Gibraltar 09: Hopes Wither for Team India
Sethuraman was left kicking himself after the royal miss against the legendary Michael Adams. Had he won, he would have rocketed into a contention for a superb finish. Lalith Babu managed to hold Arkadij Naiditsch to a draw. Find out how the Indians fared in our illustrated report.
Photos by John Saunders and Sophie Triay
Gibraltar 09: Hopes Wither for Team India
With Sethuraman’s scintillating victory against the in-form Austrian IM Valentin Dragnev in the eighth round, hopes were high for him to finish among the top 10 of the star-studded field of Gibraltar Masters. Playing on board 4 against the English number one, GM Michael Adams, Sethu had a tough task to accomplish. In an almost similar situation was GM R Lalith Babu. Although half a point behind Sethuraman in terms of his tournament score, he had a fair chance of finishing among prize winners. In the penultimate round GM Lalith Babu was pitted against the 2702 rated Azerbaijani Super-GM Arkadij Naiditsch.
Playing with the black pieces against a veteran such as Adams is definitely not easy. But given his performance so far, Sethu definitely looked like he was up for the task. Countering the Englishman’s 1. c4 with 1…e5, Sethu drifted the game into a French defence like structure with colours reversed. Adam’s strategy in the position was to allow his opponent to gain space and then make use of the weaknesses in his position. But this almost backfired when on move 19, he allowed his opponent to get a winning position. Sethu, unfortunately, missed this chance.
Sethu took to facebook to talk about his game and the miss.
Following this, Adams was able to create a material imbalance in the position by exchanging his rook for a minor piece and three pawns. Sethu’s position was still objectively equal but very difficult to hold practically because of the weak pawns in his position. As the game progressed, Adams put strong pressure on Sethu’s position by pushing his extra pawns on the kingside whilst attacking Sethu’s king on the other wing. By move 30, Sethu’s position was already lost and his blunder on move 44 forced immediate resignation.
Playing with the white pieces in against Naiditsch’s King’s Indian Defence, Lalith Babu was never in any trouble. In a 74-move-long encounter, pieces were traded at regular intervals and after a long hard-fought endgame, Lalith Babu forced a draw with perpetual checks. This is a good result for the young Indian GM. But with this draw, his chances finish among the tournament’s prize winners have evaporated. On the brighter side, he’s earned himself a chance to play Hou Yifan in the final round. We hope he could keep up his good form and do well against Yifan as well.
[Site "?"]
[Date "2017.02.01"]
[Round "9.13"]
[White "Lalith Babu M R"]
[Black "Naiditsch, Arkadij"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "E91"]
[WhiteElo "2587"]
[BlackElo "2702"]
[PlyCount "148"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2003.06.08"]
[TimeControl "6600+10"]
[WhiteClock "0:27:46"]
[BlackClock "0:07:20"]
Nf3 {0} O-O {0} 6. Be2 {0} Qe8 {0} 7. O-O {0} e5 {0} 8. dxe5 {0} dxe5 {0} 9. b4
{0} Bg4 {0} 10. b5 {76} Bxf3 {143} 11. Bxf3 {0} Qe6 {1} 12. Nd5 {1342} Rc8 {22}
13. Nxf6+ {23} Qxf6 {0} 14. Be3 {0} Rd8 {292} 15. Qc1 {33} Qe7 {4} 16. c5 {95}
c6 {95} 17. a4 {154} Nd7 {50} 18. bxc6 {146} bxc6 {0} 19. Qc4 {301} Nf8 {171}
20. Bg4 {74} Bf6 {873} 21. Rab1 {96} h5 {314} 22. Bh3 {42} Rab8 {53} 23. g3 {
500} Rxb1 {661} 24. Rxb1 {0} Nh7 {1} 25. f4 {864} exf4 {403} 26. gxf4 {0} Bg7 {
39} 27. Bg2 {209} Nf6 {320} 28. h3 {130} Nd5 {46} 29. Bd2 {79} Nc7 {25} 30. Be3
{0} Qh4 {271} 31. Qe2 {576} Bd4 {85} 32. Bxd4 {120} Rxd4 {0} 33. f5 {28} gxf5 {
768} 34. exf5 {0} Nd5 {0} 35. Qe5 {255} Nf6 {321} 36. a5 {20} Rd3 {433} 37. Re1
{221} Rg3 {37} 38. Re3 {12} Rg7 {16} 39. Rf3 {182} Kh7 {78} 40. Qe3 {427} Rg8 {
227} 41. Rf4 {255} Qg5 {18} 42. Qf2 {12} Nd5 {0} 43. Re4 {0} Qf6 {0} 44. Kh1 {0
} Rg5 {0} 45. Rd4 {0} Kh8 {0} 46. Be4 {0} Nc3 {0} 47. Bd3 {0} Nd5 {0} 48. Be4 {
0} Qe5 {0} 49. Bxd5 {0} cxd5 {0} 50. Rf4 {0} f6 {0} 51. h4 {0} Rg7 {0} 52. Qf3
{0} Kg8 {0} 53. a6 {0} Qe1+ {0} 54. Kh2 {0} Qe5 {0} 55. Kh1 {0} Kf8 {0} 56. Qf2
{0} Qa1+ {0} 57. Kh2 {0} Qxa6 {0} 58. Rb4 {0} Re7 {191} 59. Rb8+ {0} Re8 {39}
60. Rxe8+ {0} Kxe8 {0} 61. Qf3 {0} Qa2+ {0} 62. Kg3 {0} Ke7 {20} 63. Qe3+ {0}
Kd8 {38} 64. Qc3 {0} Qa6 {0} 65. c6 {0} Kc7 {0} 66. Qxf6 {0} Qd3+ {0} 67. Kf2 {
0} Qc2+ {0} 68. Kg3 {0} Qd3+ {0} 69. Kf2 {0} d4 {0} 70. Qe7+ {0} Kxc6 {0} 71.
Qe6+ {0} Kc5 {0} 72. Qe5+ {0} Kc6 {0} 73. Qe6+ {0} Kc7 {0} 74. Qe7+ {0} Kc6 {0}
1/2-1/2
Meanwhile on the top tables...
The biggest result of the round was David Anton’s win against Veselin Topalov. With this win, the 2650 rated Spaniard has not only beaten a former FIDE World Champion but has taken the sole lead in the tournament over big names like Nakamura, Caruana, MVL and Adams. Going into the final round, he will have the white pieces against the English number one Mickey Adams.
[Site "ChessBase"]
[Date "2017.02.01"]
[Round "9.2"]
[White "Topalov, Veselin"]
[Black "Anton Guijarro, David"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C96"]
[WhiteElo "2739"]
[BlackElo "2650"]
[Annotator "Mekhitarian, Krikor Sevag"]
[PlyCount "84"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2003.06.08"]
21-year old David Anton Guijarro from Spain has been the sensation of this
year's Gibraltar Masters. With ambitious and strong play, he has already
beaten the likes of Gelfand and Sutovsky, not to mention draws with Nakamura
and MVL. Now he faces the always dangerous ex-world champion Veselin Topalov}
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 {Topalov goes for
the most principled line, instead of the currently fashionable 6.d3!?, which
leads to quieter positions.} b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. c3 O-O 9. h3 {This position has
been played almost 37.000 times according to my database! Black has a wide
variety of choices in this main Ruy Lopez variation.} Na5 10. Bc2 c5 11. d4 Nd7
$5 {an interesting line, that has been played by David Anton himself three
rounds ago against Sutovsky. White now has two choices: a closed position with
12.d5 or a very double-edged fight after 12.Nbd2. Naturally, both Sutovsky and
Topalov went for the second option, always leading to interesting play} 12.
Nbd2 (12. d5 $5 {is more positional, and was played in the very first time in
a classic Fischer - Keres game, from the amazing Candidates Tournament in
Curacao,1962!} Nb6 13. Nbd2 {is the main move} (13. g4 $6 {The brilliant
ex-world champion went for a dubious plan here, white normally has to be
better prepared to build this kind of idea on the K-side (normally with
Nbd2-Nf1-Ng3). It is also clear that Fischer wanted to stop f5 hitting his
strong central pawn on e4, but on the other hand he allows h5!} h5 $1 14. Nh2
hxg4 15. hxg4 Bg5 {suddenly black has easy play exploiting the weak squares,
and still keeps good prospects on the Q-side} 16. Nd2 g6 17. Ndf3 Bxc1 18. Qxc1
Kg7 19. Qg5 {the endgame is no relief for white, but black was considering Rh8
and then start some work on the K-side himself.} Nb7 20. Qxd8 Rxd8 21. a4 bxa4
22. Bxa4 Nxa4 23. Rxa4 Bd7 24. Ra2 c4 25. Nd2 Bb5 26. Nhf1 Rh8 27. Ne3 Rh4 $17
{And the superb Paul Keres went on to win a nice game. 0-1 (73) Fischer,
R-Keres,P Curacao 1962}) 13... g6 14. b4 (14. Nf1 $5 {also looks interesting}
f5 15. Bh6 Rf7 16. b3 {with complex play}) 14... Nb7 15. a4 $6 {I don't think
white is ready tor this kind of action on the Q-side} (15. Nf1 {was again
possible: 1-0 (78) Nakamura,H (2774)-Nisipeanu,L (2659) Medias 2011}) 15...
bxa4 16. Bxa4 Nxa4 17. Qxa4 Bd7 18. Qb3 Qc7 19. Bb2 Rfc8 $15 {and black
achieved a better position: 0-1 (41) Vedmediuc,S (2456)-Zhigalko,S (2669)
Calimanesti Caciulata 2016}) 12... exd4 $1 13. cxd4 Nc6 {this is black's idea,
nearly forcing white to enter a double-edged position with 14.d5. In case of
14.Nf1, black can simplify on d4 and enjoy a good initiative in exchange for
the worse pawn structure.} 14. d5 (14. Nf1 $6 cxd4 15. Nxd4 Nxd4 16. Qxd4 Ne5 {
justifying the 11...Nd7 move} 17. Qd1 Bf6 18. Ne3 Be6 $11 {this is a typical
position where the piece activity easily compensates the weak pawn on d6.
Black has easy play, with moves like Rc8, Nc4, and Qb6. Meanwhile, white has a
hard time developing his Q-side, and moves like f4 will create weaknesses.} 19.
Bd2 (19. f4 Nc4 $132) 19... Nc4 20. Nxc4 Bxc4 21. Bc3 Bxc3 22. bxc3 Qf6 23. Qd4
Qxd4 24. cxd4 Rfc8 $15 {0-1 (58) Melia,S (2420)-Petrosyan,M (2480) Tbilisi
2016 and black's endgame is slightly preferrable, due to his good chances on
the Q-side}) 14... Nce5 15. a4 (15. Nxe5 Nxe5 16. f4 Ng6 17. Nf3 Bh4 $1 (17...
Bb7 $2 {now there is no reason to play like in the game, because white gets 18.
f5! in time.} 18. f5 Ne5 19. Nxe5 dxe5 20. b3 $5 $16 {followed by Be3, Rc1,
Bd3, and real pressure against the Q-side}) 18. Nxh4 Qxh4 19. f5 (19. Rf1 {
allows} Bxh3 $1 20. gxh3 Qg3+ {forcing a draw}) 19... Ne5 {used to be the main
line, with a complex position, but black should be fine.}) 15... Bb7 {looks
safer than Rb8} (15... Rb8 16. Nxe5 Nxe5 17. axb5 axb5 18. f4 Ng6 19. Nf3 Bh4 (
19... f5 $5 {stops white attack, but may run into an inferior position:} 20.
exf5 Bxf5 21. Bxf5 Rxf5 22. g4 Rf8 $5 23. f5 Ne5 24. Bf4 Nf7 25. Re6 $16) 20.
Rf1 Bg3 21. f5 Ne5 22. Ng5 h6 $1 {is the only line surviving so far, but it
also looks dodgy} (22... Bh4 $2 {Svidler goes into a refuted line} 23. f6 $1
$18 {and white is winning!} h6 (23... g6 24. Qd2 {threatenig Nxh7} h6 25. Nh7
$1 $18 {1-0 (29) Kilpatrick,C (2052)-Wallis,I Southend 2006}) 24. Qh5 gxf6 25.
Nh7 Kxh7 26. Qxh4 {1-0 (26) Inarkiev,E (2732)-Svidler,P (2745) Germany 2016}) (
22... Nd7 23. Nxh7 $5 Kxh7 24. f6 g6 {and now both 25.e5!? or 25.Qg4 look
promising, and only the super computers will tell if white's attack is enough
for a win} 25. Qg4 $5 $40 (25. e5 $5 $40)) 23. f6 $1 gxf6 $5 (23... g6 24. Nf3
Qxf6 25. Bxh6 $36) 24. Nf3 Kg7 $13 {and somehow, black's position is not
collapsing}) 16. Qe2 (16. Nxe5 $5 Nxe5 17. f4 Ng6 18. Nf3 Bf6 {was seen in
David's game against Sutovsky} (18... Bh4 $2 {now this wouldn't make too much
sense with the B on b7} 19. Nxh4 Qxh4 20. Rf1 $5 (20. Ra3 $5 {making use of
the a4 move} Nxf4 $2 21. g3 $1 Nxh3+ 22. Kh2 $18 {and white wins})) (18... Re8
$5) 19. g3 (19. e5 $5 Be7 20. Be4 f5 21. exf6 Bxf6 $13 {with another unclear
position}) 19... Qd7 20. Kg2 Rfe8 21. Ra3 {generally speaking, this looks
promising for black, since white's pawn majority is not advancing for now and
black has good prospects on the Q-side} Bd8 $5 (21... b4 $5 22. Rae3 c4 $13 {
was very complex}) 22. h4 Nf8 23. h5 h6 24. f5 $2 {weakening too many squares}
Bf6 25. Nh2 Nh7 $1 26. Ng4 Bd4 27. axb5 axb5 28. Rxa8 Rxa8 29. b4 Ra2 30. bxc5
dxc5 31. Be3 Bxe3 32. Nxe3 Nf6 $17 {now white is clearly in trouble, with the
worse king and difficulty in advance his pawns, while black can organize an
attack and also think about advancing his own Q-side, 0-1 (56) Sutovsky,E
(2628)-Anton Guijarro,D (2650) Tradewise Gibraltar Masters 2017}) 16... Rb8 17.
Nxe5 Nxe5 18. axb5 (18. Nf1 {was played in december} Bf6 19. Ne3 c4 $6 {
probably a slight innacuracy to start pushing the pawns without Re8 or Bc8} 20.
axb5 axb5 21. Bd2 $14 {looks slightly better for white now, with the c3 and d4
square available for the pieces: 0-1 (41) Hansen,M (2452)-Wagner,D (2548)
Vandoeuvre 2016}) 18... axb5 19. Nf1 Re8 20. Ne3 Bf6 21. Bd2 Bc8 $1 {bringing
the bishop back into play, black achieves a fully consistent position, and
keeps great prospects on the Q-side, which is basically one of the key ideas
in this variation - control white's central and K-side expansion and start
advancing the 'b' and 'c' pawns at some point. Don't get me wrong, I don't
think black is better here, but nowadays it is not easy to achieve such a
promising and interesting position as black without running into real dangers.}
22. Ba5 (22. f4 $6 Ng6 $17 {looks always good for black, since all his pieces
are well prepared to meet this advance.}) 22... Qe7 23. Bc3 $6 (23. Qf1 $5 {
trying to prepare something like f4 followed by Nf5} b4 {locks the bishop on
a5, but hands over the initiative for white} (23... Ng6 24. Nf5 Qd7 25. Ra2 $13
{with a weird position}) 24. f4 Ng6 25. e5 $5 dxe5 26. f5 Nf4 27. g3 $13) 23...
Ng6 $1 {making a very good piece exchange, black doesn't need to worry about
f4 anymore} 24. Qf3 (24. Bxf6 Qxf6 $15 {would be equally good for black,
threatening b2 and moves like Nf4}) 24... Bxc3 25. bxc3 Qg5 26. Kh2 h5 $1 27.
Ra7 Re7 28. Rxe7 Nxe7 29. Ra1 (29. Nf5 $5 {is a very counterintuitive move
pointed out by the computer. Normally it could be a positional mistake, but
here if black plays Bxf5, then the knight on e7 has a hard time to find a good
square} Bxf5 30. exf5 $13) 29... Ng6 30. Qg3 Qf6 $1 {black aims to explore the
c3 weakness, and exchange queens only after white makes further concessions}
31. Nf5 $2 {a mistake, as pointed out by David in the post-mortem, and also by
Topalov himself, according to him. Not only because it may be the decisive
mistake, but black has very easy play from now on.} (31. Nd1 {would be a very
sad move to make} h4 32. Qe3 Bd7 $17 {black has a very confortable advantage,
but for now white keeps control of the only open file, and there is play})
31... Bxf5 32. exf5 Ne5 33. Rb1 h4 34. Qf4 g5 $1 35. Qe3 Nc4 36. Qc1 Kg7 37.
Bd3 (37. Kh1 $5 {could have been better maybe, but the position is already
difficult}) 37... Ne5 38. Be4 g4 $1 39. hxg4 Nxg4+ 40. Kg1 Qh6 $1 {forcing a
horrible endgame for white, because if the queen moves, then Qf4! is deadly}
41. Qxh6+ (41. Qe1 Qf4 42. g3 hxg3 43. fxg3 Qg5 $19 {and the white king is in
trouble with all the black pieces joining the attack}) 41... Kxh6 42. Kf1 Kg5 {
slightly surprising resignation from Topalov, but the position is already
hopeless, black will simply play Nf6, probably grab two pawns and start
marching with his Q-side at some point. A superb win from David Anton, the man
of the hour, going into the last round as the sole leader of the 2017
Gibraltar Masters! In the last round, he faces the experienced super-GM
Michael Adams.} 0-1
On board 3, Fabiano Caruana, who has made a remarkable comeback after his upsets in the initial rounds, sat down to play against his countryman, Hikaru Nakamura.
Looking for another victory, Caruana came up with some zany ideas in the Queen’s Gambit Accepted which Nakamura said he found suspicious but wasn’t able to prove anything over the board. After 45 moves of play, the players chose to repeat the position in a dead equal bishop endgame.
[Site "Caleta ENG"]
[Date "2017.02.01"]
[Round "9.3"]
[White "Nakamura, Hikaru"]
[Black "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D27"]
[WhiteElo "2785"]
[BlackElo "2827"]
[Annotator "Sagar,Shah"]
[PlyCount "90"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2003.06.08"]
Qxd8+ Kxd8 9. Nbd2 Ke7 10. b3 b6 11. Be2 a5 12. Ne5 Ba6 13. Ndc4 Nfd7 14. Nxd7
Nxd7 15. Bb2 f6 16. Rfd1 Rhd8 17. a3 Rac8 18. Rdc1 Bb7 19. Bc3 Bd5 20. b4 axb4
21. axb4 Bxc4 22. Bxc4 Bd6 23. Be1 {It seems as if White is slightly better
with his bishpo pair. However, Black forces are excellently co-ordinated.} f5
24. h3 Nf6 25. Kf1 Rc7 26. Bb3 Rxc1 27. Rxc1 Ra8 28. Rc6 Nd7 29. Rc1 Ra3 30.
Bc4 Nf6 31. Ke2 g5 {Caruana's play is quite easy. Black rook is active. And if
you try and exchange it, you move closer to a draw.} 32. Rc2 h5 33. f3 b5 34.
Ra2 (34. Bxb5 Nd5 $11) 34... Rxa2+ 35. Bxa2 Nd5 36. Bxd5 exd5 37. g4 hxg4 38.
hxg4 fxg4 39. fxg4 Ke6 40. Kd3 Be7 41. e4 dxe4+ 42. Kxe4 Bd6 43. Bd2 Be7 44.
Be1 Bd6 45. Bd2 Be7 {A nice final position. Both the bishops attack one
opponent's pawn and defend one of their own pawn. Just like life, in chess too
there should be a balance between rights and duties!} 1/2-1/2
Ju Wenjun, who became the fifth female player in the history of the game to cross 2600 Elo mark, won a fantastic game against the French GM Sebastian Maze. After this win, Wenjun is tied for second in the tournament and is the only female player among the top 10.
With only one round to go, a clear leader and a big league of super strong grandmasters within striking distance, round 10 of the Gibraltar Masters is sure to be a treat for all comers.
Pairings of the next round for IND
| Rd. | Bo. | No. | Name | FED | Rtg | Pts. | Result | Pts. | Name | FED | Rtg | No. | ||
| 10 | 17 | 22 | GM | Hou Yifan | CHN | 2651 | 6 | 6 | GM | Lalith Babu M R | IND | 2587 | 37 | |
| 10 | 19 | 26 | GM | Sethuraman S.P. | IND | 2637 | 6 | 6 | GM | Schroeder Jan-Christian | GER | 2550 | 50 | |
| 10 | 23 | 19 | GM | Ganguly Surya Shekhar | IND | 2657 | 5½ | 5½ | IM | Salomon Johan | NOR | 2470 | 73 | |
| 10 | 26 | 72 | GM | Debashis Das | IND | 2472 | 5½ | 5½ | GM | Vocaturo Daniele | ITA | 2606 | 32 | |
| 10 | 28 | 40 | GM | Gopal G.N. | IND | 2579 | 5½ | 5½ | IM | Kantans Toms | LAT | 2456 | 79 | |
| 10 | 33 | 91 | GM | Sundararajan Kidambi | IND | 2420 | 5½ | 5½ | GM | Lemos Damian | ARG | 2516 | 57 | |
| 10 | 37 | 25 | GM | Gupta Abhijeet | IND | 2645 | 5 | 5 | FM | Perez Garcia Alejandro | ESP | 2398 | 99 | |
| 10 | 43 | 112 | IM | Szabo Bence | HUN | 2378 | 5 | 5 | IM | Aryan Chopra | IND | 2503 | 61 | |
| 10 | 50 | 124 | IM | Siva Mahadevan | IND | 2356 | 5 | 5 | GM | Womacka Mathias | GER | 2435 | 87 | |
| 10 | 52 | 92 | IM | Karavade Eesha | IND | 2418 | 5 | 5 | WGM | Gara Ticia | HUN | 2378 | 113 | |
| 10 | 53 | 154 | WIM | Pratyusha Bodda | IND | 2247 | 5 | 5 | WIM | Shvayger Yuliya | ISR | 2413 | 95 | |
| 10 | 59 | 141 | IM | Saravanan V. | IND | 2306 | 4½ | 4½ | IM | Paehtz Elisabeth | GER | 2468 | 76 | |
| 10 | 64 | 162 | Bujnoch Radek | CZE | 2233 | 4½ | 4½ | WGM | Soumya Swaminathan | IND | 2375 | 115 | ||
| 10 | 67 | 129 | Kulkarni Rakesh | IND | 2344 | 4½ | 4½ | FM | Kandic Milan | SRB | 2061 | 202 | ||
| 10 | 68 | 132 | FM | Rakesh Kumar Jena | IND | 2335 | 4½ | 4½ | Hamer Martyn | ENG | 2039 | 210 |
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Previous Reports
- Gibraltar 06+07: Indians struggle
- Gibraltar Rd05: Peace and War
- Gibraltar 04: Wenjun and Sutovsky lead