WJCC 04+05: Murali Karthikeyan becomes the sole leader
Six players went into the fifth day of play tied at 3.5/4. While both the top two board games by the first and the second seeds ended in a draw, GM Murali Karthikeyan beat German IM Rasmus Svane with the white pieces to become the tournament’s first sole leader with 4.5/5. Karthikeyan has a knack of outperforming others in pressure situations. It remains to be seen how well India’s 2015 National Champion fares in the coming days.
WJCC 04+05: Murali Karthikeyan becomes the sole leader
Round 04:
This allowed a host of pursuers to join the two. Five players now led the table with 3.5/4.
[Site "Bhubaneswar"]
[Date "2016.08.11"]
[Round "4.1"]
[White "Sunilduth Lyna, Narayanan"]
[Black "Artemiev, Vladislav"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D85"]
[WhiteElo "2515"]
[BlackElo "2665"]
[PlyCount "156"]
[EventDate "2016.08.11"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "13"]
[EventCountry "IND"]
[SourceDate "2003.06.08"]
[TimeControl "6000+1275"]
[WhiteClock "0:10:10"]
[BlackClock "0:01:54"]
Be3 Qa5 9. Qd2 Nd7 10. Bd3 O-O 11. Rc1 Nb6 12. Bh6 f6 13. Bxg7 Kxg7 14. h4 Bg4
15. h5 g5 16. Ne5 Bc8 17. h6+ Kh8 18. d5 Qa4 19. Nf3 Rg8 20. Qe3 g4 21. Nd2 c4
22. Be2 Qa3 23. O-O Rg5 24. Nxc4 Nxc4 25. Bxc4 Qd6 26. Be2 Rh5 27. g3 Bd7 28.
c4 b6 29. Kg2 Rc8 30. Rh1 Rg5 31. Rh4 Rc5 32. Qf4 Ra5 33. Rc2 Kg8 34. Qxd6 exd6
35. f4 gxf3+ 36. Bxf3 Kf7 37. Rh5 Kg6 38. Rh4 Ra3 39. Rf4 Kf7 40. Rh4 Ke7 41.
Kf2 Rg6 42. Kg2 Rd3 43. Kf2 Ba4 44. Rb2 Bd1 45. Bxd1 Rxd1 46. Re2 Rc1 47. Kf3
Rxc4 48. Re3 Rc5 49. Rh2 Kf7 50. Ra3 Rc7 51. Kf4 Rg5 52. g4 Kg6 53. Rh5 Re5 54.
Rf5 Rc4 55. Rxe5 fxe5+ 56. Kf3 Rc7 57. Kg3 Kxh6 58. Kh4 Kg6 59. Ra6 h6 60. Ra3
a5 61. Rb3 Rc2 62. Rxb6 Rh2+ 63. Kg3 Rxa2 64. Rxd6+ Kg5 65. Re6 Ra3+ 66. Kf2
Kf4 67. Rxh6 Rf3+ 68. Ke2 Re3+ 69. Kf2 Rxe4 70. Ra6 a4 71. d6 Rd4 72. d7 Rd2+
73. Ke1 Rxd7 74. Rxa4+ e4 75. Ra3 Rb7 76. Ke2 Rb2+ 77. Ke1 e3 78. Ra8 Kxg4
1/2-1/2
[Site "Bhubaneswar"]
[Date "2016.08.11"]
[Round "4.2"]
[White "Xiong, Jeffery"]
[Black "Yuan, Qingyu"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A17"]
[WhiteElo "2633"]
[BlackElo "2366"]
[PlyCount "79"]
[EventDate "2016.08.11"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "13"]
[EventCountry "IND"]
[SourceDate "2003.06.08"]
[TimeControl "6000+610"]
[WhiteClock "0:45:49"]
[BlackClock "0:08:51"]
a5 9. b3 b6 10. Bb2 Bb7 11. d3 Nbd7 12. O-O Qe7 13. Rfe1 Rfe8 14. Rac1 d5 15.
d4 e4 16. Ne5 Rec8 17. c5 c6 18. cxb6 Nxb6 19. a4 Rc7 20. Qd2 Ne8 21. Bc3 f6
22. Bxa5 Rxa5 23. Qxa5 Nc8 24. Nxc6 Rxc6 25. Rxc6 Bxc6 26. Rc1 Bb7 27. b4 Ncd6
28. Qc5 Kf7 29. a5 Nc4 30. Rxc4 dxc4 31. Bxc4+ Kf8 32. a6 Ba8 33. b5 Nd6 34. b6
g6 35. Bd5 Bxd5 36. Qxd5 Kg7 37. a7 Nf5 38. a8=Q Qb4 39. Qdg8+ Kh6 40. Qaf8+
1-0
Masoud managed to pull this off by playing the highly speculative Smith-Morra Gambit against Alekseenko's Sicilian, with the former's aggressive intent earning him the upset.
Watch this beautiful game here:
[Site "Bhubaneswar"]
[Date "2016.08.11"]
[Round "4.3"]
[White "Mosadeghpour, Masoud"]
[Black "Alekseenko, Kirill"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B21"]
[WhiteElo "2437"]
[BlackElo "2582"]
[PlyCount "85"]
[EventDate "2016.08.11"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "13"]
[EventCountry "IND"]
[SourceDate "2003.06.08"]
[TimeControl "6000+1510"]
[WhiteClock "0:02:08"]
[BlackClock "0:00:59"]
Bg5 h6 9. Be3 b5 10. Bb3 Bb7 11. Re1 Na5 12. Ne5 Nxb3 13. Bb6 Qc8 14. Qf3 Nf5
15. Qh5 g6 16. Nxg6 Ng7 17. Qg4 fxg6 18. Qxg6+ Ke7 19. e5 Nh5 20. axb3 Qc6 21.
Ba5 Qxg2+ 22. Qxg2 Bxg2 23. Kxg2 Ke8 24. Re4 Be7 25. Bb6 b4 26. Nb5 Kf7 27. Nc7
Rab8 28. Be3 Rbc8 29. Nxa6 Rc2 30. Rd4 Bg5 31. Rxd7+ Kg6 32. Nxb4 Rxb2 33. Nd3
Rxb3 34. Nc5 Rb6 35. Raa7 Bxe3 36. fxe3 Rb2+ 37. Kf3 Re8 38. Ra6 Ng7 39. Nd3
Rf8+ 40. Nf4+ Rxf4+ 41. exf4 Rb3+ 42. Ke4 Rb4+ 43. Rd4 1-0
[Site "Bhubaneswar"]
[Date "2016.08.11"]
[Round "4.5"]
[White "Visakh, N R."]
[Black "Aravindh, Chithambaram Vr"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D12"]
[WhiteElo "2431"]
[BlackElo "2543"]
[PlyCount "211"]
[EventDate "2016.08.11"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "13"]
[EventCountry "IND"]
[SourceDate "2003.06.08"]
[TimeControl "6000+995"]
[WhiteClock "0:05:38"]
[BlackClock "0:03:26"]
Nbd2 Be7 9. e4 dxc4 10. Qxc4 O-O 11. b3 c5 12. Bb2 cxd4 13. Bxd4 a6 14. Qe2 Rc8
15. Rac1 Ba3 16. Rcd1 Be7 17. Nc4 Qc7 18. a4 b5 19. axb5 axb5 20. Nce5 Nc5 21.
Bxc5 Bxc5 22. Qxb5 Nxe4 23. Rd7 Qb8 24. Qxb8 Rxb8 25. Rd3 Rfd8 26. Rxd8+ Rxd8
27. b4 Bb6 28. Nc4 Ba7 29. g3 Rb8 30. Rb1 Bc5 31. b5 Nxf2 32. Kg2 f6 33. b6 Ne4
34. b7 Kf8 35. Na5 Nd6 36. Nd2 Ke8 37. Ne4 Nxe4 38. Nc6 Bd6 39. Nxb8 Bxb8 40.
Rc1 Kf7 41. Rc8 Be5 42. b8=Q Bxb8 43. Rxb8 h5 44. Kf3 Nd2+ 45. Ke2 Nc4 46. Rh8
Kg6 47. h3 Nd6 48. Kf3 Nf7 49. Rg8 Nh6 50. Ra8 Nf5 51. Ra4 h4 52. g4 Nd6 53.
Ra6 Nf7 54. Kg2 Ng5 55. Ra7 e5 56. Re7 Kh6 57. Re8 Kh7 58. Kh2 Nf3+ 59. Kg2
Ne1+ 60. Kf2 Nd3+ 61. Kf3 Nf4 62. g5 Nxh3 63. gxf6 gxf6 64. Kg4 Ng5 65. Kxh4
Kg6 66. Kg4 f5+ 67. Kh4 Kf6 68. Rf8+ Nf7 69. Kg3 Ke7 70. Ra8 Kf6 71. Rf8 Ke6
72. Kf3 Ng5+ 73. Ke3 Nh7 74. Re8+ Kf6 75. Rh8 Kg6 76. Rg8+ Kf7 77. Rh8 Nf6 78.
Ra8 Kg6 79. Rf8 Kg5 80. Kf3 e4+ 81. Ke3 Ng4+ 82. Ke2 f4 83. Rg8+ Kh4 84. Re8
f3+ 85. Ke1 e3 86. Rf8 Kg3 87. Rg8 Kf4 88. Rf8+ Ke4 89. Re8+ Ne5 90. Kf1 Kd4
91. Rd8+ Kc3 92. Re8 Kd4 93. Rd8+ Ke4 94. Re8 Kf5 95. Rf8+ Kg5 96. Rg8+ Ng6 97.
Ke1 Kf5 98. Kf1 Nf4 99. Re8 Nd5 100. Ke1 Kf4 101. Rf8+ Ke4 102. Re8+ Kf5 103.
Rf8+ Nf6 104. Kf1 Ke6 105. Ke1 Ke7 106. Rh8 1/2-1/2
Both Frayna and Dordzhieva led with 4.0/4. Close on their heels was the Indian duo of WIM Pratyusha Bodda and WIM Pv Nandhidhaa.
Round 05:
Six players went into the fifth day of play tied at 3.5/4. While both the top two board games by the first and the second seeds ended in a draw, Karthikeyan beat German IM Rasmus Svane with the white pieces to become the tournament’s first sole leader with 4.5/5.
[Site "Bhubaneswar"]
[Date "2016.08.12"]
[Round "5.3"]
[White "Karthikeyan, Murali"]
[Black "Svane, Rasmus"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B12"]
[WhiteElo "2514"]
[BlackElo "2546"]
[PlyCount "73"]
[EventDate "2016.08.12"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "13"]
[EventCountry "IND"]
[SourceDate "2003.06.08"]
[TimeControl "6000+1450"]
[WhiteClock "0:13:30"]
[BlackClock "0:01:39"]
Bd3 9. Bxd3 cxd3 10. Qxd3 Nd7 11. Qe2 Nb6 12. Be3 Ned5 13. Bg5 Be7 14. Nce4 f6
15. exf6 gxf6 16. Bd2 Qd7 17. Nc5 Bxc5 18. dxc5 Nc8 19. Nxh5 Nce7 20. O-O-O
O-O-O 21. Ng3 e5 22. Ne4 Nf5 23. Ba5 Nd4 24. Rxd4 exd4 25. Bxd8 Qxd8 26. Qd2
Qg8 27. g3 f5 28. Nd6+ Kc7 29. Qxd4 f4 30. Qe5 Kd7 31. Re1 fxg3 32. Qf5+ Kc7
33. Re8 Qxe8 34. Nxe8+ Rxe8 35. fxg3 Re1+ 36. Kd2 Rd1+ 37. Ke2 1-0
[Site "Bhubaneswar"]
[Date "2016.08.12"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Dordzhieva-RUS (2304), Dinara"]
[Black "Frayna-PHI (2292), Janelle Mae"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A20"]
[WhiteElo "2304"]
[BlackElo "2292"]
[PlyCount "81"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2003.06.08"]
[TimeControl "5400+860"]
[WhiteClock "0:32:04"]
[BlackClock "0:02:06"]
Qa4+ Nc6 9. Nf3 Bc5 10. O-O O-O 11. a3 h6 12. b4 Bb6 13. Bb2 Qe7 14. Rad1 Rfd8
15. Qc2 Rac8 16. Qb1 Bg4 17. h3 Bh5 18. Na4 Bc7 19. Nc5 b6 20. Nd3 Bg6 21. Qa1
Qxe2 22. Rfe1 Qc2 23. Rd2 Qb3 24. Nc1 Qa4 25. Nh4 d4 26. Nxg6 fxg6 27. Ne2 Be5
28. f4 Bd6 29. Nxd4 Nxd4 30. Bxd4 Nh5 31. Bf2 Bf8 32. Rxd8 Rxd8 33. Qa2+ Kh7
34. Be4 Bxb4 35. Bxg6+ Kxg6 36. Qb1+ Kf7 37. axb4 Nf6 38. g4 Rd5 39. Bh4 Qa3
40. Kg2 Rd2+ 41. Bf2 1/2-1/2
The new leader in the open section has an onerous task ahead, for winning the crown is one thing, but maintaining it on your head is another. Karthikeyan has a knack of outperforming others in pressure situations. It remains to be seen how well India’s 2015 National Champion fares in the coming days.
Pairings for Round 06: