WJCC 01: Interesting moments already!

by Priyadarshan Banjan - 09/08/2016

The World Junior Chess Championship 2016 got off to a rollicking start at the KIIT University on Monday. In a normal chess tournament, the first round would be considered an easy day for the higher seeds but so was not the case here. Check out the top seed Russian GM Vladislav Artemiev's in-depth analysis for the ChessBase readers, and see how Aravindh Chithambaram swindled a game where he was two pawns down in our illustrated report.

WJCC 01: Interesting moments already!

The World Junior Chess Championship 2016 got off to a rollicking start at the KIIT University on Monday. In a normal chess tournament, the first round would be considered an easy day for the higher seeds but so was not the case here. 137 players from 42 countries are participating in this in this prestigious tournament spanning 13 rounds.

Open Section:

The top seed: Russian GM Vladislav Artemiev (2665)

Artemiev faced no difficulties in dispatching his French opponent FM Dylan Viennot.

Artemiev-Viennot (Annotations by Vladislav Artemiev)

[Event "World Junior Chess Championship 2016"] [Site "Bhubaneswar"] [Date "2016.08.08"] [Round "1.1"] [White "Artemiev, Vladislav"] [Black "Viennot, Dylan"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E04"] [WhiteElo "2665"] [BlackElo "2342"] [Annotator "Vladislav Artemiev"] [PlyCount "99"] [EventDate "2016.08.08"] [EventType "swiss"] [EventRounds "13"] [EventCountry "IND"] [SourceDate "2003.06.08"] [TimeControl "6000+1345"] [WhiteClock "0:29:08"] [BlackClock "0:16:41"] 1. Nf3 d5 2. d4 e6 3. c4 Nf6 4. g3 {The Catalan.} dxc4 5. Bg2 Nc6 6. O-O ({ Also possible is} 6. Qa4 Bb4+ {which is a very theoretical continuation. I did not remember everything, so I chose to avoid it.}) 6... Rb8 {Here, I have many moves in this position.} 7. e3 {A normal move.} ({One good option is} 7. Bg5) 7... b5 {This is not the usual idea, I think.} ({In my opinion, black should play} 7... Be7 8. Qe2 b5 9. b3 cxb3 10. axb3 {White has compensation, but Black too does not have anything great.}) 8. b3 {a good move.} cxb3 9. axb3 Bb7 10. Qe2 a6 11. Bd2 {Interesting move I think.} ({Alternative is} 11. Ne1 Be7 12. Nd3 O-O 13. Bd2 {is also good for white, maybe even better.}) 11... Ne4 12. Be1 ({I cannot go} 12. Rc1 Nxd2 13. Nbxd2 Be7 14. Ng5 Nxd4 $1 $17 {not good for white, of course.}) 12... Bd6 $1 (12... Be7 13. Qc2 Nf6 14. Rxa6 Nb4 15. Bxb4 Bxa6 16. Qc6+ Qd7 17. Qxa6 Bxb4 {and white has a srtong compensation.}) 13. Qc2 f5 {According to me, I must play} 14. Rxa6 (14. Nc3 Nb4 $1 {and black has a very good position.}) 14... Nb4 15. Bxb4 {I must take this.} Bxa6 16. Qc6+ {This is a critical moment for black.} Qd7 $2 {A mistake in my opinion.} ( {Black must play} 16... Ke7 17. Qxa6 Bxb4 18. Ne5 Rb6 19. Qa2 {A difficult position. Compensation for White, but good position for black.} (19. Nc6+ Kf6 $11)) 17. Qxa6 Bxb4 18. Ne5 Rb6 {Good move} (18... Qd6 19. Nc6 O-O 20. Nxb8 Rxb8 {White has good pawn structure.}) 19. Qa8+ Qd8 20. Qxd8+ {this is best.} ( 20. Bxe4 {is very risky for white.} fxe4 21. Qxe4 O-O 22. Nd3 {is maybe okay, but I don't like it.}) 20... Kxd8 21. Nf7+ Ke7 22. Nxh8 Nc3 {a big mistake I think.} (22... Rb8 $1 {is the way forward.} 23. Rc1 Rxh8 24. Rxc7+ Kd6 25. Rc2 ({Now, If I go} 25. Rxg7 Rc8 {Black gets the check on c1.}) (25. Rc1 Ra8 26. Bf1 Ra2 {Black is fine.}) 25... Ra8 26. Bxe4 fxe4 27. Kg2 Ra1 {a normal position, drawish.}) 23. Nxc3 Bxc3 24. Rc1 {An important move} b4 25. Rc2 Ra6 { Interesting move} 26. Bf1 Ra8 27. f4 $1 {an important move} (27. Bc4 {is okay, but} g5 {White is still better, but why allow g5?}) 27... Rxh8 (27... Kf6 28. Bc4 g6 29. Kf2 $16) 28. Ra2 {Ver difficult for black} Rb8 29. Bc4 h6 30. Kf2 Rb7 31. Ra5 Rb6 32. Kf3 g6 33. h3 h5 {What can Black do?} 34. g4 hxg4+ 35. hxg4 Rb8 (35... fxg4+ 36. Kxg4 Kf6 37. Rc5 c6 38. Re5 $18 {No chances for black}) 36. Ra6 Rb6 37. Ra8 Bd2 38. g5 Rb7 39. Rg8 Kf7 40. Rh8 {White is just winning.} Ra7 41. Rh7+ Kg8 42. Re7 Ra2 43. Rxe6 Kg7 44. Re7+ Kf8 45. Rxc7 Be1 46. e4 Rf2+ 47. Ke3 fxe4 48. Rf7+ Kg8 49. Ra7+ Kf8 50. Ra1 1-0

USA's GM Jeffrey Xiong (2633) coasted through with the black pieces against CM Arjun Erigaisi.

The third seed GM Kirill Alekseenko of Russia won with relative ease as well, against Swiss FM Patrik Grandadam.

Black just played 24...d5. How should white respond?

[Event "World Junior Chess Championship 2016"] [Site "Bhubaneswar"] [Date "2016.08.08"] [Round "1.3"] [White "Alekseenko, Kirill"] [Black "Grandadam, Patrik"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B47"] [WhiteElo "2582"] [BlackElo "2325"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "2b2rk1/1p1p2pp/rNq1pb2/p1P2p2/5B2/1P4P1/P3QP1P/2RR2K1 b - - 0 24"] [PlyCount "12"] [EventDate "2016.08.08"] [EventType "swiss"] [EventRounds "13"] [EventCountry "IND"] [SourceDate "2003.06.08"] [TimeControl "6000+1420"] [WhiteClock "0:37:33"] [BlackClock "0:24:46"] 24... d5 {White is clearly better. But now, Black throws it away.} 25. cxd6 Qxb6 {Has White lost a piece?} 26. Rxc8 {Of course, no.} Bd8 (26... Rxc8 27. Qxe6+ $18) 27. Qxe6+ Kh8 28. Be3 Qb4 29. Qf7 Rg8 30. Bd4 1-0

Parham Maghsoodloo (2576)

Fourth seed Iran’s Parham Maghsoodloo was slightly worse, but managed to come back into the game and was winning, but a queen trade towards the end meant that his opponent, Swedish FM Tom Rydstrom, enforced a stalemate, thus earning an upset draw.

Black may have done well to avoid the exchange of queens with 34…Qf4, that eventually petered out into a draw.

[Event "World Junior Chess Championship 2016"]
[Site "Bhubaneswar"]
[Date "2016.08.08"]
[Round "1.4"]
[White "Rydstrom, Tom"]
[Black "Maghsoodloo, Parham"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B42"]
[WhiteElo "2315"]
[BlackElo "2576"]
[PlyCount "108"]
[EventDate "2016.08.08"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "13"]
[EventCountry "IND"]
[SourceDate "2003.06.08"]
[TimeControl "6000+1295"]
[WhiteClock "0:22:57"]
[BlackClock "0:55:49"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 a6 5. Bd3 Bc5 6. Nb3 Be7 7. Qg4 g6 8. Qe2
d6 9. Be3 Nd7 10. N1d2 Ngf6 11. O-O-O b5 12. f4 Bb7 13. g4 e5 14. f5 gxf5 15.
gxf5 Rc8 16. Rhg1 Qc7 17. Kb1 Nb6 18. Bh6 Nc4 19. Bg7 Rg8 20. Bxf6 (20. c3 $16)
20... Rxg1 21. Rxg1 Nxd2+ 22. Nxd2 Bxf6 23. Rg8+ Ke7 24. Rxc8 Qxc8 25. c4 Bg5
26. cxb5 axb5 27. a3 Bf4 28. Bxb5 Bxd2 29. Qxd2 Bxe4+ 30. Bd3 Qxf5 31. Bxe4
Qxe4+ 32. Ka2 d5 33. b4 d4 34. Kb2 Qf4 (34... f5) 35. Qxf4 exf4 36. Kc2 Kd6 37.
Kd3 f3 38. a4 Kc6 39. Kd2 f5 40. Kd3 f4 41. a5 Kb5 42. Kd2 h5 (42... Ka6 43.
Kd3 h6 44. Kd2 Kb5 45. h4 Ka6 46. h5 f2 47. Ke2) 43. h4 f2 (43... Ka6 44. Kd3
f2 45. Ke2 f1=Q+ 46. Kxf1 d3 47. Kf2) 44. Ke2 d3+ 45. Kxf2 Kxb4 46. a6 d2 47.
a7 d1=Q 48. a8=Q Qd2+ 49. Kf1 Qd3+ 50. Kf2 Qe3+ 51. Kf1 f3 52. Qa4+ Kc3 53.
Qc4+ Kd2 54. Qc2+ Kxc2 1/2-1/2

FM Tom Rydstrom (2315)

The leader of the Indian challenge GM Aravindh Chithambaram was completely losing his game against country-mate IM Krishna Teja N.

GM Aravindh Chithambaram (2543)

The game began as French Fort Knox, where Aravindh bravely sacrificed an exchange for compensation. He eventually went wrong, and Krishna Teja went two pawns up. Krishna Teja did not know the time control of the tournament, and thought that there would be no extra 30 minutes after 40 moves, and perhaps the stress took its toll as he blundered away the whole game!

[Event "World Junior Chess Championship 2016"]
[Site "Bhubaneswar"]
[Date "2016.08.08"]
[Round "1.7"]
[White "Aravindh, Chithambaram Vr"]
[Black "Krishna Teja, N."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C10"]
[WhiteElo "2543"]
[BlackElo "2282"]
[PlyCount "123"]
[EventDate "2016.08.08"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "13"]
[EventCountry "IND"]
[SourceDate "2003.06.08"]
[TimeControl "6000+1895"]
[WhiteClock "0:07:47"]
[BlackClock "0:09:59"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Bd7 5. Nf3 Bc6 6. Bd3 Nd7 7. c3 Ngf6 8.
Nxf6+ Nxf6 9. Bf4 Bxf3 10. Qxf3 c6 11. O-O Bd6 12. Be5 Bxe5 13. dxe5 Nd7 14.
Qg3 g6 15. Rfe1 Qc7 16. Rad1 O-O-O 17. Bf1 Nb6 18. Rd6 Kb8 19. Red1 Nc8 20. b4
a5 21. a3 axb4 22. axb4 Nxd6 23. exd6 Qb6 24. Qe5 Rhg8 25. b5 cxb5 26. d7+ Qc7
27. Qxb5 f6 28. Qa4 Rg7 29. Bb5 Qxc3 30. g3 e5 31. Rd3 Qc5 32. Rb3 Qc2 33. Kg2
Qc5 34. Rd3 f5 35. Rd2 Re7 36. Qb3 (36. f4 exf4 37. Ra2 Rexd7 38. Bxd7 $11)
36... e4 37. Rc2 Qd6 38. Qc3 Rexd7 39. Bxd7 Qxd7 40. Qe5+ Qd6 41. Qg7 h5 42. h4
f4 43. Rb2 f3+ 44. Kh2 Qd5 45. Qxg6 Qd4 46. Qg5 b6 47. Rc2 Rc8 48. Rd2 Qc4 49.
Qxh5 Kb7 50. Qe5 Rc5 51. Qe7+ Ka6 52. Qe8 Rc8 53. Qd7 Rc7 54. Qf5 Rf7 55. Qe5
Ka7 56. Qa1+ Kb7 57. Rd8 b5 58. Qa8+ Kb6 59. Rd6+ Kc5 60. Rc6+ Kd4 61. Qd8+ Kc3
62. Qe8 1-0

Aravindh did not give up and kept pushing, and eventually swindled his opponent, winning the game after being two pawns down at one point!

Utkal Ranjan Sahoo (2266)

Odisha’s leading light Utkal Ranjan Sahoo, the 53rd seed, caused a big upset by beating 13th seeded Iran’s IM Shahin Lorparizangeneh in a nice fashion.

[Event "World Junior Chess Championship 2016"]
[Site "Bhubaneswar"]
[Date "2016.08.08"]
[Round "1.13"]
[White "Lorparizangeneh, Shahin"]
[Black "Sahoo, Utkal Ranjan"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A06"]
[WhiteElo "2478"]
[BlackElo "2266"]
[PlyCount "122"]
[EventDate "2016.08.08"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "13"]
[EventCountry "IND"]
[SourceDate "2003.06.08"]
[TimeControl "6000+870"]
[WhiteClock "0:06:17"]
[BlackClock "0:18:17"]

1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 c6 4. c4 e6 5. O-O Nbd7 6. d4 Be7 7. Nc3 O-O 8. Nd2
b6 9. e4 dxc4 10. Nxc4 Ba6 11. b3 b5 12. Ne3 b4 13. Ne2 Nb6 14. Re1 Rc8 15. Nf4
Qc7 16. Bb2 Rfd8 17. Qc2 Qb8 18. Rad1 Nfd7 19. e5 Nd5 20. Nfxd5 cxd5 21. Qb1
Nf8 22. h4 Rc7 23. h5 h6 24. f4 Bb5 25. Kh2 a5 26. Rd2 a4 27. Rf2 Qb6 28. Qd1
a3 29. Bc1 Rdc8 30. Rc2 Rxc2 31. Nxc2 Qc7 32. Ne3 Qc3 33. Bf1 Bxf1 34. Nxf1
Qc2+ 35. Qd2 Qf5 36. Kg1 Qxh5 37. Qd3 Rc3 38. Qb5 Rc2 39. Bd2 Ng6 40. Rc1 Rxa2
41. Qe8+ Bf8 42. Rc7 Qe2 43. Qxf7+ Kh7 44. f5 exf5 45. Qxf5 Rxd2 46. Nxd2 Qxd2
47. Qf2 Qd1+ 48. Kh2 Qxb3 49. Rf7 Qb2 50. Qxb2 axb2 51. Rf1 Ne7 52. Rb1 Nc6 53.
Kg2 Nxd4 54. Rxb2 b3 55. Kf2 Ba3 56. Rb1 b2 57. Ke3 Nb5 58. Kd3 Kg8 59. Kc2 Kf7
60. Kb3 Ke6 61. Re1 d4 0-1

Ritviz Parab was playing with a fractured hand, but that did not stop him from holding IM Noel Struder (2477) to a draw.

Girls Section:

In the girls' section, the top seed WGM Dinara Saduakassova of Kazakhstan and the second seed Russian WIM Alina Bivol won their games, but the third seed Indian WIM Pratusha Bodda was held by country-mate WIM Mahalakshmi M.

WGM Dinara Saduakassova (2423)

WIM Pratusha Bodda (2329)

WIM Mahalakshmi M. (2329)

WIM G.K. Monnisha (2101)

On the fourth board, WIM G.K. Monnisha, the 32nd seed, beat Uzbek WIM Gulrukhbegim Tokhirjonova.

White just blundered with 34.Rd2. What did white miss that Monnisha spot immediately?

[Event "WJCC-Girls 2016"]
[Site "Bhubaneswar"]
[Date "2016.08.08"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Tokhirjonova, Gulrukhbegim"]
[Black "Monnisha G K"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C77"]
[WhiteElo "2328"]
[BlackElo "2101"]
[Annotator "ChessBase"]
[PlyCount "164"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[EventCountry "IND"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[TimeControl "40/5400+30:1800+30"]

1. e4 {0} e5 {0} 2. Nf3 {0} Nc6 {0} 3. Bb5 {0} a6 {0} 4. Ba4 {6} Nf6 {0} 5. d3
{9} Bc5 {25} 6. Bxc6 {147} dxc6 {38} 7. Qe2 {10} Bd6 {365} 8. Nbd2 {100} b5 {31
} 9. a4 {232} O-O {156} 10. O-O {198} Nh5 {355} 11. Nb3 {326} Qf6 {827} 12. h3
{420} Nf4 {77} 13. Bxf4 {89} Qxf4 {10} 14. Qd2 {942} Qf6 {146} 15. Qe3 {230} h6
{377} 16. c4 {349} bxc4 {114} 17. dxc4 {14} Re8 {32} 18. c5 {170} Bf8 {17} 19.
Nbd2 {162} Rb8 {278} 20. Qc3 {125} Qe7 {195} 21. Rac1 {136} g6 {107} 22. b4 {
180} Bg7 {58} 23. Nc4 {84} f5 {345} 24. Nfd2 {158} f4 {87} 25. Na5 {132} Qf6 {
68} 26. Rb1 {240} Kh8 {189} 27. Ndc4 {282} g5 {824} 28. Na3 {57} g4 {668} 29.
hxg4 {25} Bxg4 {8} 30. f3 {29} Bd7 {124} 31. Rfd1 {20} Re7 {47} 32. Qc4 {166}
Bf8 {140} 33. Qxa6 {95} Rg7 {22} 34. Rd2 {28} Rxb4 {250} 35. Rc1 {564} Rxa4 {24
} 36. Nb5 {86} Qh4 {122} 37. Qa8 {386} Rg8 {23} 38. Qa7 {35} cxb5 {108} 39.
Qxc7 {143} Bh3 {49} 40. Nb3 {141} Qg5 {69} 41. Rcc2 {1875} Be6 {1878} 42. Nc1 {
0} Rc4 {0} 43. Nd3 {0} Bg7 {0} 44. Qb6 {0} Rxc2 {0} 45. Rxc2 {0} Bc4 {0} 46.
Nb2 {0} Ra8 {0} 47. Rc1 {0} Qd8 {0} 48. Qxd8+ {0} Rxd8 {0} 49. Nxc4 {0} bxc4 {0
} 50. Rxc4 {0} Rc8 {0} 51. g3 {0} Kg8 {0} 52. Kg2 {0} Kf7 {0} 53. Kh3 {0} Kg6 {
0} 54. gxf4 {0} exf4 {0} 55. c6 {0} Bf6 {0} 56. Rc5 {0} Bg5 {0} 57. Kg4 {0} Kf6
{0} 58. e5+ {0} Ke6 {0} 59. Kh5 {0} Rg8 {0} 60. c7 {0} Kd7 {0} 61. e6+ {0} Kc8
{0} 62. Rc6 {0} Rg7 {0} 63. Rc4 {0} Rxc7 {0} 64. e7 {0} Bxe7 {0} 65. Rxf4 {0}
Rc5+ {0} 66. Kg6 {0} h5 {6} 67. Rf7 {0} Kd8 {39} 68. f4 {0} h4 {26} 69. Rh7 {0}
Ke8 {189} 70. f5 {18} Rc6+ {6} 71. Kh5 {12} Rc4 {7} 72. f6 {461} Bxf6 {10} 73.
Kg6 {5} Be7 {7} 74. Kf5 {14} Kd7 {96} 75. Ke5 {29} Ra4 {24} 76. Kd5 {39} Rg4 {
243} 77. Ke5 {102} Rg3 {42} 78. Kd5 {50} h3 {192} 79. Ke5 {26} Ke8 {9} 80. Ke6
{59} Re3+ {4} 81. Kf5 {12} Bd6 {8} 82. Rh6 {217} h2 {13} 0-1

Impressions:

Earlier, in a befitting opening ceremony, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik flagged off the mega-tournament by wishing for a brighter future for the state in sports and culture, which chess so significantly brings forward.