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Round eight wasn't particularly an encouraging round for the Indians at the Isle of Man International 2016. Vidit, Harika and S.L. Narayanan were three players on 5.0/7. But in the eighth round Harika and Narayanan both slumped to a defeat against Alexei Shirov and Arkadij Naiditsch respectively, while Vidit drew his game against David Howell.
Arkadij Naiditsch vs S.L. Narayanan
The position was already bad for Black. But here Naiditsch found the fastest way to win. White to play.
The venerable Ukrainian GM Oleg Romanishin showed he keeps his touch, as he finished off his Italian opponent with surgical precision
Oleg Romanishin - Paolo Formento
Harika has been playing excellently at this event. This even led Vishy Anand to tweet about the Andhra girl's solid play:
In the eighth round Harika's French didn't prove enough for Shirov's attacking prowess. The Latvian won a fine attacking game:
Unsurprisingly, the top performing female is Hou Yifan (Hou is pronounced like Joe, and Yifan is more like EE-fan), who bounced right back after her loss to Harika. Here she continued her rampage, this time at the expense of Elisabeth Paehtz.
After his excellent start with 5.0/6 Vidit also received words of praise from Vishy:
The loss against Eljanov in round seven was a setback for Vidit. He tried to set things straight with an aggessive intent against David Howell. But the English GM was in a peaceful mood and opted for the Alapin variation in the Sicilian. It was a game without any mistakes for both sides. Gujrathi takes on the experienced Julio Granda Zuniga in the final round.
Nothing special happened in David Howell vs Vidit Gujrathi
While neither Vidit or Howell could break the tie, Michael Adams put a stop to Dutch player Benjamin Bok's streak in a classy performance.
19-year-old GM Rasmus Svane (above) ran into the ever-dangerous grandmaster from the UAE, Saleh Salem
Saleh Salem - Rasmus Svane
In the background is the game between Elisabeth Paehtz and Hou Yifan in progress (on the right is Tania Sachdev). After 66 moves the players reached the following position:
Would you be confident of checkmating your opponent with the bishop and knight? If not, you should watch the video below where I explain some of the most important features of the bishop + knight mate.
If you are a ChessBase Account Premium member you can go to Fritz Online webpage. There you can setup the position and practice it against the computer! It is the best way to learn such complex endgames.
Many times we see battles between two 2750+ players end in short draws. We try to think about the reason for the same and we realize that these guys have great control of their moves. Their sense of danger is immaculate and when they sniff that their position is going downhill, they quickly exchange stuff and make a draw. Not to forget, their opening preparation is superb. This is exactly what happened on the top two boards in the eighth round between Eljanov vs Caruana, and Nakamura vs So.
Fabiano Caruana was unable to stop Pavel Eljanov, with whom he drew
Nakamura would have been itching for revenge against So but was unable to hurt him
| Bo. | No. | Ti. | Name | Rtg | Pts. | Result | Pts. | Ti. | Name | Rtg | No. |
| 1 | 5 | GM | Eljanov Pavel | 2741 | 6½ | ½-½ | 6 | GM | Caruana Fabiano | 2813 | 1 |
| 2 | 3 | GM | Nakamura Hikaru | 2787 | 5 | ½-½ | 5½ | GM | So Wesley | 2794 | 2 |
| 3 | 4 | GM | Adams Michael | 2745 | 5 | 1-0 | 5 | GM | Bok Benjamin | 2594 | 26 |
| 4 | 8 | GM | Rodshtein Maxim | 2687 | 5 | 1-0 | 5 | GM | Grandelius Nils | 2642 | 22 |
| 5 | 21 | GM | Howell David W L | 2644 | 5 | ½-½ | 5 | GM | Vidit Santosh Gujrathi | 2686 | 9 |
| 6 | 10 | GM | Naiditsch Arkadij | 2684 | 5 | 1-0 | 5 | GM | Sunilduth Lyna Narayanan | 2536 | 35 |
| 7 | 11 | GM | Shirov Alexei | 2679 | 5 | 1-0 | 5 | GM | Harika Dronavalli | 2528 | 36 |
| 8 | 29 | GM | Donchenko Alexander | 2581 | 5 | ½-½ | 5 | GM | Melkumyan Hrant | 2653 | 15 |
| 9 | 6 | GM | Leko Peter | 2709 | 4½ | ½-½ | 5 | IM | Wallace John Paul | 2355 | 74 |
| 10 | 33 | GM | Shyam Sundar M. | 2552 | 4½ | ½-½ | 4½ | GM | Fressinet Laurent | 2676 | 13 |
| 11 | 14 | GM | Sargissian Gabriel | 2670 | 4½ | 1-0 | 4½ | WIM | Shvayger Yuliya | 2405 | 63 |
| 12 | 16 | GM | Salem A.R. Saleh | 2650 | 4½ | 1-0 | 4½ | GM | Svane Rasmus | 2552 | 34 |
| 13 | 18 | GM | Granda Zuniga Julio E | 2648 | 4½ | 1-0 | 4½ | IM | Batsiashvili Nino | 2480 | 44 |
| 14 | 37 | GM | Vishnu Prasanna. V | 2522 | 4½ | ½-½ | 4½ | GM | Gupta Abhijeet | 2626 | 23 |
| 15 | 38 | GM | Schroeder Jan-Christian | 2514 | 4½ | ½-½ | 4½ | GM | Van Foreest Jorden | 2615 | 24 |
| 16 | 45 | IM | Puranik Abhimanyu | 2471 | 4½ | ½-½ | 4½ | GM | L'ami Erwin | 2605 | 25 |
| 17 | 71 | Hemant Sharma (del) | 2371 | 4½ | 0-1 | 4½ | GM | Aravindh Chithambaram Vr. | 2564 | 32 | |
| 18 | 12 | GM | Movsesian Sergei | 2677 | 4 | 1-0 | 4½ | GM | Illingworth Max | 2465 | 46 |
| 19 | 49 | IM | Paehtz Elisabeth | 2459 | 4 | 0-1 | 4 | GM | Hou Yifan | 2649 | 17 |
| 20 | 62 | IM | Tania Sachdev | 2414 | 4 | ½-½ | 4 | GM | Meier Georg | 2648 | 19 |
| 21 | 52 | IM | Visakh N R | 2456 | 4 | ½-½ | 4 | GM | Bachmann Axel | 2645 | 20 |
| 22 | 66 | FM | Merry Alan B | 2388 | 4 | 0-1 | 4 | GM | Lenderman Aleksandr | 2593 | 27 |
| 23 | 28 | GM | Lalith Babu M R | 2586 | 4 | ½-½ | 4 | IM | Lou Yiping | 2458 | 50 |
| 24 | 31 | GM | Brunello Sabino | 2566 | 4 | 1-0 | 4 | IM | Karavade Eesha | 2421 | 60 |
| 25 | 67 | IM | Houska Jovanka | 2386 | 4 | 0-1 | 4 | IM | Zumsande Martin | 2490 | 42 |
| Rk. | SNo | Ti. | Name | FED | Rtg |
TB1
|
Rp |
rtg+/-
|
| 1 | 5 | GM | Eljanov Pavel | UKR | 2741 |
7.0
|
2919 |
14.8
|
| 2 | 1 | GM | Caruana Fabiano | USA | 2813 |
6.5
|
2872 |
6.3
|
| 3 | 2 | GM | So Wesley | USA | 2794 |
6.0
|
2776 |
0.3
|
| 4 | GM | Adams Michael | ENG | 2745 |
6.0
|
2765 |
2.6
|
|
| 8 | GM | Rodshtein Maxim | ISR | 2687 |
6.0
|
2821 |
14.4
|
|
| 10 | GM | Naiditsch Arkadij | AZE | 2684 |
6.0
|
2798 |
9.9
|
|
| 11 | GM | Shirov Alexei | LAT | 2679 |
6.0
|
2789 |
9.6
|
|
| 8 | 3 | GM | Nakamura Hikaru | USA | 2787 |
5.5
|
2712 |
-5.5
|
| 9 | GM | Vidit Santosh Gujrathi | IND | 2686 |
5.5
|
2707 |
3.1
|
|
| 14 | GM | Sargissian Gabriel | ARM | 2670 |
5.5
|
2635 |
-2.7
|
|
| 15 | GM | Melkumyan Hrant | ARM | 2653 |
5.5
|
2574 |
-5.8
|
|
| 16 | GM | Salem A.R. Saleh | UAE | 2650 |
5.5
|
2667 |
4.9
|
|
| 18 | GM | Granda Zuniga Julio E | PER | 2648 |
5.5
|
2611 |
-2.6
|
|
| 21 | GM | Howell David W L | ENG | 2644 |
5.5
|
2686 |
5.9
|
|
| 29 | GM | Donchenko Alexander | GER | 2581 |
5.5
|
2551 |
-2.1
|
|
| 32 | GM | Aravindh Chithambaram Vr. | IND | 2564 |
5.5
|
2534 |
-2.0
|
|
| 74 | IM | Wallace John Paul | AUS | 2355 |
5.5
|
2689 |
33.4
|
|
| 18 | 6 | GM | Leko Peter | HUN | 2709 |
5.0
|
2551 |
-13.9
|
| 12 | GM | Movsesian Sergei | ARM | 2677 |
5.0
|
2646 |
-2.6
|
|
| 13 | GM | Fressinet Laurent | FRA | 2676 |
5.0
|
2596 |
-7.7
|
|
| 17 | GM | Hou Yifan | CHN | 2649 |
5.0
|
2640 |
0.1
|
|
| 22 | GM | Grandelius Nils | SWE | 2642 |
5.0
|
2707 |
7.8
|
|
| 23 | GM | Gupta Abhijeet | IND | 2626 |
5.0
|
2587 |
-3.1
|
|
| 24 | GM | Van Foreest Jorden | NED | 2615 |
5.0
|
2649 |
4.6
|
|
| 25 | GM | L'ami Erwin | NED | 2605 |
5.0
|
2588 |
-0.6
|
|
| 26 | GM | Bok Benjamin | NED | 2594 |
5.0
|
2697 |
11.6
|
|
| 27 | GM | Lenderman Aleksandr | USA | 2593 |
5.0
|
2554 |
-3.1
|
|
| 31 | GM | Brunello Sabino | ITA | 2566 |
5.0
|
2572 |
2.1
|
|
| 33 | GM | Shyam Sundar M. | IND | 2552 |
5.0
|
2477 |
-6.4
|
|
| 35 | GM | Sunilduth Lyna Narayanan | IND | 2536 |
5.0
|
2648 |
12.4
|
|
| 36 | GM | Harika Dronavalli | IND | 2528 |
5.0
|
2652 |
13.4
|
|
| 37 | GM | Vishnu Prasanna. V | IND | 2522 |
5.0
|
2545 |
2.5
|
|
| 38 | GM | Schroeder Jan-Christian | GER | 2514 |
5.0
|
2564 |
5.5
|
|
| 42 | IM | Zumsande Martin | GER | 2490 |
5.0
|
2453 |
-3.2
|
|
| 43 | GM | Gagare Shardul | IND | 2480 |
5.0
|
2433 |
-4.5
|
|
| 45 | IM | Puranik Abhimanyu | IND | 2471 |
5.0
|
2493 |
3.2
|
Click for complete standings of all 133 players
| Bo. | No. | Ti. | Name | Rtg | Pts. | Res. | Pts. | Ti. | Name | Rtg | No. |
| 1 | 2 | GM | So Wesley | 2794 | 6 | 7 | GM | Eljanov Pavel | 2741 | 5 | |
| 2 | 1 | GM | Caruana Fabiano | 2813 | 6½ | 6 | GM | Adams Michael | 2745 | 4 | |
| 3 | 8 | GM | Rodshtein Maxim | 2687 | 6 | 6 | GM | Naiditsch Arkadij | 2684 | 10 | |
| 4 | 14 | GM | Sargissian Gabriel | 2670 | 5½ | 6 | GM | Shirov Alexei | 2679 | 11 | |
| 5 | 32 | GM | Aravindh Chithambaram Vr. | 2564 | 5½ | 5½ | GM | Nakamura Hikaru | 2787 | 3 | |
| 6 | 9 | GM | Vidit Santosh Gujrathi | 2686 | 5½ | 5½ | GM | Granda Zuniga Julio E | 2648 | 18 | |
| 7 | 15 | GM | Melkumyan Hrant | 2653 | 5½ | 5½ | GM | Howell David W L | 2644 | 21 | |
| 8 | 74 | IM | Wallace John Paul | 2355 | 5½ | 5½ | GM | Salem A.R. Saleh | 2650 | 16 | |
| 9 | 13 | GM | Fressinet Laurent | 2676 | 5 | 5½ | GM | Donchenko Alexander | 2581 | 29 | |
| 10 | 35 | GM | Sunilduth Lyna Narayanan | 2536 | 5 | 5 | GM | Leko Peter | 2709 | 6 | |
| 11 | 36 | GM | Harika Dronavalli | 2528 | 5 | 5 | GM | Movsesian Sergei | 2677 | 12 | |
| 12 | 17 | GM | Hou Yifan | 2649 | 5 | 5 | GM | Brunello Sabino | 2566 | 31 | |
| 13 | 22 | GM | Grandelius Nils | 2642 | 5 | 5 | GM | Shyam Sundar M. | 2552 | 33 | |
| 14 | 23 | GM | Gupta Abhijeet | 2626 | 5 | 5 | GM | Schroeder Jan-Christian | 2514 | 38 | |
| 15 | 24 | GM | Van Foreest Jorden | 2615 | 5 | 5 | GM | Vishnu Prasanna. V | 2522 | 37 | |
| 16 | 25 | GM | L'ami Erwin | 2605 | 5 | 5 | GM | Gagare Shardul | 2480 | 43 | |
| 17 | 26 | GM | Bok Benjamin | 2594 | 5 | 5 | IM | Puranik Abhimanyu | 2471 | 45 | |
| 18 | 27 | GM | Lenderman Aleksandr | 2593 | 5 | 5 | WGM | Enkhtuul Altan-Ulzii | 2302 | 86 | |
| 19 | 42 | IM | Zumsande Martin | 2490 | 5 | 4½ | GM | Wang Hao | 2701 | 7 | |
| 20 | 19 | GM | Meier Georg | 2648 | 4½ | 4½ | IM | Kiewra Keaton F | 2454 | 53 | |
| 21 | 20 | GM | Bachmann Axel | 2645 | 4½ | 4½ | IM | Praggnanandhaa R | 2442 | 54 | |
| 22 | 77 | FM | Kavutskiy Konstantin | 2332 | 4½ | 4½ | GM | Lalith Babu M R | 2586 | 28 | |
| 23 | 34 | GM | Svane Rasmus | 2552 | 4½ | 4½ | IM | Visakh N R | 2456 | 52 | |
| 24 | 55 | GM | Sundararajan Kidambi | 2429 | 4½ | 4½ | GM | Hillarp Persson Tiger | 2513 | 39 | |
| 25 | 44 | IM | Batsiashvili Nino | 2480 | 4½ | 4½ | IM | Alvarado Diaz Alejandro | 2425 | 58 | |
| 26 | 46 | GM | Illingworth Max | 2465 | 4½ | 4½ | IM | Tania Sachdev | 2414 | 62 | |
| 27 | 48 | GM | Ushenina Anna | 2459 | 4½ | 4½ | Hemant Sharma (del) | 2371 | 71 | ||
| 28 | 50 | IM | Lou Yiping | 2458 | 4½ | 4½ | IM | Das Arghyadip | 2400 | 64 | |
| 29 | 63 | WIM | Shvayger Yuliya | 2405 | 4½ | 4½ | GM | Romanishin Oleg M | 2456 | 51 |
LinksThe games are being broadcast live on the official web site and on the server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download a free Playchess client there and get immediate access. You can also use ChessBase or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs. |
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