Doeberl Cup 2016: Ganguly finishes second
You know that Australia is a sport-crazy country, but what about chess? Back in 1963, when one chess lover envisioned the development of the royal game down under, he started more than just a tournament. More than half a century since its beginning, Doeberl Cup still continues to prosper and India's GM Surya Shekhar Ganguly made his way to the land of Kangaroos for the 2016 edition. Report.
Photos by Amruta Mokal
Doeberl Cup 2016: Ganguly finishes second
In 1963, Mr. Erich Doeberl envisioned a chess tournament that would become an institution for Australian chess. So rich in heritage that chess down under would be identified by its name. Half a century has passed since then and chess, slowly but steadily, is making its presence felt in the sport-crazy nation.
More than half a century and the tournament still lives on. Over the years, Indians have been making trips to the Oz to play this tournament. This time, we had a representative in the form of:
Ganguly had a comfortable start to the tournament by racing to 3.0/3. He earned an aggressive victory in the third round, a game he played in spectacular fashion by sacrificing a piece on the queenside, for unclear reasons. Australian IM Junta Ikeda, however, misplayed his advantage to end up losing.
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.03.25"]
[Round "3.1"]
[White "Ikeda, Junta"]
[Black "Ganguly, Surya Shekhar"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A05"]
[WhiteElo "2397"]
[BlackElo "2646"]
[PlyCount "74"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[TimeControl "5400+30"]
[WhiteClock "0:00:33"]
[BlackClock "0:41:48"]
Nc3 {46} g6 {41} 6. O-O {16} Bg7 {7} 7. d4 {44} cxd4 {27} 8. Qxd4 {7} d6 {37}
9. Be3 {13} Nbd7 {18} 10. Rac1 {20} Rc8 {74} 11. Rfd1 {41} O-O {24} 12. Qh4 {10
} a6 {6} 13. b3 {43} Re8 {49} 14. Bh3 {814} Ba8 15. g4 {185} b5 {186} 16. cxb5
{802} Qa5 {14} 17. Bd2 {223} Bxf3 {105} 18. exf3 {1263} Ne5 {10} 19. Qg3 {147}
Nd3 {152} 20. Rc2 {260} Nb4 {115} 21. Rcc1 $11 {114} axb5 {328} 22. Nb1 $1 $16
{440} Qxa2 {703} 23. Bxb4 {36} Nd5 {108} 24. Bd2 {208} b4 {142} 25. f4 {204}
Bb2 {100} 26. Rxc8 {249} Rxc8 {5} 27. Qd3 {204} Nc3 {26} 28. Nxc3 {110} Qxb3 {
569} 29. Qd5 {440} Qc2 {78} 30. Qe4 {283} b3 {39} 31. Re1 {50} Qxd2 {348} 32.
Nd5 {42} Rc2 {178} 33. Nxe7+ {28} Kg7 {5} 34. Rf1 {27} Bd4 {11} 35. Kh1 {35} b2
{292} 36. g5 {33} Qxf2 {102} 37. Bg2 {38} Rc1 {40} 0-1
Then came a dark phase where Ganguly had to settle for a draw with IM James Morris (2423) in the fourth round, and in the fifth round, ended up being squeezed to a loss by the top seed GM Hrant Melkumyan (2653) of Armenia.
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.03.26"]
[Round "5.2"]
[White "Melkumyan, Hrant"]
[Black "Ganguly, Surya Shekhar"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E21"]
[WhiteElo "2653"]
[BlackElo "2646"]
[PlyCount "85"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[TimeControl "5400+30"]
[WhiteClock "0:43:08"]
[BlackClock "0:33:51"]
5. Bd2 {19} Bb7 {381} 6. g3 {108} Bxc3 {86} 7. Bxc3 {11} Ne4 {5} 8. Rc1 {30} d6
{130} 9. Bg2 {16} Nd7 {13} 10. O-O {39} Nxc3 {431} 11. Rxc3 {23} Be4 {5} 12.
Bh3 {340} Qe7 {603} 13. d5 {551} O-O {924} 14. Re3 {769} Bxf3 {266} 15. dxe6 {
574} Nc5 {77} 16. exf7+ {240} Qxf7 {6} 17. exf3 {13} Rae8 {669} 18. b4 {679}
Nd7 {182} 19. Bxd7 {352} Rxe3 {142} 20. fxe3 {29} Qxd7 {5} 21. e4 {173} Kh8 {
183} 22. c5 {300} bxc5 {536} 23. bxc5 {24} Qc6 {164} 24. cxd6 {33} Qc5+ {21}
25. Kg2 {32} cxd6 {5} 26. Rf2 {53} Rb8 {215} 27. Rc2 {399} Qb4 {216} 28. Rd2 {
411} Qa5 {337} 29. Qc2 {55} Qb4 {277} 30. Qd3 {85} h6 {165} 31. a3 {35} Qc5 {10
} 32. Qxd6 {32} Qxd6 {3} 33. Rxd6 {9} Rb2+ {3} 34. Kh3 {9} Rb3 {3} 35. f4 {35}
Rxa3 {3} 36. Kg4 {10} a5 {41} 37. Ra6 {17} a4 {5} 38. h4 {15} Kh7 {112} 39. h5
{9} Ra1 {6} 40. Kf5 {0} a3 {0} 41. g4 {0} Ra2 {0} 42. e5 {0} Ra1 {0} 43. e6 {0}
1-0
But Ganguly did not let the loss deter him and punched in three straight victories over three International Masters. He ended the campaign with a draw in the final round to reach 7.0/9, finishing second on tiebreak.
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.03.27"]
[Round "8.2"]
[White "Lane, Gary W"]
[Black "Ganguly, Surya Shekhar"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B47"]
[WhiteElo "2366"]
[BlackElo "2646"]
[PlyCount "70"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[TimeControl "5400+30"]
[WhiteClock "0:04:35"]
[BlackClock "0:12:29"]
5. Nc3 {7} Qc7 {13} 6. g3 {5} a6 {25} 7. Bg2 {41} Nf6 {11} 8. O-O {25} h5 {14}
9. a4 {531} h4 {226} 10. Nxc6 {595} bxc6 {27} 11. Re1 {30} Bd6 {625} 12. Be3 {
449} a5 {379} 13. f4 {696} e5 {40} 14. Qf3 {168} Rb8 {92} 15. Rab1 {75} Rb4 {
1093} 16. f5 {560} Be7 {115} 17. g4 {232} d5 {479} 18. exd5 {625} Rxg4 {111}
19. h3 {214} Rg3 {146} 20. Qf2 {22} Nxd5 {309} 21. Ne4 {616} Rxe3 {61} 22. Rxe3
{4} Nxe3 {8} 23. Qxe3 {4} Bxf5 {11} 24. Rf1 {8} Bg6 {85} 25. c3 {13} O-O {48}
26. Nd2 {21} Rd8 {94} 27. Nf3 {116} Bf6 {201} 28. Re1 {128} Rd3 {827} 29. Qf2 {
125} Qe7 {59} 30. Nd4 {56} c5 {123} 31. Nc6 {18} Qc7 {250} 32. Qxc5 {102} e4 {
12} 33. Qb5 {211} Kh7 {24} 34. Nxa5 {207} Qg3 {141} 35. Ra1 {50} Rd2 {25} 0-1
Final Standings:
| Rk. | SNo | Name | FED | Rtg | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | |
| 1 | 8 | IM | Morris James | AUS | 2423 | 7,5 | 41,0 | 51,5 | 41,75 |
| 2 | 2 | GM | Ganguly Surya Shekhar | IND | 2646 | 7,0 | 41,0 | 52,5 | 38,75 |
| 3 | 1 | GM | Melkumyan Hrant | ARM | 2653 | 7,0 | 40,0 | 52,5 | 39,00 |
| 4 | 6 | IM | Smirnov Anton | AUS | 2464 | 6,5 | 42,0 | 54,0 | 36,75 |
| 5 | 17 | IM | Wohl Aleksandar H. | AUS | 2334 | 6,5 | 33,0 | 42,0 | 28,25 |
| 6 | 3 | GM | Zhao Zong-Yuan | AUS | 2546 | 6,0 | 39,5 | 51,0 | 32,75 |
| 7 | 19 | FM | Puccini Jack | AUS | 2304 | 6,0 | 34,5 | 44,5 | 27,75 |
| 8 | 13 | IM | Tao Trevor | AUS | 2384 | 6,0 | 32,5 | 43,5 | 25,25 |
| 9 | 7 | IM | Cheng Bobby | AUS | 2436 | 6,0 | 31,5 | 41,5 | 27,25 |
| 10 | 12 | GM | Johansen Darryl K | AUS | 2388 | 5,5 | 37,5 | 48,0 | 27,00 |
Check the complete standings here.