Chengdu GP 01+02: Harika off to a perfect start

by Priyadarshan Banjan - 04/07/2016

The Chengdu Grand Prix is being hosted by China from 1-15th July 2016. In a range of stars, two Indians are in the fray, and not surprisingly, both of them have always been there for the nation in the Grand Prix cycle for quite some years now. Harika has begun with two consecutive victories putting her in the lead with 2.0/2. Humpy, the top seed, won her second round game and is at the second spot with 1.5/2. A successful start for the Indians illustrated in our report.

Chengdu GP 01+02: Harika off to a perfect start

The Chengdu Grand Prix is being hosted by China from 1-15th July 2016. The organizer of the tournament is the Chinese Chess Association, in partnership with the International Chess Federation (FIDE). This is the fourth stage of the 2015-16 FIDE grand Prix cycle.

In a range of stars, two Indians are in the fray, and not surprisingly, both of them have always been there for the nation in the Grand Prix cycle for quite some years now.

GM Dronavalli Harika (2526)

Harika was off to a splendid start to the tournament. She had the black pieces against the Chinese WGM Tan Zhongyi (2509).

White to play

Harika, playing the black pieces, found that her knight on g7 was looking a bit strange. But the knight had things going her way, it seems.

WGM Tan Zhongyi (2495)

Tan Zhongyi, playing the white pieces, lashed out with 17. h4?!, when 17... Nxe5 18. dxe5 Qc5 19. h5 Qxe3+ 20. Kb1 fxg4 21. hxg6 h5, and it turns out that Ng7 is doing quite well!

[Event "Women's FIDE Grand Prix Series"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.07.02"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Tan, Zhongyi"]
[Black "Harika, Dronavalli"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D43"]
[WhiteElo "2495"]
[BlackElo "2526"]
[PlyCount "72"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2003.06.08"]
[TimeControl "5400+30"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 c6 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. cxd5 exd5 6. Bg5 Be7 7. Qc2 Nbd7 (
7... g6 8. e3 Bf5 9. Bd3 {is another well-known path.}) 8. e3 Nh5 (8... O-O 9.
Bd3 Re8 10. O-O Nf8 {is the much more famous way of playing.}) 9. Bxe7 Qxe7 10.
h3 (10. O-O-O Nb6 11. Bd3 Bg4 12. Kb1 $11) 10... g6 11. Be2 Ng7 12. Bd3 Nf6 13.
g4 {The knight on g7 looks a tad silly. Even the one on f6, actually.} Be6 14.
Ne5 Nd7 15. O-O-O O-O {Opposite side castling.} 16. f4 f5 17. h4 $6 Nxe5 18.
dxe5 Qc5 19. h5 Qxe3+ 20. Kb1 fxg4 21. hxg6 h5 {thanks to the h4-h5 push, Ng7
has turned out to be useful after all!} 22. Ne2 c5 23. Qc1 (23. b3 Rac8 $15)
23... Qxc1+ $17 24. Rxc1 c4 25. Bc2 Rad8 26. Rcd1 d4 $1 {inducing the trades
that simplifies Black's task.} 27. Nxd4 Rxf4 28. Ne2 Rxd1+ 29. Rxd1 Rf2 30. Ng3
Kf8 31. Ne4 Re2 32. Kc1 Ke7 33. Rf1 Bf5 34. Kd1 Rxc2 35. Ng3 Bxg6 36. Rf6 Bd3
0-1

Harika was self-critical of her knight maneuvers, but it all worked out fine for her.

GM Bela Khotenashvenili (2454)

GM Koneru Humpy was facing GM Bela Khotenashvenili of Georgia in the first round. In the Catalan opening, both sides played logical and solid moves.

After the massive exchanges, an interesting ending with three pairs of minor pieces each was reached.

Since neither side could make progress, the game ended with moves repetition after the time control.

[Event "Women's FIDE Grand Prix Series"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.07.02"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Khotenashvili, Bela"]
[Black "Koneru, Humpy"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "E01"]
[WhiteElo "2454"]
[BlackElo "2575"]
[PlyCount "85"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2003.06.08"]
[TimeControl "5400+30"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Nf3 Be7 5. Bg2 O-O 6. O-O c6 7. Qc2 b6 8. Nbd2
Bb7 9. e4 Na6 10. a3 c5 11. exd5 exd5 12. dxc5 Nxc5 13. b4 Ne6 14. Bb2 dxc4 15.
Rfd1 c3 16. Qxc3 a5 17. bxa5 Rxa5 18. Nc4 Rd5 19. Ne3 Ne4 20. Rxd5 Bxd5 21. Qc2
Bb7 22. Rd1 Qa8 23. Ne5 Rc8 24. Qb3 N4c5 25. Bxb7 Qxb7 26. Qd5 Rd8 27. Qxb7
Rxd1+ 28. Nxd1 Nxb7 29. Ne3 Bc5 30. Nd5 Nd6 31. a4 f6 32. Nd7 Nc4 33. Bc3 Kf7
34. Kf1 Ke8 35. Nb8 Bd6 36. Na6 Kd7 37. Ke2 Kc6 38. Nab4+ Bxb4 39. Nxb4+ Kd6
40. Nd3 Kd5 41. Nb4+ Kd6 42. Nd3 Kd5 43. Nb4+ 1/2-1/2

GM Koneru Humpy (2575)

In Ragozin Queen's Gambit white parted with bishops pair in order to get greater space and maneuvering liberty.

Black just played 23...Bb6 which turned out to be the turning point.

[Event "Women's FIDE Grand Prix Series"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.07.03"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Koneru, Humpy"]
[Black "Zhao, Xue"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E20"]
[WhiteElo "2575"]
[BlackElo "2510"]
[PlyCount "87"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2003.06.08"]
[TimeControl "5400+30"]
[WhiteClock "0:00:15"]
[BlackClock "0:00:23"]

1. Nf3 {5340} d5 {5341} 2. d4 {30} Nf6 {32} 3. c4 {29} e6 {30} 4. Nc3 {30} Bb4
{30} 5. Bg5 {31} h6 {30} 6. Bxf6 {30} Qxf6 {30} 7. e3 {30} O-O {34} 8. Rc1 {30}
Qd8 {40} 9. Qb3 {37} Ba5 {32} 10. Bd3 {32} c6 {44} 11. O-O {32} Nd7 {31} 12.
Rfd1 {34} Qe7 {34} 13. a3 {36} Nf6 {33} 14. Qc2 {35} Bc7 {35} 15. h3 {32} Bd7 {
32} 16. Ne5 {44} Rad8 {34} 17. Qe2 {39} Bc8 {32} 18. Bb1 {43} c5 {36} 19. cxd5
{34} exd5 {36} 20. f4 {32} a6 {30} 21. Qf3 {32} Rfe8 {37} 22. Ba2 {36} cxd4 {34
} 23. exd4 {30} Bb6 {31} (23... Be6 $11) 24. Bxd5 {36} Be6 {36} 25. Bxb7 {30}
Rxd4 {30} 26. Kh1 {31} Rxf4 {30} 27. Qxf4 {30} Qxb7 $16 {30} 28. Qf3 {31} Qc7 {
31} 29. Nd3 {31} Qb8 {31} 30. Nf4 {30} Bb3 {29} 31. Re1 {29} Rd8 {30} 32. Ne4 {
30} Nxe4 {30} 33. Rxe4 {29} Ba5 {30} 34. Re3 {31} Ba4 {31} 35. b4 {30} Bb6 {30}
36. Rd3 {30} Re8 {30} 37. Nd5 {30} Bb5 {31} 38. Rd2 {32} Bd8 {29} 39. Rf2 {30}
Bh4 {32} 40. Qxf7+ {0} Kh8 {0} 41. Rc7 {40} Re1+ {30} 42. Kh2 {29} Be7 {29} 43.
g3 {37} Be8 {39} 44. Qf4 {30} 1-0

IM Lela Javakhishvili (2487)

Meanwhile, Harika was facing IM Lela Javakhishvili with the white pieces. In fact, Harika opened with the kings pawn, which may have thrown her opponent off-balance in the beginning.

White to play

White has space in the centre. What should she do to increase her advantage?

Harika chose to expand on the queenside as well, with c3-b4, apparently the best plan in the position.

[Event "Women's FIDE Grand Prix Series"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.07.03"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Harika, Dronavalli"]
[Black "Javakhishvili, Lela"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B46"]
[WhiteElo "2526"]
[BlackElo "2487"]
[PlyCount "129"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2003.06.08"]
[TimeControl "5400+30"]
[BlackClock "0:00:07"]

1. e4 {5340} c5 {5340} 2. Nf3 {29} Nc6 {31} 3. d4 {30} cxd4 {29} 4. Nxd4 {29}
e6 {30} 5. Nc3 {31} a6 {30} 6. Be2 {30} d6 {35} 7. O-O {33} Nf6 {30} 8. Be3 {31
} Be7 {29} 9. f4 {30} O-O {30} 10. a4 {30} Bd7 {30} 11. Nb3 {30} Na5 {37} 12.
e5 {34} Ne8 {31} 13. Nxa5 {33} Qxa5 {30} 14. Ne4 {32} Qc7 {39} 15. a5 {48} d5 {
31} 16. Bb6 {40} Qc6 {35} 17. Ng5 {32} Bc5+ {31} 18. Bxc5 {30} Qxc5+ {29} 19.
Kh1 {30} f6 {42} 20. Nf3 {36} Qb4 {35} 21. Qc1 {36} b6 {37} 22. c3 {32} Qc5 {30
} 23. b4 {31} Qc7 {30} 24. Qe3 {31} b5 {30} 25. Nd4 {32} g6 {35} 26. Rac1 {41}
Ng7 {31} 27. g4 {34} Rf7 {33} 28. Kg1 {31} Raf8 {30} 29. Rf3 {31} g5 {32} 30.
exf6 {30} gxf4 {30} 31. Qxf4 {33} Qxf4 {31} 32. Rxf4 {30} Rxf6 {30} 33. Rxf6 {
30} Rxf6 {29} 34. Bf3 {33} Rg6 {44} 35. Kf2 {31} Kf7 {32} 36. Re1 {30} Kf6 {30}
37. Nb3 {31} Bc8 {38} 38. Nc5 {30} h6 {31} 39. Nd3 {31} h5 {32} 40. gxh5 {2}
Rh6 {0} 41. Rg1 {33} Nf5 {34} 42. Rg8 {35} Ne7 {30} 43. Rf8+ {32} Kg7 {30} 44.
Re8 {31} Kf6 {32} 45. Nf4 {36} Bb7 {35} 46. Rb8 {31} Bc6 {30} 47. Rb6 {31} Kf5
{34} 48. Ng6 {30} Nxg6 {30} 49. hxg6 {29} Be8 {30} 50. g7 {32} Bf7 {30} 51.
Rxa6 {33} Rxh2+ {30} 52. Bg2 {30} Rh7 {38} 53. Rb6 {31} Rxg7 {30} 54. a6 {30}
Rg8 {31} 55. Bf1 {31} Rc8 {31} 56. Bxb5 {31} Be8 {30} 57. a7 {30} Ra8 {30} 58.
Bxe8 {30} Rxa7 {30} 59. Ke3 {30} e5 {30} 60. Bg6+ {30} Kg5 {29} 61. Bc2 {30}
Rc7 {30} 62. Kd2 {30} d4 {31} 63. cxd4 {30} exd4 {29} 64. Bd3 {30} Kf4 {30} 65.
Re6 {34} 1-0

The playing arena

Smiles and the sunshine in a selfie

Harika leads the table with 2.0/2, while Humpy follows with 1.5/2. Indians have all the three decisive games in the tourney.

Round 03 Pairings (12:00 IST):

SNo.		Name	Rtg	Res.		Name	Rtg	SNo.
2	GM	Khotenashvili Bela	2454	-	GM	Muzychuk Mariya	2545	12
3	GM	Zhao Xue	2510	-	GM	Stefanova Antoaneta	2512	1
4	WGM	Girya Olga	2444	-	GM	Koneru Humpy	2575	11
5	WGM	Tan Zhongyi	2495	-	GM	Muzychuk Anna	2545	10
6	IM	Javakhishvili Lela	2487	-	GM	Cramling Pia	2463	9
7	GM	Ju Wenjun	2578	-	GM	Harika Dronavalli	2526	8

Games in PGN

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