Baku 05: India beats Azerbaijan!

by Priyadarshan Banjan - 06/09/2016

In the fifth round, the team was pitted against the spirited Azerbaijanis, led by the aggressive Shakhriyar Mamedyarov on the first board. This was the first time in the tournament that India was facing a higher rated team. Almost unexpectedly, however, India beat Azerbaijan by a handsome margin of 3.0-1.0. It could actually have been even sweeter, but Sethu let off Safarli to a repetition. In the women's section, the teams woes continued as it was held to a draw yet again by a lower-ranked team -- this time by the Vietnamese, who are in good form. India may have lost the game had it not been for Padmini's well fished win. It is still a long road ahead for both the teams, and tomorrow is a rest day. We bring you an illustrated report

Baku 05: India beats Azerbaijan!

When the fifth round dawned upon the Indian team in the open section, it had become clear that things will be getting tougher from this point onwards. The team was pitted against the spirited Azerbaijanis, led by the aggressive Shakhriyar Mamedyarov on the first board.

On top of that, the Azeris had a significant home support, with the local media keeping a close watch on their moves.

A team meeting before the start of the proceedings. [Photo: Eteri Kublashvili]

In any case, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2761) vs. Pentala Harikrishna (2752) was bound to be the premier clash and was the first one to finish. [Photo: Eteri Kublashvili]

Black to play

18...Rd5!! was a crucial moment that was important for team India. Harikrishna went on to outplay Mamedyarov and win, not for the first time in the recent month. After the game, Hari commented,"The game was very complex. I think he missed my last move, rook to d1, but also maybe he overestimated his chances and played very riskily; I seized my chances and won the game."

[Event "WCO 2016"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.09.06"]
[Round "5.13"]
[White "Mamedyarov Shakhriyar"]
[Black "Harikrishna P."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D43"]
[WhiteElo "2761"]
[BlackElo "2752"]
[PlyCount "68"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[WhiteClock "0:10:16"]
[BlackClock "0:20:11"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nf3 c6 5. g3 dxc4 6. Bg2 b5 7. O-O Bb7 8. Ne5
a6 9. b3 b4 10. Ne4 Nxe4 11. Bxe4 c3 12. a3 a5 13. axb4 Bxb4 14. Qd3 Qe7 15.
Bxh7 Nd7 16. Be4 Nxe5 17. dxe5 Rd8 18. Qf3 Rd5 19. Qg4 Kf8 20. Bxd5 exd5 21.
Ra4 c5 22. Ba3 Rh6 23. Bxb4 axb4 24. Rfa1 Qe8 25. Ra7 Qc6 26. Qg5 Re6 27. Qd8+
Re8 28. Qd6+ Kg8 29. Rxb7 (29. f4 Rc8 30. Qe7 $11) (29. R1a5 c4 30. Qxb4 c2 31.
Ra1 Rb8 $11) 29... Qxb7 30. Qxc5 Rxe5 31. Ra7 d4 32. Qxd4 Rd5 33. Rxb7 Rxd4 34.
Kg2 Rd1 0-1

Anand-Mamedyarov, Shamkir, 2015: Anand played a very similar idea against -- none other than Shak himself! Maybe, Hari took a leaf out of Anand's book? Find the analysis to the game here.

Hari's win ended up opening the floodgates as Vidit Gujrathi too finished off GM Arkady Naiditsch (2697) with the black pieces. [Photo; Paul Truong]

GM Vidit Gujrathi (2669) moved to a perfect 5.0/5! [Photo: Maria Emalinova]

Vidit: "It was just equal for a while and then, at one point, he allowed me to play my knight to g4, after which he was left with a bad bishop and all his pawns on light squares. At that point, he could perhaps have played better, but he had very little time and made a few mistakes; after that it was over."

[Event "WCO 2016"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.09.06"]
[Round "5.15"]
[White "Naiditsch Arkadij"]
[Black "Vidit Santosh Gujrathi"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C44"]
[WhiteElo "2696"]
[BlackElo "2669"]
[PlyCount "74"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[WhiteClock "0:00:34"]
[BlackClock "0:11:21"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. g3 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. Bg2 d6 6. O-O h6 7. Nc3 a6 8. Be3
O-O 9. Bxc5 dxc5 10. Nd2 b5 11. a4 Rb8 12. axb5 axb5 13. Nd5 Be6 14. Ne3 Qd7
15. Nf3 Rfd8 16. b3 Ra8 17. Re1 g6 18. Qc1 Kg7 19. Qb2 Qd6 20. Rxa8 Rxa8 21.
Ra1 Rxa1+ 22. Qxa1 Nd4 23. Qa5 Ng4 24. Nxd4 Qxd4 25. Nxg4 Bxg4 26. Bf1 b4 27.
Qa2 Qc3 28. Qb1 Qd2 29. Qa1 Qxc2 30. Qxe5+ Kh7 31. Qxc7 Qxb3 32. Qxc5 Qd1 33.
Qc7 Be6 34. f4 b3 35. f5 gxf5 36. exf5 Bd5 37. Qb6 Qf3 0-1

Susan Polgar interviewed Vidit and Hari after heir games.

GM S.P. Sethuraman (2640) [Photo: Maria Emalinova]

After Vidit had completed the win, Adhiban called it a day and settled for a draw with Teimour Radjabov. Sethuraman had a completely winning position on the fourth board.

[Event "WCO 2016"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.09.06"]
[Round "5.16"]
[White "Sethuraman S.P."]
[Black "Safarli Eltaj"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B33"]
[WhiteElo "2640"]
[BlackElo "2688"]
[PlyCount "114"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[WhiteClock "0:02:34"]
[BlackClock "0:09:29"]

1. e4 (1. c4) 1... c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 6. Ndb5 d6 7.
Bg5 a6 8. Na3 b5 9. Nd5 Be7 10. Bxf6 Bxf6 11. c3 Bg5 12. Nc2 Rb8 13. Be2 O-O
14. O-O a5 15. Na3 Ba6 16. Qb3 Na7 17. Rad1 Qd7 18. Rfe1 Kh8 19. Nc2 Nc6 20.
Nce3 Rfd8 21. Nf5 a4 22. Qc2 g6 23. h4 Bf4 24. Nxd6 Qxd6 25. Nxf4 Qc5 26. Nd5
Ne7 27. Nb4 Bb7 28. Rxd8+ Rxd8 29. Rd1 Rxd1+ 30. Qxd1 Bxe4 31. Qd8+ Ng8 32. Qa5
a3 33. Qxa3 Qe7 34. Qa5 Qxh4 35. Qxb5 Qg5 36. f3 Qe3+ 37. Kf1 Bb1 38. Nd5 Qc1+
39. Kf2 Bxa2 40. Ne3 f6 41. c4 Qd2 42. b4 Qb2 43. Qc5 Bb1 44. Qd6 e4 45. fxe4
Bxe4 46. b5 f5 47. c5 Kg7 48. Qc7+ (48. g3) 48... Kh6 49. Ng4+ fxg4 50. Qf4+
Kg7 51. Qxe4 Qf6+ 52. Kg1 Qc3 53. Qc4 Qe1+ 54. Kh2 Qh4+ 55. Kg1 Qe1+ 56. Kh2
Qh4+ 57. Kg1 Qe1+ 1/2-1/2

Pairings for Round 06:

Round 6 on 2016/09/08 at 15:00
No.	SNo	Team	Team	Pts.	MP	Res.	:	Res.	MP	Pts.	Team	Team	SNo
1	9	IND	India	16½	10		:		10	16½	Netherlands	NED	11
2	2	USA	United States of America	15½	9		:		10	15	Ukraine	UKR	5
3	17	CZE	Czech Republic	14½	9		:		9	15	Georgia	GEO	20
4	27	GRE	Greece	12½	8		:		8	15	Azerbaijan 1	AZE	4
5	25	CAN	Canada	16½	8		:		8	14½	Belarus	BLR	23
6	13	GER	Germany	14	8		:		8	15½	Russia	RUS	1
7	3	CHN	China	15	8		:		8	12½	Argentina	ARG	26
8	30	ROU	Romania	13½	8		:		8	15½	Azerbaijan 2	AZE2	28
9	44	ISL	Iceland	15	8		:		8	16½	Turkey	TUR	19
10	37	KAZ	Kazakhstan	15½	8		:		8	13	Latvia	LAT	21

Women's Section

The Indian team suffered another minor upset as India settled for a draw with Vietnam, who had earlier drawn with China. It was just a repeat story from the fourth round, only that the roles of our point-winners were reversed.

Harika is yet to find her mojo in the tournament -- the revival of India's fortunes rests on Harika's form after tomorrow's rest day. [Photo: Eteri Kublashvili]

Soumya settled for a draw, too.

IM Tania Sachdev (2402) ended up losing to WGM Nguyen Thi Mai Hung (2316). [Photo: Eteri Kublashvili]

IM Padmini Rout (2408) pulled one back for India, though. India thus held the Vietnamese 2.0-2.0. [Photo: Maria Emalinova]

[Event "WCO 2016"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.09.06"]
[Round "5.18"]
[White "Padmini Rout"]
[Black "Hoang Thi Bao Tram"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B12"]
[WhiteElo "2408"]
[BlackElo "2325"]
[PlyCount "121"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[WhiteClock "0:01:36"]
[BlackClock "0:01:05"]

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. Nf3 Bg4 5. c4 e6 6. cxd5 exd5 7. Be2 Nc6 8. Nbd2
cxd4 9. O-O Nge7 10. h3 Bxf3 11. Nxf3 Ng6 12. Bd3 Be7 13. Re1 O-O 14. a3 a5 15.
Bxg6 hxg6 16. Nxd4 Bc5 17. Nf3 Qb6 18. Re2 Rfe8 19. Qd3 Nd4 20. Nxd4 Bxd4 21.
Be3 Bxe3 22. Qxe3 d4 23. Qd3 Qc5 24. f4 g5 25. g3 Re6 26. Rd1 Rd8 27. Kh2 Qe7
28. Qe4 Qc5 29. Red2 gxf4 30. gxf4 Rb6 31. b4 axb4 32. Rxd4 Rxd4 33. Rxd4 Qc7
34. axb4 Rc6 35. Rd2 Rc4 36. Qf5 Qb6 37. Qg5 Rc8 38. Rg2 g6 39. f5 Rc6 40. Rd2
Rc8 41. Rg2 Rc6 42. Qe7 Rc7 43. Qd8+ Kh7 44. f6 Rc6 45. Qe7 Qc7 46. Qxc7 Rxc7
47. Rf2 Rc6 48. Kg3 g5 49. b5 Rc8 50. Kf3 Kg6 51. Ke4 Rh8 52. Rf3 Rh4+ 53. Kd5
Rb4 54. Kc5 Re4 55. Kd5 Rb4 56. e6 Rxb5+ 57. Kc4 Re5 58. e7 Re6 59. Kd4 Rd6+
60. Ke3 Re6+ 61. Kd2 1-0

The playing arena. Wednesday is a rest day. Play will resume on Thursday 4.30 PM IST.

Pairings for Round 06:

Round 6 on 2016/09/08 at 15:00
No.	SNo	Team	Team	Pts.	MP	Res.	:	Res.	MP	Pts.	Team	Team	SNo
1	2	UKR	Ukraine	16½	10		:		10	17	Russia	RUS	3
2	11	ROU	Romania	15	9		:		9	15½	China	CHN	1
3	31	KAZ	Kazakhstan	12	8		:		8	14	Hungary	HUN	8
4	4	GEO	Georgia	16½	8		:		9	14	Azerbaijan 1	AZE	16
5	7	POL	Poland	17	8		:		8	13½	Vietnam	VIE	19
6	5	IND	India	14½	8		:		8	13	Latvia	LAT	29
7	17	TUR	Turkey	15½	8		:		8	13	United States of America	USA	6
8	21	NED	Netherlands	12½	8		:		8	14½	Serbia	SRB	27
9	36	BLR	Belarus	15	7		:		7	13	Israel	ISR	18
10	34	CRO	Croatia	13	7		:		7	13½	Germany	GER	10

Games in PGN for Open and Women

Other Pairings

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