Gawain Jones leads in Commonwealth Championship in Ekurhuleni

by ChessBase
6/30/2011 – The top seed GMs have survived mostly unharmed in this South African event, fighting for maximum points in the early rounds, a task not made easy by ambitious youngsters (Nigel Short: "My opponent was rated a thousand points below me but made me work!"). After seven rounds English GM Gawain Jones leads with 6.5 points, followed by 15 players with 60./5 each. Report and videos.

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Commonwealth Chess Championships debut in Africa!

Report by Graham Jurgensen, Convenor of the Championships

A record field of over 700 chess fans (and fanatics) have gathered at Emperors Palace Hotel Casino and Convention Centre in Ekurhuleni, South Africa for the hosting of the 2011 Commonwealth & South African Open Chess Championships. The field boasts more than 40 titled players and is headed by three times past champion GM Nigel Short from England. There is also a strong Indian contingent present including former World Junior Chess Champions GM Abhijeet Gupta and IM Harika Dronovalli.

With two double rounds in two days the start of the 2011 Commonwealth & South African Open Chess Championships has been brutal and the top players have been in survival mode as they fight for maximum points in the early rounds.

"It's hard work, you know," says Nigel Short in his interview (Vijay Kumar's round three report below). "I was outrating my first round opponent by a thousand points, but still I'm having to work in every game. It's always difficult when you have juniors who are underrated and improving." Here's the first-round game Nigel refers to:

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1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 a6 4.Ngf3 c5 5.exd5 exd5 6.dxc5 Bxc5 7.Nb3 Bb6 8.Bd3 Qe7+ 9.Qe2 Bg4 10.Qxe7+ Nxe7 11.Ne5 Be6 12.Be3 Bxe3 13.fxe3 Nbc6 14.Nxc6 Nxc6 15.Nc5 Ke7 16.e4 d4 17.Nxe6 fxe6 18.Kd2 Ne5 19.h3 a5 20.a4 Rhf8 21.Rhf1 Kd6 22.Ke2 Rxf1 23.Rxf1 Rc8 24.Kd2 h6 25.Rf4 Ke7 26.Rf1 b6 27.Bb5 g5 28.Be2 Ra8 29.Rf2 Rh8 30.Rf1 Kd6 31.g4 Nd7 32.Bb5 Nc5 33.Rf7 Nxe4+ 34.Kd3 Ke5 35.Rf1 Nc5+ 36.Kc4 Rd8 37.b4 Ne4 38.Kd3 Rc8 39.Bc4 Rxc4 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Besuidenhout,R1795Short,N26820–12011A00Commonwealth & South African Open 20112.1

A number of up and coming youngsters have impressed to date. IM Sahaj Grover, who entered the event with an “active” FIDE rating of 2496, secured a perfect start of 5/5 before drawing with GM Nigel Short in round six. This has secured him the required rating points to cross the key 2500 rating barrier and he now requires two further GM norms to secure his GM title.


Twelve-year-old WFM Ivana Maria Furtado (rated 1999) got off to a blistering start and
found herself paired against GM Abhijit Kunte in the third round, a game she drew

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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.g3 Bb4+ 5.Nbd2 dxc4 6.Qc2 b5 7.a4 c6 8.Bg2 Bb7 9.0-0 0-0 10.b3 Bxd2 11.Bxd2 cxb3 12.Qxb3 a6 13.Rfc1 Nbd7 14.Ne1 Qb6 15.Qb2 Rfc8 16.Nd3 Re8 17.Ba5 Qxa5 18.axb5 Qxb5 19.Qa3 Qf5 20.Rab1 Rab8 21.Qd6 Red8 22.Qc7 Rdc8 23.Qd6 e5 24.dxe5 Ne8 25.Qe7 Qe6 26.Qh4 ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Kunte,A2526Ivana Maria,F1999½–½2011A00Commonwealth & South African Open 20113.5


15-year-old IM Sahaj Grover on the way to a 5.0/5 start

FM Nicholas van der Nat (2308), the reigning SA champion caused the first major upset when he defeated GM David Smerdon from Australia in round five. In the background Indian TV journalist Vijay Kumar, whose video reports are given below. A total of five players achieved a perfect start of 5.0/5, including top seeds GM Nigel Short and GM Gawain Jones.

Younger players participating in the development section of the championship. What makes the event special is the fact that the top players are playing in a single venue with more than 700 amateurs, many of whom are up and coming juniors.

A number of tours have been arranged by the organisers so that visiting players can get the full African experience whilst in the country. The players will be visiting the Lion and Rhino Reserve and the Sterkfontein Caves in the next few days. Pictures from these excursions will follow in due course.

Top starting rank list after round seven

Rk. Title Name FED Rtg Pts.  TB1   TB2   TB3 
1 GM Jones Gawain CB ENG 2596 6.5 15.5 32.50 2103
2 IM Huschenbeth Niclas GER 2502 6.0 15.5 29.75 2023
3 IM Grover Sahaj IND 2485 6.0 15.5 28.75 2119
4 GM Gupta Abhijeet IND 2604 6.0 15.0 29.50 2131
5 IM Kobese Watu AKW RSA 2355 6.0 15.0 28.00 2018
6 IM Mokal Prathamesh S IND 2405 6.0 15.0 28.00 1973
7 GM Short Nigel D ENG 2682 6.0 14.5 28.50 2164
8 FM van der Nat Nicholas P RSA 2308 6.0 14.5 27.00 1992
9 GM Smerdon David AUS 2520 6.0 14.5 25.50 2022
10 FM Jere Daniel ZAM 2344 6.0 14.0 27.00 2049
11 IM Harika Dronovali IND 2520 6.0 14.0 25.75 2048
12 GM Laxman Rajaram IND 2446 6.0 14.0 25.50 1985
13 GM Kunte Abhijit IND 2526 6.0 13.5 27.00 1983
14 IM Ringoir Tanguy BEL 2399 6.0 13.5 25.75 1933
15 CM Modi Jaishil RSA 1790 6.0 13.5 24.00 1902
16 Davies Jason S RSA 2048 6.0 10.0 22.00 1778
17 GM Lafuente Pablo ARG 2555 5.5 16.5 27.50 2108
18 WGM Subbaraman Meenakshi IND 2317 5.5 14.5 25.75 1958
19 IM Sachdev Tania IND 2416 5.5 14.0 23.00 1879
20 CM Bouah Lyndon RSA 2147 5.5 14.0 22.00 1928
21 Dole Anant RSA 2103 5.5 13.5 24.00 1936
22 Klaasen Calvin J RSA 2068 5.5 13.5 22.25 1934
23 Simutowe Musa ZAM 2119 5.5 13.0 22.25 1882
24 Makoto Rodwell ZIM 2166 5.5 12.5 21.00 1778
25 Pitso Fusi P RSA 1949 5.5 11.5 19.75 1876
26 Stevens Tristan AUS 2087 5.5 10.5 18.75 1705

In round eight Nigel Short has white against Gawain Jones, Abhijeet Gupta (2604) plays IM Tanguy Ringoir (2399), Sahaj Grover (2485) plays Jason Davies (2048) and Niclas Huschenbeth (2502) plays FM Nicholas van der Nat (2308). Watch it on Playchess.

Video reports by Vijay Kumar


Round three report


Round four report


Round five report


Round six report. Vijay Kumar IBS [Retd] is the former Chief Producer of
TV News & Sports, Doordarshan Indian TV Network


Links

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