S.L. Narayanan becomes India’s 41st grandmaster
Former National Junior Champion S.L. Narayanan has shown steady progress throughout his chess career. On Saturday, at the Philippine International Open, he crowned his forward march by taking his rating across the 2500 mark and earning a GM norm in the process – his third norm – which makes him India’s 41st grandmaster. A report on the tournament with a special focus on India's latest grandmaster.
Philippine International Open 2015
The Philippine International Open was held from 9 November 2015 to 14 November 2015 at Subic Bay Peninsular Hotel in Olongapo City, Philippines. The ten-round tournament had thirty-six players -- seventeen grandmasters and ten International Masters -- and an average rating of 2434.
Five Indians were a part of this tournament – top-seed GM Abhijeet Gupta, GM Deepan Chakkravarthy, IM S.L. Narayanan, IM Abhimanyu Puranik and FM Rohan Ahuja.
Ukrainian GM Vitaly Sivuk won the tournament by scoring 7.0/10, half a point clear of the remaining field. In the tenth and the final round, he managed to beat overnight leader Indian GM Abhijeet Gupta to leave the latter stranded at 6.5/10.
IM Sunilduth Lyna Narayanan of Kerala was always known as a child prodigy, and with a crucial last round win in the tournament, he became India’s 41st grandmaster.
In the tenth and final round, Narayanan beat GM Antonio Rogelio (2478) of Philippines to take his rating across the 2500 mark and earn his final GM norm in one shot. “I wasn’t sure whether I would become a GM even if I win the game, as I also had to cross the 2500 mark,” S.L. Narayanan commented after the game. The tournament had double rounds even on the final day; Narayanan did not bother to check the details before the round: “I was trying to save my energy and put my maximum effort in that game. In the end, it turned out to be a convincing win.”
“I feel really happy. I want to dedicate this achievement to my parents, coaches and friends and my school, which has always been supportive,” a tired and relieved Narayanan added. He is a twelfth standard student of the St. Mary’s HSS in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. Now that he has achieved his goal of becoming a grandmaster, the 2600 barrier is what awaits the young lad: “My aim is to break through the 2600 mark, and my plan is to work more, to get more results!” When asked about his immediate plans, he said, “After this month ends, I will take rest and focus on studies.”
Here are Narayanan’s two favourite games from the tournament:
Game 1
[Site "Subic Bay Peninsular Hotel, O"]
[Date "2015.11.10"]
[Round "2.3"]
[White "SUNILDUTH LYNA, Narayanan"]
[Black "LU, Shanglei"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A00"]
[WhiteElo "2481"]
[BlackElo "2615"]
[PlyCount "73"]
[EventDate "2015.11.09"]
[EventRounds "10"]
[EventCountry "PHI"]
before -- at the World Junior Chess Championship, 2014. Lu Shanglei decides to
repeat the line.} 5. e4 Bb4 6. Bxc4 Nxe4 7. O-O Nxc3 8. bxc3 Be7 (8... Bxc3 9.
Rb1 $11 {White has active pieces and more central space in compensation for
two pawns.}) 9. Qe2 {Narayanan decided to enter this line.} (9. Ne5 {is the
main line. Narayanan commented that he had played this move at the WJCC 2014,
Pune, and had earned a better position, however, Shanglei had held a draw.})
9... O-O $11 10. Rd1 {Can you guess the idea behind this move?} Nd7 11. Ne5 Qe8
12. Rd3 Nxe5 13. dxe5 b5 14. Rh3 bxc4 15. Qe4 g6 16. Qxa8 Qb5 17. Qe4 {
Narayanan: I quite liked the maneuver with the queen.} Bb7 18. Qe1 Qd5 19. f3
Rd8 (19... h5 $1 20. Rg3 (20. Bh6 Rd8) 20... Bc5+ 21. Kh1 Qd3 22. Bg5 Bc6 23.
h4 Rb8 $15) 20. Bh6 $1 {The best square for the bishop to improve.} a5 21. Rb1
a4 22. Rg3 Bc5+ (22... Bc6 $11) 23. Kh1 Bb6 24. h4 $1 a3 25. h5 Qd3 26. Rc1 Qf5
27. Rg5 Qd3 28. Rg3 Qf5 29. Rh3 Rd3 30. Qh4 Bc5 31. hxg6 fxg6 32. Be3 $1 g5 33.
Bxg5 Bd5 34. Bh6 Kf7 35. Rg3 Qxe5 36. Bf4 Qf6 37. Qh5+ 1-0
Game 2
[Site "Subic Bay Peninsular Hotel, O"]
[Date "2015.11.12"]
[Round "6.7"]
[White "SUNILDUTH LYNA, Narayanan"]
[Black "NOLTE, Rolando"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A00"]
[WhiteElo "2481"]
[BlackElo "2417"]
[PlyCount "59"]
[EventDate "2015.11.09"]
[EventRounds "10"]
[EventCountry "PHI"]
Benoni.} 6. Nc3 g6 7. Bf4 a6 8. a4 Qe7 9. e3 {Narayanan: It basically
transposes to the lines with h3 and e3, since if ...Nh5, then simply Bg5.} Bg7
10. Bd3 O-O 11. h3 Nbd7 12. O-O Rb8 (12... Re8) 13. e4 Ne8 14. Bh2 Ne5 15. Nxe5
Bxe5 16. f4 Bd4+ 17. Kh1 b5 $2 (17... Bd7 {improving the last undeveloped
piece, preparing ...b5 is better than lashing out like Black did in the game.}
18. a5 b5 19. axb6 Rxb6 20. Rxa6 Rxb2 21. Ne2 Bg7 22. Ra7 Qd8 23. Qc1 Rb3 24.
Bc4 (24. Qc4 Rb4 25. Qc2) 24... Rb4 25. Bg3 $11) 18. axb5 axb5 19. Nxb5 Bxb2
20. Ra2 Bg7 21. e5 Bd7 (21... dxe5 22. fxe5 (22. d6) 22... Bxe5 23. Re2 f6 (
23... Qd7) 24. d6 Qe6 25. Re4 {is completely winning.}) 22. Qe2 Bxb5 23. Bxb5
Nc7 24. Bc6 Rfd8 25. exd6 Qxe2 26. Rxe2 Ne8 (26... Rxd6 27. f5 $18) 27. d7 Nd6
28. f5 Bf8 29. fxg6 hxg6 30. Re8 1-0
Some choice tactics from the event:
Lu Shanglei - Richard Bitoon, Round one
Solution to tactics:
[Site "Subic Bay Peninsular Hotel, O"]
[Date "2015.11.09"]
[Round "1.4"]
[White "LU, Shanglei"]
[Black "BITOON, Richard"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A00"]
[WhiteElo "2615"]
[BlackElo "2417"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "r3kr2/ppp2p2/3bb1p1/3N4/2B1P2Q/8/PqP2PPP/3RK2R w Kq - 0 17"]
[PlyCount "3"]
[EventDate "2015.11.09"]
[EventRounds "10"]
[EventCountry "PHI"]
[Site "Subic Bay Peninsular Hotel, O"]
[Date "2015.11.12"]
[Round "6.12"]
[White "MOZHAROV, Mikhail"]
[Black "PASCUA, Haridas"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A00"]
[WhiteElo "2573"]
[BlackElo "2462"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "2b3k1/p4p1p/1p1p2p1/1B1P4/P3P2P/8/5PP1/6K1 w - - 0 28"]
[PlyCount "19"]
[EventDate "2015.11.09"]
[EventRounds "10"]
[EventCountry "PHI"]
33. Ke3 Bf1 34. g3 f6 35. Kd4 Kf7 36. a5 bxa5 37. Kc5 1-0
[Site "Subic Bay Peninsular Hotel, O"]
[Date "2015.11.10"]
[Round "3.9"]
[White "NGUYEN, Duc Hoa"]
[Black "BITOON, Richard"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A00"]
[WhiteElo "2500"]
[BlackElo "2417"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "8/p2r2pk/1p2pn1p/4Bq2/P2Q1P2/6RP/1P4PK/8 w - - 0 35"]
[PlyCount "47"]
[EventDate "2015.11.09"]
[EventRounds "10"]
[EventCountry "PHI"]
Nxa4 41. Kg3 Kf7 42. Kf3 Ke6 43. Ke3 a5 44. Kd3 Kd5 45. gxf5 h5 46. f6 Ke6 47.
Kc4 h4 48. Kb5 Nc5 49. Kxb6 Nd3 50. f5+ Kf7 51. Kxa5 Nf4 52. b4 Nxh3 53. b5 Ng5
54. b6 Nf3 55. Bc3 h3 56. b7 h2 57. b8=Q h1=Q 58. Qc7+ 1-0