Gibraltar 06+07: Indians struggle

by Aditya Pai - 31/01/2017

As the tournament came to a halfway, Indians are facing ups and downs at the Gibraltar Masters. Well, more downs and ups, in fact. While India's key players GM Abhijeet Gupta and GM Surya Shekhar Ganguly are struggling to find their rhythm, GM SP Sethuraman, GM Debashis Das, and GM Lalith Babu continue to offer hope. Illustrated Report.

Photos by John Saunders and Sophie Triay

Gibraltar 06+07: Indians struggle

Indians, at least the ones on top boards, had an unfortunate two rounds. After winning four games in a row, GM Abhijeet Gupta lost to Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in a mainline Berlin where the Frenchman broke through. Sethuraman played an interesting game against Cheparinov, and although he lost, it appears he is India's best hope in the tournament.

MVL proved to GM Abhijeet Gupta that the mainline Berlin isn’t after-all as drawish as it seems.

[Event "Gibraltar Masters 2017"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2017.01.29"]
[Round "6.5"]
[White "Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime"]
[Black "Gupta, Abhijeet"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C67"]
[WhiteElo "2796"]
[BlackElo "2645"]
[PlyCount "85"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]
[TimeControl "6600+10"]
[WhiteClock "1:06:54"]
[BlackClock "0:45:04"]

1. e4 {835} e5 {563} 2. Nf3 {0} Nc6 {0} 3. Bb5 {0} Nf6 {0} 4. O-O {0} Nxe4 {0}
5. d4 {0} Nd6 {0} 6. Bxc6 {0} dxc6 {0} 7. dxe5 {0} Nf5 {0} 8. Qxd8+ {0} Kxd8 {0
} 9. h3 {0} Ke8 {0} 10. Nc3 {0} h6 {0} 11. Rd1 {0} Bd7 {0} 12. Bf4 {233} Rd8 {0
} 13. a4 {818} h5 {1681} 14. a5 {342} Be7 {156} 15. a6 {0} b6 {0} 16. Ng5 {1085
} Bc8 {906} 17. Rxd8+ {127} Bxd8 {11} 18. Rd1 {0} Be7 {23} 19. Nce4 {126} h4 {
1085} 20. Re1 {407} Kf8 {674} 21. c3 {415} f6 {540} 22. Nf3 {94} Kf7 {38} 23.
exf6 {32} gxf6 {0} 24. Bxc7 {0} Bxa6 {12} 25. Ra1 {0} Bd3 {8} 26. Neg5+ {48}
fxg5 {587} 27. Ne5+ {11} Ke6 {78} 28. Nxd3 {0} Nd6 {374} 29. Bxd6 {282} Bxd6 {0
} 30. Rxa7 {0} c5 {30} 31. Kf1 {550} c4 {9} 32. Ne1 {0} Bc5 {32} 33. Nf3 {50}
Rg8 {76} 34. Ra1 {163} g4 {10} 35. Re1+ {24} Kd6 {17} 36. hxg4 {164} Rxg4 {0}
37. Re8 {0} b5 {26} 38. Rh8 {29} b4 {13} 39. Rxh4 {61} Rxh4 {4} 40. Nxh4 {0}
Kc6 {6} 41. Ke2 {44} Be7 {0} 42. Nf5 {0} Bf6 {0} 43. Ne3 {0} 1-0

Calm before the storm!

Sethuraman’s game against Cheparinov opened with a seemingly placid Giuoco Piannissimo (which means “A very quiet game” in Italian).

[Event "Gibraltar Masters 2017"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2017.01.29"]
[Round "6.9"]
[White "Sethuraman, S.P."]
[Black "Cheparinov, Ivan"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C50"]
[WhiteElo "2637"]
[BlackElo "2689"]
[PlyCount "116"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]
[TimeControl "6600+10"]
[WhiteClock "0:05:53"]
[BlackClock "0:17:00"]

1. e4 {568} e5 {554} 2. Nf3 {0} Nc6 {0} 3. Bc4 {0} Bc5 {0} 4. d3 {1} Nf6 {0} 5.
c3 {143} O-O {0} 6. Nbd2 {8} d6 {69} 7. O-O {16} a5 {49} 8. h3 {40} h6 {65} 9.
b3 {16} Bb6 {515} 10. Re1 {151} Re8 {142} 11. Bb5 {576} Bd7 {93} 12. Bb2 {378}
Ne7 {526} 13. Bxd7 {4} Qxd7 {250} 14. d4 {112} Nc6 {797} 15. a3 {347} Ba7 {609}
16. Qc2 {90} Nh5 {37} 17. Nf1 {122} Nf4 {254} 18. Kh2 {1046} Ne7 {305} 19. Rad1
{207} Neg6 {43} 20. Ng3 {65} Nxg2 {72} 21. Rg1 {128} N2f4 {191} 22. Nf5 {16}
exd4 {92} 23. cxd4 {22} Qc6 {39} 24. Qxc6 {214} bxc6 {0} 25. Rge1 {41} Rab8 {0}
26. Re3 {9} d5 {382} 27. e5 {42} c5 {0} 28. Ba1 {576} Ne6 {242} 29. Rc1 {7} Rb7
{169} 30. h4 {387} Ne7 {199} 31. Nxe7+ {0} Rxe7 {0} 32. Rd3 {160} cxd4 {111}
33. Nxd4 {0} Bxd4 {26} 34. Bxd4 {0} Nxd4 {4} 35. Rxd4 {0} Rxe5 {0} 36. b4 {107}
axb4 {19} 37. axb4 {0} Kf8 {893} 38. Rc5 {90} Ke7 {54} 39. b5 {422} Re4 {28}
40. Rxe4+ {533} dxe4 {0} 41. Kg3 {0} Kd6 {0} 42. Rf5 {0} f6 {116} 43. Kg4 {255}
Ra7 {0} 44. Kh5 {0} Ra1 {0} 45. Kg6 {0} Rg1+ {0} 46. Kf7 {0} Rg2 {0} 47. Kf8 {0
} Ke6 {0} 48. Rc5 {0} Rxf2 {0} 49. Rxc7 {0} g5 {0} 50. h5 {0} Rb2 {0} 51. Rc6+
{0} Ke5 {0} 52. b6 {0} e3 {0} 53. Kf7 {0} e2 {0} 54. Rxf6 {0} g4 {0} 55. Rxh6 {
0} Kf5 {0} 56. Re6 {0} Rxb6 {0} 57. Rxb6 {0} e1=Q {0} 58. h6 {0} Qe5 {0} 0-1

The highest rated Indian in the tournament, Surya Ganguly, lost his second game in a row.

Overall, however, the Indian results were not as disappointing. GM Debashis Das from Odisha won an excellent game against the Swedish GM Erik Blomqvist.

[Event "Gibraltar Masters 2017"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2017.01.29"]
[Round "6.23"]
[White "Debashis, Das"]
[Black "Blomqvist, Erik"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D10"]
[WhiteElo "2472"]
[BlackElo "2574"]
[PlyCount "77"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]
[TimeControl "6600+10"]
[WhiteClock "0:03:16"]
[BlackClock "0:03:37"]

1. d4 {557} d5 {567} 2. c4 {0} c6 {0} 3. cxd5 {9} cxd5 {0} 4. Bf4 {0} Nc6 {0}
5. e3 {0} Nf6 {0} 6. Nc3 {0} a6 {0} 7. Be2 {0} e6 {0} 8. Rc1 {0} Be7 {50} 9. h3
{0} O-O {43} 10. Nf3 {0} Bd7 {8} 11. O-O {0} Qa5 {99} 12. Nd2 {237} b5 {334}
13. Nb3 {31} Qb6 {0} 14. Nc5 {303} Rfc8 {116} 15. Bg5 {508} Be8 {1563} 16. Bd3
{0} h6 {674} 17. Bh4 {64} Nb4 {522} 18. Bb1 {305} a5 {70} 19. Qe2 {100} Bxc5 {
442} 20. dxc5 {6} Rxc5 {0} 21. Bxf6 {301} gxf6 {0} 22. Qg4+ {112} Kf8 {0} 23.
Qh4 {119} Ke7 {228} 24. Qxh6 {345} Rac8 {249} 25. Rcd1 {172} Nc6 {214} 26. Ne2
{124} Ne5 {345} 27. Ng3 {281} Bc6 {107} 28. b3 {707} b4 {112} 29. Rfe1 {258}
Rg8 {269} 30. Bh7 {385} Rh8 {155} 31. Nh5 {102} Nd7 {0} 32. Qg7 {296} Qb8 {17}
33. Nf4 {77} Ne5 {22} 34. Nh5 {39} Qf8 {220} 35. Qxf6+ {0} Kd6 {0} 36. Qf4 {
1260} f5 {99} 37. Ng3 {16} Bd7 {105} 38. e4 {59} Rxh7 {143} 39. exf5 {21} 1-0

GM Lalith Babu also emerged victorious against the so far unbeaten IM Leandro Krysa, who upset Caruana and Topalov in rounds 2 and 3!

GM Lalith Babu throws light on how he got the better of the guy who upset Caruana and Topalov in the previous rounds!

Indian Grandmasters, unfortunately, had another bad day in round seven. Pitted against stronger opposition, GM Debashish Das and GM Lalith Babu lost against Varuzhan Akobian and Emil Sutovsky respectively.

GM Abhijeet Gupta also had to throw in the towel against the German IM Jonathan Carlstedt in a 56-move-long Catalan.

GM SP Sethuraman played a sneaky little tactic to seal a win against Stefan Docx.

White killed the knight that grazed on d5 with 23.Qxd5. He betted that he could hold after 23...Rxe2. But Sethu the Devious had a trick up his sleeve.

Avoid getting scammed like Sethu's opponent by practising tactics daily in the Tactics Trainer and Tactics Fight features, with players from around the world in your ChessBase Account.

[Event "Gibraltar Masters 2017"]
[Site "Caleta ENG"]
[Date "2017.01.30"]
[Round "7.23"]
[White "Docx, Stefan"]
[Black "Sethuraman, S.P."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D31"]
[WhiteElo "2405"]
[BlackElo "2637"]
[PlyCount "56"]
[EventDate "2017.01.24"]

1. c4 e6 2. Nc3 d5 3. d4 Bb4 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Bf4 c6 6. e3 Ne7 7. Bd3 Bf5 8.
Nge2 Nd7 9. O-O Bxd3 10. Qxd3 Ng6 11. Bg3 h5 12. h3 Nf6 13. e4 dxe4 14. Nxe4
Nd5 15. Nc5 h4 16. Bh2 b6 17. a3 bxc5 18. axb4 cxb4 19. Ra6 Qd7 20. Qc4 O-O 21.
Rxc6 Rad8 22. Bd6 Rfe8 23. Qxd5 Ne7 24. Qh5 Nxc6 25. Bc5 Re4 26. Rd1 Re5 27.
dxe5 Qxd1+ 28. Kh2 Qd5 0-1

GN Gopal got the better of the Spanish FM Pere Cazorla in a 36-move-short Symmetrical English.

[Event "Gibraltar Masters 2017"]
[Site "Caleta ENG"]
[Date "2017.01.30"]
[Round "7.24"]
[White "Garriga Cazorla, Pere"]
[Black "Gopal, G.N."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A34"]
[WhiteElo "2386"]
[BlackElo "2579"]
[PlyCount "72"]
[EventDate "2017.01.24"]

1. Nf3 c5 2. c4 Nf6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nb4 6. Bc4 Nd3+ 7. Ke2 Nf4+ 8.
Kf1 Ne6 9. b4 g6 10. Bxe6 Bxe6 11. bxc5 Bg7 12. d4 Nc6 13. Be3 Qa5 14. Rc1
O-O-O 15. Ne2 f5 16. Ng5 Bxa2 17. d5 fxe4 18. Nf4 Ne5 19. Nge6 g5 20. Nxg5 Bh6
21. h4 Qb5+ 22. Kg1 Bb3 23. Qd4 Nd3 24. Nxd3 Qxd3 25. Nf7 Qxd4 26. Bxd4 Bxc1
27. Nxh8 Rxd5 28. Rh3 Ba2 29. Bg7 Rd1+ 30. Kh2 Bf4+ 31. g3 e3 32. fxe3 Rd2+ 33.
Kg1 Bxe3+ 34. Kf1 Bc4+ 35. Ke1 Rc2 36. Kd1 Rc1# 0-1

After two losses in a row, the highest rated Indian in the tournament, GM Surya Ganguly beat the Canadian IM Leon Piasetski.

Pairings for Round 08:

Rd.	Bo.	No.		Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	FED	Rtg	No.
8	9	40	GM	Gopal G.N.	IND	2579	5		5	GM	Caruana Fabiano	USA	2827	1
8	17	26	GM	Sethuraman S.P.	IND	2637	5		5	IM	Dragnev Valentin	AUT	2492	67
8	22	72	GM	Debashis Das	IND	2472	4½		4½	GM	Lagarde Maxime	FRA	2594	34
8	25	90	IM	Wemmers Xander	NED	2424	4½		4½	GM	Lalith Babu M R	IND	2587	37
8	27	91	GM	Sundararajan Kidambi	IND	2420	4½		4½	GM	Schroeder Jan-Christian	GER	2550	50
8	34	19	GM	Ganguly Surya Shekhar	IND	2657	4		4	IM	Batchimeg Tuvshintugs	MGL	2390	100
8	35	110		Henderson De La Fuente Lance	ESP	2380	4		4	GM	Gupta Abhijeet	IND	2645	25
8	42	124	IM	Siva Mahadevan	IND	2356	4		4	IM	Aryan Chopra	IND	2503	61
8	43	62	IM	Kollars Dmitrij	GER	2500	4		4	WGM	Soumya Swaminathan	IND	2375	115
8	44	129		Kulkarni Rakesh	IND	2344	4		4	IM	Batsiashvili Nino	GEO	2492	66
8	46	132	FM	Rakesh Kumar Jena	IND	2335	4		4	IM	Ider Borya	FRA	2463	78
8	56	141	IM	Saravanan V.	IND	2306	3½		3½	IM	Liang Awonder	USA	2496	63
8	62	92	IM	Karavade Eesha	IND	2418	3½		3½	WIM	Kantane Anna	POL	2259	150
8	89	154	WIM	Pratyusha Bodda	IND	2247	3		3		Behrendt Clemens	GER	2121	192