[Black "Grover, Sahaj"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "2284"]
[BlackElo "2467"]
[PlyCount "64"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]
[Source "MonRoi"]

1. e4 e6 2. f4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. Nf3 Nc6 5. c3 d4 6. Bd3 Nge7 7. O-O Nd5 8. g3 b6
9. Na3 Bb7 10. Qe2 Qd7 11. Nc2 O-O-O 12. cxd4 Ndb4 13. Nxb4 Nxd4 14. Nxd4 Qxd4+
15. Qe3 cxb4 16. Qxd4 Rxd4 17. Be2 Bc5 18. Rf2 Rd7 19. Kf1 Bxf2 20. Kxf2 Kb8
21. d3 Rc8 22. Ke3 a5 23. Bd2 Ba6 24. Rd1 Rc2 25. Rb1 Ka7 26. a3 bxa3 27. bxa3
Ra2 28. Rb3 Rc7 29. Bd1 a4 30. Rb4 Rd7 31. d4 Rxa3+ 32. Kf2 Rd3 0-1

Tamil Nadu talent M. Mahalakshmi (6.5/10) was the best female player among the Indians.

Bihar's talented boys Saurabh Anand and Kumar Gaurav added rating points to their kitty. The boys are rising impressively and it is only time when they would become titled players.

A picture that speaks a thousand words.

Yours truly (left) with GM R.B. Ramesh, ace coach of India. Interview coming soon.

Ashok Kumar of Doordarshan helped with the video interviews.

Final Rankings after 10 Rounds:

Rk.	SNo		Name	sex	FED	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	4	GM	Tukhaev Adam		UKR	2516	UKR	8,5	0,0	62,0	66,0
2	1	GM	David Alberto		ITA	2569	ITA	8,0	0,0	63,5	67,0
3	8	GM	Czebe Attila		HUN	2491	HUN	8,0	0,0	61,0	65,0
4	5	GM	Malakhatko Vadim		BEL	2514	BEL	8,0	0,0	60,5	66,0
5	16	IM	Nitin S.		IND	2427	TN	8,0	0,0	57,0	61,5
6	2	GM	Bernadskiy Vitaliy		UKR	2540	UKR	7,5	0,0	61,5	67,0
7	7	GM	Horvath Adam		HUN	2499	HUN	7,5	0,0	61,5	66,5
8	3	GM	Sivuk Vitaly		UKR	2540	UKR	7,5	0,0	60,0	65,5
9	11	GM	Grover Sahaj		IND	2467	DEL	7,5	0,0	60,0	65,0
10	6	GM	Deviatkin Andrei		RUS	2499	RUS	7,5	0,0	60,0	64,5
11	18	IM	Saptarshi Roy		IND	2418	RLYS	7,5	0,0	58,0	63,0
12	9	GM	Stopa Jacek		POL	2479	POL	7,5	0,0	58,0	61,5
13	10	GM	Neverov Valeriy		UKR	2478	UKR	7,5	0,0	57,0	62,5
14	36		Arjun Kalyan		IND	2269	TN	7,5	0,0	57,0	62,0
15	13	IM	Shyaamnikhil P		IND	2446	TN	7,5	0,0	54,5	59,5
16	25	IM	Navin Kanna T.U.		IND	2322	TN	7,5	0,0	53,5	58,0
17	27		Kumaran B		IND	2303	TN	7,0	0,0	58,0	62,5
18	24		Srijit Paul		IND	2347	WB	7,0	0,0	57,0	62,0
19	20	IM	Vignesh N R		IND	2414	TN	7,0	0,0	57,0	62,0
20	38		Harikrishnan.A.Ra		IND	2259	TN	7,0	0,0	56,0	61,0
21	91		Saurabh Anand		IND	2072	BIH	7,0	0,0	56,0	58,0
22	21	IM	Ravichandran Siddharth		IND	2391	TN	7,0	0,0	55,0	59,5
23	80		Aniruddh Aiyengar		IND	2112	TN	7,0	0,0	54,5	59,5
24	23	CM	Urazayev Arystanbek		KAZ	2365	KAZ	7,0	0,0	54,5	58,5
25	69		Kumar Gaurav		IND	2150	BIH	7,0	0,0	54,5	58,5

Complete Standings

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