Isle of Man 02: Wesley held by Harika

by Priyadarshan Banjan - 03/10/2016

In a total field of 133 players we see no Russians – not a single lone GM or IM. But: 75% of the Gold Medal United States Olympic team is in the Isle of Man to win the tournament. And: almost 20% of the total participants in the event are Indians. After two rounds of play 16 players are on 2.0/2 – but not world number 6 Wesley So, who was stopped by Indian number two female Harika Dronavalli. ChessBase India reports with annotated games.

Isle of Man 02: Wesley held by Harika

75% of the gold winning United States Olympic team is in the Isle of Man to win the tournament. Almost 20% of the total participants in the event are Indians.

The Isle of Man has been hosting a strong open for quite some time now. According to their tourism department, more than 40 percent of the land on the Isle of Man is unpopulated. The Island has 17 national glens, many of which lead to the sea. Chess.com Isle of Man International Tournament is taking place from October 1st to 9th, 2016. With Qatar Open no more (at least for this year), is this the last super-open that we are witnessing?

The participants include Fabiano Caruana, Wesley So, Hikaru Nakamura, Michael Adams, Pavel Eljanov, Wang Hao, Alexei Shirov, Hou Yifan, with a total field of 133 players.

Dronavalli Harika vs. Wesely So [Photo: Mike Klein]

Round two already saw one of the big-three suffer a setback. The second board clash between Dronavalli Harika and Wesely So became interesting when Harika confidently counterattacked Wesley’s aggression.

The moment of reckoning came when Harika had to decide between taking a draw and playing on. What would you do had you been on Harika’s shoes?

Wesley So-Dronavalli Harika (Notes by IM Sagar Shah)

[Event "chess.com IoM Masters"]
[Site "Douglas ENG"]
[Date "2016.10.02"]
[Round "2.2"]
[White "So, Wesley"]
[Black "Harika, Dronavalli"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B30"]
[WhiteElo "2794"]
[BlackElo "2528"]
[Annotator "Sagar Shah"]
[PlyCount "41"]
[EventDate "2016.10.01"]
[SourceDate "2003.06.08"]

{To outprepare a player like Wesley So is simply amazing! Wesley is known for
his high class preparation and Harika was able to surpass that. Speaks volumes
about the hard work done by the India number two.} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3
e5 4. Bc4 Be7 5. d3 Nf6 6. O-O O-O 7. Ng5 h6 8. f4 exf4 (8... hxg5 9. fxg5 $16
{is already better for White.}) 9. Nf3 Bd6 {Gelfand has played this twice
against Adhiban and Guseinov.} 10. Nh4 Bb8 {Once again following Gelfand.} 11.
Ng6 d5 $1 (11... Re8 $6 12. Nxf4 $14 {And White has a firm grip over d5.}) 12.
exd5 fxg6 {Harika plays the obvious move and it is clearly better than what
Gelfand did.} ({Gelfand's choice was} 12... Bg4 $2 13. Qd2 (13. dxc6 $1 b5 14.
Qd2 bxc4 15. Nxf8 $16) 13... Nd4 14. Nxf8 f3 15. Qf2 Qxf8 16. Be3 Be5 17. Kh1
Bh5 18. Bxd4 Bxd4 19. Qg3 fxg2+ 20. Qxg2 Re8 21. Rf4 Re5 22. Raf1 Rg5 23. Qd2
Qe7 24. Qe1 Re5 25. Qg3 Rg5 26. Qe1 Re5 27. Qg3 Rg5 28. Qe1 Qd7 29. Qh4 Be3 30.
Rxf6 gxf6 31. h3 f5 32. Nd1 Bd4 33. Qf4 Qe8 34. Qd2 Qe5 35. Qf4 Qe2 {0-1 (35)
Guseinov,G (2649)-Gelfand,B (2731) Ashdod 2015}) 13. dxc6+ Kh7 14. Bxf4 Ng4 15.
Bxb8 Qd4+ $1 16. Kh1 Rxf1+ 17. Qxf1 Nf2+ 18. Kg1 Nh3+ (18... Nxd3+ {Harika
could have definitely played on here.} 19. Kh1 Nf2+ 20. Kg1 Ng4+ 21. Kh1 Rxb8
22. c7 Ra8 {At first sight this position is not so easy to assess. The pawn on
c7 looks dangerous. But truth be told it is firmly blockaded right now. Rd1 is
not possible due to Nf2 and Ne3 is on the cards. Well, overall Black is better
here, but I don't blame Harika settling for a draw against her nearly 300+
rating point opponent. In any case the position should be objectively equal,
but Wesley has to find some really difficult ideas.} 23. h3 Ne3 24. Qe2 Nxc4
25. Rd1 Qe5 26. Qxe5 Nxe5 27. Rd8 $44 {White has decent compensation and maybe
the position is just drawn but Black can play on.}) 19. Kh1 Nf2+ 20. Kg1 Nh3+
21. Kh1 {A great result for the Indian player who snatched a half point from
the man in form.} 1/2-1/2

Naka is no stranger to winning titles on the English soil. He won the London Chess Classic in 2013, and then the Gibraltar Open in 2016. The Isle of Man next? [Photo: Lennart Ootes]

In the second round, he razed Indian GM Vishnu Prasanna to the ground. 22 moves -- preparation? [Photo: Mike Klein]

Hikaru Nakamura-Vishnu Prasanna (Notes by Albert Silver)

[Event "Isle of Man Masters"]
[Site "Douglas ENG"]
[Date "2016.10.02"]
[Round "2.3"]
[White "Vishnu Prasanna, V."]
[Black "Nakamura, Hikaru"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B90"]
[WhiteElo "2522"]
[BlackElo "2787"]
[PlyCount "44"]
[EventDate "2016.10.01"]
[SourceDate "2003.06.08"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. h3 e5 7. Nde2 h5 8. Be3
Be6 9. Nd5 Bxd5 10. exd5 Nbd7 11. Nc3 g6 12. Qd2 Rc8 13. a4 {(#)} Ng8 $1 {
This superb move may seem paradoxical at first sight, but is based on a deep
understanding of the position. Nakamura explained that he felt this was the
best way to pose White problems, instead of continuing in 'automatic'.} ({
The more obvious} 13... Bg7 {doesn't offer much and certainly doesn't ask too
many questions of White. For example,} 14. Be2 Qa5 (14... O-O {would lead to
problems after} 15. g4 $1) 15. Ra3 Rc7 {Just to illustrate.} 16. O-O O-O 17. g4
{is still not clear.}) 14. Ra3 $2 {Nakamura commented he thought this move was
inaccurate in his view as it will turn out to be a waste of time. After lines
with ...Bh6 Rb3 (the whole point of Ra3 after all) and ...Nc5, the rook will
just find itself harassed.} f5 15. h4 Qa5 ({The tempting} 15... f4 {doesn't
really offer that much, since White continues} 16. Qd3 Ne7 (16... fxe3 $4 {
is just mate after} 17. Qxg6+ Ke7 18. Qe6#) 17. Bd2 Nc5 18. Qh3 Nf5 {and
Hikaru explained that he was wary of the way the position might develop, since
after} 19. Bd3 Nxd3+ 20. Qxd3 {White will have a very strong Ne4 with breaks
on g3. Even if not worse, it doesn't make White's life difficult either.}) 16.
f3 Bh6 $1 17. g4 $2 {White was already worse, and clearly did not want to wait
and be steamrolled so chooses to take his fate into his hands and force the
issue. This backfires almost immediately though.} Bxe3 18. Qxe3 hxg4 19. fxg4
Ne7 20. Qd2 (20. gxf5 {wouldn't save the game.} gxf5 21. Qg5 {and here
Nakamura had in mind} Nc5 $1 {and if} 22. Qf6 Kd7 {and Black has ...Qb4
followed by the rook entering on the f- or g-file}) 20... Qb4 21. Rb3 (21. gxf5
$2 {also fails to} Rxc3 $1 {as in the game.}) 21... Qxg4 22. Rxb7 Rxc3 $1 (
22... Rxc3 {White resigned in view of} 23. bxc3 Qe4+ {winning the rook.}) 0-1

GM Fabiano Caruana has managed to stay unscathed until now. He confidently defeated GM S.L. Narayanan in the second round. [Photo: Lennart Ootes]

IM Tania Sachdev (2414) [Photo: Mike Klein]

[Event "chess.com IoM Masters"]
[Site "Douglas ENG"]
[Date "2016.10.02"]
[Round "2.22"]
[White "Tania, Sachdev"]
[Black "L'Ami, Erwin"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D43"]
[WhiteElo "2414"]
[BlackElo "2605"]
[Annotator "Sagar Shah"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "3R1bk1/r4p1p/5np1/3N4/8/5NP1/5PKP/8 b - - 0 32"]
[PlyCount "12"]
[EventDate "2016.10.01"]
[SourceDate "2003.06.08"]

32... Ne4 {This position is dead equal but Tania found a nice way to force a
draw.} 33. Nd2 $1 Nxd2 34. Nf6+ Kg7 35. Ne8+ Kh6 36. Rxd2 Be7 37. Nd6 Bxd6 38.
Rxd6 {All the pieces came off and a draw was agreed!} 1/2-1/2

Put on your seatbelts, folks: women’s world champion vs. chess history’s youngest international master! [Photo: Mike Klein]

Praggnanandhaa is a sharp kid, rest assured. But here he missed a simple tactic. White to move and gain an advantage!

Praggnanandhaa R.-Hou Yifan (Notes by IM Sagar Shah)

[Event "chess.com IoM Masters"]
[Site "Douglas ENG"]
[Date "2016.10.02"]
[Round "2.14"]
[White "Praggnanandhaa, R."]
[Black "Hou, Yifan"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B83"]
[WhiteElo "2442"]
[BlackElo "2649"]
[Annotator "Sagar Shah"]
[PlyCount "114"]
[EventDate "2016.10.01"]
[SourceDate "2003.06.08"]

{This was quite an exciting match up with the World's youngest IM taking on
World's Women Champion.} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 6.
Be2 Be7 7. O-O a6 8. f4 Qc7 9. Kh1 O-O 10. a4 Nc6 11. Be3 {Praggnanandhaa
plays the main line in the Sicilian Scheveningen.} Nxd4 12. Qxd4 Bd7 13. e5 Ne8
14. Qb4 {This has been played by Praggnanandhaa's sister Vaishali. Hence, the
little boy follows his sister's footsteps.} Bc6 15. Bb6 dxe5 $1 16. Qa5 (16.
Bxc7 Bxb4 $15) 16... Qc8 17. fxe5 g6 {The knight on e8 needs to be activated
and g7 looks like the natural square. Overall it seems like White is better
here because of the space he has and the free flowing development. Black on
the other hand is solid but cramped.} 18. Bd3 (18. Rad1 Ng7 19. Rf4 {with the
idea of Rc4 is a possible idea.}) 18... Bd8 19. Ne4 Bxb6 20. Qxb6 Qd8 {Hou
Yifan looks to exchange the queens against her young opponent...} 21. Qe3 {
...but the 11-year-old wants to attack!} Bxe4 $1 {You can bank on the World
Champion to make the right long term decisions. The knight on e4 was a
dangerous guy and it had to be taken out.} 22. Qxe4 Qc7 23. a5 (23. Ra3 {
with the idea of Rc3 or Rb3 would have maintained the balance. As it happens
in the game, slowly and steadily Praggnanandhaa loses the thread of the game.})
23... Rd8 24. b4 Ng7 25. g4 Qe7 (25... h5 $5) 26. Rae1 Rd7 27. Rf6 Rfd8 28.
Ref1 Rd4 29. Qe3 Rxb4 30. Rxf7 Qxf7 31. Rxf7 Kxf7 {The position is still
around equal.} 32. Qc5 (32. Qg5 {Attacking the rook on d8 and threatening Qf6+
was stronger.} Rd5 33. h4 $36) 32... Rbd4 33. Qb6 R8d7 34. h3 R4d5 35. Kg2 Kg8
36. Kf3 Rxe5 37. h4 (37. Bxa6 $1 {It's not often that you see Praggu missing
these tactics.} bxa6 38. Qb8+ $18) 37... g5 38. h5 Ne8 {Black now has
everything under control.} 39. Bxa6 $2 {A move too late.} bxa6 40. Qxa6 Kf7 41.
Qb6 Re1 42. Qb5 Nf6 {The black king is safe and everything is co-ordinated and
the rest is just easy for Hou Yifan.} 43. a6 Ra1 44. Qxg5 Rxa6 45. Qh6 Ke8 46.
Ke2 Rf7 47. Qg5 Rd6 48. c4 Rd4 49. Qb5+ Nd7 50. g5 Rf5 51. Qa6 Ke7 52. Qa3+ Rc5
53. g6 hxg6 54. hxg6 Rdxc4 55. g7 Rg4 56. Qa1 Re5+ 57. Kf3 Rxg7 {A great
fighting game by the youngster and calm cool headed defence by Hou Yifan.} 0-1

Pairings for Round 03:

Rd.	Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.
3	4	9	GM	Vidit Santosh Gujrathi	2686	2		2	GM	Bok Benjamin	2594	26
3	9	36	GM	Harika Dronavalli	2528	1½		1½	GM	Adams Michael	2745	4
3	10	5	GM	Eljanov Pavel	2741	1½		1½	GM	Gagare Shardul	2480	43
3	17	23	GM	Gupta Abhijeet	2626	1½		1½	IM	Daulyte Deimante	2429	56
3	18	25	GM	L'ami Erwin	2605	1½		1½	IM	Karavade Eesha	2421	60
3	19	65	IM	Kojima Shinya	2399	1½		1½	GM	Lalith Babu M R	2586	28
3	21	30	GM	Marin Mihail	2569	1½		1½	IM	Tania Sachdev	2414	62
3	23	32	GM	Aravindh Chithambaram Vr.	2564	1		1½	GM	Paehtz Thomas	2356	73
3	25	74	IM	Wallace John Paul	2355	1		1	GM	Shyam Sundar M.	2552	33
3	26	77	FM	Kavutskiy Konstantin	2332	1		1	GM	Sunilduth Lyna Narayanan	2536	35
3	27	81	IM	Peek Marcel	2319	1		1	GM	Vishnu Prasanna. V	2522	37
3	31	90	FM	Von Meijenfeldt Bart	2265	1		1	IM	Puranik Abhimanyu	2471	45
3	32	46	GM	Illingworth Max	2465	1		1	FM	Rakesh Kumar Jena	2247	93
3	34	98		Player Edmund C	2227	1		1	IM	Praggnanandhaa R	2442	54
3	35	55	GM	Sundararajan Kidambi	2429	1		1		Grant Jonathan I M	2223	99
3	40	110	AGM	Vardan Nagpal	2117	1		1	IM	Das Arghyadip	2400	64
3	44	131		Johnson Paul A	1893	1		1		Hemant Sharma (del)	2371	71
3	46	72		Harsha Bharathakoti	2363	½		½	WIM	Parnali S Dharia	2228	97
3	49	82	FM	Karthik Venkataraman	2317	½		½		Scott Gordon W	2168	106
3	53	94	FM	Lorscheid Gerhard	2238	½		½	WFM	Kotepalli Sai Nirupama	1944	128
3	54	96		Allen Keith	2236	½		½	WIM	Gagare Shalmali	1989	126
3	55	117		Hamer Martyn	2063	½		0	IM	Visakh N R	2456	52
3	58	78	FM	Formento Paolo	2326	0		0	FM	Tiwari Ashwani	2090	115
3	63	127	WFM	Swati Mohota	1948	0		0		Rocabado Fernando	2187	104

Full overview of the Indian Performance

Report on ChessBase International

Game in PGN

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