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.
Round eight: Winning day for Indians as Sasi and Negi score
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
Round nine: Caruana’s loss gives Sasi a chance to go for top spot
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.
Round ten: Caruana takes draw in final round to win AAI Chess title
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.
Final standings after ten rounds
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.
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