Abhijeet Gupta wins the Caplin Masters in Hastings

by Klaus Besenthal
1/8/2024 – The Caplin Masters, part of the Hastings International Chess Congress, came to an end on Friday with a triumph for Abhijeet Gupta. The 34-year-old Indian grandmaster was the only one of 100+ participants in the event to achieve a score of 7½/9, thus getting outright victory. Pengxiang Zhang from China (7/9) came second. Behind Zhang, a group of nine players finished with 6½/9 points each. | Photo: Official website
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An exciting final round

The large group from third to eleventh place included the three French grandmasters Maxime Lagarde, Romain Edouard and Pierre Laurent-Paoli, as well as 14-year-old Indian-born Shreyas Royal, who will certainly be heard from more often in the future.

Abhijeet Gupta is not as well-known as other Indian players, but the grandmaster became Junior World Champion back in 2008. Gupta was the direct predecessor of Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in this position, but he was subsequently unable to launch such a glittering career as the Frenchman.

Before the last round, Gupta was part of a leading trio that also included the American Brandon Jacobson and the Chinese Pengxiang Zhang. Zhang drew in round 9 against Deep Sengupta (India), and Gupta was thus able to take the royal road to tournament victory by defeating Jacobson in their direct duel between the tied players.

The game was particularly enjoyable for the spectators, as both players were expected to make an effort to win.

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1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 Nf6 3.c4 c6 4.e3 Bf5 5.Nc3 e6 6.Nh4 Bg6 7.Bd2 Be7 8.Nxg6 hxg6 9.Qb3 Qc7 10.0-0-0 a6 11.c5 Nbd7 12.Na4 Rb8
In this balanced position Black had already restricted White's active options as much as possible. 13.Kb1 And now White plays a move that was not necessary and therefore loses time. 13.Bd3= 13...Ne4 Or 13...Ng4 13...Rxh2? 14.Ba5 14.Be1 b5?! Quite surprisingly Black starts an attack on the other side of the board, after which Kb1 suddenly makes sense. Now it's time for 14...Rxh2! and White cannot play 15.Ba5? due to Nd2+ 16.Rxd2 Qxa5 17.Rxh2 Qxd2 18.Rh8+ Nf8-+ 15.cxb6 Nxb6 16.Ka1?! 16.Rc1! would have given White the advantage after a long variation that is difficult to calculate: Nc4 17.Qd1 Ncd2+ 18.Bxd2 Nxf2 19.Qe2 Nxh1 20.g3 Nxg3 21.hxg3 Qxg3 22.Qxa6± 16...Nxa4 17.Qxa4 Qb6 18.Rb1 0-0
The opening stage is over, but a position has emerged in which a lot can still happen. 19.Bd3 19.f3 would be played by the engines. 19...Nd6 And here 19...c5 is good. 20.h4 White has the initiative. Rfc8 21.Ba5 Going for 21.h5! would have been consistent. 21...Qb7 22.h5 g5 Black wants to keep the h-file closed, but this is not the best option for him. 22...gxh5 23.Rxh5 Bf6= 23.Qc2 This is also somewhat imprecise. 23.Rhc1 23...c5! Now Black can play this move, which puts White under pressure. 24.h6? The first serious mistake in this game. Exciting, and not easy to understand, was 24.dxc5 Bf6 25.Bb6 Qa8! 26.Qe2 Nc4 and White must be careful 27.Bxc4?! Better is 27.e4 Nxb6 28.e5 27...dxc4 Now he must invent something against c4-c3. 24...cxd4 25.Bh7+ Kf8 26.hxg7+ Kxg7 27.Qd1
White relies on his action on the h-file. 27...Rh8 Stronger was 27...Nc4! The black king escapes to d7: 28.Qh5 Kf8 29.Qh6+ Ke8 28.Bd3 Rxh1 29.Qxh1 Rh8 30.Qc1? The queen does nothing here. 30.Qd1 still offered chances of salvation. 30...Nc4 31.Bxc4 dxc4 32.Qxc4 After 32.exd4 Qxg2 White is missing too many pawns. 32...Bf6 33.g4 Rh1
The game is decided: Black is a pawn up and, in contrast to White's majority on the queenside, the pawn is mobile. 34.Qb4 Rxb1+ 35.Kxb1 Qe4+ 36.Kc1 Qc6+ 37.Kb1 Qe4+ 38.Kc1 Qxg4 39.exd4 Bxd4 40.Kd2 Qf4+ 41.Kd3 e5 42.Qd2 e4+ 43.Kc2 Qxf2 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Jacobson,B2538Gupta,A25960–12024Caplin Hastings Masters 2023-249.1

Final standings

Rg. Snr Name EloI Pts 
1 Gupta, Abhijeet 7,5
2 Zhang, Pengxiang 7
3 Lagarde, Maxime 6,5
Jacobson, Brandon 6,5
Edouard, Romain 6,5
Laurent-Paoli, Pierre 6,5
Ghasi, Ameet K 6,5
Petrov, Martin 6,5
Sengupta, Deep 6,5
Gasanov, Eldar 6,5
Royal, Shreyas 6,5
12 Mikhalevski, Victor 6
Waldhausen Gordon, Frederick 6
Bai, Xue 6
15 Sulskis, Sarunas 5,5
Wadsworth, Matthew J 5,5
Willow, Jonah B 5,5
Gallagher, Joseph G 5,5
Boyer, Mahel 5,5
Cherniaev, Alexander 5,5
Derakhshani, Borna 5,5
Unuk, Laura 5,5
Fischer, Daniel 5,5
Vestby-Ellingsen, Mads 5,5
Rudd, Jack 5,5
Bozinakis, Pavlos 5,5
Sarkar, Justin 5,5
Nielsen, Andre 5,5
Boswell, Jacob Connor 5,5
Juknis, Paulius 5,5

...105 players

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  • Start an analysis engine:
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  • Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
  • Drag the split bars between window panes.
  • Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
  • Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
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Klaus Besenthal is computer scientist, has followed and still follows the chess scene avidly since 1972 and since then has also regularly played in tournaments.
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