London 02+03: Karthik stuns Edouard
While Anand was under pressure against the wily Aronian, he managed to hang on to a draw, as did all others in the Classic -- it was a draw day. In the FIDE Open, the day's play witnessed double rounds, and all Indians performed well. While Tania Sachdev stumbled to a draw in the second round and Vishnu Prasanna was forced to repeat positions in the third round, V. Ap Karthik posted an upset victory over French GM Roman Edouard who is rated more than 300 points above him. Sagar Shah and Amruta Mokal report.
London Chess Classic: illustrated report by Sagar Shah and Amruta Mokal
Today the FIDE Open at the London Chess festival, in which I am participating, had two rounds. Usually when you have to play a double round in a normal event you wonder about what is to be done in the break between the two games. But at the London Chess Classic this was not at all a problem. As soon as my game finished, I rushed to the auditorium where the second round of the elite category was just about to begin.
All of us, at some point or the other, have followed live games on the Internet. The excellent video coverage provided by elite events like Shamkir, Norway, London, etc. ensures that you get a near-to-being-present feeling at the venue. However, it is completely different to be seated in the auditorium and to witness the drama unfold in real life right in front of your eyes.
For a brief while, Anand was under pressure against Levon Aronian, but after an inaccuracy by the Armenian the game ended in a draw.
Aronian would have wanted to test Anand more with the position he had achieved out of the opening, but Re1 made the Indian champion’s task quite easy. In the above position, he would like to play e3-e4 but with Re1, he removes the pressure from the b7 pawn and this helps Anand to exchange the key bishops.
[Site "London ENG"]
[Date "2015.12.05"]
[Round "2.1"]
[White "Aronian, Levon"]
[Black "Anand, Viswanathan"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D38"]
[WhiteElo "2781"]
[BlackElo "2803"]
[Annotator "Sagar Shah"]
[PlyCount "67"]
[EventDate "2015.12.04"]
[SourceDate "2003.06.08"]
Ne4 9. Qc2 Nxc3 10. bxc3 Nd7 11. Bd3 h6 12. cxd5 exd5 13. Qb2 Qe7 14. O-O Nf6
15. Rfb1 c4 16. Bc2 Ne4 17. a4 Re8 18. a5 $1 {White has some pressure as the
c8 bishop cannot be developed for the time being. However, Black can easily
solve the problem either with Rb8 or as Anand does in the game - Nd6.} Nd6 19.
Qb4 Be6 20. Re1 $6 {Aronian would like to play e3-e4 but he removes the
pressure from the b7 pawn and this helps Anand to exchange the key bishops.} (
20. Ne5 {was much better keeping a minute edge.}) 20... Bf5 $1 21. Bxf5 Nxf5 {
After this exchange the position is completely equal.} 22. Qxe7 Rxe7 23. h4 h5
24. g3 Nd6 25. Reb1 Rc8 26. Kg2 f6 27. Ng1 g5 28. Nf3 Ne4 29. Ra3 Rf8 30. Rb5
Rd7 31. Rb2 Rg7 32. Rb5 Rd7 33. Rb2 Rg7 34. Rb5 1/2-1/2
FIDE Open
In the FIDE Open, the day's play witnessed double rounds, and all Indians performed well. While Tania Sachdev stumbled to a draw in the second round and Vishnu Prasanna was forced to repeat positions in the third round, V. Ap Karthik posted an upset victory over French GM Roman Edouard who is rated more than 300 points above him.
The Indian star of the day was young Karthik who decimated higher rated French GM Romain Edouard (2627). In the third round, he held IM Jeorge Wegerle (2440) to a draw. Over the years, Karthik has been steadily progressing and is a talent to watch out in the Indian circle.
Black played 27... Nd4 to which the French grandmaster played 28. c3, when Karthik replied Nxb3 29. cxb4 Nxd2 30. Nxd2 Qxd3 31. Nf1 cxb4. Black has a rook and three pawns for two knights, and of course, is completely winning.
[Site "?"]
[Date "2015.12.05"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Edouard, Romain"]
[Black "Karthik, V. AP."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B52"]
[WhiteElo "2627"]
[BlackElo "2310"]
[PlyCount "132"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2003.06.08"]
8. b3 Be7 9. Bb2 O-O 10. a4 Qc7 11. d3 Rfe8 12. Nbd2 Bf8 13. Re1 e5 14. Nc4 g6
15. Nfd2 Bg7 16. Qf1 d5 17. exd5 Nxd5 18. Ne4 Re6 19. g3 h6 20. Re2 Rce8 21.
Rae1 b6 22. Qg2 Nb4 23. h4 Nb8 24. h5 N8c6 25. Rd2 f5 26. Nc3 Qd7 27. Nd1 Nd4
28. c3 Nxb3 29. cxb4 Nxd2 30. Nxd2 Qxd3 31. Nf1 cxb4 32. Qb7 R6e7 33. Qc6 Re6
34. Qc7 gxh5 35. Nde3 f4 36. Rd1 Qg6 37. Ng2 Bf6 38. Qc4 Qg4 39. Rc1 h4 40.
gxh4 Qg6 41. Qd5 Bxh4 42. Rc7 f3 43. Qxf3 Rf8 44. Qd5 Bxf2+ 45. Kh1 Bd4 46. Ng3
Bxb2 47. Re7 Re8 48. Nf5 Kh8 49. Ngh4 Qf6 50. Rxa7 e4 51. Qd7 R6e7 52. Qb5 e3
53. Rxe7 Rxe7 54. Qxb4 Qc6+ 55. Kh2 Be5+ 56. Kh3 Qh1+ 57. Kg4 Qg1+ 58. Kf3 Re8
59. Qb5 Re6 60. Qd7 Qg8 61. Ke2 Qg4+ 62. Kxe3 Bf4+ 63. Kf2 Qe2+ 64. Kg1 Be3+
65. Kh1 Qf1+ 66. Kh2 Bf4+ 0-1
Rank after Round 03:
| Rk. | SNo | Name | Rtg | Pts. | ||
| 1 | 1 | GM | Postny Evgeny | 2670 | 3,0 | |
| 9 | GM | Hansen Eric | 2577 | 3,0 | ||
| 13 | GM | Vakhidov Jahongir | 2546 | 3,0 | ||
| 23 | GM | Arkell Keith Cc | 2490 | 3,0 | ||
| 26 | IM | Swayams Mishra | 2477 | 3,0 | ||
| 27 | IM | Andersen Mads | 2474 | 3,0 | ||
| 28 | GM | Hebden Mark L | 2469 | 3,0 | ||
| 33 | IM | Bartholomew John | 2443 | 3,0 | ||
| 36 | IM | Sagar Shah | 2441 | 3,0 | ||
| 51 | IM | Krishna Crg | 2367 | 3,0 |
Check the performance of other players here.
Pairings for Round 03 Classic (7.30 P.M. IST)
| Round 3 Sunday 6 Dec, 14.00-21.00 | ||
| Alexander Grischuk | - | Anish Giri |
| M Vachier-Lagrave | - | Veselin Topalov |
| Fabiano Caruana | - | Hikaru Nakamura |
| Viswanathan Anand | - | Magnus Carlsen |
| Michael Adams | - | Levon Aronian |
LINKS:
Pairings for Round 4 of FIDE Open
Watch the games live in Playchess!
All pictures by Amruta Mokal