Sethu on his match with Hari
After an intense match against Harikrishna we contacted Sethuraman through Skype and sent him a few questions to be answered for our readers. The diligent man that he is, Sethuraman immediately sent us all his answers and explained about how he was able to beat one of the strongest chess players in the world.
Sethuraman speaks about his match with Harikrishna.
After the match with Harikrishna ended in 1.5-0.5 favour of Sethuraman, we sent a few questions to the 22-year-old lad and this is what he had to say:
Sagar: How does it feel to enter in the third round of the World Cup?
SS: Tell us about your second round match against Harikrishna.
Sethu: The match was pretty interesting. In the first game, it was an Italian Opening and we got a very interesting complex position. I was slightly worse at some point and was low on time but defended well in the pawn down endgame. After 70 moves, it was a well-fought draw. Preparing for the second game, I noticed that Harikrishna's opening repertoire was very solid. I wanted to try something with the white pieces since I was not sure about my rapid play. I went for the Berlin Endgame but didn't handle it well and slid into a slightly worse position. But even here I had some tricky ideas with knight jumps here and there. At some point, I even got better and in mutual time trouble Hari missed some moves and I won the game.
Game 1:
[Site "Baku AZE"]
[Date "2015.09.14"]
[Round "2.1"]
[White "Pentala Harikrishna"]
[Black "Sethuraman P Sethuraman"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C50"]
[PlyCount "147"]
[EventDate "2015.09.11"]
[SourceDate "2003.06.08"]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. d3 Nf6 5. O-O O-O 6. Nbd2 a6 7. Bb3 d6 8. c3
Ba7 9. h3 h6 10. Re1 Re8 11. Nf1 Be6 12. Bc2 d5 13. exd5 Nxd5 14. Ng3 Qd6 15.
Nh4 Qd8 16. Nhf5 Qf6 17. Qf3 g6 18. Nxh6+ Kg7 19. Qxf6+ Nxf6 20. Bd1 Rad8 21.
Be2 Nd5 22. Ng4 f5 23. Nh2 Nf4 24. Bxf4 exf4 25. Ngf1 Ne5 26. d4 Nf7 27. Bf3
Nd6 28. Nd2 Bf7 29. Nb3 c6 30. Be2 Bxb3 31. axb3 c5 32. d5 Ne4 33. Bc4 Bb8 34.
Nf3 Kf6 35. Re2 Nd6 36. Rxe8 Rxe8 37. h4 Nf7 38. Kf1 Bc7 39. Be2 Rd8 40. Re1
Ne5 41. Nxe5 Bxe5 42. Bf3 Rd7 43. Ke2 Ke7 44. Kd3 Kd6 45. Rg1 Rh7 46. g3 fxg3
47. fxg3 g5 48. hxg5 Rh3 49. Kc4 Rxg3 50. Rxg3 Bxg3 51. b4 b5+ 52. Kb3 Bf4 53.
bxc5+ Kxc5 54. g6 Be5 55. Kc2 a5 56. Kd3 Bg7 57. Ke3 Bh6+ 58. Kf2 Bg7 59. Kg3
b4 60. cxb4+ axb4 61. b3 Bh6 62. Kh4 Kd6 63. Kh5 Bg7 64. Kg5 Ke5 65. Bg2 Bf8
66. Bh1 Bg7 67. Bf3 Bf8 68. d6 Kxd6 69. Kf6 f4 70. g7 Bxg7+ 71. Kxg7 Ke5 72.
Kg6 Kd4 73. Kf5 Kc3 74. Kxf4 1/2-1/2
Game2:
[Site "Baku AZE"]
[Date "2015.09.15"]
[Round "2.2"]
[White "Sethuraman P Sethuraman"]
[Black "Pentala Harikrishna"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C67"]
[PlyCount "91"]
[EventDate "2015.09.11"]
[SourceDate "2003.06.08"]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. d4 Nd6 6. Bxc6 dxc6 7. dxe5 Nf5
8. Qxd8+ Kxd8 9. h3 b6 10. Rd1+ Ke8 11. Nc3 h6 12. b3 Bb7 13. Bb2 Rd8 14. Rxd8+
Kxd8 15. Rd1+ Kc8 16. g4 Ne7 17. Kh2 Ng6 18. Kg3 Be7 19. Ne4 c5 20. Re1 h5 21.
Nfg5 h4+ 22. Kh2 Rf8 23. f3 Bc6 24. Kg1 Nf4 25. Bc1 Nd5 26. a3 f5 27. exf6 Nxf6
28. Ne6 Rg8 29. N4g5 Bd6 30. Bf4 a5 31. Bxd6 cxd6 32. Nf4 a4 33. Nf7 axb3 34.
cxb3 Kd7 35. Rd1 d5 36. g5 Nh7 37. Nxd5 Ke6 38. g6 Nf6 39. Nxf6 gxf6 40. Nd8+
Kf5 41. Nxc6 Rxg6+ 42. Kf2 Rg3 43. Ne7+ Kf4 44. Nd5+ Ke5 45. Rd3 b5 46. Nc3 1-0
SS: You will face the winner of Mamedyarov and Hou Yifan. Currently, they are at 1-1 and will play in the tie-breaks tomorrow. Whom do you prefer facing?
Sethu: Both of them are strong players. I am eagerly looking forward to my third match.
SS: How does it feel to be the only Indian left in the competition?
Sethu: It would have been good if two or three of them were still playing in the third round. But as I said before it was unfortunate that Harikrishna and I were paired against each other in the second round. Only one of us could progress.
SS: All the best Sethu. We hope that you keep moving ahead.
Sethu: Thanks for your wishes!