Asian Nations Cup 05: When the Tiger tames the Dragon

by Priyadarshan Banjan - 02/04/2016

'And medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for!' said Kleinbaum in the Dead Poets Society. Sport, time and again, brings out a varied assortment of emotions from within you. If you want to experience the purest form of a bitter-sweet moment, you have to be an Indian chess fan watching the Asian Nations Cup 2016. A report.

Asian Nations Cup 05: When the Tiger tames the Dragon

The Asian Nations Cup Chess Championship has begun at the Novotel Abu Dhabi Al Bustan hotel with 20 countries competing for the right to represent Asia in the World Chess Team Championship.

Four rounds had ended and China was perched at the top -- a usual sight in Asian chess -- while India was placed second. The toughest of the fights in any battle is always fought in the middle -- of the tournament. India took on China in what was proclaimed to be the summit clash that could decide it all.

China was not fielding its A-team, that much is clear by looking at the line up. But then, nor was India, sans Vishy and Hari. That said, although the Chinese were not playing their Olympiad winning team, India was basically the (almost) same tight-knit group that brought home the historic bronze in 2014.

"We are hoping to push with white and steady with black," was coach Ramesh's plan to tackle the Chinese problem. [Photo: Bhakti Kulkarni]

GM Vidit Gujrathi (2648)

In Vidit's own words, it was nothing short of an epic match and the man himself was the one who set the ball rolling. Wei Yi, on the third board, had the white pieces and Vidit's pre-game idea would have been to stay solid, in keeping with the game plan.

Vidit is famed for his opening preparation and the game was a sparkling example of the same and more -- the beauty in his chess.

[Event "Asian Nations Cup 2016 - Men"]
[Site "Abu Dhabi"]
[Date "2016.04.01"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Wei, Yi"]
[Black "Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C50"]
[WhiteElo "2714"]
[BlackElo "2648"]
[Annotator "ChessBase"]
[PlyCount "68"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[EventCountry "UAE"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[WhiteTeam "China"]
[BlackTeam "India"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "CHN"]
[BlackTeamCountry "IND"]
[TimeControl "40/5400+30:1800+30"]

1. e4 {0} e5 {0} 2. Nf3 {106} Nc6 {0} 3. Bc4 {611} Bc5 {3} 4. d3 {30} Nf6 {20}
5. c3 {85} O-O {78} 6. O-O {171} d5 {79} 7. exd5 {12} Nxd5 {3} 8. Nbd2 {161}
Nb6 {230} 9. Bb5 {188} Bd6 {61} 10. Re1 {806} Bg4 {33} 11. h3 {652} Bh5 {13}
12. Ne4 {58} f5 {30} 13. Ng3 {435} Bxf3 {16} 14. Qxf3 {6} Qd7 {9} 15. a4 {1165}
a6 {58} 16. Bxc6 bxc6 {30} 17. c4 {11} Rab8 {547} 18. a5 {997} Nc8 {15} 19. c5
{15} Bxc5 {79} 20. Rxe5 {3} Bd4 {353} 21. Re1 {75} Nd6 {670} 22. Ne2 {88} Rfe8
{284} 23. Bf4 {50} Bxb2 {163} 24. Rab1 {9} Nb5 {118} 25. Ng3 {138} Bc3 {566}
26. Rxe8+ {41} Rxe8 {6} 27. Be3 {74} g6 {73} 28. Qd1 {122} Bxa5 {1498} 29. Ra1
{14} Bb6 {260} 30. Bxb6 {26} cxb6 {2} 31. Rxa6 {6} f4 {142} 32. Ne2 {38} f3 {33
} 33. Nf4 {153} Nd4 {54} 34. Ra1 {43} Rf8 {126} 0-1

GM S.P. Sethuraman (2658)

Sethu was on the white side of a Petroff aganist GM Wang Yue (2718), and the endgame was fine. "He got good position out of opening but collapsed in the endgame." summarised GM Ramesh after the match.

[Event "Asian Nations Cup 2016 - Men"]
[Site "Abu Dhabi"]
[Date "2016.04.01"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Sethuraman, S P."]
[Black "Wang, Yue"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C42"]
[WhiteElo "2658"]
[BlackElo "2718"]
[Annotator "ChessBase"]
[PlyCount "125"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[EventCountry "UAE"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[WhiteTeam "India"]
[BlackTeam "China"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "IND"]
[BlackTeamCountry "CHN"]
[TimeControl "40/5400+30:1800+30"]

1. e4 {2} e5 {0} 2. Nf3 {20} Nf6 {0} 3. Nxe5 {10} d6 {0} 4. Nf3 {10} Nxe4 {0}
5. Nc3 {3} Nxc3 {39} 6. dxc3 {6} Be7 {2} 7. Be3 {7} Nc6 {9} 8. Qd2 {4} Be6 {130
} 9. O-O-O {6} Qd7 {27} 10. Kb1 {6} Bf6 {74} 11. h4 {16} O-O-O {757} 12. Bg5 {
282} Qe7 {79} 13. Qf4 {6} h6 {21} 14. Bxf6 {9} Qxf6 {4} 15. Qxf6 {12} gxf6 {4}
16. Be2 {907} Rde8 {331} 17. Rhe1 {42} Rhg8 {27} 18. Bf1 {392} Ne5 {357} 19.
Nd4 {29} Bd7 {18} 20. Re3 {648} Ng4 {679} 21. Rf3 {122} f5 {159} 22. Bb5 {1371}
c6 {195} 23. Bd3 {140} Ne5 {222} 24. Nxf5 {26} Kc7 {130} 25. Nxh6 {927} Rxg2 {
39} 26. Rf4 {78} Rh8 {332} 27. Nf5 {220} Bxf5 {237} 28. Rxf5 {206} Rxh4 {9} 29.
a3 {177} Rgg4 {509} 30. Rf1 {243} Rf4 {484} 31. Rxf4 {4} Rxf4 {4} 32. Kc1 {87}
d5 {507} 33. Kd2 {25} Kd6 {3} 34. Ke3 {68} Rf3+ {54} 35. Ke2 {7} c5 {26} 36.
Rd1 {206} Rf4 {98} 37. Ke3 {5} Rh4 {72} 38. Be2 {30} b6 {236} 39. Rg1 {85} Ng6
{82} 40. Bf3 {109} d4+ {201} 41. cxd4 {1836} cxd4+ {1805} 42. Ke2 {0} Ne5 {0}
43. Rg8 {0} Rf4 {0} 44. Bh1 {0} Nc4 {0} 45. Ra8 {0} Nxb2 {0} 46. Rxa7 {0} Na4 {
0} 47. Ra8 {0} Nc3+ {0} 48. Kd3 {0} Nd1 {0} 49. Ke2 {0} Nxf2 {0} 50. Bf3 {0}
Nh3 {0} 51. Rd8+ {0} Kc7 {0} 52. Rg8 {0} Rf6 {0} 53. Bg4 {0} Nf4+ {0} 54. Kf3 {
17} Ng6+ {0} 55. Kg3 {270} Ne5 {0} 56. Rc8+ Kb7 57. Rd8 Rg6 58. Rxd4 Kc6 59.
Kh3 Kc5 60. Rf4 Rxg4 61. Rxg4 Nxg4 62. Kxg4 Kd4 63. Kf5 {Ke5+} 0-1

GM Krishnan Sasikiran

With the scores tied at 1-1, Sasi was winning his imbalanced game against the 2014 World Junior Champion Lu Shanglei (2620). But he went wrong in time trouble and trudged home with a draw.

[Event "Asian Nations Cup 2016 - Men"]
[Site "Abu Dhabi"]
[Date "2016.04.01"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Sasikiran, Krishnan"]
[Black "Lu, Shanglei"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B90"]
[WhiteElo "2637"]
[BlackElo "2620"]
[Annotator "ChessBase"]
[PlyCount "113"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[EventCountry "UAE"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[WhiteTeam "India"]
[BlackTeam "China"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "IND"]
[BlackTeamCountry "CHN"]
[TimeControl "40/5400+30:1800+30"]

1. e4 {137} c5 {187} 2. Nf3 {13} d6 {6} 3. d4 {11} cxd4 {6} 4. Nxd4 {5} Nf6 {7}
5. Nc3 {8} a6 {5} 6. h3 {16} e6 {14} 7. g4 {7} Nfd7 {2} 8. Bg2 {314} Be7 {41}
9. h4 {283} Nc6 {141} 10. g5 {324} Qb6 {8} 11. Nde2 {327} Nde5 {798} 12. Be3 {
353} Qa5 {711} 13. f4 {601} Nc4 {198} 14. Bc1 {32} Qb6 {105} 15. Rh3 {567} h6 {
1917} 16. b3 {626} hxg5 {781} 17. bxc4 {442} gxf4 {24} 18. Bxf4 {244} Na5 {440}
19. Bg5 {511} Bxg5 {297} 20. hxg5 {8} Rxh3 {2} 21. Bxh3 {5} Qe3 {16} 22. Qd3 {
526} Qxg5 {2} 23. Qxd6 {15} Nxc4 {5} 24. Qg3 {110} Qxg3+ {50} 25. Nxg3 {8} b5 {
2} 26. Bf1 {142} Ne5 {37} 27. a4 {55} b4 {15} 28. Nce2 {195} a5 {61} 29. Nd4 {
62} Bd7 {43} 30. Nb3 {92} Rc8 {22} 31. Ra2 {127} Rc3 {15} 32. Ne2 {23} Rc8 {220
} 33. Ned4 {82} Nc4 {27} 34. Bxc4 {53} Rxc4 {4} 35. Kd2 {35} Ke7 {28} 36. Ra1 {
43} g5 {27} 37. e5 {31} g4 {43} 38. Ne2 {62} Re4 {96} 39. Nxa5 {21} Rxe5 {4}
40. Nc4 {38} Rd5+ {108} 41. Ke3 {1833} Rc5 {1837} 42. Nb6 {0} Rxc2 {0} 43. Nxd7
{0} Kxd7 {0} 44. Rb1 {0} Ra2 {0} 45. Rxb4 {0} f5 {0} 46. Nd4 {0} g3 {0} 47.
Rb7+ {0} Kd6 {0} 48. Rb6+ {0} Ke5 {72} 49. Rxe6+ {0} Kd5 {2} 50. Rg6 {0} Ra3+ {
57} 51. Kf4 {0} Kxd4 {4} 52. Rxg3 {0} Rxg3 {19} 53. Kxg3 {0} Ke3 {41} 54. Kg2 {
0} Ke2 {33} 55. Kg3 {0} Ke3 {111} 56. Kg2 {0} f4 {51} 57. Kf1 {0} 1/2-1/2

GM B. Adhiban (2663)

The TATA Steel-B champion put his loss to Salem in the previous round behind in a manner he knows best -- win! Not for the first time, he came out all guns blazing with the black pieces and got the better of GM Bu Xiangzhi (2724).

[Event "Asian Nations Cup 2016 - Men"]
[Site "Abu Dhabi"]
[Date "2016.04.01"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Bu, Xiangzhi"]
[Black "Adhiban, B."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D16"]
[WhiteElo "2724"]
[BlackElo "2663"]
[Annotator "ChessBase"]
[PlyCount "136"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[EventCountry "UAE"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[WhiteTeam "China"]
[BlackTeam "India"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "CHN"]
[BlackTeamCountry "IND"]
[TimeControl "40/5400+30:1800+30"]

1. Nf3 {0} d5 {0} 2. d4 {0} Nf6 {15} 3. c4 {16} c6 {2} 4. Nc3 {58} dxc4 {3} 5.
a4 {38} e6 {1} 6. e3 {30} c5 {2} 7. Bxc4 {5} Nc6 {2} 8. O-O {7} Be7 {2} 9. Qe2
{43} O-O {3} 10. Rd1 {83} Bd7 {1} 11. b3 {861} cxd4 {491} 12. exd4 {304} Bb4 {
691} 13. Bb2 {271} Bxc3 {109} 14. Bxc3 {9} Nd5 {1} 15. Bd2 {341} Rc8 {33} 16.
Rac1 {75} Nce7 {666} 17. Ne5 {896} Bc6 {10} 18. Bd3 {29} Qd6 {385} 19. Rc5 {357
} Ng6 {1003} 20. Rdc1 {435} Nde7 {241} 21. Bxg6 {568} hxg6 {42} 22. Bb4 {101}
Rfd8 {350} 23. Re1 {957} Qxd4 {435} 24. Ba3 {322} Qd2 {343} 25. f3 {236} Nf5 {
96} 26. b4 {65} Qxe2 {42} 27. Rxe2 {1} Bxa4 {17} 28. Rd2 {15} g5 {124} 29.
Rxd8+ {78} Rxd8 {0} 30. Bc1 {45} f6 {91} 31. Ng4 {1} Rd4 {166} 32. Ne3 {7} Rxb4
{57} 33. Nxf5 {3} exf5 {6} 34. Rxf5 {23} b6 {189} 35. Rd5 {2} Rb1 {7} 36. Rd8+
{3} Kf7 {201} 37. Rc8 {2} Bd7 {137} 38. Rc7 {29} Ke6 {111} 39. Kf2 {1} Kd6 {125
} 40. Rc2 {12} Ra1 {319} 41. Be3 {2023} Be6 {63} 42. Ke2 {0} Rb1 {470} 43. Rd2+
{0} Bd5 {12} 44. Rd1 {0} Rb2+ {237} 45. Rd2 {0} Rb1 {6} 46. Rd1 {0} Rxd1 {96}
47. Kxd1 {0} g4 {7} 48. Ke2 {0} gxf3+ {9} 49. gxf3 {0} Kc6 {52} 50. f4 {0} a5 {
156} 51. Bd2 {0} Kb5 {111} 52. Be3 {0} Bc4+ {209} 53. Kd1 {0} Kc6 {21} 54. Bd2
{0} Kd5 {14} 55. Kc2 {0} Ke4 {2} 56. Kb2 {0} Kd3 {33} 57. Kc1 {0} Be6 {58} 58.
Be1 {0} Ke2 {86} 59. Bc3 {0} Ke3 {101} 60. Bd2+ {0} Kf3 {33} 61. Kb2 {0} Kg2 {
50} 62. Be3 {35} b5 {7} 63. Bb6 {10} a4 {2} 64. Bc7 {3} Bf5 {34} 65. Ka3 {22}
Kxh2 {19} 66. Kb4 {2} Bd7 {48} 67. Bd6 {14} Kh3 {40} 68. Bf8 {5} g5 {15} 0-1

Coach GM R.B. Ramesh was, as you may expect, overjoyed about the result."Important thing is that no one is playing loose moves. Keeping control of the game throughout is a very good thing. Young players are consistently improving in playing strength -- a good sign."

But the fight is far from over. Despite this win, Iran and China are close on our heels. Who will survive?

Team Performance:

A proud moment for an Indian chess fan, indeed. On the other hand, the women's team had already passed the China test by holding them to a draw. They were up against a less fancied team from Vietnam and were expected to roll through to victory, somehow.

WGM Soumya Swaminathan (2384)

Things began well for India as Soumya, as she has done many times already in this competition, won her game on the fourth board quite efficiently.

[Event "Asian Nations Cup 2016-Women"]
[Site "Abu Dhabi"]
[Date "2016.04.01"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Nguyen, Thi Thanh An"]
[Black "Soumya, Swaminathan"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D72"]
[WhiteElo "2239"]
[BlackElo "2384"]
[Annotator "ChessBase"]
[PlyCount "66"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[EventCountry "UAE"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[WhiteTeam "Vietnam"]
[BlackTeam "India"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "VIE"]
[BlackTeamCountry "IND"]
[TimeControl "40/5400+30:1800+30"]

1. d4 {0} Nf6 {7} 2. c4 {0} g6 {2} 3. g3 {6} Bg7 {127} 4. Bg2 {9} d5 {82} 5.
cxd5 {9} Nxd5 {3} 6. e4 {12} Nb6 {43} 7. Ne2 {9} c5 {140} 8. d5 {30} O-O {105}
9. O-O {10} e6 {75} 10. Nec3 {15} Na6 {174} 11. a3 {345} exd5 {304} 12. exd5 {
11} Bf5 {82} 13. Nd2 {135} Qd7 {1514} 14. Nde4 {968} Bh3 {178} 15. Qf3 {356}
Bxg2 {83} 16. Kxg2 {10} f5 {194} 17. Ng5 {36} Bxc3 {91} 18. Qxc3 {143} Nxd5 {
294} 19. Qb3 {248} Qc6 {309} 20. Kg1 {271} c4 {115} 21. Qc2 {58} b5 {493} 22.
Bd2 {325} Nc5 {63} 23. Rae1 {544} Rfe8 {82} 24. h4 {138} Nd3 {425} 25. Rxe8+ {
235} Rxe8 {3} 26. Bc3 {216} f4 {420} 27. Bd4 {88} fxg3 {94} 28. fxg3 {130} Ne3
{2} 29. Bxe3 {260} Rxe3 {2} 30. Kh2 {92} Qe8 {8} 31. Qc3 {306} h6 {239} 32. Nf7
{646} Re2+ {13} 33. Kh3 {126} Qe6+ {3} 0-1

IM Padmini Rout (2439) held her position to a draw

But the match slipped out of hand when IM Tania Sachdev (2370) buckled under pressure...

...as did GM Dronavalli Harika (2515), losing the match 2.5-1.5

Of course, the girls would be very upset at this point. But that is how sport serves its adherents.

In the open, can we make it and finish on top? How will the women's team fare after this 'tournament-threatening' mishap. In the Colosseum of modern sports, you win some and you lose some, and if you are fortunate, you live to fight another day.

Team Performance:

Round 06 games LIVE broadcast of all the Indian players. Follow the games with the unique features on offer on ChessBase India, bringing the focus to the roots.

Links:

Games in PGN for open and women

Pairings for Round 06 and other information