National Challengers 10-13: Ravi Teja takes clear first

by Priyadarshan Banjan - 21/07/2016

The National Challengers Championship 2016 opened at the Amity University in Noida, Delhi, as a non-rated event, for the first time in its 54-year-history. Going into the final lap, Ravi had to make sure he maintained his half-point lead. He did the needful with a timely victory in the tenth round and finished with three draws to become the champion with 10/13. We have important games and some tactics for you to enjoy in this illustrated report.

National Challengers 10-13: Ravi Teja takes clear first

In a day and age where even the under seven national championship tournament of India is a rated tourney, the premier National Challengers Championship 2016 opened at the Amity University in Noida, Delhi, as a non-rated event, for the first time in its 54-year-history. The tournament was expected to attract the stronger players into the tournament, now that there is no possibility for them to lose rating. But there was no change in the trend.

A total of 165 players including 8 Grandmasters, 19 International Masters, and 1 WGM are participating in this event. The top nine finishers of this championship will qualify for forthcoming National Premier Tournament to be held later this year.

Report for Rounds 01-03

Report for Rounds 04-09

In our previous reports, we described how Ravi Teja slowly took charge of the leaderboard and solidified his position. Going into the final lap, Ravi had to make sure he maintained his half-point lead. GM Sriram Jha and GM S.L. Narayanan breathing down his neck.

IM Ravi Teja (2387) of RSPB scored 10.0/13

In the tenth round, Ravi faced Jha and was defending a very bad position with the black pieces. Approaching the time control, despite having a won position, Jha missed his opportunities and even passed the edge to Ravi, who duly converted.

[Event "54th National Challengers Chess Champion"] [Site "Amity University, Sector-125, "] [Date "2016.07.16"] [Round "10.1"] [White "Sriram, Jha"] [Black "Ravi, Teja S"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D10"] [WhiteElo "2422"] [BlackElo "2387"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "r4nk1/1bq1rpb1/2p1p1pp/p1P1N3/2BP3P/5R2/PBQ2PP1/4R1K1 w - - 0 24"] [PlyCount "34"] [EventDate "2016.07.09"] [EventRounds "13"] [EventCountry "IND"] {White has a commanding position. He attacks with spirit.} 24. h5 g5 25. Ng4 { is good.} ({Also possible is} 25. Nxf7 $1 Rxf7 26. Rxe6 $1 Nxe6 27. Bxe6 Raf8 28. d5 $18) 25... Nd7 26. Qe4 (26. Bxe6 $1 {is just finito!} fxe6 27. d5 $1 Bxb2 (27... cxd5 28. Qg6 Nf8 29. Nxh6+ Kh8 30. Nf7+ Rxf7 31. Rxf7 Nxg6 32. Bxg7+ Kg8 33. Rxc7 $18) 28. Nxh6+ Kh8 29. Qxb2+ $18) 26... Ba6 27. Bb3 Rb8 28. Bc3 Rbe8 29. Rg3 $2 (29. a4 $18 {and white still remains with a big advantage.} ) 29... a4 $1 30. Bxa4 f5 31. Qxc6 Qxc6 32. Bxc6 fxg4 $15 33. Rxg4 Nf6 34. Bxe8 Nxg4 35. Bg6 Nf6 36. Rb1 Rb7 37. Rxb7 Bxb7 38. a4 Nd7 39. Be8 Nxc5 40. dxc5 Bxc3 $19 {Black went on to win comfortably.} 0-1

The champion! An exclusive interview and annotated games for you to enjoy will be produced soon.

Ravi Teja finished half a point ahead of the remaining field. Tiebreak rules favoured the head-to-head encounter and the number of wins respectively. Four players were tied for the second spot with 9.5/13:

Dhulipala Prasad Chandra (2259) scored 9.5/13

The second position was won by Dhulipala after he defeated GM Vishnu Prasanna (2512) in the final round.

[Event "54th National Challengers Chess Champion"]
[Site "Amity University, Sector-125, "]
[Date "2016.07.19"]
[Round "13.4"]
[White "Dhulipalla, Bala Chandra Prasad"]
[Black "Vishnu, Prasanna. V"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A41"]
[WhiteElo "2259"]
[BlackElo "2512"]
[PlyCount "57"]
[EventDate "2016.07.09"]
[EventRounds "13"]
[EventCountry "IND"]

1. d4 g6 2. Bf4 Bg7 3. e3 d6 4. Nf3 Nd7 5. h3 e5 6. Bh2 Qe7 7. Be2 f5 8. c4 Nh6
9. Nc3 c6 10. O-O O-O 11. b4 f4 12. Qb3 fxe3 13. fxe3 Nf5 14. c5+ d5 15. e4
Nxd4 16. Nxd4 exd4 17. Bd6 Rxf1+ 18. Rxf1 Qe8 (18... Qg5 19. Bf4 Qd8 $11) 19.
Nxd5 $1 cxd5 20. Qxd5+ Kh8 21. c6 Nf6 (21... bxc6 22. Qxc6 $18) 22. cxb7 Bxb7
23. Qxb7 Nxe4 24. Bf3 Rd8 25. Bxe4 Rxd6 26. Rf7 Rb6 27. Qc7 Qg8 28. Bd5 h5 29.
Rd7 1-0

Third: K. Praneeth Surya (2413) scored 9.5/13

Praneeth delivered yet another strong performance at a National Challengers tournament, repeating his success from the previous year.

[Event "54th National Challengers Chess Champion"]
[Site "Amity University, Sector-125, "]
[Date "2016.07.18"]
[Round "12.5"]
[White "Akash, G."]
[Black "Praneeth, Surya K"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B51"]
[WhiteElo "2400"]
[BlackElo "2413"]
[PlyCount "156"]
[EventDate "2016.07.09"]
[EventRounds "13"]
[EventCountry "IND"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bb5+ Nd7 4. d4 cxd4 5. Qxd4 a6 6. Bxd7+ Bxd7 7. c4 Nf6 8.
Bg5 e6 9. Nc3 h6 10. Bh4 Be7 11. Rd1 Bc6 12. O-O O-O 13. Rfe1 Qa5 14. Qd3 Rac8
15. Nd5 exd5 16. exd5 Ba4 17. b3 Bd8 18. bxa4 Qxa4 19. Qb3 Qxc4 20. Qxb7 Ba5
21. Rd4 Qb5 22. Qxb5 axb5 23. Rb1 g5 24. Bg3 Rfd8 25. h4 g4 26. Rf4 Bc3 27. Nd4
Bxd4 28. Rxd4 Rc4 29. Rd3 b4 30. f3 gxf3 31. gxf3 Nh5 32. Be1 Nf4 33. Rd2 Ra8
34. Rdb2 Nxd5 35. Rd1 Ra5 36. a3 Nc3 37. axb4 Nxd1 38. Rg2+ Rg5 39. hxg5 Ne3
40. Re2 Nc2 41. Bd2 hxg5 42. Bxg5 Nxb4 43. Kf2 d5 44. Bf6 Kh7 45. Ke3 Kg6 46.
Bb2 Nc6 47. Rd2 Rc5 48. Kf4 f6 49. Rg2+ Kf7 50. Rh2 Rc4+ 51. Ke3 Ke6 52. Rh6
d4+ 53. Ke4 Rb4 54. Ba1 Ne7 55. Rh1 Nf5 56. Rd1 Nd6+ 57. Kf4 Kd5 58. Rh1 Ra4
59. Rd1 Kc5 60. Rc1+ Rc4 61. Rd1 Kd5 62. Bb2 Nb5 63. Kf5 Rc6 64. f4 Kc4 65. Kg6
Nc3 66. Rd2 d3 67. Bc1 Ne2 68. Rd1 Nxc1 69. Rxc1+ Kd5 70. Ra1 Ke4 71. Ra8 d2
72. Rd8 Ke3 73. f5 Ke2 74. Re8+ Kd3 75. Re6 Rxe6 76. fxe6 d1=Q 77. e7 Qg4+ 78.
Kf7 f5 0-1

Fourth: GM Abhijit Kunte (2495) with 9.5/13

Fifth: IM Abhishek Kelkar (2380) with 9.5/13

Eight players tied for the second spot with 9.0/13:

Sixth: IM S. Nitin (2398) scored 9.0/13

Seventh: GM R.R. Laxman (2389) ended with 9.0/13

Eighth: GM Shardul Gagare (2486) scored 9.0/13

Ninth: GM Aravindh Chithambaram (2543) was also 9.0/13

Normally, nine players are selected to play in the Premier tournament to be held later this year. Therefore, the tiebreak rules played a crucial role. Practically, the rankings in this event after tiebreaks were decided by the number of wins scored by the player.

Highlights:

Some tactical highlights from the last few rounds for your enjoyment. Let us know your answers!

Aravindh-Sangma: White to play. Classical Bishop Sacrifice reversed!

Arjun Kalyan-Srinath N.: White to play. White is winning, but which move smashes Black to smithereens?

Final Standings:

Rk.	SNo		Name	sex	FED	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB4	TB5
1	14	IM	Ravi Teja S.		IND	2387	RSPB	10,0	0,0	7,0	99,0	105,5	79,50
2	34		Dhulipalla Bala Chandra Prasad		IND	2259	AP	9,5	0,0	7,0	98,5	105,0	74,75
3	10	FM	Praneeth Surya K		IND	2413	TEL	9,5	0,0	6,0	100,5	107,0	76,50
4	4	GM	Kunte Abhijit		IND	2495	PSPB	9,5	0,0	6,0	99,0	105,5	76,25
5	15	IM	Abhishek Kelkar		IND	2380	MAH	9,5	0,0	6,0	94,5	100,5	72,25
6	12	IM	Nitin S.		IND	2398	RSPB	9,0	0,0	8,0	94,0	99,0	65,00
7	13	GM	Laxman R.R.		IND	2389	RSPB	9,0	0,0	7,0	97,5	104,0	67,75
8	5	GM	Gagare Shardul		IND	2486	MAH	9,0	0,0	7,0	95,5	102,5	70,75
9	1	GM	Aravindh Chithambaram Vr.		IND	2543	TN	9,0	0,0	7,0	95,0	101,0	67,50
10	9	GM	Sriram Jha		IND	2422	LIC	9,0	0,0	7,0	94,5	100,5	66,25
11	7	GM	Bakre Tejas		IND	2453	IA	9,0	0,0	6,0	99,0	105,5	72,00
12	21	IM	Mishra Neeraj-Kumar		IND	2328	JHAR	9,0	0,0	6,0	93,0	98,0	65,00
13	31		Sahoo Utkal Ranjan		IND	2265	ODI	9,0	0,0	5,0	95,0	101,0	69,00
14	22		Kunal M.		IND	2309	TN	8,5	0,0	8,0	91,0	96,0	58,00
15	2	GM	Sunilduth Lyna Narayanan		IND	2515	KER	8,5	0,0	7,0	99,0	105,5	66,50

Complete standings here.

The top nine have confirmed their spots in the National Premier 2016. The fate of the players who finished just outside the top nine depends on the confirmation of seeded players (defending champion and others in India top five) for the Premier event.

Games in PGN