7/14/2017 – When a close-to-2700 GM wins a super tournament, a lot of things have to go his way. He needs to convert winning positions, he needs to save the inferior endings, and in general he has to showcase tremendous amount of willpower to register such a result. At the 52nd Capablanca Memorial 2017 Sasikiran Krishnan did just that. And in his conversation with IM Sagar Shah via Skype, Sasikiran shares all the interesting moments that happened in his games of the tournament. Going over the annotations carefully is a sure shot way of improving your chess.
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In the first part we dealt with how Sasikiran approached the Capablanca Memorial tournament and how he prepared for it. Sasikiran spoke about how the Benasque Open 2016 helped him to completely have a new direction towards how he played chess. Along the way he won the Rilton Cup and this was followed by his excellent performance at the Capablanca Memorial 2017, where he won the tournament. We analyzed the first five games of the event with Sasi providing excellent insights about all the encounters. This included a win over Piorun Kacper in round one and four highly exciting and eventful draws.
The interview was conducted on Skype with Sasikiran at his home in Chennai
This is how things stood at the end of the first half of the tournament. Ivanchuk was leading, and Sasikiran was in second, half a point behind.
The day before the sixth round was a rest day. Sasikiran spent the day as if it was any other at the tournament. He followed the same schedule, practicing at the time the round would usually occur.
"I think it is very important to keep your head running", says Sasi. "Because if you relax, you have to remember that the next day you have to be at the board again playing a game of chess. I prefer to spend it normally, just like other days of the tournament, rather than going out for sight seeing", he added.
Focus, concentration and intensity | Photo: Amruta Mokal
Round six: Black against Piorun Kacper
This was a confidence boosting draw for Sasikiran. After landing into a difficult position from the opening, the Indian GM did well to wriggle out of the mess. But near the 40th move, he made a huge mistake that put him in a very difficult rook endgame. Piorun played really well and was on course to win the game. All he had to do was show some subtle play in the rook endgame. But he failed to do so and the game was drawn. "Things would have been completely different had I lost this game", said Sasi.
Position after 43...Rg8 - White to Move
White is clearly better here. How should he continue in order to win the game? The answer is in the annotations below.
One of the important things I learned from the above position and Sasi's analysis is that keeping control is good, but when the time comes, you need to head for complications and calculate accurately. Only then can you convert such advantageous positions into a win.
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1.e4e52.Nf3Nc63.Bc4Bc54.c3Nf65.d4exd46.e5d57.Be2I knew that Ne4 was the main line. But at the board ...d3 started to look very interesting.d3It was an over the board decision. I found it interesting and I saw that I am winning the two bishops, so why not?!7...Ne4is the main move.8.exf6dxe29.Qxe2+Be6This is the more human move. You block with the bishop and you put your king on the other side. And I felt that I could regain the pawn on g7 anyway. But there are some problems as my opponent showed in the game.9...Kf8!?After the game I checked and saw some correspondence games have been played with this move. I saw it during the game, but I did not like Bg5.10.Bg5Qd6This looks playable. The main idea is to have quick development with Bg4 and Re8.10.fxg7Rg811.b4!This is a very strong. Now he gets in b5 and has control on the crucial e5 and d4 squares. I think my opponent played really well from this point onwards.Be712.b5Na513.Bf4Rxg714.0-0Bf6I was already quite unhappy with my position. White is threatening a move like Be5 to further increase his control on the dark squares in the centre. The d4 and e5 squares are completely out of my control and going into any endgame would be a bad idea because my kingside pawns are very weak.15.Nbd2Qe716.Rfe10-0-017.Qe3b618.Be5Rg6?! This was already a clear error. I had to play Bh3 in this position, but even then it wouldn't have changed the evaluation much.18...Bh319.g3Bxe520.Qxe5Qxe521.Nxe5± and with the other knight coming to d4, I think White is clearly better.19.Nd4Bd720.Bxf6Qxf621.Qe5?! The reason why I don't like this exchange from White's point of view is because with the queens on the board I could have never been able to play a move like c5. But with the queens gone I was able to play it and free my position a bit.21.g3!Re822.Qf3Qxf323.N2xf3is a much better situation in which the queen exchange has taken place.21...Qxe522.Rxe5c5!I already started to feel a bit positive about my position.23.bxc6Nxc624.Rxd5Nxd425.Rxd4Rc626.Rc1Be627.Rxd8+Kxd828.Nb3Bxb3?A bad decision by me. I felt that after axb3 I can play b5 and a5-a4 and liquidate the queenside. He will take my a4 pawn, I will take his c3 pawn, but I completely missed his idea of bringing the king to the queenside to defend the c3 pawn.28...Rc7Next up is Ke7 and then Rc4-a4 and it should be a draw.29.axb3a530.Kf1Kc730...b531.Ke2a432.bxa4bxa433.Kd3The a-pawn will be lost.31.Ke2Re6+32.Kd3Rd6+33.Kc2Rg634.g3Rh635.Re1Kd636.h4Rf637.f4Rg638.Re3h539.Kd3Kc640.c4Rd6+41.Kc3Rg642.b4axb4+43.Kxb4Rg8Until here White has played very well, but now he goes wrong.44.Ra3?!White had to go for concrete actions with Re5. But Ra3 doesn't spoil anything because he can go for Re5 later also. However, with this one can realize that he wasn't keen to go into that line.44.Re5!It was important for White to indulge in some sort of concrete calculations. This move wins.Rxg345.Rxh5Now the threat is to play Rf5.Rg446.Rh6+!An important intermediate check, pushing the king back.46.Rf5I think he missed Rh6+ and was thiking about this move.Rxh447.Rf6+47.Rxf7Rh348.f5Rf3and this holds as well.47...Kd748.Rxf7+Ke6holds for Black.46...Kd7The idea of this move is to save the f7 pawn if White goes Rf6 with Ke7.46...Kc7?!47.Rf6!Rxh448.Kb5Rh5+49.f5+-White takes the f7 pawn and is just winning.47.h5!Rh447...Rxf448.Rxb6+-followed by h6 is just winning.48.Rxb6Rxh549.Rb5!An important move. Rh150.Rd5+!Such checks are easy to miss, but once you see it you realize the importance of it.Kc750...Ke7Now the king is cut off and White can freely advance his c-pawn along with the king.50...Kc651.Rf5Rb1+52.Kc3Rc1+53.Kd4Rd1+54.Ke5Rc155.Rxf7+-51.Rf5+-just wins.44...Rg745.Rd3Rg846.Re3Rg647.Rd3Rg848.Kc3Rg649.Re3Rg850.Kb4Rg651.Ra3Rg752.Ra6?This was clearly an error.Rxg352...Kc7was perhaps more accurate, but Rxg3 draws as well.53.c5Rg454.Rxb6+Kd7This was important so that to Rf6 I can attack his rook.55.Rf6Ke7!56.Rf5Rxh457.c6Rh158.Kb5h459.c7Rc160.Kb6h361.Rh5Kd762.Rd5+Ke663.Rd3h264.Re3+Kd765.Rd3+Ke666.Re3+Kd767.Rd3+Saving this endgame boosted my confidence. You start to feel as if luck is on your side. in the tournament with three wins and seven draws looks very clean, but when you start analyzing the games you realize how complex things were!½–½
Sasikiran began the game with 1.e4 and Ivanchuk played the Petroff. After the opening phase of the game, according to Sasikiran, he had a very pleasant advantage. He could improve and open the position whenever he liked with the move g4!, while Ivanchuk didn't really have any active plans. However, Sasi didn't play so well and soon it was the Ukrainian GM who had a better position. Both the players made errors close to the time control, and on move 38 they both agreed to a draw. The final position is interesting and the game could have gone either way, but objectively it should be a draw.
When we reached this position, Sasi quickly said White is better. I was unable to understand. If anyone looks better, it has to be Black I thought. But then Sasi explained to me that White has a clear plan of playing g4 in the position and opening up lines towards the black king. While Black doesn't really have an active plan. This was quite an important revelation for me.
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1.e4e52.Nf3Nf63.Nxe5d64.Nf3Nxe45.Nc3Nxc36.dxc3Be77.Be30-08.Qd2Nc69.0-0-0Ne510.Nxe5dxe511.Bd3Be612.Kb1Qe813.Qe2f514.f3Qf715.b3 By this point I was already quite happy with my position. The thing is that I have chances to improve my position with the move g4. While Black on the other hand has no real ways to attack my king. A move like ...a5 is met with a4 and the queenside attack is going nowhere. These are the kinds of positions that one would like to avoid, where your opponent has all the chances to improve the position and you do not have any.Bd616.Rhf1Kh817.Bc117.g4was already a good move, following it up with ideas like h4 and h5.17...b618.h4Qh519.Qe1?!I am not sure why I made this move? The h4 pawn is really not so important. If Black takes it, he opens the line against his king. I should have just improved the position of the rook. I think from here onwards I started to drift into a bad position.19.Rde1The problem with Rg1 and g4 still exists for Black.19...Bd7!This was a really strong idea. Black proceeds with Bc6, Re8 and already starts to threaten the move e4.20.Bb2Rae821.Be2Bc622.c4h623.g3Qg624.f4 This was a very doubled edged decision. I was not very happy that Black could himself play f4 at some point and hence decided to make this move myself.Re7?!24...exf4!25.gxf4This opens the g-file, but concretely, and was a powerful move.Qg2!An important move.26.Rf226.Rg1Rxe2!26...Qxe2?27.Bxg7+Kh728.Qxe2Rxe229.Rxd6!±And White is better.27.Rxg227.Qc3Be4!A very strong queen sacrifice.28.Rxg2Rxg2 Once g7 is defended, all of White's pawns are weak and Black is clearly better. 27...Rxe128.Bxg7+Kg8-+and Black is winning.26...Qg327.Rd3Re328.Rxe3Qxe329.Qg1Rf730.Bc1Qe6This is still possible to defend, but I think it is very unpleasant. White has weaknesses and Black is very solid.25.fxe5Bxe526.Bxe526.Ba3I missed this clear opportunity.Bxg3I was unhappy with this move in my calculations, but White has the strong move now26...Bd627.Bxd6cxd628.Bh5!Already this will lead to a very pleasant endgame for White. The pawn on d6 is weak. I will have my bishop on g6 and with the pawn on h5, I will always have threats against his king.27.Rg1!which I missed.Bxe128.Rxg6Rxe229.Bxf8+- And now both g7 and c6 are hanging.26...Rxe5After this the game was around even.27.Qf2Rfe828.Bd3Be429.Qf4Bxd330.Rxd3Qf631.Rfd1R8e732.Qd4Kh733.a4Qe634.Kb2Re435.Qc3Qe536.c5I thought this was a strong idea, but the computer doesn't agree with me!bxc537.Rd5Qxc3+38.Kxc3f438...f439.gxf4Rxf440.h5At this point White will pick up the c5 pawn and also perhaps the one on a7. Black on the other hand will try and create a passer with g6. It will be a complete mess. I think he was leading the tournament and was happy with the draw, and I was also quite fine with the result.½–½
Look at his concentration! Ivanchuk faces Cuban checkers National Champion Carlos Rivero. The match ended 2-1 in Carlos' favour | Photo by Lisychess
Video of Ivanchuk playing checkers against GM Juan Borges
Round eight: Black against Samuel Shankland
This was the most beautiful game of the tournament for Sasi. I like to call it the "light square symphony". At first glance if you look at the game you might think that Sasi completely outplayed his opponent. But on closer inspection you will realize that Shankland could have repeated the position and agreed for a draw. He was in an ambitious mood and played moves that the position was not yet ready for.
Once he got the opportunity, Sasi played all the good moves, sacrificed an exchange and won a fine game.
Position after 28.Rb4
The move made by Sasi in this position was 28...Rc4. Why didn't he play ...Rc2? Many times in our annotations we leave it at that, but while talking to him, I realized that Sasi was afraid of the exchange sac with Rxe4 dxe4 Rf2. He was trying to find a way for Black to win as Bb4 is coming up. This is the reason why he gave up on the move, although later he realized that Bg4-e2 will simply win the game.
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1.c4e52.g3Nc63.Bg2f54.Nc3Nf65.e3e46.d3Bb47.Nge2d58.cxd5Qxd59.dxe4Qxd1+10.Kxd10-0By this point I had barely spent four minutes, while my opponent had already used more than half an hour. This was all my preparation. It was pretty old and hence I had to recollect my lines during the game.11.f4?!This is a clear error. I had looked at it in my preparation but could not remember on the board.11.exf5Bxf512.e4Bg6This is very good compensation. I can always play Bc5 and also ideas like Bf7-c4. Black has many good ways to put pressure and White has to be very accurate to keep the balance. So I was not worried about this at all.11...fxe4?! Perhaps this was my only inaccurate move of the game.11...Rd8+!was an important intermediate move.12.Kc2Bxc3!13.Nxc313.bxc3Nxe413...Nb4+Already the White king is feeling quite uncomfortable.14.Kb114.Kb3a5!and Be6 is coming up.14...fxe4The e4 pawn cannot be taken because of the pin down the h7-b1 diagonal and the knight will settle on d3 with a clearly better position for Black.12.a3Rd8+13.Ke1Bxc3+14.Nxc3Bf5This position I liked during the game. I had my pieces developed and he still has to decide what to do with the bishop on c1.15.Bf115.h3h5 After the game we analyzed this position and Sam was of the opinion that inserting these two moves h3 and h5 would be in his favour. But I was not so sure about it. I would double the rooks down the d-file and I am not too worried about my position.15...Na5Also Sam was afraid of this move.16.g4Nb317.Rb1Be618.Nxe4Nxe419.Bxe4Nc5Here my opponent felt that he was in trouble because Ba2 is coming, but I think after20.Bc2Ba221.Ke2!is a very strong exchange sacrifice.21.Ra1?!Bb3!∞21...Bxb122.Bxb1The position is changing in White's favour. I would prefer having the white pieces in this position.15...Be616.b4This was a really ambitious move.16.Bg2He could have just repeated the position with Bg2 and I think I have nothing better than bringing my bishop back to f5 with a draw. I did have an option to continue with Na5, but it would have also led to equality.Na517.Nxe4Nb318.Rb1Now taking on e4 would lead to a variation which we examined above, but instead Black can continueBf519.Nxf6+gxf620.e4Re821.Kf2Bxe422.Bxe4Rxe423.Re1And the position is around equal. Nothing much is happening.16...a5!I liked this move.17.b5And here it was not so easy for me to decide where to take my knight. Should I bring it to b8-d7 or should I go for Ne7 instead?Ne717...Nb8!?If the knight comes to c5 it would really be strong. It looks at d3, b3 and is a complete monster.18.Bb2Nbd719.Ne2Nc519...c5!?20.bxc6bxc621.Nd4Bd5I am not sure who is better.20.Nd4The position is interesting and I could have gone for this. But I worried about disconnecting the rooks and hence chose Ne7 over Nb8.18.Bg218.h3is a much better option.Nf5!?18...c6!?18...Bf519.Ra2This is really inviting me to come into the d3 square.19.Bf1I cannot give up the a2-g8 diagonal, so most probably I would have repeated the position with ...Be6. And I think for Sam, practically, this would have been the better decision to accept the draw, because he was already down to 25 minutes, while I had 50 minutes on my clock.19...Rd320.Rc2Rc8!This was an extremely strong move. After the game when we analyzed he told me that he had missed this idea of Rc8 with c6.20...c621.bxc6Nxc6And now there is no rook on the c-file.22.Bf121.Bf1c6!21...c5Sam suggested this move to me after the game. While this is strong, I had made up my mind to break with ... c6.22.Bxd3I did not like this move very much. It was much better to just develop with Bd2.22.Bd2cxb523.Bxd3exd324.Rb2Bd725.Nxb5Nf5 I think I am quite comfortable and Nd6-Ne4 is coming up.25...Bxb526.Rxb5Rc222...exd323.Rb2Ned5He missed this move. White has absolutely no play and Black is clearly better.24.Nxd5cxd525.Bd2Ne426.Rg1h527.Rg2a4The computer does not approve of this move. But I thought Rb3-d3 is a very natural idea for White and with this move I stop his plan. I took nearly 15 minutes for this plan.28.Rb4Rc428...Rc229.Rxe4dxe430.Rf2 I was not sure how to break this fortress in the game. I knew that I could bring my king and somehow breakthrough, but I was also not happy that my knight which was so strong on e4 was gone. So I avoided this position. But of course, Bg4-e2 is just winning here.Bg4!31.Bb4Be2-+29.b6Kf730.Rf2g631.Rg2Ke632.Rf2Kf6This is no triangulation! Mainly I just wanted to reach the time control and do something concrete after move 40.33.Rg2Kf734.Rf2Ke635.Rg2Kd736.Rf2Kc637.Rb1Rc238.Rc1Nxf2This opposite coloured bishop endgame is winning and I had seen right until the very end.39.Kxf2Kxb640.Ke1Kc541.Rxc2+dxc242.Bb4+Kc443.Kd2Kb344.Kc1b645.Be7Kc346.Bd8b547.Be7Kd348.Bc5Ke249.h4Kf350.Kd2Kxg351.Be7Kg452.Bg5Be453.Bf6Bd354.Be7b455.axb4a356.b5a257.Bf6d458.Bxd4Kxh459.b6Be4The h-pawn queens. I was quite happy with my level of play. I made no glaring errors and overall it was a good game.0–1
Sasikiran was able to execute a new opening idea that he had prepared. With a quick g4 and f5, the game was already over after the first eleven moves. "If I don't do anything stupid, I would win this", is how Sasikiran likes to put it.
Position after 7...b6
8.Ne2!? was Sasikiran's interesting opening idea. The plan is not only to play c3 and bolster the centre, but also to go for g4, f5 break when the knight would be well placed to jump to g3 or f4. This game is a clear case of how a well-prepared opening idea can give you a full point against a strong opponent without too much effort.
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1.e4e62.d4d53.Nc3Nf64.e5Nfd75.f4c56.Nf3Nc67.Be3b6Nearly 100 games have been played in this position before.8.Ne2This is not in computer's first four choices.But for humans this is a very natural move. You put your pawn on c3 and then expand on the kingside. I had prepared this new move some time ago and my opponent just fell into this idea of g4 and f5 that I had worked on. There has been one game played before with this move in 2003 in Spanish under-16 Championships. But apart from that no one has tried it before.g69.c3a5This was already too slow.9...h5Stopping my kingside play was important.10.g4Maybe it's a bit too harsh, but I think Black's position is already lost here.Ba610...h5he had to play, but after11.gxh5Rxh512.Ng3Rh813.h4±followed by h5, White has simply excellent play.11.f5!When I got in this move I was confident that I would be able to win this game.Bxe212.Bxe2I have the two bishops, more space, my bishop can also come to b5. His king is stuck in the centre. Overall if I don't do anything stupid, I should be able to win this position.Rc813.fxe6fxe614.0-0Be715.Bh6c416.Qd2b517.Ng5Bxg518.Bxg5Qb619.Rf2h620.Bxh6Kd821.Raf1b422.Kg2Kc723.Bd1bxc324.bxc3Qb125.Be2Qe4+26.Bf3Qd327.Bg5Qxd228.Bxd2a429.Bd1Ra830.Bc1a331.Bc2Rhb832.h4Na733.Bxa3Nb534.Bb4Kc635.Rb1Nb636.Bxg6Na437.Rf3Nb638.a3Nxa339.Ra1Nb540.Rxa8Nxa841.Bc5This game was pretty easy for me. The opening preparation worked and I was able to score a nice win.1–0
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.c3 Nc6 5.Be3!?. Andrew Martin uses the games of Kupreichik to show why this line could catch many French aficionados unprepared and is very dangerous for Black.
Round ten: Black against Ortiz Suarez
Sasikiran was in the lead by half a point going into this round. He agreed to a quick draw with Ortiz Suarez in just 15 moves. Did he not fear that Ivanchuk could beat Shankland and catch him?
"The last closed round-robin event I had won was way back in 2008. I didn't win anything after that. So I decided to take a draw and at least get a share of the first place," Sasi explained.
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1.e4
1,185,008
54%
2421
---
1.d4
959,510
55%
2434
---
1.Nf3
286,503
56%
2441
---
1.c4
184,834
56%
2442
---
1.g3
19,892
56%
2427
---
1.b3
14,600
54%
2428
---
1.f4
5,954
48%
2377
---
1.Nc3
3,911
50%
2384
---
1.b4
1,791
48%
2379
---
1.a3
1,250
54%
2406
---
1.e3
1,081
49%
2409
---
1.d3
969
50%
2378
---
1.g4
670
46%
2361
---
1.h4
466
54%
2382
---
1.c3
439
51%
2425
---
1.h3
289
56%
2420
---
1.a4
118
60%
2461
---
1.f3
100
47%
2427
---
1.Nh3
93
66%
2506
---
1.Na3
47
62%
2476
---
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1.d4Nf62.Nf3g63.Bf4Bg74.h3c55.c3b66.e30-07.Be2Bb78.0-0d69.Nbd2Nbd710.a4a611.Bh2Ne412.Nxe4Bxe413.Nd2Bb714.Qb3Rb815.Rfe1Qc7I hadn't won a round-robin event since 2008. In 2011 I played in Lublin and in 2011-12 in Delhi and then in 2015 in Danzhou. So I had played some closed events before but never with any good results. So even though Ivanchuk was half a point behind me, I took this draw, because it gave me a share of the first place, at the very least. Also I had already gained 12 Elo points from the event, which was nice.½–½
Sasikiran with the winner's trophy, flanked by Ivanchuk on the right (second) and Shankland on the left (third)
I have called Sasikiran in many of my articles as the Rahul Dravid of Indian chess. Rahul Dravid is one of the most respected players in the world of cricket. He is also known as the "Wall", because of his extremely solid and dependable style of batting. Somehow I feel that Sasikiran is the Mr. Dependable of Indian chess. The way he has been playing chess consistently over the years. He is always ready to represent India and be a part of the team in important events like Olympiad, World and Asian Teams etc. He has won so many international tournaments ahead of strong grandmasters. Besides, he is extremely hard working and modest, just like Rahul Dravid!
I didn't know whether Sasi actually liked the fact that he was called the Rahul Dravid / Wall of Indian chess. This was the perfect moment to clarify that point.
"I know you call me that. I have read it. Yes, I like Rahul Dravid very much. In fact I am reading his autobiography right now. He is the only cricketer whose book I have read."
Mr. Dependable of Indian chess
After the game analysis ended I asked Sasi about his future aims.
"I am just enjoying chess! So I would like to continue working hard and continue playing. Apart from that I do not have any aims!" We wish him the best and hope that he crosses the 2700 Elo mark soon.
Sagar ShahSagar is an International Master from India with two GM norms. He loves to cover chess tournaments, as that helps him understand and improve at the game he loves so much. He is the co-founder and CEO of ChessBase India, the biggest chess news portal in the country. His YouTube channel has over a million subscribers, and to date close to a billion views. ChessBase India is the sole distributor of ChessBase products in India and seven adjoining countries, where the software is available at a 60% discount. compared to International prices.
How do you play the Queen's Gambit Accepted? Does White have promising variations or can Black construct a water-tight repertoire? The Powerbook provides the answers based on 300 000 games, most of them played by engines.
The Queen's Gambit Accepted Powerbase 2025 is a database and contains a total of 11827 games from Mega 2025 and the Correspondence Database 2024, of which 240 are annotated.
Rossolimo-Moscow Powerbase 2025 is a database and contains a total of 10950 games from Mega 2025 and the Correspondence Database 2024, of which 612 are annotated.
The greater part of the material on which the Rossolimo/Moscow Powerbook 2025 is based comes from the engine room of playchess.com: 263.000 games. This imposing amount is supplemented by some 50 000 games from Mega and from Correspondence Chess.
Focus on the Sicilian: Opening videos on the Najdorf Variation with 6.h3 e5 7.Nb3 (Luis Engel) and the Taimanov Variation with 7.Qf3 (Nico Zwirs). ‘Lucky bag’ with 38 analyses by Anish Giri, Surya Ganguly, Abhijeet Gupta, Yannick Pelletier and many more.
€14.90
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