Men's Premier 12: there's many a slip 'twixt the cup and the lip

by Priyadarshan Banjan - 27/11/2015

And Bloodbath it was, just as predicted! There are many a slip 'twixt the cup and the lip. Vidit seemingly had it all under control, until he tripped against Murali Karthikeyan, losing and allowing the Tamil Nadu youngster to join him at the top. Today, he even lost his lead, and to think that M. Karthikeyan has reached here after being at the bottom of the table after the first couple of rounds -- his score read 0.0/2 -- one cannot help but wonder about his fighting abilities. An illustrated report.

Men's Premier 12: there's many a slip 'twixt the cup and the lip

And bloodbath it was, just as predicted! There are many a slip 'twixt the cup and the lip. Vidit seemingly had it all under control, until he tripped against Murali Karthikeyan, losing and allowing the Tamil Nadu youngster to join him at the top. Today, he even lost his lead, and to think that M. Karthikeyan has reached here after being at the bottom of the table after the first couple of rounds -- his score read 0.0/2 -- one cannot help but wonder about his fighting abilities.

But before all that, have a look at this purely entertaining game:

K. Praneeth Surya - Rathnakaran K.

Praneeth Surya, who has an outside chance of scoring a GM-norm took on Rathnakaran

The delightful International Master from Kerala intimidating his young opponent by a show of claws...

Everything that could have gone wrong for Praneeth went wrong, and terribly so. Rathnakaran attacked in the kingside on auto-pilot.

Black found a beautiful continuation here. Can you calculate the possibilities?

Rathna went 28...Be3+!

Since 29.Kh1 leads to a mate in three moves, white went 29.Nf2

There are a couple of ways to win from here. Rathna chose 29...Nf5.

...when White replied 30.h4. What would you play here as Black?

Of course, Rathna didn't need to be asked twice -- 30...Nxg3!

After 31.Nxe3 Qxh4 32.Nexg4 Ne4, White decided to end his misery with 33. Kf1.

Okay kids, mate in two.

[Event "NP2015"]
[Site "Trivarur"]
[Date "2015.11.27"]
[Round "12.7"]
[White "K. Praneeth Surya"]
[Black "Rathnakaran K."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C10"]
[WhiteElo "2413"]
[BlackElo "2447"]
[PlyCount "66"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2003.06.08"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nc6 4. e5 f6 5. Bb5 Bd7 6. Nf3 Qe7 7. O-O Qf7 8. Re1
Nge7 9. Bf4 O-O-O 10. Rb1 f5 11. Qd3 h6 12. Na4 g5 13. Bc1 g4 14. Nd2 Nb4 15.
Bxd7+ Rxd7 16. Qb3 Nec6 17. c3 Nd3 18. Rd1 f4 19. Qc2 Nxc1 20. Rdxc1 f3 21. g3
h5 22. Nf1 h4 23. b4 Qh5 24. Nb2 Bh6 25. Rd1 Rf7 26. Nd3 Ne7 27. Qa4 hxg3 28.
fxg3 Be3+ 29. Nf2 Nf5 30. h4 Nxg3 31. Nxe3 Qxh4 32. Nexg4 Ne4 33. Kf1 Qh1+ 0-1

Pure Gold

Murali Karthikeyan - Swapnil Dhopade

A very important win for the Chennai lad, as it elevated him to sole leadership in the tournament after Vidit could manage only a draw. Now, he just needs a draw in the final round to clinch the title at the age of 16 years and 7 months.

The new leader: M. Karthikeyan defeated....

The National Challengers Champion Swapnil Dhopade!

[Event "NP2015"]
[Site "Trivarur"]
[Date "2015.11.27"]
[Round "12.2"]
[White "Karthikeyan Murali"]
[Black "Swapnil S. Dhopade"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B12"]
[WhiteElo "2498"]
[BlackElo "2497"]
[PlyCount "109"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2003.06.08"]
[WhiteClock "0:30:54"]
[BlackClock "0:23:23"]

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. Nf3 cxd4 5. Nxd4 e6 6. c4 Bc5 7. Nb3 Bb6 8. cxd5
exd5 9. Nc3 Ne7 10. Bb5+ Nbc6 11. O-O O-O 12. Re1 d4 13. Na4 Bc7 14. Bf4 Ng6
15. Bxc6 Nxf4 16. Bf3 Ng6 17. e6 Bxe6 18. Nxd4 Qd6 19. g3 Bd7 20. Nc3 Rad8 21.
Ndb5 Bxb5 22. Qxd6 Bxd6 23. Nxb5 Be5 24. Re2 a6 25. Nc3 Bxc3 26. bxc3 b5 27. a4
Rd3 28. Bb7 Rxc3 29. a5 Rb8 30. Bxa6 Rc7 31. Rb2 Rc5 32. Rd2 Rc7 33. Rd5 b4 34.
Rb5 Rxb5 35. Bxb5 Ne7 36. a6 Nc8 37. Rb1 Kf8 38. Rxb4 Na7 39. Bd3 Ke7 40. Be4
Kd6 41. Rb6+ Kd7 42. Bxh7 g6 43. h4 Ke7 44. g4 Rc4 45. f3 Nc6 46. a7 Nxa7 47.
Rb7+ Kf8 48. Rxa7 Kg7 49. h5 gxh5 50. Bf5 hxg4 51. Bxg4 Kg6 52. Ra5 Rf4 53. Kg2
Rb4 54. Kg3 Rb3 55. Bh5+ 1-0

Murali playing 39.Bd3

46.a7 which sealed his victory

Deep Sengupta - Vidit Gujrathi

Vidit went uncharacteristicly behind on the clock after coming across a rare move in the Gruenfeld

He managed to recover and gained a material advantage, but it was evidently not enough...

... as Deep Sengupta held fort with his two bishops (And no, he is not fooling around in the picture, but has just pressed the clock after playing 6.Na4)

[Event "NP2015"]
[Site "Trivarur"]
[Date "2015.11.27"]
[Round "12.1"]
[White "Sengupta Deep"]
[Black "Vidit Santosh Gujrathi"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D90"]
[WhiteElo "2589"]
[BlackElo "2651"]
[PlyCount "157"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2003.06.08"]
[WhiteClock "0:02:59"]
[BlackClock "0:01:08"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. Na4 Nf6 7. Bf4 O-O 8.
e3 c6 9. Bd3 Qa5+ 10. Nc3 c5 11. O-O cxd4 12. Nxd4 Nc6 13. Nb3 Qb6 14. Rc1 Bg4
15. Qe1 Rfd8 16. Bc4 Qb4 17. Nb5 Nh5 18. Bc7 Qxe1 19. Rfxe1 Rdc8 20. h3 Bd7 21.
Bh2 Bxb2 22. Nc7 Bxc1 23. Rxc1 Rxc7 24. Bxc7 Rc8 25. Bh2 Nb4 26. a3 Na2 27. Rc2
Be6 28. Bd3 Rxc2 29. Bxc2 Nc3 30. Nc5 Bd5 31. Be5 Nb5 32. a4 Nd6 33. e4 Bc6 34.
f3 Nf6 35. Bd4 Nfe8 36. Nd3 b6 37. Ne5 Bb7 38. Bb3 Nc7 39. Kf2 Kf8 40. h4 f6
41. Nd3 Ba6 42. Nb4 Bc4 43. Bc2 Ne6 44. Be3 Nd8 45. h5 gxh5 46. e5 fxe5 47.
Bxh7 Kg7 48. Bc2 Be6 49. Bd2 a5 50. Nd3 Bf5 51. Bc3 N8f7 52. Ke2 Kf6 53. Bd1
Bxd3+ 54. Kxd3 Kf5 55. Ke3 h4 56. Bc2+ Kg5 57. Bb3 Kf6 58. Kd3 Nb7 59. Kc4
Nbd6+ 60. Kd3 Nb7 61. Kc4 Nfd6+ 62. Kd5 e6+ 63. Kc6 Nc5 64. Bc2 Nc4 65. Be1 Kg5
66. Bf2 Na3 67. Bd1 Nd3 68. Bxb6 Nc4 69. Bd8+ Kf4 70. Bxh4 Ncb2 71. Bb3 Nc1 72.
Bxe6 Ne2 73. Bd5 Nxa4 74. g3+ Nxg3 75. Bd8 Nc3 76. Bxa5 Nge2 77. Kc5 Nxd5 78.
Kxd5 Nd4 79. Bc7 1/2-1/2

In the end, Vidit barely had seconds, as he kept pushing to find a way to win

Unfortunately for him, he could not find a route and has been relegated down to the second spot, after being in the lead for the whole tournament until this point.

M.R. Venkatesh - S.P. Sethuraman

Venkatesh's woeful form continued as he was dismantled by the defending champion...

S.P. Sethuraman, who has displayed his class by getting his game back on track despite a few painful losses...

[Event "NP2015"]
[Site "Trivarur"]
[Date "2015.11.27"]
[Round "12.3"]
[White "Venkatesh M.R."]
[Black "Sethuraman S.P."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A05"]
[WhiteElo "2464"]
[BlackElo "2651"]
[PlyCount "74"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2003.06.08"]
[WhiteClock "0:01:15"]
[BlackClock "0:02:14"]

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. g3 c5 3. Bg2 Nc6 4. d3 d5 5. Nbd2 g6 6. O-O Bg7 7. e4 O-O 8. Re1
e5 9. exd5 Nxd5 10. Nc4 f6 11. Nfd2 Be6 12. Ne4 Qe7 13. f4 exf4 14. gxf4 Rad8
15. Qf3 Nd4 16. Qf2 Nb4 17. Na3 h6 18. Be3 f5 19. Ng3 b5 20. Rad1 Nxa2 21. c3
b4 22. Nb1 Nb3 23. Qc2 a5 24. Bc6 Qf6 25. Ba4 Na1 26. Qf2 Bb3 27. Bb5 Bxd1 28.
Bc4+ Kh7 29. Rxd1 bxc3 30. bxc3 Nxc3 31. Nxc3 Qxc3 32. Qa2 Nc2 33. Rc1 Rfe8 34.
Bf2 Nb4 35. Rxc3 Nxa2 36. Ra3 Nb4 37. Rxa5 Nxd3 0-1

The position after 25...Na1

P. Karthikeyan - Arghyadip Das

P. Karthikeyan settled for a tame draw with....

...Arghyadip Das

[Event "NP2015"]
[Site "Trivarur"]
[Date "2015.11.27"]
[Round "12.4"]
[White "Karthikeyan P."]
[Black "Das Arghyadip"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A07"]
[WhiteElo "2441"]
[BlackElo "2456"]
[PlyCount "48"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2003.06.08"]
[WhiteClock "0:19:15"]
[BlackClock "0:14:22"]

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. g3 d5 3. Bg2 c6 4. O-O Bg4 5. d3 e6 6. Nbd2 Nbd7 7. Qe1 Bd6 8. e4
Qc7 9. a4 O-O 10. h3 Bh5 11. Nh4 Rfe8 12. Nb3 e5 13. Kh1 dxe4 14. dxe4 c5 15.
Nf5 Bf8 16. c4 Qb6 17. Qc3 Bg6 18. Qc2 Qc6 19. Re1 h6 20. Nd2 Nb8 21. Nf1 Qc8
22. f4 Nc6 23. fxe5 Rxe5 24. Bf4 Re8 1/2-1/2

Neelotpal Das - Abhijit Kunte

Neelotpal Das was winning by a wide margin against Abhijit Kunte, until the latter got his chance to come back in the game.

...in this position. What would you play as Black?

Kunte played 39...Rxe4 40. Rxe4 Qd7!

Now, the accurate 41.gxf4! Qd1+ 42.Kf2 Qd2+ is a draw by perpetual

Sadly, in spite of a refilled clock, Neelotpal went wrong with 41. Qxe5??,

...when 41... Qd1+ 42. Kg2 ?

Neelotpal realizes that it is all over

42...f3+ (If 42. Re1 Qf3! -+) 43. Kh3 Qh1+ 44. Kg4 f2 45. Qb8+ Kh7 0-1 An unfortunate loss for Neelotpal.

[Event "NP2015"]
[Site "Trivarur"]
[Date "2015.11.27"]
[Round "12.5"]
[White "Neelotpal Das"]
[Black "Kunte Abhijit"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B41"]
[WhiteElo "2475"]
[BlackElo "2515"]
[PlyCount "90"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2003.06.08"]
[WhiteClock "0:03:55"]
[BlackClock "0:32:43"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 a6 5. c4 Nf6 6. Nc3 Qc7 7. Be2 Be7 8. O-O
O-O 9. Be3 d6 10. Rc1 b6 11. b4 Bb7 12. f3 Nbd7 13. a3 Rac8 14. Qd2 Qb8 15.
Rfd1 Rfe8 16. Kh1 h5 17. Nb3 h4 18. Bf4 Ne5 19. Bxe5 dxe5 20. Qe3 Ba8 21. Na4
Bd8 22. Rxd8 Rcxd8 23. Nxb6 Nh5 24. c5 Nf4 25. Bf1 Bc6 26. g3 hxg3 27. hxg3 Nh5
28. Qg5 Nf6 29. Na5 Qc7 30. Bxa6 Nxe4 31. fxe4 Bxe4+ 32. Kg1 f5 33. Bf1 Rf8 34.
Nbc4 Rf6 35. Nd6 Ba8 36. Bg2 f4 37. Bxa8 Rxd6 38. Be4 Rd4 39. Re1 Rxe4 40. Rxe4
Qd7 41. Qxe5 Qd1+ 42. Kg2 f3+ 43. Kh3 Qh1+ 44. Kg4 f2 45. Qb8+ Kh7 0-1

Shyam Sundar M. - Shyaamnikhil P.

Shyam Sundar M. put it across...

Shyaamnikhil P., who is likely to win the wooden spoon for this tournament

[Event "NP2015"]
[Site "Trivarur"]
[Date "2015.11.27"]
[Round "12.6"]
[White "Shyam Sundar M."]
[Black "Shyaamnikhil P"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A34"]
[WhiteElo "2481"]
[BlackElo "2436"]
[PlyCount "95"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2003.06.08"]

1. c4 c5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e3 Nc6 6. Bb5 Nxc3 7. bxc3 Bd7 8.
O-O g6 9. Ba3 b6 10. d4 Bg7 11. dxc5 O-O 12. Qa4 Qc7 13. Nd4 Rfc8 14. Rab1 bxc5
15. Bxc5 Ne5 16. Ba3 Bxb5 17. Rxb5 Qd7 18. Ra5 Qxa4 19. Rxa4 Bf6 20. Bb4 Nc4
21. Ra6 Nb6 22. Rd1 e6 23. Nb5 Kg7 24. e4 Nc4 25. g3 Rd8 26. Rxd8 Rxd8 27. Rxa7
Rd1+ 28. Kg2 Rd2 29. Bc5 Bg5 30. Ra4 Ne3+ 31. Kf3 Nc2 32. Bd4+ Nxd4+ 33. cxd4
Rd3+ 34. Ke2 Rd2+ 35. Ke1 Rb2 36. Nd6 Rb1+ 37. Ke2 Rb2+ 38. Kf1 Be7 39. Nc4 Rc2
40. Ne5 Bf6 41. Nf3 h5 42. h4 Rb2 43. Ra7 Kf8 44. a4 Rb4 45. e5 Bd8 46. Ra8 Ke7
47. Ng5 Bb6 48. Rb8 1-0

Pairings for the Final Round:

Although the results may not be as exciting in the final round, there will be some very tough games for the fight to win the top three spots. The stage is set for the final round. Watch the games LIVE now!

Murali Karthikeyan needs a draw with Arghyadip Das to become the 2015 National Champion of India. In case he happens to lose, it opens up doors for both Vidit and Sethu. The only way Vidit can win the tournament is by winning with the white pieces against Shyam Sundar M. and at the same time, M. Karthikeyan loses with black to Arghyadip. Sethu joins the race if he manages to win and M. Karthikeyan loses while Vidit draws or loses his game. In such a case, since Karthikeyan has beaten Vidit but lost to Sethu, while Sethu has drawn with Vidit as well, Sethu will be the winner!

In other words, such analysis can become eye-tearingly complicated. Watch the games LIVE now!

Ranking Crosstable before the Final Round:

Download all games in PGN.