Men's Premier 05: Praneeth stuns Sethu

by Priyadarshan Banjan - 20/11/2015

The biggest news of the fifth round was Praneeth's victory over the defending champion Sethu. Vidit defeated his former coach and mentor Kunte in a positionally elegant manner while an unfit Shyam Sundar put it across P. Karthikeyan with hardly any problems. Deep Sengupta's woes continued as he lost yet again, this time to M. Karthikeyan who seems hell-bent on winning every game after a forgettable start. After the kind of starts they had to this tournament, both Venkatesh and Rathnakaran can't complain much about their results, as they drew with Neelotpal and Arghyadip respectively. Swapnil, meanwhile, won an instructive endgame.

The playing arena

Sethu resigned after 47.Rxf4!

The buzz in the fifth round was centered around the greatest upset of the tournament: Praneeth Surya playing the white pieces beat Sethuraman in a true David-Goliath tale. The game began as a g3-Sicilian against 2...e6 and developed into a slow maneuvering struggle until Praneeth broke free on the kingside with f4. Sethu clearly underestimated White's attack, as he lost an exchange, and as soon as they made time-control, the game as well.

Praneeth peppered the game with some simple yet sweet tactics, to score the most memorable victory of his fledgling chess career.

[Event "NP2015"]
[Site "Trivarur"]
[Date "2015.11.19"]
[Round "5.1"]
[White "K. Praneeth Surya"]
[Black "Sethuraman S.P."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B40"]
[WhiteElo "2413"]
[BlackElo "2651"]
[PlyCount "93"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]
[WhiteClock "0:17:49"]
[BlackClock "0:15:07"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. g3 Nc6 4. Bg2 Nf6 5. Qe2 e5 6. O-O Be7 7. c3 O-O 8. d3
Re8 9. Na3 Bf8 (9... h6 {9...h6 might be a more precise move. Sethu must have
obviously seen this, and may have liked his Bishop pair more, in the move he
actually played.} 10. Nc4 Bf8 11. a4 d5 {... and Black manages to get in...d5.}
) 10. Bg5 h6 11. Bxf6 Qxf6 12. Nc4 {Praneeth knew the theory till this point.}
d6 13. Ne3 Ne7 14. Nd2 g5 15. Kh1 Bg7 16. c4 (16. Bf3 {improving the Bishop is
a nice possibility.}) 16... Bd7 17. Nb1 Nc6 18. Nc3 Nd4 19. Qd1 Rad8 20. Ne2
Nc6 21. Rb1 Qg6 22. f4 exf4 23. gxf4 Qh5 24. Bf3 Qh4 25. Ng2 Qh3 26. Ng1 Qe6
27. f5 Qe7 28. Ne3 Nd4 (28... Ne5 29. Nd5 Qf8 30. f6 Bh8 31. Bh5) 29. f6
$1 Bxf6 30. Nd5 Qe5 31. Bh5 Bg7 32. Bxf7+ Kh8 33. Bxe8 Qxe8 34. Nf6 Bxf6 35.
Rxf6 Bc6 $18 36. Rf2 (36. Rxh6+ Kg7 37. Rh3 Bxe4+ 38. dxe4 Qxe4+ 39. Nf3 Nxf3
40. Rxf3 Rf8 41. Qd3 Qxf3+ $17) 36... Kg7 37. Qg4 Rd7 38. Rbf1 Re7 39. Nf3 Ne6
40. Nh4 {And here, Praneeth heaved a sigh of relief, as he made the time
control. Now, it is just a question of waiting.} Kh7 41. Nf5 h5 42. Qg3 h4 43.
Qg4 Rd7 44. Ne3 (44. Nxd6 {wins as well.}) (44. Nh6 {is also possible actually.
Elegant.}) 44... Rg7 45. Rf6 Nf4 46. Nf5 Rg6 47. Rxf4 {If 47...Rxf6, White
goes Qxg5 with lawnmower mate idea.} 1-0

Sethu is not having the best of the tournaments

GM Kunte, known to be the 'Godfather' for many a player, could not withstand...

...his protege GM Vidit Gujrathi, who now leads the tournament

Vidit Gujrathi delivered arguably the cleanest performance of the day. While he is the strongest ever player from Maharashtra, Kunte has remained the doyen for many a chessplayers. It is safe to bet that Kunte is not in the best of his form. In a Qc2 Nimzo, Vidit won the advantage of Bishop pair and converted the position masterfully.

[Event "NP2015"]
[Site "Trivarur"]
[Date "2015.11.19"]
[Round "5.2"]
[White "Vidit Santosh Gujrathi"]
[Black "Kunte Abhijit"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E32"]
[WhiteElo "2651"]
[BlackElo "2515"]
[PlyCount "69"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]
[WhiteClock "0:07:05"]
[BlackClock "0:07:26"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 d6 5. Bg5 O-O 6. e3 b6 7. Nge2 c5 {
And already, we have a new position. To think that this is a Vidit game, one
must wonder just how well prepared he normally is.} 8. a3 Bxc3+ 9. Nxc3 $14 {
because, the Bishop pair.} cxd4 10. exd4 Bb7 11. Be2 h6 12. Bh4 Nbd7 13. O-O
Qe7 14. b4 Rfc8 15. Qb3 a6 16. Rfe1 Qf8 17. Rac1 a5 18. Bg3 Ne4 19. Nxe4 Bxe4
20. Qb2 Bc6 21. d5 $1 exd5 22. cxd5 Ba4 (22... Bxd5 23. Qd4 $16) 23. h3 axb4
24. axb4 Ne5 25. b5 $1 {Ba4 is very unhappy.} Ra5 26. Bxe5 dxe5 27. Rc6 Rd8 28.
Bc4 Qe7 29. Rxe5 Qh4 30. d6 {It's curtains.} Ra7 31. Qe2 Kf8 32. Rc7 Rxc7 33.
dxc7 Rc8 34. Qd3 Bc2 35. Qd7 1-0

IM Arghyadip Das, playing the black side of the Kopec System, drew with...

IM Rathnakaran, who was happy to arrest his losing streak

[Event "NP2015"]
[Site "Trivarur"]
[Date "2015.11.19"]
[Round "5.6"]
[White "Rathnakaran K."]
[Black "Das Arghyadip"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B50"]
[WhiteElo "2447"]
[BlackElo "2456"]
[PlyCount "72"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]
[WhiteClock "0:08:05"]
[BlackClock "0:04:23"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. c3 Nf6 4. Bd3 Nc6 5. Bc2 Bg4 6. h3 Bh5 7. d3 e6 8. O-O
Qc7 9. Bf4 Be7 10. Nbd2 O-O 11. g4 Bg6 12. Nh4 Qd8 13. Bg3 d5 14. e5 Nd7 15.
Nxg6 fxg6 16. Qe2 g5 17. a3 a5 18. Bh2 Qb6 19. Rab1 Rf7 20. h4 Raf8 21. h5 Qa6
22. Rbe1 Bd8 23. Qe3 h6 24. Qh3 Bc7 25. d4 cxd4 26. Bg6 Re7 27. Nf3 dxc3 28.
bxc3 Bb6 29. Kg2 Qc4 30. Nd2 Qa2 31. Qd3 Nc5 32. Qe2 d4 33. Nc4 Qxe2 34. Rxe2
Bc7 35. cxd4 Nxd4 36. Re3 Nc6 1/2-1/2

Some friendly analysis between them, as Neelotpal joins in while Venky gets interviewed

As soon as Venky's interview was done with, they got Neelotpal to stand in front of the camera for his turn. Seeing this, both Arghyadip and Rathnakaran glanced at each other, nodded with Rathnakaran adding, "Chalo Bhago!" and ran away!

GM Neelotpal had nothing of note in his position and settled for a draw with...

GM M.R. Venkatesh, who was satisfied to not be on the losing side

[Event "NP2015"]
[Site "Trivarur"]
[Date "2015.11.19"]
[Round "5.3"]
[White "Neelotpal Das"]
[Black "Venkatesh M.R."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C60"]
[WhiteElo "2475"]
[BlackElo "2464"]
[PlyCount "85"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]
[WhiteClock "0:06:26"]
[BlackClock "0:18:14"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nge7 4. Nc3 d6 5. d4 a6 6. Be2 Nxd4 7. Nxd4 exd4 8.
Qxd4 Nc6 9. Qd3 Nb4 10. Qd1 Be7 11. a3 Nc6 12. Nd5 O-O 13. O-O Bh4 14. g3 Bf6
15. c3 Re8 16. Qc2 Be6 17. f4 Bxd5 18. exd5 Ne7 19. Bf3 c6 20. dxc6 bxc6 21.
Bd2 Qb6+ 22. Kg2 Rab8 23. b4 Nd5 24. Rae1 Ne3+ 25. Bxe3 Rxe3 26. Rxe3 Qxe3 27.
Bxc6 Qxc3 28. Qxc3 Bxc3 29. Rf2 a5 30. b5 d5 31. Kf3 Kf8 32. Ke3 Ke7 33. Kd3
Bf6 34. g4 h6 35. a4 Kd6 36. g5 hxg5 37. fxg5 Bxg5 38. Rxf7 Bf6 39. Rd7+ Kc5
40. Rxd5+ Kb6 41. h3 Rd8 42. Rxd8 Bxd8 43. Ke4 1/2-1/2

Looking at the position from his opponent's angle did not help Deep as he went down in flames, yet again

[Event "NP2015"]
[Site "Trivarur"]
[Date "2015.11.19"]
[Round "5.4"]
[White "Sengupta Deep"]
[Black "Karthikeyan Murali"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B08"]
[WhiteElo "2589"]
[BlackElo "2498"]
[PlyCount "118"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]
[WhiteClock "0:01:42"]
[BlackClock "0:21:10"]

1. e4 g6 2. d4 Bg7 3. Nc3 d6 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. Be2 O-O 6. O-O c6 7. a4 a5 8. Be3
Nbd7 9. h3 e5 10. dxe5 dxe5 11. Qd2 (11. Qd6 Ne8 12. Qa3 $14) 11... Qe7 12. Qc1
{It is unclear what White was thinking.} Nc5 13. Nd2 Be6 14. b3 Rfd8 15. Qa3
Bf8 16. Bc4 Nh5 17. Bxe6 Qxe6 18. Qc1 Qf6 19. Nc4 Ne6 20. Rd1 Nhf4 21. Rxd8
Rxd8 22. Qf1 Nd4 23. Rd1 Nxc2 24. Bxf4 exf4 25. e5 Qe7 26. Rd6 f3 27. Qd1 Qg5
28. g3 Bxd6 29. exd6 Nb4 30. Ne4 Qf5 31. Qd4 Nd5 32. g4 Qe6 33. Kh2 f5 34. Ng5
Qf6 35. Qxf6 Nxf6 36. Ne6 Re8 37. Nc5 fxg4 38. Nxb7 Re2 39. hxg4 Rxf2+ 40. Kg3
Rc2 41. g5 Nd7 42. Nbxa5 Rc3 43. Nxc6 Nc5 44. Nd2 Rd3 45. b4 f2+ 46. Kg2 Rxd6
47. bxc5 Rxd2 48. Na7 Rc2 49. c6 Kf7 50. a5 Ke8 51. a6 Kd8 52. Nb5 Rxc6 53. a7
Ra6 54. Kxf2 Kd7 55. Kf3 Kc6 56. Nc3 Rxa7 57. Ne4 Kd5 58. Nf6+ Ke5 59. Kg4 h5+
0-1

IM P. Karthikeyan had an uncomfortable position against...

...an unfit Shyam Sundar M., who had no chess problems picking up the full point

[Event "NP2015"]
[Site "Trivarur"]
[Date "2015.11.19"]
[Round "5.5"]
[White "Shyam Sundar M."]
[Black "Karthikeyan P."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A16"]
[WhiteElo "2481"]
[BlackElo "2441"]
[PlyCount "63"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]
[WhiteClock "0:05:37"]
[BlackClock "0:00:56"]

1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 c5 3. Nf3 g6 4. d4 cxd4 5. Nxd4 Bg7 6. e4 O-O 7. Be2 Nc6 8.
Be3 b6 9. Qd2 Bb7 10. f3 Nh5 11. Ndb5 f5 $2 (11... a6 12. Na3 $14) 12. exf5
gxf5 13. Rd1 Ne5 14. Nd5 Rf7 15. O-O Qf8 16. f4 Ng4 17. Bxg4 fxg4 18. Ndc7 Rc8
19. Qxd7 e6 20. Qxe6 Kh8 21. Nd5 Re8 22. Qxg4 Nf6 23. Qf3 a6 24. Nbc3 b5 25. b3
Rc8 26. Qe2 bxc4 27. bxc4 Nd7 28. Bd4 Bxd4+ 29. Rxd4 Qc5 30. Qf2 Ne5 31. Ne4
Qf8 32. Ng5 1-0

IM Shyaamnikhil P. lost a pawn in the late middlegame and was sitting in the white side of...

...this position. GM Swapnil Dhopade, playing black, has only one winning method here. Can you find it?

Compare your solution by looking up the analysis move 50 onwards.

[Event "NP2015"]
[Site "Trivarur"]
[Date "2015.11.19"]
[Round "5.7"]
[White "Shyaamnikhil P"]
[Black "Swapnil S. Dhopade"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B19"]
[WhiteElo "2436"]
[BlackElo "2497"]
[PlyCount "112"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Bf5 5. Ng3 Bg6 6. h4 h6 7. Nf3 Nd7 8. h5
Bh7 9. Bd3 Bxd3 10. Qxd3 e6 11. Bd2 Ngf6 12. O-O-O Be7 13. Kb1 O-O 14. Ne4 Nxe4
15. Qxe4 Nf6 16. Qe2 Qd5 17. Be3 Qb5 18. c4 Qf5+ 19. Ka1 c5 20. Ne5 cxd4 21.
Bxd4 Rfd8 22. Qe3 Bd6 23. g4 Qe4 24. Qxe4 Nxe4 25. Nd3 Be7 26. Be3 Bf6 27. f3
Nd6 28. c5 Nc4 29. Bc1 Rd5 30. Kb1 Rad8 31. Kc2 Ne5 32. Nxe5 Rxc5+ 33. Kb3 Rxe5
34. Rxd8+ Bxd8 35. Rd1 Bf6 36. a4 Rd5 37. Rxd5 exd5 38. Be3 a6 39. Kc2 Kf8 40.
Bb6 Ke7 41. b4 Kd6 42. Kd3 Kc6 43. Be3 b5 44. a5 Kd6 45. Bd2 Bb2 46. Be3 Ke5
47. f4+ Ke6 48. Bd4 Bxd4 49. Kxd4 g6 50. Kc5 f5 (50... d4 51. Kxd4 (51. g5 d3
52. gxh6 d2 53. h7 d1=Q 54. h8=Q Qd6#) 51... f5 52. hxg6 fxg4 53. f5+ $1 $11)
51. hxg6 fxg4 52. f5+ Kf6 53. Kd6 g3 54. g7 Kxg7 55. Ke7 g2 56. f6+ Kh7 0-1

Well done if you found both the critical moves!

Men's Premier 05: Praneeth stuns Sethu

Pairings for Round 6:

Ranking Crosstable: