The Delhi Chess Association, along with Airport Authority of India, under aegis of All-India Chess Federation and the World Chess Federation are conducting India's first ever Category 17 chess tournament, a unique double round robin event with six grandmasters. The list of players headed by World Junior No. one GM Fabiano Caruana, while Women's World Champion GM Hou Yifan of China and the World's second youngest ever grandmaster Indian National Champion Parimarjan Negi add colour to the event. The other three in the fray are reigning World Open Champion and Czech No. two GM Viktor Laznicka, Indian No. two GM K Sasikiran, and Philippines No. one GM Wesley So.
Parimarjan Negi stopped his run of losses while Krishnan Sasikiran got back to his winning ways in what turned out to be good day for the Indian duo in the AAI Grandmasters Chess Tournament. Negi completed a comprehensive 27-move win over Wesley So of the Philippines while Sasikiran after draws in previous two games took just 30 moves following a Queen’s Indian opening for a full point against Czech Viktor Laznicka.
GM Krishnan Sasikiran in a winning pose
Women's World Champion Hou Yifan lost a spirited game against top seed Caruana
The 17-year-old Indian National champion Negi approached the round rather cautiously but was surprised to see his rival, Wesley, play the Petroff defence, something he had played only once before against a noted opponent, Alexei Shirov, last year. “It was a big surprise to see him use the Petroff, maybe he just wanted to play solid and also surprise. I thought I wouldn’t take any chances,” said Negi. But it was So who made the big error when he played Be7 on the 18th move and from there on the game turned decisively in Negi’s favour. It was thereafter only a matter of time as Negi won in just 27 moves. It was by far the quickest game in terms of moves and took less than three hours.
Wesley So on a suicidal Petroff against Parimarjan Negi
The Indian super-talent
and former child prodigy Parimarjan reacts
Asked is the nightmarish part of the week is over, Negi smiled and said, “I don’t know whether the nightmare is over as there are two more rounds to go, but this win was certainly welcome. There is always some pressure when you play a tournament, but I feel I have not been able to convert my chances. If you notice I have had my chances in many games, but was not able to use that.” Full report here.
Parimarjan is interviews by Indian TV after his win...
... as is his father and trainer J.B. Singh
Photo op: Pari with young chess fans in the garden of the venue
Krishnan Sasikiran played a draw with teammate Parimarjan Negi in the ninth and penultimate round of the inaugural AAI Grandmasters Chess tournament on Friday. A little later Czech national champion Viktor Laznicka ended Fabiano Caruana’s unbeaten run to give Sasikiran an outside chance of catching up the current leader at the top of the table. In the final game Wesley So and Hou Yifan drew in 47 moves of a Catalan.
Laznicka was happy to have broken the horrible run in the second half of the tournament. “In the first half of the tournament I was doing fine, but suddenly in the second half things went wrong. I lost two in a row, so this win was good,” said Laznicka. Laznicka’s game saw the black (Caruana) play the Kings Indian and the win for the former came in 40 moves.
Fabiano Caruana during his only loss in this tournament
A youthful public follows the tournament
Sasi’s draw took him to 5.5 points after a painful start that saw him lose the first two games. He has not lost thereafter and had four wins and three draws. With Caruana at 6.5 points, Sasi has a chance of tying for first, but for that Sasi needs to beat Hou Yifan and hope for Caruana losing his game to Wesley So in the final round. Full report here.
The trophies ready for the players to receive
Fabiano Caruana took no chances and played a solid 30-move draw against Wesley So of the Philippines to take the title at the inaugural AAI Grandmasters Chess tournament on Saturday. India’s Krishnan Sasikiran finished sole second, one point behind the winner, as he drew his final round against Women’s World champion Hou Yifan of China in Ruy Lopez Breyer where the Indian had black pieces. In the third game of the day, Indian National champion Parimarjan Negi split the point with Viktor Laznicka of the Czech Republic from a 42-move Caro-Kann, which the Czech player admitted he knew nothing about.
The winner Fabiano Caruana received the trophy from Mr. V P Agrawal, Chairman of the Airport Authority of India, and also the first prize of $8,000. Sasikiran’s winnings were $6,000 for the tournament. The third to sixth finishers received $4,000, $3,000, $2,000 and $1,500.
"Sasi" receives his cash prize
The audience at the closing ceremony
Mr. V P Agrawal, said, “It was great seeing six young Grandmasters battle it out for the last two weeks. I am sure many of these players will scale even greater heights in their career and this tournament will stand out in their memory. My congratulations to Fabiano Caruana, who lived up to his top seeding.” Full report here.
LinksThe games are being broadcast live on the official web site and on the chess 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 11 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs. |
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