Women's Premier 10+11: Padmini Rout wins the National Championship

by Priyadarshan Banjan - 14/11/2016

Padmini Rout won her third consecutive National Premier title in Delhi. She scored 8.0/11 and stayed undefeated throughout to clinch the title. Vijayalakshmi Subbaraman registered three consecutive wins after losing to Padmini in the ninth round to take the second place with 7.5/11. Eesha Karavade finished third and Bala Kannamma, the last seed, scored a WIM norm. Illustrated report with games.

Pictures by Gopakumar Sudhakaran

Women's Premier 10+11: Padmini Rout wins the National Championship

Round 10 on 2016/11/13 at 10:00 am
Bo.	No.	Rtg		Name	Result		Name	Rtg	No.
1	12	2306	WGM	Gomes Mary Ann	½ - ½	IM	Padmini Rout	2374	11
2	1	2425	IM	Karavade Eesha	1 - 0		Bala Kannamma P	2073	10
3	2	2289	WIM	Pratyusha Bodda	0 - 1	IM	Vijayalakshmi Subbaraman	2390	9
4	3	2300	WIM	Vaishali R	1 - 0	WIM	Mahalakshmi M	2185	8
5	4	2117	WGM	Kiran Manisha Mohanty	½ - ½	IM	Mohota Nisha	2262	7
6	5	2260	WGM	Swati Ghate	0 - 1	WGM	Soumya Swaminathan	2386	6

The final round in progress

Jitendra Chaudhary gives you the feel of the final day

Going into the penultimate round, Padmini Rout was leading by a point over her nearest rival Soumya Swaminathan. They say that it is harder to win a won game.

Soumya Swaminathan managed to beat Swati Ghate at this critical juncture! Swati was doing okay with the white pieces until she blundered.

On the other hand, Padmini could only draw with Mary Ann Gomes. This meant that Soumya had narrowed down the lead between herself and Padmini to a mere half point.

[Event "43rd National Women Premier Chess Champ"]
[Site "Panjab Bhawan, Copernicus Mar"]
[Date "2016.11.13"]
[Round "10.6"]
[White "Swati, Ghate"]
[Black "Soumya, Swaminathan"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A00"]
[WhiteElo "2260"]
[BlackElo "2386"]
[PlyCount "96"]
[EventDate "2016.11.03"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "IND"]
[SourceDate "2003.06.08"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 (5... a6 6. Bg5 e6 7. Qd2
Nc6 {transposes to the game.}) 6. Bg5 e6 7. Qd2 a6 8. O-O-O Bd7 9. f4 b5 (9...
h6 {was Caruana's choice in the final game of the Candidates 2016. He played
this in a must win game, but lost, making Karjakin the challenger to the world
title.} 10. Bh4 b5 11. Bxf6 gxf6 12. f5 Qb6 13. fxe6 fxe6 14. Nxc6 Qxc6 15. Bd3
h5 16. Kb1 b4 17. Ne2 Qc5 18. Rhf1 Bh6 19. Qe1 a5 20. b3 Rg8 21. g3 Ke7 22. Bc4
Be3 23. Rf3 Rg4 24. Qf1 Rf8 25. Nf4 Bxf4 26. Rxf4 a4 27. bxa4 Bxa4 28. Qd3 Bc6
29. Bb3 Rg5 30. e5 Rxe5 31. Rc4 Rd5 32. Qe2 Qb6 33. Rh4 Re5 34. Qd3 Bg2 35. Rd4
d5 36. Qd2 Re4 37. Rxd5 exd5 38. Qxd5 Qc7 39. Qf5 Rf7 40. Bxf7 Qe5 41. Rd7+ Kf8
42. Rd8+ {1-0 (42) Karjakin,S (2760)-Caruana,F (2794) Moscow 2016}) 10. Bxf6 (
10. Nxc6 Bxc6 11. e5 (11. Bd3 b4 12. Nd5 {is not theory but is interesting
nevertheless.} exd5 13. exd5 Bxd5 14. Rhe1+ Be7 15. Bf5 Bxa2 16. Bxf6 gxf6 17.
b3 Kf8 18. Qd5 a5 19. Be4 Ra7 20. Qh5 Rg8 21. Qxh7 $11 {Not worth all the
trouble.}) 11... dxe5 12. Qxd8+ Rxd8 13. Rxd8+ Kxd8 14. fxe5 h6 15. Bh4 g5 16.
Bg3 Nh5 $17 {0-1 (42) Kozlitin,O (2331)-Vishnu,P (2459) Pardubice 2014}) 10...
gxf6 11. Kb1 Qb6 12. Nxc6 Bxc6 13. f5 O-O-O (13... b4 {is the main move here.}
14. Ne2 e5 15. Ng3 Qc5 16. Nh5 Be7 17. Ng7+ Kd8 (17... Kf8 18. Qh6 $18) 18. Bd3
Kc7 $11) 14. fxe6 (14. Bd3 {keeping the tension is also a choice:} d5 15. exd5 exd5 16. Ne2 d4 17. Ng3 h5 18. Be4 h4 19. Bxc6 Qxc6
20. Ne2 Qxg2 21. Qd3 Bc5 22. Nf4 Qb7 23. Rhe1 Kb8 24. Qh3 Rc8 25. Re2 Bd6 26.
Nd3 Qd5 27. Rg1 Rh5 28. Rf2 Re8 29. a3 Rg5 30. Rgf1 Re4 31. Qf3 Qb7 32. Re2
Rxe2 33. Qxe2 Rg2 34. Rf2 Rg1+ 35. Rf1 Rxf1+ 36. Qxf1 Bxh2 37. Qh3 Bg3 38. Qg4
Qh1+ 39. Ka2 Qd5+ 40. b3 a5 41. Kb2 Kc7 42. Qh5 Kd7 43. Qg4 Ke7 44. Qe2+ Kf8
45. Qg4 Qd6 46. b4 axb4 47. axb4 Qd5 48. Nc5 Be1 {0-1 (48) Kollars,D (2477)
-Salgado Lopez,I (2651) Izmir 2016}) 14... fxe6 15. Qf4 Be7 16. Qg4 Bd7 17. a3
(17. Bd3 Rdg8 18. Qf3 Kb8 19. Ne2 Qc5 20. Nf4 Bd8 21. h3 h5 22. Be2 h4 23. Qd3
Bc7 24. Bg4 Re8 25. Rhf1 Bc8 26. Qb3 Qc4 27. Qxc4 bxc4 28. Bh5 Rd8 29. Bf7 d5
30. exd5 exd5 31. Bxd5 Rh7 32. Ne2 Rg7 33. Bf3 Rxd1+ 34. Rxd1 Bb7 35. Rd4 Bxf3
36. gxf3 Rg2 37. Nc1 Bg3 38. Rxc4 Rh2 39. c3 Rxh3 40. Ne2 Rh2 41. Re4 f5 42.
Re8+ Kc7 43. f4 Rf2 44. Kc1 Kd7 45. Re3 Bxf4 46. Nxf4 Rxf4 47. Kd1 Re4 48. Rh3
Ke6 49. b4 Kf6 50. a4 Kg5 51. b5 axb5 52. axb5 Kg4 53. Rh1 h3 54. b6 Re6 55. b7
Rb6 56. Rg1+ Kf3 57. Rg7 h2 58. Rh7 Rxb7 59. Rxh2 f4 60. Kc2 Kg3 61. Rh8 Rf7
62. Kd3 f3 63. Rg8+ Kh2 64. Rh8+ Kg1 65. Rg8+ Kf1 66. c4 f2 67. Ke3 Ke1 68. Ra8
Rf3+ 69. Kd4 f1=Q 70. Ra1+ Kd2 71. Rxf1 Rxf1 72. c5 Rd1 73. Kd5 Kc3+ {0-1 (73)
Gonzalez Menendez,I (2381)-Baklan,V (2584) Balaguer 2005}) 17... Qc5 (17...
Rhg8 18. Qh3 Rg7 19. Rd3 Qf2 20. g3 Kb8 21. Be2 $11) 18. Be2 h5 19. Qh3 Kb8 {
Black is planning to break with ...d5.} 20. Rd2 Bc8 21. Rhd1 Rdf8 {now black
is planning ...f5!} 22. a4 b4 23. Na2 f5 24. Rd4 a5 25. exf5 Qxf5 26. Qb3 d5
27. Bf3 (27. Qg3+ Kb7 28. Rc4 $3 $18 {is a fantastic resource for white,
giving her the advantage.} dxc4 29. Bf3+ Qd5 (29... Ka6 30. Rd6+ $18) (29...
Kb6 30. Qb8+ $18) 30. Bxd5+ exd5 31. Qg7 $18) 27... Bb7 $17 {so there is no
sacrificial tricks on d5.} 28. R4d2 Rc8 29. Be2 Qe5 (29... Bg5 30. Rd4 Qe5 $19)
30. Bb5 Qc7 31. Nc1 e5 (31... Rcd8 32. Nd3 Bd6 33. c3 bxc3 34. Rc2 $1 $15) 32.
Rxd5 $1 Bxd5 33. Rxd5 Rhd8 34. Bd3 Rxd5 35. Qxd5 $11 {White has a pawn for
exchange in what looks like an okay position.} Qc5 36. Qe6 Qd6 37. Qh3 h4 38.
Nb3 Bd8 39. Qf5 Bb6 40. Qh7 Qd8 41. Be4 Rc7 42. Qf5 Qd1+ 43. Ka2 Qd7 44. Qxe5
Qxa4+ 45. Kb1 Qd7 46. Nxa5 $4 Bxa5 {and white cannot recapture on a5 because}
47. Qxa5 Qd1+ 48. Ka2 Ra7 $19 0-1

Round 11 on 2016/11/14 at 10:00 am
Bo.	No.	Rtg		Name	Result		Name	Rtg	No.
1	6	2386	WGM	Soumya Swaminathan	0 - 1	WGM	Gomes Mary Ann	2306	12
2	7	2262	IM	Mohota Nisha	½ - ½	WGM	Swati Ghate	2260	5
3	8	2185	WIM	Mahalakshmi M	1 - 0	WGM	Kiran Manisha Mohanty	2117	4
4	9	2390	IM	Vijayalakshmi Subbaraman	1 - 0	WIM	Vaishali R	2300	3
5	10	2073		Bala Kannamma P	1 - 0	WIM	Pratyusha Bodda	2289	2
6	11	2374	IM	Padmini Rout	½ - ½	IM	Karavade Eesha	2425	1

However, Soumya's hopes were dashed by Mary Ann Gomes, who won only her second game in the tournament.

Black to play

It looks like Soumya (who is white here) has everything under control. But Mary found the only way to save Black.

[Event "43rd National Women Premier Chess Champ"]
[Site "Panjab Bhawan, Copernicus Mar"]
[Date "2016.11.14"]
[Round "11.1"]
[White "Soumya, Swaminathan"]
[Black "Gomes, Mary Ann"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A00"]
[WhiteElo "2386"]
[BlackElo "2306"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "2r1k2r/1p3p2/p2p1bp1/3N4/4P1b1/qPPQB3/P1K5/R6R b k - 0 27"]
[PlyCount "17"]
[EventDate "2016.11.03"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "IND"]
[SourceDate "2003.06.08"]

27... Bxc3 $3 (27... Bg7 28. Rxh8+ Bxh8 29. Bd4 $16) 28. Qxc3 (28. Nxc3 Rxh1
29. Rxh1 Qxa2+ 30. Kc1 Qa1+ $19) 28... Rxh1 29. Qxc8+ Bxc8 30. Rxh1 Qxa2+ 31.
Kc3 Be6 32. Bg5 Bxd5 33. exd5 Qe2 34. Rg1 Qe5+ 35. Kc2 Qh2+ 0-1

Mary Ann talks about her finish

Thus, Padmini safely completed a hat-trick of National Premier titles!

Padmini talks about her victory

After losing to Padmini, Viji blasted off three consecutive wins, but it was too late — she fell short by half a point.

Joining Padmini and Viji, Eesha Karavade took the third place.

Bala Kannamma registered her first WIM norm

Ranking Crosstable:

Rk.		Name	Rtg	FED	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	IM	Padmini Rout	2374	IND	*	1	½	½	½	½	1	½	1	½	1	1	8,0	0,0	41,25	5,0
2	IM	Vijayalakshmi Subbaraman	2390	IND	0	*	1	½	1	0	1	0	1	1	1	1	7,5	0,0	37,00	7,0
3	IM	Karavade Eesha	2425	IND	½	0	*	1	½	1	½	1	0	1	½	1	7,0	1,0	35,50	5,0
4	WGM	Soumya Swaminathan	2386	IND	½	½	0	*	0	1	½	1	1	½	1	1	7,0	0,0	34,25	5,0
5	WGM	Gomes Mary Ann	2306	IND	½	0	½	1	*	½	½	1	0	½	½	½	5,5	0,0	30,00	2,0
6	WIM	Mahalakshmi M	2185	IND	½	1	0	0	½	*	0	1	1	1	0	0	5,0	2,0	28,25	4,0
7	IM	Mohota Nisha	2262	IND	0	0	½	½	½	1	*	½	½	½	1	0	5,0	2,0	25,25	2,0
8		Bala Kannamma P	2073	IND	½	1	0	0	0	0	½	*	½	½	1	1	5,0	1,0	25,50	3,0
9	WGM	Swati Ghate	2260	IND	0	0	1	0	1	0	½	½	*	1	1	0	5,0	1,0	25,00	4,0
10	WGM	Kiran Manisha Mohanty	2117	IND	½	0	0	½	½	0	½	½	0	*	½	1	4,0	0,0	20,50	1,0
11	WIM	Vaishali R	2300	IND	0	0	½	0	½	1	0	0	0	½	*	1	3,5	1,0	16,75	2,0
12	WIM	Pratyusha Bodda	2289	IND	0	0	0	0	½	1	1	0	1	0	0	*	3,5	0,0	17,75	3,0

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