National under-25 at Port Blair: An experience of a lifetime

by Nitin Pai - 27/07/2017

National Under-25 Championships was held within the precincts of the picturesque Andaman and Nicobar Islands this year. The Andaman and Nicobar Chess Association had been keen on hosting the event for quite some time, but did it have resources to hold such an important event? All doubts regarding this vanished as soon as the event began. Excellent tournament hall, lodging and boarding facilities, and sight seeing trips were organized with great style by the organizers. This tournament held in the white sands of Port Blair is sure to captivate you. ChessBase India's Nitin Pai brings you all the action.

The AICF made a historic decision by allotting the 2017 National Under 25 Chess Championship to the Andaman and Nicobar Chess Association. The event was conducted successfully from 13^th-19^th July 2017. The association had shown interest in hosting a FIDE rated event in the islands. The idea was to expose local talents to play against International FIDE rated players and help them get a rating.

However, AICF had been skeptical about the idea as there were doubts about the participation of players from the mainland, and also whether the Andaman and Nicobar Chess Association had the resources to conduct a large scale event. Hence, the Under 25 National Championship, which usually does not see as much participation as the other championships, was allotted to Andaman and Nicobar Chess Association. Nevertheless, the event was a grand success with a record 122 participants for this category including 44 players from the host islands. It was held from 13th to the 19th of July 2017.

Starting rank

No.		Name	FideID	FED	Rtg	Club/City
1	IM	Shyaamnikhil P	5024218	IND	2450	TN
2	FM	Mitrabha Guha	5057000	IND	2301	WB
3	FM	Gajwa Ankit	5077834	IND	2281	MP
4		Harikrishnan.A.Ra	5081483	IND	2272	TN
5		Jayakumaar S	5090997	IND	2173	TN
6		Niraj Saripalli	5045657	IND	2148	GOA
7		Bavankumar	5026784	IND	2127	TN
8		Baivab Mishra	5098238	IND	2079	ODI
9		Samal Ansuman	25023721	IND	2073	ODI
10		Grahesh Y	5084555	IND	2063	AP
11		Panda Sambit	25091794	IND	2047	ODI
12		Badrinath S.	5029961	IND	2019	PON
13	CM	Sharang Sanjeev Kapoor	35028987	IND	2017	GUJ
14		Mohite Ranveer	25010352	IND	2012	MAH
15		Abhijith M	5092760	IND	2008	KER

Check complete starting list

Most of the outstation players arrived on the 12th and few others on 13th July morning. The organisers provided transport to the hotel, TSG grand, a 3 star where players were accommodated, very close to the airport.

Some players had double rooms like this while others had slightly bigger rooms on triple sharing basis.

The official entries were given the facility free of cost whereas the donor entries had to pay an additional Rs 5000/- over the entry fee. This included three lavish buffet meals per day.

The tournament was held at Jawaharlal Nehru Rajkiya Mahavidyalaya, about 15 minutes from the hotel and the players were transported in 3 buses.

The spacious playing hall with individual tables per board.

Nihal Sarin has become a poster boy for Indian chess, alongside Viswanathan Anand

The first round did not see any major upsets, as most seeded players played against players rated much lower or mostly unrated players.

However, the 2nd round saw two major upsets in the top 20 boards, with Sharang Sanjeev Kapoor rated 2017, of Gujarat losing to Harjap Singh of Punjab and Balkishan A, rated 1954 of Karnataka, losing to Nirmalya Bose of West Bengal.

Balkishan A (in green)

Sharang Sanjeev Kapoor (Playing white)

Below are the two games:

[Event "26th National Youth Under-25 Chess Cham"]
[Site "Jawaharlal Nehru Rajkiya Maha"]
[Date "2017.07.14"]
[Round "2.13"]
[White "Harjap, Singh"]
[Black "Sharang, Sanjeev Kapoor"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E32"]
[WhiteElo "1684"]
[BlackElo "2017"]
[PlyCount "115"]
[EventDate "2017.07.13"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "IND"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Bd2 O-O 5. Qc2 d6 6. a3 Bxc3 7. Bxc3 Nbd7 8.
Nf3 Qe7 9. e4 e5 10. dxe5 dxe5 11. b4 b6 12. Nd2 c5 13. Be2 Bb7 14. O-O Rfe8
15. Rfd1 Nb8 16. b5 Nbd7 17. a4 Nf8 18. a5 Qc7 19. a6 Bc8 20. Qb2 Ng6 21. g3
Bh3 22. f3 Re7 23. Nf1 Bxf1 24. Bxf1 Nd7 25. Bh3 f6 26. Qd2 Kh8 27. Qd5 Rd8 28.
Qb7 Ndf8 29. Qxc7 Rxd1+ 30. Rxd1 Rxc7 31. Rd8 Re7 32. Bc8 Kg8 33. Bb7 Kf7 34.
Ra8 Ke6 35. Rxa7 Kd6 36. Ra8 Ne6 37. Rc8 Rc7 38. Re8 Kd7 39. Rxe6 Kxe6 40. a7
Rxb7 41. a8=Q Rd7 42. Qg8+ Kd6 43. Qd5+ Ke7 44. Qc6 Rd6 45. Qc7+ Ke6 46. h4 Ne7
47. f4 Rd1+ 48. Kf2 Rc1 49. Qxb6+ Kf7 50. Bd2 Rxc4 51. fxe5 Rxe4 52. exf6 gxf6
53. Qxc5 Re5 54. Qc4+ Ke8 55. b6 Rd5 56. Bb4 Rd7 57. Bxe7 Kxe7 58. b7 1-0

[Event "26th National Youth Under-25 Chess Cham"]
[Site "Jawaharlal Nehru Rajkiya Maha"]
[Date "2017.07.14"]
[Round "2.18"]
[White "Balkishan, A."]
[Black "Nirmalya, Bose"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D61"]
[WhiteElo "1954"]
[BlackElo "1661"]
[PlyCount "158"]
[EventDate "2017.07.13"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "IND"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nf3 e6 5. Bg5 Be7 6. e3 Nbd7 7. Qc2 O-O 8. cxd5
Nxd5 9. h4 h6 10. Bxe7 Qxe7 11. e4 Nb4 12. Qd2 f5 13. e5 Nb6 14. Be2 Bd7 15. a3
N4d5 16. Rc1 Be8 17. h5 Nxc3 18. Rxc3 Nd5 19. Rc2 Bf7 20. Kf1 Rad8 21. g3 Rd7
22. Kg2 Rfd8 23. Qa5 a6 24. Ne1 Nc7 25. Qb6 Nb5 26. Bxb5 axb5 27. Rh4 Qe8 28.
Nd3 Bxh5 29. Nc5 Rxd4 30. Nxe6 Bf3+ 31. Kxf3 Rd3+ 32. Kg2 Qxe6 33. Rc5 R8d5 34.
Qa7 Kh7 35. Rf4 Qxe5 36. Rc2 R5d4 37. Rc5 Rd5 38. Rc2 g5 39. Rb4 Rd7 40. Qc5
Qxc5 41. Rxc5 R7d5 42. Rc1 R3d4 43. Rb3 Re5 44. Rc2 Kg6 45. Rbc3 Kf6 46. b3
Red5 47. Re3 Rd3 48. Re8 Rd8 49. Rxd8 Rxd8 50. Rc3 Rd2 51. Kf3 Ke5 52. Ke3 Ra2
53. f4+ gxf4+ 54. gxf4+ Kf6 55. b4 h5 56. Kd4 Re2 57. Kc5 Re7 58. Rh3 Rh7 59.
Rh4 Ke6 60. Kd4 b6 61. Rh3 h4 62. Re3+ Kd6 63. Rh3 c5+ 64. Kc3 Kd5 65. Kd3 Rh5
66. Ke3 Kc4 67. Rh1 h3 68. Rc1+ Kd5 69. Rd1+ Kc6 70. Rh1 h2 71. Kf2 Kd5 72. Kg2
Kc4 73. Rc1+ Kb3 74. Rh1 c4 75. Rb1+ Kxa3 76. Ra1+ Kxb4 77. Rb1+ Kc5 78. Re1 c3
79. Re5+ Kc4 0-1

The 3^rd round too, saw two major upsets, with Joy Pankaj Shah of Gujarat beating seeded Harikrishnan A Ra of Tamil Nadu rated 2272 and Akhilesh Nagare of Maharashtra upsetting TN state under 25 Champion Bavankumar rated 2127.

Joy Pankaj Shah making it through mild time trouble

Harikrishnan A Ra, did not have a great tournament

Bavankumar in action

[Event "26th National Youth Under-25 Chess Cham"]
[Site "Jawaharlal Nehru Rajkiya Maha"]
[Date "2017.07.14"]
[Round "3.4"]
[White "Joy, Pankaj Shah"]
[Black "Harikrishnan.A.Ra"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E13"]
[WhiteElo "1909"]
[BlackElo "2272"]
[PlyCount "103"]
[EventDate "2017.07.13"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "IND"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 b6 5. Nf3 Bb7 6. Bd3 Bxc3+ 7. bxc3 O-O 8.
O-O d6 9. Re1 Qe7 10. e4 e5 11. Bg5 h6 12. Bh4 Nbd7 13. Qd2 Rfe8 14. Rad1 Nf8
15. g3 Ng6 16. Bxf6 Qxf6 17. Kg2 Bc8 18. Qe3 Bg4 19. h3 exd4 20. cxd4 Bxf3+ 21.
Qxf3 Qxd4 22. e5 Qc5 23. e6 Nh8 24. Be4 fxe6 25. Bxa8 Rf8 26. Qe2 Rxa8 27.
Qxe6+ Nf7 28. Rd3 Rf8 29. Rf3 Qc6 30. Re4 Kh7 31. Qd5 Qd7 32. Ref4 Kg8 33. h4
c6 34. Qd4 Qe7 35. Re3 Qc7 36. Qe4 Rd8 37. Qe6 Qd7 38. Qe7 Qxe7 39. Rxe7 Ne5
40. Rxa7 d5 41. cxd5 cxd5 42. Rf5 Nc6 43. Rb7 Nd4 44. Rff7 Ne6 45. Rfd7 Rxd7
46. Rxd7 d4 47. Rd6 Kf7 48. Rxb6 Kf6 49. Kf3 Ke5 50. Rxe6+ Kxe6 51. Ke4 d3 52.
Kxd3 1-0

[Event "26th National Youth Under-25 Chess Cham"]
[Site "Jawaharlal Nehru Rajkiya Maha"]
[Date "2017.07.14"]
[Round "3.7"]
[White "Bavankumar"]
[Black "Nagare, Akhilesh"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C11"]
[WhiteElo "2127"]
[BlackElo "1862"]
[PlyCount "81"]
[EventDate "2017.07.13"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "IND"]

1. e4 e6 2. Nf3 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. d4 c5 6. dxc5 Nc6 7. Bf4 Nxc5 8.
Bd3 Be7 9. h4 Qb6 10. O-O Bd7 11. a3 a5 12. Qd2 a4 13. Rab1 O-O 14. Ne2 Nxd3
15. cxd3 Rfc8 16. Ng3 Nd4 17. Nxd4 Qxd4 18. Ne2 Qb6 19. Bg5 Bf8 20. Rfc1 h6 21.
Be3 Qa6 22. Nf4 Bc6 23. d4 Bb5 24. Qd1 Bc4 25. Qd2 b5 26. Nh5 b4 27. axb4 Qb5
28. Qe1 Qxb4 29. Bd2 Qb5 30. Rc3 Bd3 31. Rbc1 Rxc3 32. Bxc3 Be7 33. g3 a3 34.
bxa3 Rxa3 35. Nf4 Be4 36. Bd2 Qb2 37. Be3 Ra2 38. Qf1 Bb4 39. Qb5 Kh7 40. Rd1
Qb3 41. Rc1 0-1

The chief arbiter for the event, Mr Vasudevan of Tamil Nadu, along with Shyam Sundar, who also handles monroi and uploading of games.

Lunch looked like this: starting with soup, papad, roti, naan, dal, sabzi/paneer, salad, rice/pulao for main course and ice cream/dessert. An additional non-veg dish (fish/chicken) was served for dinner.

Round 4 saw few early leaders emerge, Ankit Chudasama (standing) of Gujarat rated 1612 being the surprise in the pack.

Ankit beat much higher rated opponents from rounds 2-4, was stopped by Jayakumar S of Tamil Nadu in round 5, who went on to take the sole lead. Here's Ankit's round 4 win.

[Event "26th National Youth Under-25 Chess Cham"]
[Site "Jawaharlal Nehru Rajkiya Maha"]
[Date "2017.07.15"]
[Round "4.5"]
[White "Chudasama, Ankit"]
[Black "Panda, Sambit"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B19"]
[WhiteElo "1612"]
[BlackElo "2047"]
[PlyCount "77"]
[EventDate "2017.07.13"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "IND"]

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 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 Qb6 14. c4 Rd8
15. Qc2 O-O 16. Bf4 Qa6 17. Nf1 b5 18. c5 Nd5 19. Bd2 N7f6 20. Ne5 Nc7 21. Bc1
b4 22. g4 Nh7 23. f4 Bf6 24. Nf3 Nb5 25. Be3 Rd5 26. Rg1 Rfd8 27. g5 hxg5 28.
fxg5 Nxd4 29. Nxd4 Bxd4 30. g6 fxg6 31. hxg6 Nf6 32. Bxd4 Rxd4 33. Ne3 Qc8 34.
Rxd4 Rxd4 35. Nc4 Qa6 36. b3 Qc8 37. Rh1 Kf8 38. Rh8+ Ng8 39. Qf2+ 1-0

In most games, Ankit castled long and went for a pawn storm against opponent’s king. It was surprising that on quite a few occasions, even the players rated 2000+ were unable to defend/counter attack accurately.

The 4^th round also saw Badrinath S of Puducherry holding IM Shyaamnikhil to a draw on the top board. The former had a better position.

Badrinath S

[Event "26th National Youth Under-25 Chess Cham"]
[Site "Jawaharlal Nehru Rajkiya Maha"]
[Date "2017.07.15"]
[Round "4.1"]
[White "Badrinath, S."]
[Black "Shyaamnikhil, P."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C09"]
[WhiteElo "2019"]
[BlackElo "2450"]
[PlyCount "89"]
[EventDate "2017.07.13"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "IND"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 c5 4. exd5 exd5 5. Ngf3 Nc6 6. Bb5 Qe7+ 7. Be2 g5 8.
O-O g4 9. Ne5 Nxd4 10. Bxg4 Bxg4 11. Nxg4 O-O-O 12. Re1 Qc7 13. c3 Ne6 14. Nf3
h5 15. Nge5 Bg7 16. Qa4 Rd6 17. b4 Nf6 18. b5 a5 19. c4 Ng4 20. Bb2 d4 21. Nd3
Bh6 22. Bc1 Bxc1 23. Raxc1 Rg8 24. h3 Nf6 25. Re5 b6 26. Rce1 Qb7 27. Qd1 Rdd8
28. Kh2 Rde8 29. a4 Qc7 30. g3 Qd7 31. Qd2 Qb7 32. Nh4 Qd7 33. f4 Ng7 34. Qg2
Kb8 35. Qf3 Re6 36. f5 Ree8 37. Qf4 Ka7 38. Rxe8 Rxe8 39. Ne5 Qc7 40. Nc6+ Kb7
41. Ne5 Kc8 42. Nhf3 Re7 43. Qg5 Nge8 44. Qf4 Nd6 45. Kg2 1/2-1/2

The view from the road outside the tournament hall.

Corbyn’s Cove was the main attraction of the day, a beach with speed boating. Players and team managers/arbiters can be seen.

Few players on a speed boat.

The end point of the ride. We were not allowed to get down on this island and later found out that more than 40 varieties of venomous snakes inhabited this place. That was a good enough reason to stay on the boat!

Yours truly had blown up a huge advantage and drawn against a much lower rated player in round 4 and was not interested in going for the outing. However, after some convincing from friends, I decided to go and enjoyed it thoroughly. That helped me get refreshed and I went on to win the next 3 rounds!

Round five saw a premature encounter between the top 2 seeded players, IM Shyaamnikhil P of TN and FM Mitrabha Guha of West Bengal. The experience of the International Master helped him outwit his younger opponent in a Queen Ending.

Mitrabha Guha against Shyaamnikhil. White won the game.

[Event "26th National Youth Under-25 Chess Cham"]
[Site "Jawaharlal Nehru Rajkiya Maha"]
[Date "2017.07.16"]
[Round "5.2"]
[White "Shyaamnikhil, P."]
[Black "Mitrabha, Guha"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B18"]
[WhiteElo "2450"]
[BlackElo "2301"]
[PlyCount "133"]
[EventDate "2017.07.13"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "IND"]

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Bf5 5. Qf3 Bxe4 6. Qxe4 Nf6 7. Qd3 e6 8.
Nf3 Bd6 9. Qb3 Qb6 10. c3 Nbd7 11. Nd2 Qc7 12. g3 O-O 13. Bg2 Nb6 14. O-O Rfd8
15. Nf3 Rac8 16. Bg5 Nbd7 17. Rfe1 h6 18. Bd2 Qb6 19. Re2 c5 20. dxc5 Bxc5 21.
Be1 Qa6 22. Bf1 Qc6 23. Bg2 Qa6 24. Qc2 b5 25. a3 b4 26. Bf1 bxa3 27. bxa3 Qb7
28. Bg2 Qc7 29. Qa2 Nb6 30. Ne5 Nbd5 31. c4 Ne7 32. Rb1 Rb8 33. Rxb8 Rxb8 34.
Bc3 Rd8 35. Qa1 Rd6 36. Rb2 Rb6 37. Nd3 Rxb2 38. Qxb2 Nf5 39. Nxc5 Qxc5 40.
Qb8+ Kh7 41. Qb4 Qc7 42. Bxf6 gxf6 43. Be4 Kg7 44. Bxf5 exf5 45. c5 Qc6 46. a4
Qd5 47. h4 f4 48. gxf4 Qd1+ 49. Kh2 Qc2 50. Qd4 h5 51. f5 Qc1 52. Kg2 Qc2 53.
Kg3 Kg8 54. Qxf6 Qxc5 55. Qg5+ Kf8 56. f6 Qc7+ 57. Qf4 Qc3+ 58. Kh2 Qb2 59.
Qd6+ Kg8 60. Qg3+ Kf8 61. Qg7+ Ke8 62. Qg8+ Kd7 63. Qxf7+ Kd6 64. Qe7+ Kd5 65.
Kg2 Qc2 66. Qe3 Qg6+ 67. Qg5+ 1-0

The round also saw FM Ankit Gajwa of MP show his class against Pallabi Roy.

[Event "26th National Youth Under-25 Chess Cham"]
[Site "Jawaharlal Nehru Rajkiya Maha"]
[Date "2017.07.16"]
[Round "5.5"]
[White "Gajwa, Ankit"]
[Black "Roy, Pallabi"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C42"]
[WhiteElo "2281"]
[BlackElo "1878"]
[PlyCount "123"]
[EventDate "2017.07.13"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "IND"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. c4 c6 6. Nc3 Nf6 7. d4 d5 8. Qc2
h6 9. cxd5 Nxd5 10. Bc4 Nb6 11. Bb3 Bd6 12. O-O O-O 13. Bxh6 Nd5 14. Bg5 Qa5
15. Bd2 Nxc3 16. Bxc3 Qh5 17. Ne5 Bf5 18. Qd1 Qxd1 19. Raxd1 Nd7 20. Nc4 Be7
21. Rfe1 Be6 22. Na5 Bxb3 23. axb3 Rfe8 24. Nxb7 Rab8 25. Na5 Rb6 26. Nc4 Rbb8
27. Ra1 Bf6 28. Rxe8+ Rxe8 29. Kf1 Ra8 30. Ra6 c5 31. d5 Kf8 32. Rc6 Rb8 33.
Rc7 Ke7 34. Bxf6+ gxf6 35. Rxa7 Rxb3 36. h4 Rb4 37. Ne3 Kd6 38. h5 Ne5 39. Ra6+
Ke7 40. Nf5+ Ke8 41. Ra8+ Kd7 42. Ra7+ Ke8 43. d6 Rxb2 44. Kg1 c4 45. Rc7 Rc2
46. Ne3 Rc1+ 47. Kh2 c3 48. f4 Nd3 49. Nd5 Nf2 50. Nxf6+ Kd8 51. Kg3 Nh1+ 52.
Kh2 Nf2 53. Rxf7 Rh1+ 54. Kg3 Ne4+ 55. Nxe4 c2 56. Nf6 Kc8 57. Rc7+ Kd8 58. Ne4
c1=Q 59. Rxc1 Rxc1 60. Kg4 Re1 61. Ng5 Kd7 62. h6 1-0

Round six was the on the same day. IM Shyaamnikhil was held to a draw, this time by Baivab Mishra of Odisha.

[Event "26th National Youth Under-25 Chess Cham"]
[Site "Jawaharlal Nehru Rajkiya Maha"]
[Date "2017.07.16"]
[Round "6.2"]
[White "Baivab, Mishra"]
[Black "Shyaamnikhil, P."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A50"]
[WhiteElo "2079"]
[BlackElo "2450"]
[PlyCount "88"]
[EventDate "2017.07.13"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "IND"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 b6 3. f3 Nc6 4. Nc3 e5 5. d5 Ne7 6. e3 h5 7. Bd3 d6 8. Nge2 g6
9. Qc2 Bh6 10. Bd2 Nf5 11. Bxf5 Bxf5 12. e4 Bxd2+ 13. Qxd2 Bd7 14. h4 a6 15.
Qe3 b5 16. c5 b4 17. Nd1 Bb5 18. Rc1 a5 19. c6 Ng8 20. Ng1 f5 21. g3 fxe4 22.
fxe4 Nf6 23. Qg5 Kf7 24. Nf2 Kg7 25. Nf3 Rf8 26. Qe3 Ba6 27. Ng5 Bc8 28. Kd2
Qe7 29. Rcf1 Ng8 30. Nd3 Nf6 31. Rf3 Nh7 32. Rxf8 Qxf8 33. Nxh7 Kxh7 34. Qf2
Qxf2+ 35. Nxf2 Kg7 36. Rf1 Rb8 37. Nd1 Ba6 38. Rf2 Rb5 39. b3 Rc5 40. Rf3 Rb5
41. Nb2 Rb8 42. Nd3 Rb5 43. Nb2 Rb8 44. Nd3 Rb5 1/2-1/2

This allowed Mithrabha Guha to catch up with the IM, with a win over Akshay V Halagannavar of Karnataka.

[Event "26th National Youth Under-25 Chess Cham"]
[Site "Jawaharlal Nehru Rajkiya Maha"]
[Date "2017.07.16"]
[Round "6.3"]
[White "Mitrabha, Guha"]
[Black "Akshay, V Halagannavar"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A38"]
[WhiteElo "2301"]
[BlackElo "1949"]
[PlyCount "65"]
[EventDate "2017.07.13"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "IND"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. Nf3 cxd4 4. Nxd4 g6 5. g3 Bg7 6. Bg2 O-O 7. Nc3 Nc6 8.
Nc2 d6 9. O-O Be6 10. b3 Qd7 11. e4 Bh3 12. Be3 Bxg2 13. Kxg2 Rfd8 14. Qe2 b6
15. Rad1 Qb7 16. f3 Rd7 17. Nd4 Ne5 18. Rd2 a6 19. Rfd1 Rb8 20. a4 Nc6 21. Nxc6
Qxc6 22. Rd3 Rdb7 23. Bd4 Ne8 24. Nd5 Bxd4 25. Rxd4 e6 26. Nb4 Qc8 27. Nxa6 Ra8
28. Nb4 Rd7 29. Na2 Qc6 30. Nc3 Rad8 31. Qd2 Nc7 32. e5 d5 33. Ne4 1-0

Jayakumar S (Blue), however, was able to maintain his lead with 5.5/6 with a draw against Joy Pankaj Shah.

However, Jayakumar blew away a huge advantage by missing a mate in 4 against Mitrabha Guha, thereby throwing away the game and the lead in round 7.

Jayakumaar - Mitrabha Guha

White to play and mate in four. Jayakumaar missed this during the game and went on to lose. Can you do better? Let us know your answer in the comments section.

[Event "26th National Youth Under-25 Chess Cham"]
[Site "Jawaharlal Nehru Rajkiya Maha"]
[Date "2017.07.17"]
[Round "7.1"]
[White "Jayakumaar, S."]
[Black "Mitrabha, Guha"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B13"]
[WhiteElo "2173"]
[BlackElo "2301"]
[PlyCount "110"]
[EventDate "2017.07.13"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "IND"]

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 cxd5 4. Bd3 Nc6 5. c3 Qc7 6. Ne2 Bg4 7. f3 Bh5 8. Na3
e6 9. Bf4 Qd7 10. Nc2 Nf6 11. Qd2 Bg6 12. O-O Nh5 13. Be3 Bd6 14. Rae1 Qc7 15.
g3 O-O 16. Bxg6 hxg6 17. Nc1 Na5 18. Nd3 Rac8 19. Bf2 Nc4 20. Qe2 Nf6 21. Ne3
a5 22. a3 Rb8 23. Nc2 Rfc8 24. Kg2 Ra8 25. Rh1 Re8 26. g4 Nd7 27. Bg3 Re7 28.
Ne3 Ndb6 29. Qf2 Rae8 30. Nxc4 dxc4 31. Ne5 Nd5 32. Kg1 b5 33. Bh4 g5 34. Bg3
b4 35. h4 f6 36. hxg5 Bxe5 37. Qh2 Rd7 38. gxf6 gxf6 39. Rxe5 Rh7 40. Rh5 Rxh5
41. gxh5 Qh7 42. Qd2 Re7 43. axb4 axb4 44. Kf2 bxc3 45. bxc3 Rb7 46. Rg1 Qd3
47. Bf4+ Kh7 48. Re1 Qf5 49. Bg3 Rb3 50. Rc1 Qd3 51. Bf4 Qf5 52. Bg3 Nb4 53.
Kg2 Nd3 54. Rc2 Rb1 55. Ra2 Qxh5 0-1

The quickest win in this round was scored by none other than yours truly, whose higher rated opponent fell for an opening trap in the Ruy Lopez Zaitsev Variation, within 20 minutes of the start of the round.

Black has just moved his rook from f8 to e8. White to play and inflict maximum pain!

[Event "26th National Youth Under-25 Chess Cham"]
[Site "Jawaharlal Nehru Rajkiya Maha"]
[Date "2017.07.17"]
[Round "7.17"]
[White "Nitin, M Pai"]
[Black "Choubey, Saurabh"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C94"]
[WhiteElo "1660"]
[BlackElo "1800"]
[PlyCount "29"]
[EventDate "2017.07.13"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "IND"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. h3
O-O 9. c3 Nb8 10. d3 Nbd7 11. Nbd2 Re8 12. Bxf7+ Kxf7 13. Ng5+ Kg6 14. Ne6 Nc5
15. Nxd8 1-0

Talented Kushagra Mohan of Telangana was able to score a win over Sharang Sanjeev Kapoor in this round with a bit of luck and got close to the leaders.

[Event "26th National Youth Under-25 Chess Cham"]
[Site "Jawaharlal Nehru Rajkiya Maha"]
[Date "2017.07.17"]
[Round "7.8"]
[White "Sharang, Sanjeev Kapoor"]
[Black "Kushagra, Mohan"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A01"]
[WhiteElo "2017"]
[BlackElo "2003"]
[PlyCount "104"]
[EventDate "2017.07.13"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "IND"]

1. e3 e5 2. b3 Nc6 3. Bb2 Nf6 4. Bb5 Bd6 5. Ne2 O-O 6. d4 e4 7. Bxc6 dxc6 8. h3
Re8 9. c4 b5 10. Qc2 Rb8 11. Nd2 Bf5 12. c5 Bf8 13. g4 Bg6 14. O-O-O Nd5 15. a3
Qh4 16. Rh2 Be7 17. Nc3 Bg5 18. Nxd5 cxd5 19. Rdh1 f5 20. gxf5 Bh5 21. Rg1 Rf8
22. Rhg2 Bh6 23. Rg3 Qf6 24. Nxe4 Qxf5 25. Nc3 Qxc2+ 26. Kxc2 Rxf2+ 27. Kb1
Bg6+ 28. Rxg6 hxg6 29. Nxd5 Re2 30. Rxg6 Rf8 31. Rg1 Rf7 32. Bc1 c6 33. Nc3
Ref2 34. b4 a6 35. d5 cxd5 36. Nxd5 Rd7 37. e4 Bxc1 38. Rxc1 Rdf7 39. c6 R7f3
40. Nc3 Rf1 41. Rxf1 Rxf1+ 42. Kc2 Rf6 43. Kd3 Rxc6 44. e5 Rh6 45. Kd4 Rxh3 46.
Ne4 Kf8 47. Nd6 Rxa3 48. Kd5 Ra1 49. Ke6 Re1 50. Nf5 g5 51. Kf6 g4 52. e6 Rf1
0-1

Tamil Nadu domination in round seven

The complete contingent with team manager Mr Ganesan, who is also the secretary of CDCA.

This was again a single round day and the organisers took the players for sightseeing in the evening.

The first was Jogger’s park, a park on a hill from which the view was fabulous and included the runway of the airport. The players bonded really well and many made new friends. There was no rivalry off the chess board!

The skeleton of a sperm whale.

Sawfish, a preserved specimen.

Since there was time left and the historic cellular jail was nearby, few of us decided to go and watch the lights and sound show there, despite the organisers planning to take us the next day.

The Jail complex, with the audience seated for the show.

The jail was built in the British era to detain freedom fighters and political prisoners. It has a special place in the Indian Freedom Movement.

Rank after Round 7:

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	1	IM	Shyaamnikhil P	IND	2450	TN	6,0	0,0	30,5	34,5
2	2	FM	Mitrabha Guha	IND	2301	WB	6,0	0,0	30,0	33,5
3	12		Badrinath S.	IND	2019	PON	6,0	0,0	29,5	32,5
4	5		Jayakumaar S	IND	2173	TN	5,5	0,0	30,5	34,5
5	23		Joy Pankaj Shah	IND	1909	GUJ	5,5	0,0	29,5	32,5
6	7		Bavankumar	IND	2127	TN	5,5	0,0	29,0	32,0
7	3	FM	Gajwa Ankit	IND	2281	MP	5,5	0,0	28,5	32,0
8	14		Mohite Ranveer	IND	2012	MAH	5,5	0,0	27,5	31,0
9	16	CM	Kushagra Mohan	IND	2003	TEL	5,5	0,0	27,0	30,0
10	10		Grahesh Y	IND	2063	AP	5,0	0,0	30,0	33,5

Part 2 will come out soon and will cover the penultimate and final rounds, Prize Distribution ceremony with an interview of the champion and major tourist attractions near Port Blair like Ross and Havelock Islands and also some water activities like Scuba Diving.

About the author:

Nitin Pai is a twenty one-year-old undergraduate student in Electrical Engineering at IIT-Madras. He is a passionate chess player with an eloquent voice and has contributed his feedback and photos for ChessBase in the past. When he is not studying or surfing the internet for crazy science stuff, or working on his projects, you may find him hunched over a chessboard, trying not to blunder.