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Women Challengers 2017 Round 5+6: Why you mustn't offer a draw!

by C.K. Muralidharan - 25/07/2017

There's a famous saying "No one has ever won a game by resigning!" 100% true, we would like to add, "No one has ever won a game by offering a draw!" While both statements absolutely obvious, a lot of chess have been guilty of committing this error. In the sixth round it was WGM Kiran Manisha Mohanty who did that against Mahalakshmi by offering a draw in a completely winning pawn endgame. We have the analysis. Top seed Soumya Swaminathan is the sole leader with 5.5/6 with a pack of five players behind her on 5.0/6. Report from Mysore by C.K. Muralidharan.

Soumya Swaminathan is the sole leader

Top-seeded WGM Soumya Swaminathan (PSPB) emerged as the sole leader with 5.5 points from six rounds, in the fourth-day of the 44th National women challengers chess championships 2017. Five players, WGM Kiran Manisha Mohanty (LIC), second seed WGM Mary Ann Gomes (PSPB), WIM Mahalakshmi M (TN), WFM Lakshmi C (TN) and fifth seeded Bhakti Kulkarni (Air India) are placed from second to sixth in the ranking with 5 points each from six rounds.

The game between top two seeds ended in a draw

Playing on the top board with white pieces top-seed WGM Soumya Swaminathan after a bad opening recovered, but was not able to get over a cramped position against second seeded WGM Mary Ann Gomes (PSPB). The game ended in a draw after repetition of moves to a same position for more than three times, after 56 moves.

[Event "44th NATIONAL WOMEN CHALLENGERS CHESS CH"]
[Site "Mysore Sports Club, Mysuru, Ka"]
[Date "2017.07.24"]
[Round "6.1"]
[White "Soumya, Swaminathan"]
[Black "Gomes, Mary Ann"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A00"]
[WhiteElo "2349"]
[BlackElo "2331"]
[PlyCount "110"]
[EventDate "2017.07.21"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "IND"]
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 a6 3. c3 d5 4. exd5 Qxd5 5. d4 Nf6 6. Be3 cxd4 7. cxd4 e6 8.
Nc3 Qd8 9. Bd3 Nc6 10. O-O Bd6 11. Qe2 O-O 12. Rad1 Qc7 13. Rc1 h6 14. h3 Nd5
15. Bb1 f5 16. a3 Qf7 17. Bd2 Bd7 18. Rfe1 Rae8 19. Qd3 Nce7 20. Ne5 Bxe5 21.
dxe5 Nxc3 22. Bxc3 Nd5 23. Bd4 Qg6 24. Bc5 Rf7 25. Qd4 Bc6 26. f3 Qg5 27. h4
Qh5 28. Kf2 g5 29. Rh1 g4 30. Rcg1 Kh8 31. Bd3 Rg8 32. Be2 g3+ 33. Ke1 f4 34.
Kd2 Ne3 35. Kc1 Bd5 36. Kb1 Rd8 37. Bd6 Qg6+ 38. Bd3 Qg7 39. Qb6 Rfd7 40. Rh3
Bc4 41. Be4 Bf1 42. Qb3 Qg8 43. h5 a5 44. Bg6 Rg7 45. Rxg3 a4 46. Qc3 Rc8 47.
Qd4 Rc4 48. Qd2 Qd8 49. Rg4 Qb6 50. Rxf4 Rxf4 51. Rxf1 Rd4 52. Qc1 Rc4 53. Qd2
Rd4 54. Qc1 Rc4 55. Qd2 Rd4 1/2-1/2

 

 

WGM Kiran Manisha Mohanty (LIC) was held to a draw by WIM Mahalakshmi M (TN) in 39 moves on the second board. After a bad opening Mahalakshmi made some mistakes in the endgame. The girl from Tamil Nadu but got off with a lucky draw after Kiran miscalculated the position and offered a draw which was gleefully accepted.

 

Mahalakshmi vs Kiran

Kiran accepted a draw in this position. It's White to play and Kd2-d3-c4 is going to round up the b4 pawn. But after Kd2, Black has a nice way to win. Can you find it?
[Event "44th NATIONAL WOMEN CHALLENGERS CHESS CH"]
[Site "Mysore Sports Club, Mysuru, Ka"]
[Date "2017.07.24"]
[Round "6.2"]
[White "Mahalakshmi, M."]
[Black "Kiran, Manisha Mohanty"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A00"]
[WhiteElo "2154"]
[BlackElo "2170"]
[Annotator "Sagar Shah"]
[PlyCount "78"]
[EventDate "2017.07.21"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "IND"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Bg7 7. Bb5+ c6 8.
Ba4 O-O 9. Ne2 Nd7 10. O-O b5 11. Bb3 a6 12. Qc2 Bb7 13. Rd1 c5 14. dxc5 Qc8
15. Bd5 e6 16. Bxb7 Qxb7 17. a4 Nxc5 18. axb5 axb5 19. Ba3 Rfc8 20. Bxc5 Rxc5
21. Rxa8+ Qxa8 22. Qd3 Rc4 23. f3 $6 (23. Qd8+ Qxd8 24. Rxd8+ Bf8 25. f3 $11)
23... Bf6 24. Kf1 Qc6 25. Rb1 Bxc3 26. Nxc3 Rxc3 27. Qd8+ Kg7 28. Qd4+ f6 29.
Qa7+ Kh6 30. Qb8 Rc1+ 31. Rxc1 Qxc1+ 32. Ke2 Qc2+ 33. Kf1 Qc5 34. Qe8 e5 35.
Qd7 Qc4+ 36. Ke1 b4 37. Qh3+ Kg7 38. Qd7+ Qf7 39. Qxf7+ Kxf7 {Kiran offered a
draw in a completely winning pawn endgame. Well the win involves some subtlety
but nothing that Kiran cannot handle.} (39... Kxf7 40. Kd2 f5 $3 {is the
winning move and the point is quite nice. The king must get the route
Kf6-g5-f4 to infiltrate White's camp.} (40... Ke6 41. Kd3 Kd6 42. Kc4 $11) 41.
Kd3 (41. exf5 gxf5 42. Kd3 Kf6 $1 (42... Ke6 $2 43. Kc4 $11) 43. Kc4 Kg5 44.
Kxb4 (44. g3 e4 45. fxe4 fxe4 46. Kxb4 Kg4 47. Kc4 Kh3 48. Kd4 Kxh2 49. Kxe4
Kxg3 $19) 44... Kf4 $19) (41. g4 $5 {was a very interesting move suggested by
IM Bernd Kohlweyer on Facebook. The way to win is not trivial.} fxe4 42. fxe4
Kf6 43. h4 g5 $1 44. h5 Ke6 45. Kd3 Kd6 46. Kc4 b3 $1 47. Kxb3 Kc5 48. Kc3 h6
$1 $19 {And the extra little tempo seals the deal!}) 41... Kf6 $1 42. Kc4 Kg5
43. g3 fxe4 44. fxe4 Kg4 $19) 1/2-1/2

On the third board, WFM Lasya and IM Nisha Mohata were involved in a drawn game of 25 moves and both shared a point out of this encounter.

WGM Bhakti Kulkarni (AI) registered a well earned win over R.Divya Lakshmi (TN) who faltered in the ending game in 44 moves. Bhakti has done excellently to score five consecutive wins after her first round loss.

WFM Lakshmi C (TN) scored a convincing win over WIM Pranali S Dharia (Mah) in 42 moves.

Third seed WGM Swati Ghate came back strongly by registering a win over K.Manasa of Karnataka in 34 moves.

Fifth round:

WGM and top-seed Soumya Swaminathan playing with black pieces on the top board against giant killer Divya Lakshmi R, capitalized on the weak opening made by her rival and defeated her in 35 moves.

[Event "44th NATIONAL WOMEN CHALLENGERS CHESS CH"]
[Site "Mysore Sports Club, Mysuru, Ka"]
[Date "2017.07.24"]
[Round "5.1"]
[White "Divya, Lakshmi R"]
[Black "Soumya, Swaminathan"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A00"]
[WhiteElo "1957"]
[BlackElo "2349"]
[PlyCount "70"]
[EventDate "2017.07.21"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "IND"]
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 6. Bg5 e6 7. Qd2 a6 8.
O-O-O Bd7 9. f4 b5 10. Bxf6 gxf6 11. Kb1 Qb6 12. Nxc6 Bxc6 13. Qe1 Ra7 14. Bd3
b4 15. Ne2 Qc5 16. f5 Bh6 17. Qh4 Bg5 18. Qh5 e5 19. h4 Be3 20. Rh3 a5 21. Qf3
Bh6 22. Qh5 Bf8 23. g4 a4 24. g5 Bg7 25. Rg3 Ke7 26. Rdg1 d5 27. Qf3 d4 28. g6
fxg6 29. fxg6 h5 30. Rf1 b3 31. a3 bxc2+ 32. Ka1 Rb7 33. Rc1 Rxb2 34. Kxb2 Rb8+
35. Ka2 Qb6 0-1

The opening used by Soumya to win this game was the Classical variation of the Sicilian. Recently India number three Vidit Gujrathi made a post about this opening on his Facebook page:

In case you are interested to learn the Classical Sicilian, ChessBase India shop has a wonderful DVD on it by Mihail Marin. Learning this opening from an experienced coach like Marin is a sure shot way to improvement:

Macro alias: EmbedProduct

On the second board WGM Mary Ann Gomes scored a well earned win over K.Priyanka of Tamil Nadu in 35 moves, while WGM Kiran Manisha Mohanty (LIC) scored a good win over Makhija A (Mah) in 48 moves. Playing on the fourth board with white pieces Sanskriti Goyal of Uttar Pradesh went down to WIM Mahalakshmi M (TN) in 70 moves. WFM Lakshmi C (TN) and WFM G.Lasya (AP) were involved in a drawn encounter which had 62 moves. IM Nisha Mohata playing with white pieces on the sixth board scored a good win over Shetye Siddhali (Mah) in 30 moves. Karnataka's WCM Isha Sharma scored a creditable win over WIM Rucha Pujari (Mah).

Results of round 5

Bo. No.   Name Rtg Club/City Pts. Result Pts.   Name Rtg Club/City No.
1 29   Divya Lakshmi R 1957 TN 4 0 - 1 4 WGM Soumya Swaminathan 2349 PSPB 1
2 2 WGM Gomes Mary Ann 2331 PSPB 1 - 0 4   Priyanka K 2081 TN 21
3 13 WGM Kiran Manisha Mohanty 2170 LIC 1 - 0   Makhija Aashna 1947 MAH 31
4 42   Sanskriti Goyal 1805 UP 0 - 1 WIM Mahalakshmi M 2154 TN 15
5 30 WFM Lakshmi C 1952 TN ½ - ½ WFM Lasya.G 2097 AP 20
6 4 IM Mohota Nisha 2271 PSPB 3 1 - 0 3   Shetye Siddhali 1920 MAH 33
7 25   Bala Kannamma P 1977 TN 3 0 - 1 3 WGM Kulkarni Bhakti 2255 AI 5
8 35   Manasa K. 1916 KAR 3 ½ - ½ 3 WIM Nandhidhaa Pv 2221 AAI 7
9 8 WFM Srija Seshadri 2200 DEL 3 ½ - ½ 3   Meenu Rajendran 1918 KER 34
10 10 WGM Meenakshi Subbaraman 2181 AAI 3 1 - 0 3   Alka Das 1887 JHA 36

Complete results

Results of round 6:

Bo. No.   Name Rtg Club/City Pts. Result Pts.   Name Rtg Club/City No.
1 1 WGM Soumya Swaminathan 2349 PSPB 5 ½ - ½ WGM Gomes Mary Ann 2331 PSPB 2
2 15 WIM Mahalakshmi M 2154 TN ½ - ½ WGM Kiran Manisha Mohanty 2170 LIC 13
3 20 WFM Lasya.G 2097 AP 4 ½ - ½ 4 IM Mohota Nisha 2271 PSPB 4
4 5 WGM Kulkarni Bhakti 2255 AI 4 1 - 0 4   Divya Lakshmi R 1957 TN 29
5 21   Priyanka K 2081 TN 4 ½ - ½ 4 WGM Meenakshi Subbaraman 2181 AAI 10
6 16 WIM Parnali S Dharia 2140 MAH 4 0 - 1 4 WFM Lakshmi C 1952 TN 30
7 3 WGM Swati Ghate 2278 LIC 1 - 0   Manasa K. 1916 KAR 35
8 31   Makhija Aashna 1947 MAH 1 - 0 WIM Pratyusha Bodda 2236 AP 6
9 7 WIM Nandhidhaa Pv 2221 AAI ½ - ½ WCM Isha Sharma 1878 KAR 37
10 38   Sandhya G 1873 AP ½ - ½ WFM Srija Seshadri 2200 DEL 8

Complete results

Rank after round 6:

Rk. SNo   Name FED Rtg Club/City Pts.  TB1   TB2   TB3 
1 1 WGM Soumya Swaminathan IND 2349 PSPB 5,5 0,0 20,5 23,5
2 13 WGM Kiran Manisha Mohanty IND 2170 LIC 5,0 0,0 22,5 25,5
3 2 WGM Gomes Mary Ann IND 2331 PSPB 5,0 0,0 22,0 24,5
4 15 WIM Mahalakshmi M IND 2154 TN 5,0 0,0 20,5 22,5
5 30 WFM Lakshmi C IND 1952 TN 5,0 0,0 20,0 22,0
6 5 WGM Kulkarni Bhakti IND 2255 AI 5,0 0,0 18,0 20,0
7 21   Priyanka K IND 2081 TN 4,5 0,0 21,0 23,5
8 20 WFM Lasya.G IND 2097 AP 4,5 0,0 20,5 23,5
9 31   Makhija Aashna IND 1947 MAH 4,5 0,0 19,0 20,5
10 3 WGM Swati Ghate IND 2278 LIC 4,5 0,0 18,0 21,0

Complete list of ranking

Pairing for round 7

Bo. No.   Name Rtg Club/City Pts. Result Pts.   Name Rtg Club/City No.
1 13 WGM Kiran Manisha Mohanty 2170 LIC 5   WGM Soumya Swaminathan 2349 PSPB 1
2 2 WGM Gomes Mary Ann 2331 PSPB 5   5 WGM Kulkarni Bhakti 2255 AI 5
3 30 WFM Lakshmi C 1952 TN 5   5 WIM Mahalakshmi M 2154 TN 15
4 20 WFM Lasya.G 2097 AP   WGM Swati Ghate 2278 LIC 3
5 4 IM Mohota Nisha 2271 PSPB     Priyanka K 2081 TN 21
6 10 WGM Meenakshi Subbaraman 2181 AAI     Makhija Aashna 1947 MAH 31
7 27 WCM Jyothsna L 1964 TN     Harshita Guddanti 2180 AP 11
8 29   Divya Lakshmi R 1957 TN 4   4 WIM Nandhidhaa Pv 2221 AAI 7
9 8 WFM Srija Seshadri 2200 DEL 4   4 WCM Isha Sharma 1878 KAR 37
10 12 WIM Michelle Catherina P 2177 TN 4   4   Meenu Rajendran 1918 KER 34

Complete pairing list 

Download games in PGN format

About the author

C.K.Muralidharan is a 55-year-old Free-lance Sports Journalist based in Mysore. He has 20 years of experience in sports journalism. He contributes to the Hindu National daily and Daily Star of Mysore on all sports in Mysore for the last 15 years. He has been covering sports in Mysore on his website - www.mysoresport.com. He is the promoter of Mysore Professional Chess Academy. IM M.S.Thejkumar is the Vice-President of the Academy and supervises the coaching programme. He works with the Mysore District Chess Association in order to spread the game of chess through the chess in schools program.


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