Mumbai 08-10: Visakh wins the Mayor's Cup

by Priyadarshan Banjan - 09/06/2016

The seventh round witnessed a host of upsets — the top-seed Ivan Popov was shocked once again while Diptayan walked into the sole lead with a beautiful win over Shyaamnikhil. The eighth round was fairly sedate at the top with no 'shocking' results. But pursuing Diptayan were Himal Gusain, Visakh NR,and Boris Grachev of Russia, etc. IM Visakh NR (2400) was a full point behind Diptayan going into the eighth round, but then, just as in the 'Hare and Tortoise' story, he gained on his rival and ended up winning the tournament on the tiebreak. An illustrated report.

Mumbai 08-10: Visakh wins the Mayor's Cup

The Mumbai Mayor's Cup is into its ninth edition and it has been growing in size ever since its inception. For years now, it has been a reason behind the rise of many a talent in India. The ninth edition carries a prize fund of Rs. 27 lakhs, Rs. 11 lakhs of which is earmarked for the Elite category, a ten-round swiss with the time control of 90 min. + 30 sec. per move increment.

Himal Gusain (2440) had a regal tournament.

He held the then leader GM Diptayan Ghosh (2562) to a quick draw and then drew again, despite having an advantage in the ninth round, this time against GM Evgeny Gleizerov (2508). He explained that the ensuing variations were too complicated to play with less time on the clock.

[Event "9th Mumbai Mayors Cup GM International "]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.06.08"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Gleizerov, Evgeny"]
[Black "Gusain, Himal"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D30"]
[WhiteElo "2508"]
[BlackElo "2440"]
[PlyCount "47"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2003.06.08"]
[TimeControl "5400+30"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 c6 4. g3 dxc4 5. Bg2 b5 6. O-O Bb7 7. a4 Nd7 8. Ne5
Qc8 9. b3 cxb3 10. Qxb3 b4 11. Bb2 Ngf6 12. Rc1 Nxe5 13. dxe5 Nd7 14. Nd2 c5
15. a5 Be7 16. Bxb7 Qxb7 17. Rc4 O-O 18. Ne4 Rfd8 19. Rac1 Rac8 20. Qf3 Qd5 21.
Qf4 Nf8 22. Qe3 Nd7 23. Qf4 Nf8 24. Qe3 1/2-1/2

In the final round, he was paired with IM Vikramaditya Kulkarni (2278) whom Himal defeated comfortably.

With 8.0/10, he finished third on tiebreak, winning a cool Rs. 1 lakhs for his effort.

You would think Himal scored his final IM norm as well, but no, he didn't! Because he had not met enough number of titled players from non-host countries in the tournament! He would have got the norm had he been paired with a non-Indian player in the final round.

GM Diptayan Ghosh (2562) finished at 8.0/10 as well but was second in the tiebreak. He was leading after seven rounds but settled for draws in the final three, which allowed the eventual winner to catch up.

[Event "9th Mumbai Mayors Cup GM International "]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.06.08"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Ghosh, Diptayan"]
[Black "Grachev, Boris"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B46"]
[WhiteElo "2562"]
[BlackElo "2639"]
[PlyCount "54"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2003.06.08"]
[TimeControl "5400+30"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be2 Qc7 7. O-O Nf6 8.
Be3 Be7 9. f4 d6 10. Qe1 O-O 11. Kh1 Nxd4 12. Bxd4 b5 13. Qg3 Bb7 14. a3 Bc6
15. Rae1 Rad8 16. Bf3 Qb7 17. b4 Ne8 18. Re2 Bf6 19. Bxf6 Nxf6 20. e5 dxe5 21.
fxe5 Nd7 22. h3 Bxf3 23. Rxf3 Qc7 24. Re4 Rc8 25. Rfe3 f5 26. exf6 Qxg3 27.
Rxg3 Rxf6 1/2-1/2

IM Visakh NR (2400) was a full point behind Diptayan going into the eighth round, but then, just as in the 'Hare and Tortoise' story, he gained on his rival. He defeated IM Saptarshi Roy (2435) in the antepenultimate round.

[Event "9th Mumbai Mayors Cup GM International "]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.06.07"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Saptarshi, Roy"]
[Black "Visakh N R"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C42"]
[WhiteElo "2438"]
[BlackElo "2400"]
[PlyCount "108"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2003.06.08"]
[TimeControl "5400+30"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. Nc3 Nxc3 6. dxc3 Be7 7. Bf4 Nc6
8. Qd2 Be6 9. O-O-O Qd7 10. h3 h6 11. g4 Bf6 12. Qe3 g5 13. Bg3 O-O-O 14. Bb5
Rde8 15. Qd2 a6 16. Ba4 Bxa2 17. b3 b5 18. Kb2 bxa4 19. Kxa2 axb3+ 20. cxb3 Na5
21. Qd3 Qb5 22. Qxb5 axb5 23. Rd5 Re2+ 24. Ka3 c6 25. Nd4 Bxd4 26. Rxd4 d5 27.
Rd3 Kd7 28. Kb4 Ra8 29. Re3 Rxe3 30. fxe3 Nb7 31. e4 dxe4 32. Rf1 Ke6 33. Re1
f5 34. gxf5+ Kxf5 35. Rf1+ Kg6 36. Be5 Re8 37. Rf6+ Kh5 38. Bg3 Nd8 39. Kc5 e3
40. Kd6 e2 41. Be1 Re3 42. Kd7 Rd3+ 43. Kc7 Rd1 44. Bg3 e1=Q 45. Bxe1 Rxe1 46.
Kxd8 Re3 47. Rxc6 Rxh3 48. Ke7 b4 49. cxb4 Rxb3 50. Rb6 g4 51. b5 g3 52. Rb8
Kh4 53. Kd6 g2 54. Rg8 Rg3 0-1

In the penultimate game, he defeated GM Amonatov Farrukh (2614) who eventually finished fifth with 7.5/10.

[Event "9th Mumbai Mayors Cup GM International "]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.06.08"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Visakh N R"]
[Black "Amonatov, Farrukh"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E60"]
[WhiteElo "2400"]
[BlackElo "2614"]
[PlyCount "113"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[TimeControl "5400+30"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nf3 Bg7 4. g3 O-O 5. Bg2 d6 6. O-O Nbd7 7. Nc3 c6 8. e4
e5 9. Re1 exd4 10. Nxd4 Qb6 11. h3 Ng4 12. Nce2 Nge5 13. b3 Nc5 14. Be3 Re8 15.
Rb1 a5 16. Nc3 Qc7 17. Re2 Qe7 18. Rd2 a4 19. f4 axb3 20. axb3 Ned7 21. b4 Nxe4
22. Nxe4 d5 23. cxd5 cxd5 24. Nb5 dxe4 25. Nc7 Ra3 26. Nxe8 Qxe8 27. Kf2 Nf8
28. Qc1 Ra6 29. b5 Ra8 30. Qc4 Bf5 31. g4 Rc8 32. Qd5 Be6 33. Qxe4 Nd7 34. Qxb7
Nc5 35. Qf3 Na4 36. f5 Bd7 37. b6 Nc3 38. Re1 Bc6 39. Qf4 g5 40. Qxg5 Ne4+ 41.
Bxe4 Qxe4 42. Rd8+ Rxd8 43. Qxd8+ Bf8 44. Qxf8+ Kxf8 45. Bc5+ Ke8 46. Rxe4+
Bxe4 47. Kg3 Kd7 48. Kf4 Bg2 49. h4 Bf1 50. Ke5 Be2 51. g5 Bd3 52. Kf6 Kc6 53.
Bf2 Be4 54. h5 Kd7 55. Kxf7 Bxf5 56. g6 hxg6 57. hxg6 1-0

He held GM Diptayan Ghosh to a quick draw and was adjudged champion on the tiebreak.

Despite his tournament winning performance, he did not receive a GM norm due to the same technicality — he had not played enough players from different non-Indian federations.

The top-seed GM Ivan Popov (2645) did not even make it to the prize list! Why, after losing the Ram Krishnan and Srinath Rao, he plummetted to a defeat against...

...Vinoth Kumar M. (2154) of Tamil Nadu, who was having a bad tournament until then!

[Event "9th Mumbai Mayors Cup GM International "]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.06.08"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Vinoth Kumar, M."]
[Black "Popov, Ivan"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B20"]
[WhiteElo "2115"]
[BlackElo "2645"]
[PlyCount "129"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2003.06.08"]
[TimeControl "5400+30"]

1. e4 c5 2. d3 Nc6 3. g3 Nf6 4. Bg2 d5 5. Nd2 e6 6. Nh3 b6 7. f4 Bb7 8. O-O Be7
9. c3 b5 10. Nf2 O-O 11. g4 dxe4 12. dxe4 c4 13. g5 Nd7 14. e5 f5 15. exf6 gxf6
16. Qe2 Kh8 17. Nde4 f5 18. Ng3 e5 19. h4 Qc7 20. Nh3 Rae8 21. Qh5 Bc5+ 22. Kh1
Ne7 23. Bd2 Ng6 24. Rae1 Bxg2+ 25. Kxg2 e4 26. Re3 Nb6 27. Ne2 Nd5 28. Rg3 e3
29. Be1 Qe7 30. Kh1 Qe4+ 31. Rg2 b4 32. Qf3 Qxf3 33. Rxf3 bxc3 34. bxc3 Rb8 35.
h5 Rb1 36. Rg1 Nge7 37. g6 hxg6 38. Ng5 gxh5 39. Rh3 Nf6 40. Kg2 Ng6 41. Kf3
Re8 42. Rgh1 Rd1 43. Rg1 Kg8 44. Rhh1 Re7 45. Ne6 Rxe6 46. Rxg6+ Kf7 47. Rg5
Rd5 48. Rhg1 Re7 49. Bh4 Ng4 50. Rxh5 Re6 51. Bg5 Red6 52. Rb1 Bb6 53. Nd4 Rxd4
54. cxd4 Rxd4 55. Rb5 Kg6 56. Rh8 Rd2 57. Bh4 Nh2+ 58. Kg3 Nf1+ 59. Kf3 Rh2 60.
Re5 Nd2+ 61. Kg3 Nf1+ 62. Kf3 Bd4 63. Re6+ Kf7 64. Re7+ Kg6 65. Rg8+ 1-0

What is love for the game? An unfortunate fall while playing in his locality left ten-year-old Aditya Mittal (2034) with a fractured leg. But he braved the pain to still play the Mayor's Cup 2016, scoring 6.10/10 and increasing 107 elo points!

IM Rahul Sangma (2305) was the latest in the list of Indians who defeated GM Karen Grigoryan (2604) of Armenia.

[Event "9th Mumbai Mayors Cup GM International "]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.06.08"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Grigoryan, Karen H"]
[Black "Sangma, Rahul"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A05"]
[WhiteElo "2616"]
[BlackElo "2307"]
[PlyCount "80"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2003.06.08"]
[TimeControl "5400+30"]

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. g3 d5 3. Bg2 c6 4. c4 Bf5 5. cxd5 cxd5 6. Qb3 Qb6 7. Qxb6 axb6 8.
Nc3 e6 9. d3 Nc6 10. Bd2 Bc5 11. O-O Ke7 12. Rfc1 h6 13. a3 Rhc8 14. Nb5 Bg4
15. Bc3 Ra4 16. e3 Bxf3 17. Bxf3 Rd8 18. b4 Bd6 19. Nxd6 Kxd6 20. b5 Ne5 21.
Bd1 Raa8 22. Be2 Rdc8 23. f4 Ng6 24. e4 dxe4 25. dxe4 Nxe4 26. Bb4+ Nc5 27. Bf3
Ra7 28. Rd1+ Ke7 29. a4 Ke8 30. Rdc1 Ne7 31. a5 Nb3 32. Rxc8+ Nxc8 33. Rb1 bxa5
34. Bc3 a4 35. f5 Nd6 36. fxe6 fxe6 37. Rd1 Nxb5 38. Bh5+ Ke7 39. Bxg7 a3 40.
Be2 N5d4 0-1

Despite dropping out for a round early in the event, GM R.R. Laxman (2379) scored 7.0/10.

GM Swapnil Dhopade (2504) could not work his usual charm and finished seventh with 7.5/10.

GM Sandipan Chanda (2585) was eighth with 7.5/10.

But the biggest surprise of the tournament was WFM Tarini Goyal (1951) of Chandigarh.

The 15-year-old girl started as the 120th seed and had scored only 1.0/3, but then she scored 6.5 points in the next seven rounds to increase 191 elo points with a 2360 elo performance. She finished 11th in the ranking list, but did not receive a norm for her performance, again thanks to the same technicality — she did not play enough players from the foreign federations!

With 7.5/10, Russia's GM Boris Grachev (2639) was the best among the non-Indians, finishing fifth.

If things move at the pace it is moving, soon, Indian norm tournaments will be carrying 'Best Foreign Player' prizes as well.

Pawan Dodeja (2165) held three GMs and two IMs to draws and scored 5.5/10.

77-year-old Ishwar Ramteke (1405) was a strong player in his heydays and still plays chess. He played in the B category of the festival and was selling books and chess clocks and other equipment at the same time. In fact, he plays and sells equipment in almost every tournament he plays and let me tell you: he plays a lot!

The arbiters team led by IA Vasanth BH did a commendable job in organising this tournament.

FM Raghunandan KS of Karnataka with one of India's top coaches Visweswaran K, based in Chennai.

15-year-old Raghunandan completed his norm requirements, clinching the only norm the event could produce, to become an International Master.

Varun Bhatt (1915) of Gujarat was the winner of the Category-B (Below 2000), Mayor's Cup. Final Standings.

P. Hruthik Lokesh of Andhra Pradesh, seen here with his coach, won the Category-C (Below 1600), Mumbai Mayor's Cup. Final Standings.

Axis Bank Vice-President Amruta Fadnavis (left), the wife of Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis, was the chief guest at the closing ceremony along with Mumbai's Deputy Mayor Alka Kerkar.

The man behind the show: Ravindra Dongre's interview will follow soon.

Final Standings:

Rk.	SNo		Name	sex	FED	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB4	TB5
1	19	IM	Visakh N R		IND	2400	TN	8,0	64,0	58,5	52,00	56,0	67,5
2	6	GM	Ghosh Diptayan		IND	2562	WB	8,0	63,0	57,5	52,50	55,0	68,0
3	14		Gusain Himal		IND	2440	CHN	8,0	60,5	55,5	49,50	52,5	65,0
4	2	GM	Grachev Boris		RUS	2639	RUS	7,5	61,5	56,0	47,25	53,5	65,5
5	3	GM	Amonatov Farrukh		TJK	2614	TJK	7,5	61,5	56,0	46,25	53,5	66,0
6	12	GM	Gleizerov Evgeny		RUS	2506	RUS	7,5	61,5	55,5	49,50	53,5	67,0
7	13	GM	Swapnil S. Dhopade		IND	2504	RLYS	7,5	59,0	53,5	45,75	51,0	63,5
8	5	GM	Sandipan Chanda		IND	2585	PSPB	7,5	55,5	51,0	43,25	48,0	59,5
9	17	IM	Krishna C R G		IND	2411	AP	7,5	55,0	50,0	44,75	48,0	59,5
10	18	IM	Girish A. Koushik		IND	2406	KAR	7,5	54,5	50,0	43,25	47,0	59,0

Check the complete standings here.

Photos: Chess Illustrated