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MCL 2016 04+05: Checkers and Combatants eliminated

by Priyadarshan Banjan - 14/06/2016

The fourth season of the Maharashtra Chess league 2016 is coming to a scintillating end. Full of interesting games in rapid time controls, this fourth season saw the demise of the 2015 edition finalists Thane Combatants and Ahmednagar Checkers. As you may imagine, a lot was at stake in the fourth and the fifth rounds. Yet another heavily illustrated report.

MCL 2016 04+05: Checkers and Combatants eliminated

At the end of three rounds, the Pune Sangli Nok-99 Navigators were still perched atop the table, while Jalgaon Battlers were close on their heels. the top two spots are very important because just as in the Indian Premier League format for Cricket, at the end of the round robin, the top two teams clash in a semifinal match. The winner of this match goes through to the MCL 2016 Final, while the loser gets another chance, against the winner of the second Qualifier which is held between the teams finishing third and fourth. The fifth and sixth teams are eliminated at the league stage, after five rounds.

 

As you may imagine, a lot was at stake in the fourth and the fifth rounds.

Round 04 Report:

Pune TruMasters vs. Thane Combatants

Bo. 6 Pune TruMasters Rtg - 5 Thane Combatants Rtg 4: 2
1/1 GM Sethuraman, S.P.  (w) 2541 - GM Aravindh, Chithambaram Vr.  (b) 2292 1 - 0
1/2 IM Swayams, Mishra  (b) 2539 - IM Puranik, Abhimanyu  (w) 2236  0.5
1/3 WFM Pujari, Rucha  (w) 2143 - WGM Soumya, Swaminathan  (b) 2288 0.5
1/4 IM Karavade, Eesha  (b) 2379 - GM Lalith, Babu M R  (w) 2550 0 - 1
1/5 GM Vishnu, Prasanna. V  (w) 2420 - IM Padmini, Rout  (b) 2381 1 - 0
1/6   Raja, Harshit  (b) 2058 -   Deshpande, Aniruddha  (w) 2244 1 - 0

GM Sethuraman scored a crucial point for Pune TruMasters to beat GM Aravindh Chithambaram.

It must be noted, though, that Aravindh misssed a chance to turn the tables late in the game.

[Event "Maharashtra Chess League"]
[Site "Pune"]
[Date "2016.06.13"]
[Round "4.1"]
[White "Sethuraman, S.P."]
[Black "Aravindh, Chithambaram Vr"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A22"]
[WhiteElo "2541"]
[BlackElo "2292"]
[Annotator "Pune TruMasters - Thane Combatants"]
[PlyCount "87"]
[EventDate "2016.06.11"]
[EventType "match (rapid)"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "IND"]
[WhiteClock "0:00:25"]
[BlackClock "0:00:09"]
1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 e5 3. g3 Bb4 4. Bg2 O-O 5. e4 Nc6 6. Nge2 d6 7. a3 Bc5 8. d3
h6 9. b4 Bb6 10. Na4 Bd4 11. Rb1 a6 12. Nxd4 Nxd4 13. h3 Nh7 14. Be3 f5 15. Nc3
c6 16. f4 Be6 17. O-O Qd7 18. g4 fxe4 19. f5 Bf7 20. Nxe4 a5 21. Qd2 axb4 22.
axb4 Ra3 23. h4 d5 24. Nc5 Qe7 25. g5 hxg5 26. hxg5 b6 27. f6 Qd6 28. fxg7 Re8
29. Qf2 Bh5 30. cxd5 bxc5 31. bxc5 Qd7 32. dxc6 Nxc6 33. Rb6 Ne7 34. c6 Qg4 35.
c7 Raa8 36. Kh2 Bg6 37. Bh3 Qh5 38. Kg2 Nd5 39. Re6 Rxe6 (39... Nxc7 40. Rxe8+
Rxe8 41. Rh1 Bf7 42. Be6 Nxe6 43. Rxh5 Bxh5 $15) 40. Bxe6+ Kxg7 41. Bxd5 Rc8
42. Qg3 Bxd3 43. Qxe5+ Kg6 44. Bf7# 1-0

 

WFM Rucha Pujari

IM Swayams Mishra of TruMasters and IM Abhimanyu Puranik of the Combatants drew, and so did WFM Rucha Pujari and WGM Soumya Swaminathan.

GM Vishnu Prasanna crushed IM Padmini Rout, finishing with a cute tactic.
[Event "Maharashtra Chess League"]
[Site "Pune"]
[Date "2016.06.13"]
[Round "4.5"]
[White "Vishnu, Prasanna. V"]
[Black "Padmini, Rout"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A45"]
[WhiteElo "2420"]
[BlackElo "2381"]
[Annotator "Pune TruMasters - Thane Combatants"]
[PlyCount "77"]
[EventDate "2016.06.11"]
[EventType "match (rapid)"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "IND"]
[WhiteClock "0:04:17"]
[BlackClock "0:00:14"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. Bf4 e6 3. e3 Be7 4. c4 d5 5. Nc3 O-O 6. Nf3 Nbd7 7. Be2 dxc4 8.
Bxc4 a6 9. a4 c5 10. O-O cxd4 11. Qxd4 Nh5 12. Bd6 Bxd6 13. Qxd6 Nb6 14. Qxd8
Rxd8 15. Bb3 Bd7 16. a5 Nc8 17. Rfd1 Na7 18. Ne5 Nf6 19. Rac1 Kf8 20. Ne4 Be8
21. Nd6 Nc6 22. Nec4 Rab8 23. f3 Bd7 24. Kf2 g6 25. h4 Ne8 26. Ne4 Ke7 27. Nc5
Bc8 28. Ba4 Rxd1 29. Rxd1 Nc7 30. Nb6 Nd5 31. Bxc6 bxc6 32. Nxc8+ Rxc8 33. e4
Nf6 34. Nxa6 Ra8 35. Nb4 c5 36. Nc6+ Ke8 37. a6 Nd7 38. a7 Rc8 39. Rxd7 1-0

 

 GM Lalith Babu scored an easy win over IM Eesha Karavade.

Harshit Raja

Meanwhile, Aniruddha Deshpande messed up yet another advantagous position to lose to Harshit Raja, who had sacrificed his queen. Thus, Pune TruMasters took this round 4.0-2.0.

[Event "Maharashtra Chess League"]
[Site "Pune"]
[Date "2016.06.13"]
[Round "4.6"]
[White "Deshpande, Aniruddha"]
[Black "Raja, Harshit"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A22"]
[WhiteElo "2244"]
[BlackElo "2058"]
[Annotator "Pune TruMasters - Thane Combatants"]
[PlyCount "92"]
[EventDate "2016.06.11"]
[EventType "match (rapid)"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "IND"]
[WhiteClock "0:00:12"]
[BlackClock "0:00:20"]
1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. g3 c6 4. Bg2 d5 5. cxd5 cxd5 6. d3 Nc6 7. Nf3 d4 8. Nb1
h6 9. O-O Be7 10. Nbd2 Be6 11. a3 O-O 12. b4 Nd5 13. Bb2 a6 14. Rc1 Qd7 15. Nc4
Bf6 16. Nfd2 Rad8 17. Ne4 Be7 18. Ncd2 b6 19. Nf3 f5 20. Ned2 Bf6 21. Qa4 b5
22. Qxa6 Nb8 23. Qa5 Nc3 24. Bxc3 dxc3 25. Rxc3 e4 26. Rc7 exf3 27. Rxd7 fxg2
28. Rxg7+ Bxg7 29. Kxg2 Bd5+ 30. Nf3 Rfe8 31. Kg1 Nc6 32. Qxb5 Rxe2 33. Nh4 Nd4
34. Qb6 Rde8 35. Qc5 Ba8 36. h3 Re1 37. Qc4+ Kh7 38. Qf7 R1e6 39. Qh5 R8e7 40.
Kh2 Rf6 41. Kg1 f4 42. gxf4 Rxf4 43. Ng6 $4 Nf3+ 44. Kh1 Nh4+ 45. Kg1 Nxg6 46.
f3 Re5 0-1

 

Mumbai Movers vs. Ahmednagar Checkers

Bo. 1 Mumbai Movers Rtg - 4 Ahmednagar Checkers Rtg 5 : 1
2/1 WIM Vaishali, R  (w) 2046 - GM Gagare, Shardul  (b) 2388 0 - 1
2/2 IM Kulkarni, Vikramaditya  (b) 2376 - GM Sasikiran, Krishnan  (w) 2660 1 - 0
2/3 GM Gupta, Abhijeet  (w) 2583 - IM Tania, Sachdev  (b) 2368 1 - 0
2/4 GM Ghosh, Diptayan  (b) 2495 - WGM Kulkarni, Bhakti  (w) 2319 1 - 0
2/5 WGM Swati, Ghate  (w) 2264 - IM Sagar, Shah  (b) 2293 1 - 0
2/6   Kulkarni, Rakesh  (b) 2329 -   Shashikant, Kutwal  (w) 2308 1 - 0

Mumbai Movers were in a must-win situation of sorts, and so were the Ahmednagar Checkers, and it was only fitting that the two teams faced each other in the fourth round.

 

Whilte Bhakti Kulkarni just handed Diptayan of Movers the point in a platter, Shashikant Kutwal let go off a clearly better position to love. But the biggest surprise was:

Mumbai Movers struck where it was least expected — Sasikiran lost to...

...Movers' IM Vikramaditya Kulkarni!

Sasikiran had a handful of winning chances, most notably the following deflection tactic that he missed:

White to play
[Event "Maharashtra Chess League"]
[Site "Pune"]
[Date "2016.06.13"]
[Round "4.2"]
[White "Sasikiran, Krishnan"]
[Black "Kulkarni, Vikramaditya"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D70"]
[WhiteElo "2660"]
[BlackElo "2376"]
[Annotator "Mumbai Movers - RBS Ahmednagar Checkers"]
[PlyCount "121"]
[EventDate "2016.06.11"]
[EventType "match (rapid)"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "IND"]
[WhiteClock "0:00:23"]
[BlackClock "0:00:25"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nf3 Bg7 4. g3 c6 5. Bg2 d5 6. Qb3 O-O 7. O-O a5 8. cxd5
a4 9. Qd1 cxd5 10. Nc3 Qa5 11. Bd2 Nc6 12. Ne5 Nxd4 13. e3 Nf5 14. Nxd5 Qd8 15.
Nb4 a3 16. bxa3 Nd7 17. Nc4 Bxa1 18. Qxa1 Nc5 19. e4 Ng7 20. Be3 Na4 21. Rd1
Qc7 22. Rc1 Qd8 23. Bh6 f6 24. e5 Be6 25. exf6 exf6 26. Bxb7 Ra7 27. Bg2 Rc7
28. Rd1 Rd7 29. Rxd7 Qxd7 30. Ne3 Nb6 31. h4 Rf7 32. Qc3 Qc7 33. Qd4 Ne8 34.
Bf4 Qa7 35. Nc6 Qa6 36. Nd8 Rd7 37. Qe4 Bf7 38. Nxf7 Kxf7 39. Qc6 Qa7 40. Bf1
Qb7 41. Qc5 Re7 42. Bg2 Qa7 43. Qb4 Kg7 44. Ng4 (44. Bb8 Qxb8 45. Qxe7+ $18)
44... h5 45. Ne3 Rf7 46. Bc6 Re7 47. a4 Nc8 48. Nd5 Re6 49. Be3 Qf7 50. Qc3 Nc7
51. Nf4 Re7 52. a5 Qxa2 53. Kg2 Ne6 54. Nd5 Rf7 55. Bb7 Nd6 56. Bc6 Nf5 57. Bb6
Qe2 58. Qf3 Qxf3+ 59. Kxf3 Ned4+ 60. Bxd4 Nxd4+ 61. Ke4 0-1

 

GM Shardul Gagare pulled off a victory for the Checkers amidst the sorry massacre.
[Event "Maharashtra Chess League"]
[Site "Pune"]
[Date "2016.06.13"]
[Round "4.1"]
[White "Vaishali, R."]
[Black "Gagare, Shardul"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A45"]
[WhiteElo "2046"]
[BlackElo "2388"]
[Annotator "Mumbai Movers - RBS Ahmednagar Checkers"]
[PlyCount "62"]
[EventDate "2016.06.11"]
[EventType "match (rapid)"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "IND"]
[WhiteClock "0:00:15"]
[BlackClock "0:06:57"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. Bg5 e6 3. e4 h6 4. Bxf6 Qxf6 5. Nc3 Bb4 6. Nf3 O-O 7. Bd3 c5 8.
O-O cxd4 9. e5 Qe7 10. Nb5 Nc6 11. Nbxd4 Nxd4 12. Nxd4 d6 13. exd6 Bxd6 14. Qh5
Bd7 15. Rfe1 Qf6 16. Rad1 Rad8 17. Be4 b6 18. c3 Bc5 19. Qf3 Qg5 20. g3 e5 21.
Nf5 a5 22. Bc2 Qf6 23. Qe4 g6 24. Qxe5 Qxe5 25. Nxh6+ Kg7 26. Rxe5 Bh3 27. Re4
Rxd1+ 28. Bxd1 Rd8 29. Bf3 Rd2 30. b4 Bxf2+ 31. Kh1 Rxa2 0-1

 

WGM Swati Ghate managed to defeat IM Sagar Shah, who allowed her knight to become a monster right out of the opening.
[Event "Maharashtra Chess League"]
[Site "Pune"]
[Date "2016.06.13"]
[Round "4.5"]
[White "Swati, Ghate"]
[Black "Sagar, Shah"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B12"]
[WhiteElo "2264"]
[BlackElo "2293"]
[Annotator "Mumbai Movers - RBS Ahmednagar Checkers"]
[PlyCount "111"]
[EventDate "2016.06.11"]
[EventType "match (rapid)"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "IND"]
[WhiteClock "0:00:44"]
[BlackClock "0:00:14"]
1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. Nd2 e6 5. Nb3 Nd7 6. Nf3 Bg6 7. Be2 Nh6 8. O-O
Nf5 9. a4 Be7 10. a5 O-O 11. g4 Nh4 12. Nxh4 Bxh4 13. f4 f6 14. Bd3 fxe5 15.
dxe5 Bxd3 16. cxd3 Be7 17. d4 c5 18. Be3 cxd4 (18... c4 $11) 19. Nxd4 Bc5 20.
Nxe6 Bxe3+ 21. Kh1 Qe7 22. Nxf8 Rxf8 23. Qxd5+ Kh8 24. Qe4 Bd2 25. Qxb7 Qe6 26.
Rad1 Nc5 27. Qg2 Bxa5 28. Rd5 Bb6 29. f5 Qe7 30. e6 h6 31. Rc1 Nb3 32. Rc4 Qh4
33. Qe2 Na5 34. e7 Re8 35. Re4 Nc6 36. Qb5 Rxe7 37. Rxe7 Qxe7 38. Qd3 Qe1+ 39.
Kg2 Qf2+ 40. Kh3 Nd4 41. Re5 Qf3+ 42. Qxf3 Nxf3 43. Re8+ Kh7 44. Kg3 Nd4 45.
Kf4 Nc6 46. h4 Nd4 47. g5 hxg5+ 48. hxg5 g6 49. Re7+ Kg8 50. fxg6 Nc6 51. Rd7
Nd4 52. Ke5 Nf3+ 53. Kf5 Kf8 54. Rf7+ Kg8 55. Rb7 Bd4 56. Ke4 1-0

 

The Delhi derby at MCL 2016 was won by Movers' GM Abhijeet Gupta, wiping out IM Tania Sachdev of the Checkers.
[Event "Maharashtra Chess League"]
[Site "Pune"]
[Date "2016.06.13"]
[Round "4.3"]
[White "Gupta, Abhijeet"]
[Black "Tania, Sachdev"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E06"]
[WhiteElo "2583"]
[BlackElo "2368"]
[Annotator "Mumbai Movers - RBS Ahmednagar Checkers"]
[PlyCount "111"]
[EventDate "2016.06.11"]
[EventType "match (rapid)"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "IND"]
[WhiteClock "0:03:11"]
[BlackClock "0:00:21"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 Be7 5. Nf3 O-O 6. O-O dxc4 7. Qc2 a6 8. a4
Bd7 9. Qxc4 Bc6 10. Bf4 Bd6 11. Qc1 a5 12. Nc3 Bxf4 13. Qxf4 Qd6 14. Qh4 Bxf3
15. Bxf3 c6 16. Rfd1 Qb4 17. Rab1 Nd5 18. Be4 h6 19. Bc2 Qe7 20. Qe4 Nf6 21.
Qf3 Na6 22. e4 Nb4 23. Bb3 e5 24. Qf5 exd4 25. Rxd4 Rfe8 26. Rbd1 Qe5 27. Qxe5
Rxe5 28. f4 Re7 29. e5 Ng4 30. Rd8+ Rxd8 31. Rxd8+ Kh7 32. Ne4 Ne3 33. Nd6 Ned5
34. Kg2 f6 35. Nf5 Re6 36. Nd4 Re7 37. e6 g6 38. Kf3 f5 39. h3 h5 40. g4 hxg4+
41. hxg4 fxg4+ 42. Kxg4 Kg7 43. Kg5 Nf6 44. f5 c5 45. Nb5 Ne4+ 46. Kf4 gxf5 47.
Kxf5 Nc6 48. Rd1 Ng3+ 49. Kg5 Ne2 50. Rd7 Rxd7 51. exd7 Kf8 52. Kf6 Ned4 53.
Bd5 Nd8 54. Nd6 N4c6 55. Bxc6 bxc6 56. b3 1-0

Pune Sangli Nok-99 Navigators vs. Jalgaon Battlers

Bo. 2 Pune Sangli NOK-99 Navigators Rtg - 3 Jalgaon Battlers Rtg 1½:4½
3/1 IM Kathmale, Sameer  (w) 2250 - GM Koneru, Humpy  (b) 2500 0 - 1
3/2 WFM Varshini, V  (b) 1845 - GM Sunilduth Lyna, Narayanan  (w) 2413 0 - 1
3/3 GM Kunte, Abhijit  (w) 2467 - GM Swapnil, S. Dhopade  (b) 2458 0.5
3/4 FM Thakur, Akash  (b) 2215 -   Aakanksha, Hagawane  (w) 1711 0.5
3/5 WGM Gomes, Mary Ann  (w) 2337 - IM Narayanan, Srinath  (b) 2521 0 - 1
3/6 GM Adhiban, B.  (b) 2644 -   Mohammad, Nubairshah Shaikh  (w) 2371 0.5

While GM S.L. Narayanan beat WFM Varshini V, and GM Swapnil Dhopade and GM Abhijit Kunte settled for a draw,...

...IM N. Srinath won yet again, this time against WGM Mary Ann Gomes.
[Event "Maharashtra Chess League"]
[Site "Pune"]
[Date "2016.06.13"]
[Round "4.5"]
[White "Gomes, Mary Ann"]
[Black "Narayanan, Srinath"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A37"]
[WhiteElo "2337"]
[BlackElo "2521"]
[Annotator "Pune Sangli Navigators - Jalgaon Battlers"]
[PlyCount "76"]
[EventDate "2016.06.11"]
[EventType "match (rapid)"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "IND"]
[WhiteClock "0:00:26"]
[BlackClock "0:07:43"]
1. Nf3 c5 2. c4 Nc6 3. Nc3 g6 4. g3 Bg7 5. Bg2 d6 6. O-O Nh6 7. e4 e5 8. h3 O-O
9. d3 f5 10. Nd5 Nf7 11. Bd2 f4 12. gxf4 exf4 13. Bxf4 Bxb2 14. Rb1 Bg7 15. Qd2
b6 16. Be3 Bd7 17. d4 cxd4 18. Nxd4 Nfe5 19. Nxc6 Bxc6 20. Qe2 Bxd5 21. cxd5 g5
22. f4 gxf4 23. Bxf4 Ng6 24. Bg3 Be5 25. Qg4 Qe7 26. Rf5 Bxg3 27. Qxg3 Kh8 28.
Rbf1 Ne5 29. Rxf8+ Rxf8 30. Rxf8+ Qxf8 31. h4 Qf6 32. Qh3 Ng6 33. Qc8+ Kg7 34.
Qc7+ Kh6 35. Qxa7 Nf4 36. Qxb6 Ne2+ 37. Kh2 Qxh4+ 38. Bh3 Qg3+ 0-1

 

GM Koneru Humpy won easily after Sameer Kathmale's fauly knight sacrifice.

Surprisingly, Jalgaon's Akanksha Hagawane held Aakash Thakur, where she probably could have fought for more.

[Event "Maharashtra Chess League"]
[Site "Pune"]
[Date "2016.06.13"]
[Round "4.4"]
[White "Aakanksha, Hagawane"]
[Black "Thakur, Akash"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C96"]
[WhiteElo "1711"]
[BlackElo "2215"]
[Annotator "Pune Sangli Navigators - Jalgaon Battlers"]
[PlyCount "57"]
[EventDate "2016.06.11"]
[EventType "rapid"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "IND"]
[WhiteClock "0:06:20"]
[BlackClock "0:06:26"]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. c3
O-O 9. h3 Na5 10. Bc2 c5 11. d3 Re8 12. Nbd2 Bf8 13. Nf1 h6 14. Ne3 Nc6 15. Nh2
d5 16. Qf3 d4 17. Neg4 Nxg4 18. Nxg4 Qh4 19. Bb3 Be6 20. Bd5 Rac8 21. Bxh6 Bxg4
22. hxg4 (22. Qxf7+ Kh7 23. Bd2 Bxh3 24. Qg8+ Kg6 25. gxh3 Qxh3 $18) 22... Qxh6
23. Qxf7+ Kh7 24. Qg8+ Kg6 25. Qf7+ Kh7 26. Qg8+ Kg6 27. Qf7+ Kh7 28. Qg8+ Kg6
29. Qf7+ 1/2-1/2

 

Meanwhile, playing with the black pieces, GM Adhiban could not break through Md. Nubairshah Shaikh. Battlers took this very important clash 4.5-1.5.

 

Round 05 Report:

Ahmednagar Checkers vs. Pune Sangli Nok-99 Navigators

Bo. 4   Ahmednagar Checkers Rtg - 2   Pune Sangli NOK-99 Navigators Rtg 2½:3½
2.1 IM
  Tania, Sachdev
2368 - FM
  Thakur, Akash
2215 0.5
2.2 GM
  Sasikiran, Krishnan
2660 - GM
  Adhiban, B.
2644 0.5
2.3  
  Shashikant, Kutwal
2308 - WGM
  Gomes, Mary Ann
2337 1 - 0
2.4 WGM
  Kulkarni, Bhakti
2319 - WFM
  Varshini, V
1845 0 - 1
2.5 IM
  Sagar, Shah
2293 - IM
  Udeshi, Aditya
2420 0 - 1
2.6 GM
  Gagare, Shardul
2388 - GM
  Kunte, Abhijit
2467 0.5

IM Tania Sachdev

IM Tania Sachdev drew with Aakash Thakur while GM Abhijit Kunte and GM Shardul Gagare too thought it wise to draw. Sasikiran and Adhiban also settled fro a draw, though Adhiban was probably ahead position-wise for a while.

IM Sagar Shah plummetted to this second defeat for the day, against IM Aditya Udeshi of Navigators.

Shahsikant Kutwal handed WGM Mary Ann Gomes her second defeat of the day.
[Event "Maharashtra Chess League"]
[Site "Pune"]
[Date "2016.06.13"]
[Round "5.3"]
[White "Shashikant, Kutwal"]
[Black "Gomes, Mary Ann"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B56"]
[WhiteElo "2308"]
[BlackElo "2337"]
[Annotator "Ahmednagar Checkers - Pune Sangli Navigators"]
[PlyCount "73"]
[EventDate "2016.06.11"]
[EventType "match (rapid)"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "IND"]
[WhiteClock "0:00:40"]
[BlackClock "0:00:27"]
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Bd7 6. Be3 Nc6 7. Bc4 Nxd4 8.
Qxd4 e5 9. Qd3 h6 10. O-O-O a6 11. f3 Rc8 12. Bb3 Be7 13. g4 b5 14. a3 Bc6 15.
Kb1 Nd7 16. Bd5 Bg5 17. Bf2 Nc5 18. Qe2 Ne6 19. h4 Nf4 20. Bxc6+ Rxc6 21. Qd2
Be7 22. Be3 Ne6 23. Nd5 a5 24. Nxe7 Kxe7 25. g5 h5 26. f4 exf4 27. Bxf4 Qc7 28.
Rhf1 Rd8 29. Qe2 Rc4 30. Qxh5 g6 31. Qh7 Nxf4 32. Rxf4 Rf8 33. Rdf1 Ke8 34. h5
Rxc2 35. Rxf7 Rc1+ 36. Rxc1 Qxf7 37. hxg6 1-0

 

WFM Varshini V.

WFM Varshini V. managed to beat WGM Bhakti Kulkarni, and this resulted in Navigators taking the match 3.5-2.5, knocking Ahmednagar Checkers out of the tournament. The Pune Sangli Navigators finished second in the league stage of the MCL 2016 with 17 points.

Jalgaon Battlers vs. Pune TruMasters

Bo. 3 Jalgaon Battlers Rtg - 6 Pune TruMasters Rtg 3 : 3
1/1 GM Koneru, Humpy  (w) 2500 - GM Sethuraman, S.P.  (b) 2541 0.5
1/2 GM Sunilduth Lyna, Narayanan  (b) 2413 - WFM Pujari, Rucha  (w) 2143 1 - 0
1/3 GM Swapnil, S. Dhopade  (w) 2458 - IM Swayams, Mishra  (b) 2539 0 - 1
1/4   Aakanksha, Hagawane  (b) 1711 -   Raja, Harshit  (w) 2058 0.5
1/5 IM Narayanan, Srinath  (w) 2521 - IM Karavade, Eesha  (b) 2379 1 - 0
1/6   Mohammad, Nubairshah Shaikh  (b) 2371 - GM Vishnu, Prasanna. V  (w) 2420 0 - 1

While GM Koneru Humpy held GM Sethuraman of TruMasters to a draw, Battlers' Akanksha Hagawanecreated a another minor upset of sorts when she held Harshit Raja to a draw.

IM Srinath won once again, this time beating IM Eesha Karavade.
[Event "Maharashtra Chess League"]
[Site "Pune"]
[Date "2016.06.13"]
[Round "5.5"]
[White "Narayanan, Srinath"]
[Black "Karavade, Eesha"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B90"]
[WhiteElo "2521"]
[BlackElo "2379"]
[Annotator "Jalgaon Battlers - Pune TruMasters"]
[PlyCount "91"]
[EventDate "2016.06.11"]
[EventType "match (rapid)"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "IND"]
[TimeControl "1500"]
[WhiteClock "0:02:25"]
[BlackClock "0:00:10"]
1. e4 {0} c5 {0} 2. Nf3 {0} d6 {0} 3. d4 {0} cxd4 {0} 4. Nxd4 {0} Nf6 {0} 5.
Nc3 {0} a6 {0} 6. h3 {0} e5 {0} 7. Nde2 {0} h5 {0} 8. Bg5 {0} Be6 {0} 9. g3 {43
} Be7 {4} 10. Bg2 {1} Nbd7 {0} 11. Qd2 {1} b5 {64} 12. a3 {0} Rc8 {12} 13. Rd1
{0} Qc7 {79} 14. O-O {65} O-O {0} 15. b3 {123} a5 {186} 16. Rc1 {119} Qb6 {198}
17. Be3 {62} Qb8 {10} 18. f4 {76} Nc5 {95} 19. b4 {11} axb4 {7} 20. axb4 {0}
Ncd7 {74} 21. f5 {299} Bc4 {0} 22. Nd5 {0} Bxd5 {124} 23. exd5 {0} Nb6 {0} 24.
Bg5 {131} Rfe8 {0} 25. Nc3 {51} Nc4 {8} 26. Qe2 {40} Bd8 {127} 27. Kh1 {38} Qb6
{35} 28. Bxf6 {32} Bxf6 {0} 29. Ne4 {0} Kf8 {17} 30. Qxh5 {12} Ne3 {109} 31.
Rf2 {0} Ke7 {32} 32. Qf3 {7} Rc4 {92} 33. c3 {61} Ra8 {32} 34. g4 {15} Bh4 {17}
35. Re2 {0} Nxg2 {29} 36. Rxg2 {10} f6 {9} 37. g5 {13} Rh8 {34} 38. Rcg1 {66}
Rxe4 {52} 39. Qxe4 {21} Bxg5 {2} 40. Rh2 {0} Kf7 {10} 41. h4 {18} Bf4 {0} 42.
Qg2 {0} g5 {26} 43. fxg6+ {2} Kg7 {0} 44. Rh3 {17} Ra8 {3} 45. h5 {5} Qc7 {3}
46. h6+ {16} 1-0

 

GM S.L. Narayanan

GM S.L. Narayanan did not face many problems in overcoming WFM Rucha Pujari. But Nubairshah Shaikh, who is playing excellent chess, went down to GM Vishnu Prasanna, who pulled one back or Pune TruMasters.

The TruMasters equalized completely when IM Swayams Mishra outplayed GM Swapnil Dhopade, making the score 3.0-3.0.

The score did not change the final standings — Jalgaon Battlers still finished at the top of the table.

Thane Combatants vs. Mumbai Movers

Bo. 5 Thane Combatants Rtg - 1 Mumbai Movers Rtg 3 : 3
3/1 IM Padmini, Rout  (w) 2381 - WIM Vaishali, R  (b) 2046 1 - 0
3/2 GM Aravindh, Chithambaram Vr.  (b) 2292 -   Kulkarni, Rakesh  (w) 2329 0.5
3/3 IM Puranik, Abhimanyu  (w) 2236 - IM Kulkarni, Vikramaditya  (b) 2376 0 - 1
3/4   Deshpande, Aniruddha  (b) 2244 - GM Gupta, Abhijeet  (w) 2583 0 - 1
3/5 GM Lalith, Babu M R  (w) 2550 - GM Ghosh, Diptayan  (b) 2495 0.5
3/6 WGM Soumya, Swaminathan  (b) 2288 - WGM Swati, Ghate  (w) 2264 1 - 0

The 2015 MCL champions Thane Combatants had to beat Mumbai Movers by at least a four-point margin to force an armageddon. It was not to be as they could only draw with the Movers 3.0-3.0.  GM Abhijeet Gupta expectedly defeated Aniruddha Deshpande.

IM Padmini Rout

IM Padmini Rout won against Movers' Vaishali R. and her Combatant team-mate WGM Soumya Swaminathan beat WGM Swati Ghate. But this was not enough as...

IM Vikramaditya Kulkarni again came to Movers' rescue, demolishing IM Abhimanyu Puranik.
[Event "Maharashtra Chess League"]
[Site "Pune"]
[Date "2016.06.13"]
[Round "5.3"]
[White "Puranik, Abhimanyu"]
[Black "Kulkarni, Vikramaditya"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C03"]
[WhiteElo "2236"]
[BlackElo "2376"]
[Annotator "Thane Combatants - Mumbai Movers"]
[PlyCount "64"]
[EventDate "2016.06.11"]
[EventType "match (rapid)"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "IND"]
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 Be7 4. e5 c5 5. Qg4 Kf8 6. dxc5 Nc6 7. Qg3 h5 8. Bd3
Nh6 9. a3 h4 10. Qf4 g5 11. Qa4 Bd7 12. b4 a5 13. b5 Nxe5 14. Ngf3 Nxd3+ 15.
cxd3 Bxc5 16. Bb2 Rg8 17. Ne5 Be8 18. d4 Bd6 19. Qb3 a4 20. Qf3 g4 21. Qe3 Qg5
22. Qe2 Ra5 23. Bc1 Qg7 24. Rb1 Nf5 25. Bb2 Bxb5 26. Qd1 Bxe5 27. dxe5 d4 28.
f4 gxf3 29. Qxf3 Qxe5+ 30. Qe4 Bd3 31. Qxe5 Rxe5+ 32. Kd1 Ne3+ 0-1

 

Rakesh Kulkarni

Rakesh Kulkarni held GM Aravindh Chithambaram at bay, thus leaving the score tied at 3.0-3.0. This meant that after Battlers, Navigators, TruMasters, Mumbai Movers' became the fooruth team to qualify to the knockout stage.

The MCL 2015 finalists Ahmednagar Checkers and Thane Combatants were both knocked out in the league stage itself this year.

Te crowd to watch the games has been outstanding in every way.

GM B. Adhiban autograhing a t-shirt for a fan.

Veteran players were felicitated.

Final Standings:

Rk. SNo FED Team Games   +    =    -   TB1 
1 3   Jalgaon Battlers 5 3 2 0 18,0
2 2   Pune Sangli NOK-99 Navigators 5 3 1 1 17,0
3 6   Pune TruMasters 5 2 3 0 16,5
4 1   Mumbai Movers 5 1 1 3 13,5
5 4   Ahmednagar Checkers 5 1 1 3 12,5
6 5   Thane Combatants 5 0 2 3 12,5

 

 

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