Dubai 04-07: Shardul and Sethu in pursuit

by Priyadarshan Banjan - 18/04/2016

Dubai is a city known for its energy, optimism and openness to the people from across the globe. The emirate is a place that is constantly in flux and the world has witnessed it mature as a city and as a society. The tournament has established a new record in participation approximately 200 players from 41 countries, including 46 Grandmasters, of which 25 are rated above 2600. 60 competitors are Indians, with many youngsters hunting for norms and points. At the end of seven rounds, Shardul Gagare and S.P. Sethuraman are tied at the second spot with 5.5/7, pursuing four leading grandmasters. A report.

Dubai 04-07: Shardul and Sethu in pursuit

Dubai is a city known for its energy, optimism and openness to the people from across the globe. The emirate is a place that is constantly in flux and the world has witnessed it mature as a city and as a society. The eighteenth edition of Rashid Bin Hamdan Al Maktoum Cup opened on 10 April 2016 night at the Dubai Chess and Culture Club. The tournament offers a total cash purse of US$50,000, with US$13,000 and the Rashid Bin Hamdan Cup going to the champion. The tournament has established a new record in participation approximately 200 players from 41 countries, including 46 Grandmasters, of which 25 are rated above 2600. 60 competitors are Indians, with many youngsters hunting for norms and points.

At the end of three rounds, GM G.N. Gopal was among the leaders with 3.0/3 after he served Jobava a dose of his own medicine. In the fourth round, he split the point with GM Ivan Sokolov and in the fifth with compatriot GM Vidit Gujrathi. But in the sixth, he lost to British GM Gawain Jones.

Gopal en route to victory over India's Himal Gusain (2429) in the seventh round. He is now at 5.0/7.

A handful of Indians, besides Gopal, are tied at 5.0/7, still in the hunt for a good finish. Among them are biggies grandmasters Adhiban and Vidit, and also:

Padmini Rout (2439)

GM Sandipan Chanda (2585) beat Nitin S. in the fourth round and has scored 4.5/7. Nitin, meanwhile, has reached 5.0/7.

IM Arghyadip Das (2441)

India's latest grandmaster Diptayan Ghosh (2562)

GM Aravindh Chithambaram (2515)

IM M.S. Thejkumar (2439) is also on 5.0/7.

[Event "18th DUBAI OPEN CHESS Tournament 2016"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.04.17"]
[Round "6.13"]
[White "Kovalenko, Igor"]
[Black "Thejkumar, M. S."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A06"]
[WhiteElo "2662"]
[BlackElo "2427"]
[PlyCount "80"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2003.06.08"]
[TimeControl "5400+30"]
[WhiteClock "0:14:49"]
[BlackClock "0:03:43"]

1. c4 {0} e6 {0} 2. Nf3 {0} d5 {15} 3. e3 {0} Nf6 {65} 4. b3 {0} c5 {199} 5.
Bb2 {0} Nc6 {37} 6. cxd5 {0} exd5 {12} 7. Bb5 {112} Be7 {143} 8. O-O {38} O-O {
19} 9. Bxc6 {5} bxc6 {6} 10. d3 {2} a5 {348} 11. Qc2 {461} a4 {937} 12. Nbd2 {
40} a3 {1187} 13. Be5 {104} Bf5 {108} 14. Rac1 {145} c4 {104} 15. Rfe1 {909}
Bxd3 {454} 16. Qc3 {3} Ne4 {324} 17. Nxe4 {23} dxe4 {8} 18. Nd4 {488} Qd7 {624}
19. Bxg7 {1210} Rfb8 {14} 20. Red1 {4} c5 {269} 21. Nc2 {93} cxb3 {162} 22.
axb3 {2} Qe6 {44} 23. Na1 {14} f6 {54} 24. Bh6 {2} c4 {30} 25. bxc4 {170} Bb4 {
25} 26. Qd4 {79} Rd8 {66} 27. Rxd3 {3} exd3 {172} 28. Qh4 {4} Rd7 {15} 29. Rd1
{15} d2 {30} 30. Nc2 {117} Bc3 {161} 31. Qg3+ {73} Kh8 {7} 32. Qf3 {103} Ra6 {
37} 33. e4 {68} Qxc4 {118} 34. Qh5 {267} Ra8 {165} 35. e5 {210} Bxe5 {27} 36.
Nxa3 {20} Qb3 {87} 37. Nb1 {34} Rd5 {258} 38. Qf3 {884} Qxf3 39. gxf3 {1} Ra1 {
27} 40. Kg2 {8} Rxb1 {19} 0-1

GM Shardul Gagare (2491) has been delivering a spate of 2650-2700 performances recently in overseas tournaments and Dubai seems to be no exception.

The Maharashtra lad is playing exceptionally, with a rating performance of 2754, with draws against Azeri GM Eltaj Safarli (2656) and British GM Gawain Jones (2650), and wins over Argentine GM Sandro Mareco (2625) and Ukrainian GM Yuri Kuzubov, whom he defeated in spectacular fashion.

[Event "18th Dubai Open 2016"]
[Site "Dubai UAE"]
[Date "2016.04.16"]
[Round "6.10"]
[White "Gagare, Shardul"]
[Black "Kuzubov, Yuriy"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D37"]
[WhiteElo "2491"]
[BlackElo "2638"]
[Annotator "Sagar Shah"]
[PlyCount "81"]
[EventDate "2016.04.11"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 dxc4 {The Vienna is not so popular at the
highest level but every now and then makes an appearance.} 5. e4 Bb4 6. Bg5 {
Shardul goes for the old main line.} (6. Bxc4 Nxe4 7. O-O {is the modern line
where White has been having good results.}) 6... c5 7. Bxc4 cxd4 8. Nxd4 Bxc3+
(8... e5 {A logical question could be why not e5. But Black is too far behind
in development to be able to make such pawn moves.} 9. Ndb5 $1 (9. Qa4+ {
is also strong as after} Nc6 10. Nxc6 Bxc3+ 11. bxc3 bxc6 12. O-O O-O 13. Rfd1
{White's position is highly preferable.}) 9... Qxd1+ 10. Rxd1 $16 {With a
tremendous initiative.}) 9. bxc3 Qa5 {Attacking both bishop on g5 and the pawn
on c3 and also the pawn on e4. Hence, White's reply is forced.} 10. Bxf6 Qxc3+
11. Kf1 gxf6 (11... Qxc4+ {winis the bishop with a check but is not as great
as after} 12. Kg1 $14 {The bishop on f6 is taboo due to Rc1.}) 12. Rc1 Qa5 13.
h4 {Looking to activate the took via h3.} (13. Bb5+ {Is a tricky move. Black
has to now play} Ke7 $1 $13 {When his king is quite safe in the centre.} (13...
Nc6 $5 $146 14. Rxc6 $1 (14. Nxc6 Qxb5+ $19) 14... bxc6 15. Bxc6+ Ke7 16. Bxa8
Qa6+ (16... Ba6+ $2 17. Kg1 Rxa8 18. Nc6+ $18) 17. Qe2 (17. Kg1 Bd7 {And the
bishop on a8 is trapped.}) 17... Qxe2+ 18. Kxe2 (18. Nxe2 Ba6 $17) 18... Ba6+
19. Ke3 Rxa8 20. Rc1 $14 {White keeps an edge but who knows with accurate play
Black would be able to hold this.})) 13... Ke7 14. Rh3 Rd8 15. Re3 $1 $146 {
The best move of the computer is the novelty that Shardul comes up with. He
might have well come up with a new path that others will follow in this line.
The idea is to play Nf5+ and uncover the attack of the rook on the king.} (15.
Rd3 {has been the main line till date.}) 15... Rd6 (15... Nc6 {seems like the
most natural move but is met with} 16. Nf5+ $1) 16. Nf5+ $1 exf5 17. exf5+ Kd7
(17... Be6 18. Qc2 $18 {regains the piece with a tremedous attack.}) 18. Be6+
$1 {I wonder whether all this was prepared by Shardul.} fxe6 19. fxe6+ Ke7 20.
Qg4 $1 {Two pieces down, White is completely winning. The rooks are nicely
into play and the pawn on e6, as Kasparov has said in the past, is aso an
attacking unit.} Bxe6 21. Qg7+ Kd8 22. Qh8+ (22. Qxb7 $2 Qa6+ $19) 22... Ke7
23. Qxh7+ Kd8 24. Qh8+ Kd7 25. Qg7+ Kd8 26. Qxf6+ {One by one all the pawns
drop with check.} Kd7 27. Qg7+ Kd8 28. Qf8+ Kd7 29. Rg3 {is also pretty strong.
} (29. Qc8+ $1 Ke7 30. Qxb7+ Nd7 31. Qxa8 {was the easiest way to win.}) 29...
Bc4+ 30. Kg1 Qd5 31. Rg7+ Kc6 32. Qc8+ Kb6 33. Qc7+ Ka6 34. Rxc4 $1 {Now just
a piece down and the knight cannot develop just as yet due to various mating
nets.} Qd1+ 35. Kh2 Nd7 36. Rb4 b6 37. Rg3 $1 Rd5 38. Ra3+ Ra5 39. Qc4+ Kb7 40.
Rxa5 {White is now not only two pawns up but also has an extra exchange!} Qd6+
41. g3 {A fantastic game by Shardul who showed some amazing opening
preparation.} 1-0

Shardul settled for a draw with GM S. P. Sethuraman (2658) in the seventh round.

The tournament has four grandmaster leaders with 6.0/7 — Ivan Sokolov, Vladimir Akopian, Gawain Jones and Boris Savchenko — while Indians Shardul Gagare and S.P. Sethuraman are in close pursuit at 5.5/7.

Standings after Round 07:

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB4
1	10	GM	Akopian Vladimir	ARM	2656	6,0	0,0	31,0	28,5	5,0
2	16	GM	Sokolov Ivan	NED	2626	6,0	0,0	30,5	27,5	5,0
3	13	GM	Jones Gawain C B	ENG	2650	6,0	0,0	29,0	26,5	5,0
4	23	GM	Savchenko Boris	RUS	2607	6,0	0,0	27,0	23,5	6,0
5	42	IM	Gagare Shardul	IND	2491	5,5	0,0	29,5	26,5	4,0
6	25	GM	Yilmaz Mustafa	TUR	2594	5,5	0,0	28,5	24,5	4,0
7	9	GM	Sethuraman S.P.	IND	2658	5,5	0,0	28,0	25,0	4,0
8	11	GM	Safarli Eltaj	AZE	2656	5,5	0,0	27,0	24,5	4,0
9	24	GM	Pantsulaia Levan	GEO	2604	5,5	0,0	26,0	24,0	4,0
10	19	GM	Fier Alexandr	BRA	2619	5,5	0,0	26,0	23,0	5,0

On April 15, the rest day, the Dubai Blitz Cup was held with $4000 prize fund. The tournament was won by GM Gawain Jones with 9.5/11. India's Harsha Bharathakoti (2061 in Blitz) was the surprise of the event as he scored 8.0/11, taking the sixth place.

Like Harsha, some Indians with low blitz ratings, for the lack of playing rated blitz tournaments, had a fine run. 11-year-old FM Nihal Sarin, who is rated 2351 in standard play, started the blitz event with only 1846, but finished with wins over National Blitz Champion IM Rathnakaran K. (2467) and GM Yuriy Kuzubov (2651) to finish 19th with 7.5/11!

Pairings of Indian players for Round 08:

Rd.	Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.
8	4	24	GM	Pantsulaia Levan	2604	5½		5½	GM	Sethuraman S.P.	2658	9
8	6	42	IM	Gagare Shardul	2491	5½		5½	GM	Fier Alexandr	2619	19
8	7	1	GM	Cheparinov Ivan	2695	5		5	GM	Gopal G.N.	2544	33
8	9	34	GM	Aravindh Chithambaram Vr.	2515	5		5	GM	Howell David W L	2678	5
8	10	46	GM	Haznedaroglu Kivanc	2473	5		5	GM	Adhiban B.	2663	7
8	11	14	GM	Vidit Santosh Gujrathi	2648	5		5	GM	Mammadov Zaur	2456	53
8	12	59	IM	Das Arghyadip	2441	5		5	GM	Kuzubov Yuriy	2638	15
8	13	21	GM	Anton Guijarro David	2616	5		5	IM	Padmini Rout	2439	62
8	14	28	GM	Antipov Mikhail Al.	2562	5		5	IM	Nitin S.	2359	85
8	15	67	IM	Thejkumar M. S.	2427	5		5	GM	Ghosh Diptayan	2562	29
8	17	8	GM	Kovalenko Igor	2662	4½		4½	IM	Rathnakaran K.	2456	55
8	20	20	GM	Andriasian Zaven	2616	4½		4½	IM	Das Sayantan	2435	63
8	21	26	GM	Sandipan Chanda	2585	4½		4½	IM	Nezad Husein Aziz	2421	69
8	23	47	IM	Ali Marandi Cemil Can	2473	4½		4½	IM	Rajesh V A V	2358	87
8	24	71	WGM	Saduakassova Dinara	2411	4½		4½	GM	Deepan Chakkravarthy J.	2466	49
8	25	50	IM	Tabatabaei M.Amin	2466	4½		4½		Muthaiah Al	2281	106
8	26	80	FM	Asadli Vugar	2378	4½		4½	IM	Swayams Mishra	2463	52
8	27	2	GM	Korobov Anton	2695	4		4	IM	Karavade Eesha	2403	75
8	29	32	GM	Arribas Lopez Angel	2549	4		4	FM	Karthik V. Ap	2385	77
8	30	36	GM	Arun Prasad S.	2509	4		4	FM	Nihal Sarin	2351	91
8	33	74	IM	Krishna C R G	2404	4		4	GM	Ankit R. Rajpara	2491	41
8	35	76	IM	Hesham Abdelrahman	2390	4		4	IM	Karthikeyan P.	2463	51
8	36	92	CM	Erigaisi Arjun	2350	4		4	IM	Lorparizangeneh Shahin	2456	54
8	37	56	GM	Debashis Das	2452	4		4		Harsha Bharathakoti	2319	97
8	38	96	FM	Hafiz Arif Abdul	2326	4		4	IM	Aryan Chopra	2447	58
8	39	94	FM	Mehar Chinna Reddy C.H.	2347	4		4		Gusain Himal	2429	65
8	41	99	WIM	Pratyusha Bodda	2318	4		4	GM	Hossain Enamul	2426	68
8	43	31	GM	Sengupta Deep	2554	3½		3½	WGM	Kulkarni Bhakti	2284	104
8	44	105	CM	Prince Bajaj	2282	3½		3½	IM	Di Berardino Diego Rafael	2512	35
8	46	60	IM	Rohan Ahuja	2440	3½		3½		Hemant Sharma (del)	2246	112
8	48	129		Nimmy A.G.	2148	3½		3½	GM	Laxman R.R.	2406	73
8	51	84	IM	Akshat Khamparia	2362	3½		3½		Doostkam P	2095	136
8	54	103	FM	Saeed Ishaq	2286	3½		3½		Nair Sanjeev	1832	163
8	55	156		Raahul V S	1927	3½		3	WGM	Soumya Swaminathan	2358	89
8	57	90		Rahul Srivatshav P	2352	3		3		Anilkumar O.T.	2080	140
8	59	102		Aradhya Garg	2287	3		3		Ababneh Ghayth	2051	143
8	60	146	FM	Elmejbri Ali A.	2026	3		3	WGM	Swati Ghate	2279	107
8	63	148	WFM	Tarini Goyal	2008	3		3	FM	Mohannad Farhan	2239	114
8	64	150	FM	Ahmed Fareed	1995	3		3	FM	Srinath Rao S.V.	2233	116
8	70	154		Arjun Adappa	1938	2½		2½	FM	Yousry Salah	2266	110
8	72	121	WIM	Mammadova Narmin	2204	2½		2½	CM	Mendonca Leon Luke	1760	165
8	76	137	WIM	Ivana Maria Furtado	2091	2½		2½		Basheer P V	1751	167
8	77	139	WIM	Thipsay Bagyashree Sathe	2085	2½		2½	FM	Ammar Sedrani	1701	171
8	79	144	IM	Sultan Ibrahim	2045	2½		2½		Jaeel Atharva	1617	181
8	82	190		Mohamed Saeed Laily	1519	2		2		Anant Prabhudesai	1894	159
8	85	174		Khaled Ahmed Y.	1664	2		2		Jijo Joy	1527	189
8	86	178		Pankaj Sindhu	1645	2		2		Al-Khelaifi Kholoud	1496	192
8	92	188		Khaled Shihadeh	1528	1		1		Fawwaz Mohammed	1468	194

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