Asian Continental Championship: Two at the top

by Aditya Pai
12/16/2018 – Recovering from their early upsets, Wang Hao, Vidit Gujrathi and Le Quang Liem made their way back to the top of the leaderboard at the 17th Asian Continental Championship in Manila, Philippines. Surya Ganguly and M. Amin Tabatabei are tied for first with 5½ after seven rounds. Six grandmasters including Vidit Gujrathi, Wei Yi and Le Quang Liem are a half point behind at 5/7. With two rounds to go, it's still wide open.

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Six in the running

After a tough start, the super GMs at the Asian Continental Chess Championship finally made their way to the top of the leaderboard. Six rounds into the event, Wei Yi, Wang Hao and Vidit Gujrathi shared the tournament lead alongside Surya Ganguly, SP Sethuraman, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Nguyen Ngoc Troung Son and Amin Tabatabaei. Le Quang Liem, Ni Hua, Xu Yi and Parham Maghsoodloo were just a half point behind.

But in the seventh round, only Ganguly and Tabatabaei could win their games, leaving them with a half point edge over the field. Let's see how they got there.

Round 4

After their quick draw in the third round, both Ganguly and Wei Yi came out with strong wins in round 4. Playing on board 1 against the Iranian sensation, Firouzja Alireza, Wei was in his element in a closed Sicilian and whipped a win out in 27, deploying some sharp tactics.

 
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1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 d6 3.Nge2 Nc6 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 Nf6 6.g3 g6 7.Nxc6 B70: Sicilian Dragon: 6 g3 and 6 Be2 (without a later Be3) bxc6 LiveBook: 4 Games 8.Bg2 Bb7 8...Qc7 9.b3 Bg7 10.Bb2 0-0 11.0-0 Ba6 12.Re1 Rad8 13.Qd4 e5 14.Qd2 Nd7 1/2-1/2 (58) Wang,H (2722)-Wojtaszek,R (2727) Douglas 2018 9.b3N The position is equal. Predecessor: 9.0-0 Bg7 10.Re1 0-0 11.b3 Nxe4 12.Nxe4 Bxa1 13.Bg5 Bg7 14.Nc3 Bxc3 15.Bxe7 0-1 (25) Hamdoun,K-Iaali,A (1698) Soviet Alumni 2016 9...Bg7 10.Bb2 0-0 11.0-0 Qc8 12.Qd2 Rd8 13.Rad1 c5 14.Rfe1 e6 15.e5 Ng4 15...Ne8!= remains equal. 16.exd6± Bd4 17.Bxb7 Qxb7 18.Ne4! Keeping Black busy. Bxb2
19.c3! Ba3 20.Qf4 f5
20...Kg7± 21.Ng5!+- c4 White must now prevent ...Bc5. 22.b4 Bb2? 22...Qb6 23.Rxe6 a5 23.Nxe6 White is clearly winning. Bxc3 24.Nxd8 Qb5
25.a4! Nxf2 25...Qxa4 26.Qxc4+ 26.axb5 Nh3+ 27.Kf1 Accuracy: White = 79%, Black = 27%.
1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Wei,Y2728Firouzja,A26071–0201817th Asian Continental-ch Open 20184

Surya Ganguly was also pitted against a talented Iranian — the reigning World Junior Champion, Parham Maghsoodloo. In a Queen's Gambit, Maghsoodloo was made to suffer almost all through the middlegame by Ganguly, who had the black pieces. The knock-out punch came on the 32nd move when the Bengali Grandmaster offered a knight sacrifice that netted him a couple of pawns.

 
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1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 d5 4.Bg2 Be7 5.0-0 0-0 6.d4 dxc4 7.Qc2 c6 8.Qxc4 b5 9.Qc2 Bb7 10.Bg5 Nbd7 LiveBook: 8 Games 11.Bxf6 D30: Queen's Gambit Declined: Systems without Nc3 11.Rd1 Qb6 12.Nc3 c5 13.Ne5 Nxe5 14.dxe5 Bxg2 15.Kxg2 Qb7+ 16.Kg1 Nd5 17.Bxe7 Nxe7 18.a4 a6 19.axb5 axb5 20.Rxa8 Rxa8 1/2-1/2 (39) Ponomariov,R (2686)-Hou,Y (2658) Shenzhen 2018 11...Bxf6 12.Nbd2 c5 13.dxc5 Black should prevent Ng5!The position is equal. Rc8 14.Nb3 Bd5 15.Rfd1N Predecessor: 15.Nfd2 Bxg2 16.Kxg2 Be7 17.Qd3 a6 18.Rfd1 Nxc5 19.Nxc5 Rxc5 20.Qxd8 Rxd8 0-1 (42) Klachkou,T (1965)-Aliakbarov,A (2270) Brest 2018 15...a5 16.e4 Bxb3 17.Qxb3 Rxc5 18.a4 b4 19.e5 Be7! Stronger than 19...Bxe5 20.Nxe5 Rxe5 21.Qc2± 21.Qd3 Qc7= 20.Nd4 Qb6! 21.f4 Rcc8 And now ...Bc5 would win. 22.Kh1 Rfd8 23.Nb5 Nc5 24.Rxd8+ Rxd8 25.Qc2 25.Qe3 25...g6 26.Qe2
26.h3 26...Nb3!-+ 27.Rd1 Rxd1+ 28.Qxd1 Qf2 29.Qb1 Qd2 30.h4 Nc5 31.Kh2 Nd3 Black has strong attack. 32.b3?
32.Nd6 Nxb2 33.Qe4 32...Nxf4! 33.Qe4 33.gxf4 Qxf4+ 33...Nxg2 34.Qxg2 Qe3 35.Nd6 Qxe5 36.Nc4 Qf5 37.Qa8+ Kg7 Black is clearly winning. 38.Nxa5 38.Qg2 Qd3 39.Nxa5 38...Bd6 39.Nc4 Qc2+ 40.Qg2
40...Bxg3+! Double Attack, Pin 41.Kh3 41.Kxg3 Qxb3+ 41...Qxb3 ( -> ...Be5+) 42.Nd2 Qd3 43.Qxg3 Qxd2 44.a5 Qc3 Accuracy: White = 33%, Black = 88%.
0–1
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Maghsoodloo,P2688Ganguly,S26210–1201817th Asian Continental-ch Open 20184

SP Sethuraman also joined the leaders on 3½/4 after scoring a fine win over compatriot MR Lalith Babu.

Sethuraman during the 2017 FIDE World Cup

SP Sethuraman (at the World Cup in 2017) | Photo: Amruta Mokal

Round 5

The fifth round pitted Surya Ganguly against his then co-leader, SP Sethuraman. Wei Yi, in the meanwhile played against his countryman, GM Ni Hua on board two.

Sethuraman, who had the black pieces against Ganguly, chose to discuss the Open Spanish but went astray very early. Ganguly had sacrificed a pawn in the opening and Sethuraman sought to liquidate the position by offering a queen exchange. But the boot was on the wrong foot when Ganguly whipped out a stunning bishop sacrifice. 

 
Ganguly vs Sethuraman
Position after 14.Qf6

Ganguly immediately exploited black's central king position here with 15.Bxd5! If the bishop is captured 15...cxd5, white has 16.Qxd5 and there are all kinds of threats looming over black. Sethuraman tried getting his king to [relative] safety with 15...0-0-0 but after 16.Bxe6+ Kb7 17.Qe3 white remained a pawn up and had a fantastic position. The game went on until the 44th move but Ganguly was in total control all the way through.

 
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1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Nxe4 6.d4 b5 7.Bb3 d5 8.Nxe5 Nxe5 9.dxe5 c6 LiveBook: 31 Games 10.Nd2 C80: Open Ruy Lopez: Sidelines and 9 Nbd2 Nxd2 11.Bxd2 Bf5N Predecessor: 11...Be7 12.Qh5 Be6 13.c3 Qd7 14.Bg5 Bf5 15.Rfe1 Bg6 16.Qh4 Bxg5 17.Qxg5 0-0 1/2-1/2 (28) Short,N (2655)-Timman,J (2635) El Escorial 1993 12.Qf3 The position is equal. Bg6 13.e6 fxe6 14.Rfe1 Qf6
14...Qd7= 15.Bxd5!± Pin 0-0-0 15...cxd5 16.Qxd5 16.Bxe6+ Kb7 17.Qe3 White is in control. Bc5 18.Qxc5 Rxd2 19.Bg8 Hoping for Re7+. Bf5 19...Qd4± is a better defense. 20.Re7+ Kb8 21.Qxd4 21.Qxc6 Rd1+ Double Attack 22.Re1 Rxa1 21...Rxd4 20.Re7++- Bd7 21.Be6! Qxb2 22.Rf1 Rd8 23.c3 Qc2 24.h3 g5 24...Qd3 25.Rxg7 Qd6 25.Qxg5 Qxc3 26.Rxh7 Kc7 27.Qf4+ White should try 27.h4+- 27...Kb6± 28.Bxd7 R8xd7 29.Rxd7 Rxd7 Endgame KQR-KQR 30.h4 c5 31.h5 c4 32.g3 Ka5 33.Kg2 Qd3! 34.Qf3 Qd6 34...Qd2 35.Rh1 Ka4
35...Qh6± was necessary. 36.Qc3+ Kb6 36.Rh4!+- Qh6 37.Rg4 Qc1? 37...Rd6 38.Qf5 Rf6 39.Qc2+ Kb4 38.Qc6! Rd1 38...Rd8 39.Qxa6+ Kb4 39.h6 Rg1+ 40.Kh2 Rf1 41.Rf4 Ka5 42.h7 Qb2 43.Qc7+ Kb4
44.Rxc4+! Promotion. Accuracy: White = 84%, Black = 36%.
1–0
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Ganguly,S2621Sethuraman,S26641–0201817th Asian Continental-ch Open 20185

Sethuraman and Surya Shekhar Ganguly during the fifth round of the 17th Asian Continental Championship

Ganguly took sole lead at the conclusion of round 5 | Photo: Genghis Imperial

With his win, Ganguly took sole lead in the tournament as the game between Ni Hua and Wei Yi on the second board ended in a quick draw. Wei Yi, who had the black pieces, made no attempt to try retaining his lead and agreed to sign peace just 13 moves into a Petroff Defence game.

 
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1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.Qe2 Qe7 6.d3 Nf6 7.Nc3 Qxe2+ 8.Bxe2 Be7 C42: Petroff Defence: 3 Nxe5 and unusual White 3rd moves 8...g6 9.Bg5 Bg7 10.0-0-0 0-0 11.Rhe1 h6 12.Bh4 Nc6 13.d4 a6 14.a3 Bd7 15.d5 Na7 16.Nd4 1/2-1/2 (65) So,W (2799) -Caruana,F (2784) Berlin 2018 9.0-0 0-0 LiveBook: 15 Games. The position is equal. 10.Re1 a6 11.Bf1N Predecessor: 11.Bg5 Nc6 12.a3 Re8 13.Bxf6 Bxf6 14.Nd5 Bd8 15.Bf1 Ne5 16.Nxe5 dxe5 0-1 (34) Oberlaender,R (769) -Gomgar,J (1588) LSS email 2012 11...Nc6 12.h3 Re8 13.Bd2 ½–½
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Ni,H2683Wei,Y2728½–½201817th Asian Continental-ch Open 20185

Wei Yi

Wei Yi made no attempt to retain his lead in round 5 | Photo: Amruta Mokal (archive)

On board 6, Wang Hao scored a dominating win with black over Vietnamese GM Tran Tuan Minh.

 
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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Bb7 5.Bg2 g6 6.0-0 Bg7 E16: Queen's Indian: 4 g3 Bb7 5 Bg2 Bb4+ 7.Bf4 7.Nc3 0-0 8.d5 exd5 9.cxd5 Re8 10.Nd4 c5 11.Ndb5 d6 12.Bf4 Bf8 13.a4 a6 14.Na3 Nh5 15.Bd2 Nd7 1-0 (47) Ponomariov,R (2686)-Hou,Y (2658) Shenzhen 2018 7...0-0 8.Nc3 d5 9.cxd5 exd5 LiveBook: 8 Games 10.Qc1 c6N Predecessor: 10...Bh8 11.Nb5 Na6 12.Bh3 c5 13.Nd6 Bc6 14.Ne5 Ba4 15.b3 0-1 (37) Mulyar,M (2388)-Shabalov,A (2533) Chicago 2016 11.Bh6 Re8 12.Bxg7 Kxg7 13.e3 Qd6 14.Rb1 Nbd7 15.b4 Ba6 16.Rd1 Bc4 17.Nd2 Bd3 18.Rb3 Bf5 19.Qb2 b5 20.a4 a6 21.a5! h5 22.h4 Kg8 23.Rc1 Nf8 24.Nf3 Rac8 25.Ne2 Ne6 26.Ne5 Ng4 27.f3 Nxe5 28.dxe5 Qb8 29.f4 c5! 30.Rbc3 30.Nc3= remains equal. 30...cxb4 31.Qxb4 Rc4! 32.Qd6 Bg4 Black is on the roll. 33.Kf2 33.Nd4 is a better defense. Qxd6 34.exd6 Nxd4 35.exd4 33...Qc8!-+
Hoping for ...Bxe2. 34.Bf3? 34.Rxc4 dxc4 35.Nd4 34...Bxf3 Black is clearly winning. 35.Kxf3 Nc5 36.Rxc4 dxc4 37.Nc3 Rd8 Accuracy: White = 52%, Black = 72%.
0–1
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Tran,T2524Wang,H27300–1201817th Asian Continental-ch Open 20185

Wang Hao at the 2017 Asian Continental Championship in Chengdu, China

On board 6, Wang Hao (at the 2017 Asian Championship) | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Round 6

Ganguly’s lead from the previous round turned out to be rather short-lived. In round 6, the top board result turned the tournament on its head. Ganguly, who was half-a-point ahead of the field until this point, was defeated by GM Vidit Gujrathi. All of a sudden, there were eight takers to the top spot on the leaderboard.

GM Vidit Gujrathi

Vidit Gujrathi's win over GM Surya Ganguly drastically changed the standings | Photo: Sagar Shah (archive)

 
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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 0-0 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.Qxc3 d5 7.Bg5 c5 E36: Nimzo-Indian: Classical: 4...d5 5 a3 8.dxc5 d4 LiveBook: 45 Games 9.Qf3 Nbd7 The position is equal. 10.e3 h6 11.Bxf6! Nxf6 12.0-0-0 e5 13.Ne2!
13...d3N Predecessor: 13...Bg4 14.Qg3 d3 15.f3 1/2-1/2 (76) Riazantsev,A (2654)-Inarkiev,E (2707) Geneva 2017 14.Nc3 Bg4 15.Rxd3 Qa5 15...Qxd3= 16.Bxd3 Bxf3 17.gxf3 Rfc8 16.Qg3 16.Qxb7± aiming for Qb5. Rab8 17.Qc6 16...Qxc5= 17.e4 Be6 18.Rd2 Rfd8 19.Qe3 Qc6 20.f3 Rxd2 21.Qxd2 Rc8 22.Kb1 Bxc4 23.Bxc4 Qxc4 24.Qd6 Qe6 25.Qxe6 fxe6 Endgame KRN-KRN 26.Nb5 Rd8 27.Nxa7 Rd2 28.Nb5 b6 28...Rxg2± 29.Nd6 Rf2 29.g3 29.a4+- has better winning chances. 29...Rf2 30.Nd6 Rxf3 31.Rc1 Nd7 32.Rc6 Re3 33.Ka2 Re2 34.Nc8 Rxe4 35.Rxe6 Rd4 36.b4 36.Kb1± 36...Kf7= 37.Rc6 e4 38.Rd6 Rd3
38...Rxd6± 39.Nxd6+ Ke6 40.Nxe4 Kd5 39.Kb2 39.Rxd3!+- is more deadly. exd3 40.Kb3 39...Ne5 39...Rxd6± 40.Nxd6+ Ke6 41.Nxe4 Kd5 40.Rxd3+- exd3? 40...Nc4+ 41.Kc2 exd3+ 42.Kxd3 Nxa3 43.Nxb6 Ke6 41.Nxb6 KN-KN Ke6 42.Kc3 Kf5? 42...g6 43.a4 Kd6 43.a4 White is clearly winning. Ke4 44.a5
And now b5 would win. 44...g5 45.Na4 Ke3 46.Nb2 d2 47.a6 Accuracy: White = 70%, Black = 46%.
1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Vidit,S2701Ganguly,S26211–0201817th Asian Continental-ch Open 20186

After a dominating win in round five, top-seeded GM Wang Hao whipped out another brilliant win with black over Nodirbek Yakobboev to make it into the 8-way tie at the conclusion of the sixth round. 

 
Nodirbek Yakubboev vs. Wang Hao
Position after 31.h4

White had just played 31.h4? to kick the knight away. A serious drawback of the move is that it weakens white's kingside. Wang plunged in immediately with 31...Ngxe4! and after 32.Bxe4, unveiled 32...Qg4. The bishop, of course, is indefensible as both 33.Re1 and 33.Bd3 spell instant doom after 34...Qxg3+. White limped on with 33.Qc3 Qxe4 34.Re1 Rd3 35.Qxe5 but Yakobboev had lost too many pawns at the end of the sequence.

 
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Meanwhile, on board 2, Wei Yi climbed up a spot with a comfortable draw on board two against Le Quang Liem.

 
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1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 b6 3.g3 Bb7 4.Bg2 c5 5.0-0 g6 6.Nc3 Bg7 7.d4 cxd4 8.Qxd4 Nc6 9.Qf4 Qb8 10.Rd1 A30: Symmetrical English: Double Fianchetto and Hedgehog Qxf4 11.Bxf4 LiveBook: 6 Games Nd8 12.Rac1 White has an edge. Ne6 13.Be3 d6 14.b3 Ng4 15.Bd2 Rc8
16.Ng5N Predecessor: 16.Nd5 Nf6 17.Bc3 Nxd5 18.Bxg7 Nxg7 19.cxd5 1-0 (52) So,W (2822)-Ashwin,J (2492) chess.com INT 2017 16...Bxg2 17.Nxe6 fxe6 18.Kxg2 Nf6 19.Be3 Kf7 20.f4 Nd7 21.Bd4 21.Ne4 keeps more tension. h6 22.Bd2 e5 23.e3 Nc5 24.Nf2 21...Bxd4 22.Rxd4 a6 23.Ne4 h6 24.Nf2 Rc5 25.Nd3 Ra5 26.a4 Rc8 27.Ra1 b5 28.cxb5 axb5 29.Ne5+ dxe5 30.Rxd7 bxa4 31.Rxa4 Rxa4 32.bxa4 Ra8 Accuracy: White = 56%, Black = 70%.
½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Wei,Y2728Le,Q2714½–½201817th Asian Continental-ch Open 20186

Wei Yi — in remarkably colourful attire | Photo: Ronaldo P Banaag

Round 7

In the top clash, Ganguly defeated Wang Hao with the black pieces to reach 5½/7. In an equal middlegame, Ganguly got some pressure one White's overextended pawn centre and Wang did not find a defence.

 
Wang vs Ganguly
Position after 24...Ne6

White can hold the position together with 25.Ned2 taking advantage of the pin on the e6 knight if Black tries to capture on d4. But Wang opted for 25.Qc1 targeting the f4-pawn, but now the problem is that the pin is working in the other direction! After 25...Nxd4 Wang anyway took 26.Qxf4 but found himself in hot water after 26...f5! Black is winning a piece and White resigned in short order.

Standings after Round 7 (top 20)

Rk. Name Pts.
1 GANGULY Surya Shekhar 5,5
2 TABATABAEI M.Amin 5,5
3 WEI Yi 5,0
4 ABDUSATTOROV Nodirbek 5,0
5 NGUYEN Ngoc Truong Son 5,0
6 MAGHSOODLOO Parham 5,0
7 LE Quang Liem 5,0
8 VIDIT Santosh Gujrathi 5,0
9 MEGARANTO Susanto 4,5
10 SETHURAMAN S.P. 4,5
11 FIROUZJA Alireza 4,5
12 LALITH Babu M R 4,5
13 JUMABAYEV Rinat 4,5
14 ADHIBAN B. 4,5
15 WEN Yang 4,5
16 WANG Hao 4,5
17 KHUSNUTDINOV Rustam 4,5
18 NI Hua 4,0
19 XU Yi 4,0
20 YAKUBBOEV Nodirbek 4,0

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Women's Championship

In the Women's group, IM Padmini Rout is heading resolutely towards the title. Undefeated with five wins, she has now brought her score to 6/7. After taking sole lead at the conclusion of the fifth round, Padmini defeated WGM Gong Qianyun in round six to increase her lead to a full point, a lead she maintained by drawing Guo Qi in round seven.

Padmini Rout during the fifth round of the A17th ian Continental Championship

Padmini, before her game against Mongolian WFM Munkhzul Turmunkh | Photo: Genghis Imperial

 
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1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be2 e5 7.Nf3 Be7 8.Bg5 Be6 9.Bxf6 Bxf6 10.0-0 0-0 11.Nd5 6 B92: Sicilian Najdorf: Be2 11.Qd2 Nc6 12.Nd5 Nd4 13.Nxf6+ Qxf6 14.Nxd4 exd4 15.Bd3 d5 16.Qe2 dxe4 17.Qxe4 g6 18.Qxb7 Rfb8 1/2-1/2 (40) Grandelius,N (2647)-Kotronias,V (2524) Stockholm 2017 11...Bxd5 12.Qxd5 Qc7 LiveBook: 3 Games 13.Bc4 White is slightly better. Nc6
Hoping for ...Nb4. 14.c3 Rac8 And now ...Ne7 would win. 15.Bb3 Ne7N Predecessor: 15...Na5 16.Rfd1 Be7 17.Ne1 b5 18.Nc2 Qc5 1-0 (63) Connolly,S (2052)-Hanly,S Cork 2005 16.Qd3 Ng6 17.g3 Be7 18.h4 Rfd8 19.Nh2 Nf8 20.Qf3 Ne6 21.Ng4 Bf8 22.Rad1 b5 23.h5 h6 24.Qf5 Qe7 25.Kg2 Re8 26.Ne3 Qg5 27.Qxg5 Nxg5 28.Bd5 Rc7 29.Rd2 Rb8 30.a3 Nh7 31.Ng4 Be7 32.Bb3 Rc6 33.Rfd1 Rbb6 34.f4 Nf6 35.Ne3 Strongly threatening fxe5. Rb8 35...Nxe4= 36.Re2 Nc5 36.Kf3 36.Nf5± Kf8 37.Nxd6 36...Bf8?
Black should try 36...Kf8! 37.Nf5!+- exf4 38.gxf4 Rc5 38...Rb7 39.Nxd6 Ra7 39.Nxd6 Bxd6 40.Rxd6 Rxh5 41.Rd8+ Rxd8 42.Rxd8+ Endgame KRB-KRN Kh7 43.e5 Rh2 44.exf6 Rxb2 45.Bxf7 gxf6 KRB-KR 46.Kg4 Rc2 47.Rc8 White mates. Kg7 48.Be6 a5 49.Kf5 b4 50.Rc7+ Kf8 51.Kxf6 Rxc3 52.Rh7 Accuracy: White = 57%, Black = 38%.
1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Padmini,R2345Munkhzul,T22551–0201817th Asian Continental-ch Women 20185
Gong,Q2312Padmini,R23450–1201817th Asian Continental-ch Women 20186

A great moment when the world's leading expert shares all the secrets in his favourite opening. The Najdorf system in the Sicilian Defence has a legendary reputation as a defensive weapon for Black. In part one Garry Kasparov introduces the various sub-systems of the Najdorf, including the central “Poisoned Pawn” variation.


Standings (women's tournament top 20)

Rk. Name Pts.
1 PADMINI Rout 6,0
2 PHAM Le Thao Nguyen 5,0
3 GONG Qianyun 5,0
4 WANG Jue 5,0
5 MUNKHZUL Turmunkh 4,5
6 ZHU Jiner 4,5
7 GUO Qi 4,5
8 VO Thi Kim Phung 4,5
9 AULIA Medina Warda 4,5
10 LI Yunshan 4,5
11 NGUYEN Thi Thanh An 4,5
12 NING Kaiyu 4,0
13 LI Xueyi 4,0
14 GU Tianlu 4,0
15 KARENZA Dita 4,0
16 FRAYNA Janelle Mae 4,0
17 HOANG Thi Bao Tram 3,5
18 NANDHIDHAA P V 3,5
19 NAKHBAYEVA Guliskhan 3,5
20 ZHANG Xiao 3,5

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Aditya Pai is an ardent chess fan, avid reader, and a film lover. He holds a Master's in English Literature and used to work as an advertising copywriter before joining the ChessBase India team.

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