Tanisha Boramanikar: Very young and improving rapidly - Agony #31

by Jonathan Speelman
12/7/2016 – Tanisha Boramanikar is one of the many talents from India. She is ten years old and rated just under 1400. But she plays much better. When she sent two "Agony and Ecstasy" games to Jon Speelman, the grandmaster was impressed.
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Jon Speelman's Agony Column #31

This week's pair of games are by Tanisha  Boramanikar, who is from Aurangabad in the west of India. Just ten years old, she has already represented her country three times  at Asian and world events at the under 8 and under 10 level. She's currently rated just under 1400 but obviously improving rapidly.

Tanisha  Boramanikar

When Tanisha offered a couple of months ago to send me some games, I was intrigued but wondered just how publishable they would be. Long ago when I was that young my play was very uneven at best. And while youth chess has made giant strides in recent  years, it still takes time to improve.

I needn't have worried. While there are plenty of mistakes of course, both games are most instructive.

Looking back through these columns I can see that in general I've tended to err towards using games by players who are of strong club standard or better and I'd welcome more submissions by lower rated ones.

While I will point out mistakes - that's partly what I'm here for - this is a forum to highlight the positive rather than the negative. If your "Agony" is too horrible then I'll happily discard it but as it happens in this case, Tanisha's Agony, while it went against her, was a fascinating battle and at the very least no less interesting than her "Ecstasy" game.

 

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1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Qg4 Qf6? This is a fairly well known opening trap. White's lead in development is such that she can ignore the threat against f2. 5.Nd5! Qxf2+ 6.Kd1 d6? 6...Kf8 is much the best. White is still better but it would be very hard for a really strong player to thread their way through the complications let alone a child. Helped by an engine.(Houdini), I found this main line: 7.Nh3 h5! if 7...Qd4 8.d3 the queen is trapped Nf6 9.Nxf6 d5 10.c3! dxc4 11.cxd4 Bxg4+ 12.Nxg4 and a census reveals that White has an extra piece 8.Qg5 Qd4 9.d3 Be7 The point of 7...h5!. The bishop now gains a tempo on the queen so Black's queen has time to escape. 10.Qg3 Nf6
11.c3 11.Rf1 Nxe4! 12.Nxe7 d5 13.Qg6 Nf6 14.Nxc6 bxc6 15.Rxf6 Qg4+ 16.Qxg4 Bxg4+ 17.Rf3 dxc4 18.Nf2 Bxf3+ 19.gxf3 This ending looks a bit better for White but is obviously still a fight 11...Qc5 12.Rf1 There are obviously also other moves including Ng5 b5 13.Bb3 Bb7
White has more than enough for a pawn and indeed can regain it immediately with Nxc7. But this is very unclear and seems miles away from the game though the whole line starting with 6...Kf8 is only 7½ moves long. 7.Qxg7 Nd4
Alternatives also lose. If 7...h5 8.h3 is simplest 8.Nxc7+? This ought to win but I much prefer 8.c3 making room for the king to run b5 at least takes some of the pressure off f7 but after simply 9.Bd3 Ne6 10.Qxh8 Qxg2 10...Kf8 11.Nf3 Qxg2 12.Rf1 11.Qxg8+! 11.Kc2 Kf8 12.Nf6 11...Qxg8 12.Nf6+ Kf8 13.Nxg8 Kxg8 White has a whole extra rook in a totally safe position. 8...Kd8 9.Nxa8 As it happens, it doesn't matter that Black has a free move. But in tactical positions like this it's much better to keep the initiative, not least because if you have a serious threat it's easier to see your opponent's possible moves and so calculate accurately. Be6
10.Bd3 10.Nh3! Bxh3 10...Qh4 11.Bxe6! 11.Rf1 wins immediately 10...h5 11.h3 Bg4+! An ingenious way of continuing the battle. 12.hxg4 Qxg2 13.Qxh8 Qxh1 14.Qxg8+ Ke7 15.Qg5+ Kd7 16.Qe3 Ne6 16...hxg4 was more challenging but 17.b4! Nf5 17...Nxc2 18.Bb5+ Kc8 19.Qg5 Qxg1+ 20.Kxc2 18.Qe1 Bxg1 19.exf5 wins easily 17.Qe1 Bxg1
18.b3? 18.gxh5 would have prevented Black from creating a passed pawn and left her without any hope 18.c3 hxg4 19.Kc2 was also better than b3 though of course you shouldn't allow that pawn. 18...hxg4 19.Qf1 Nf4 20.Bb5+ Ke7 21.d3? 21.d4! was still winning because the bishop can retreat to e2 g3 22.Be3 Qh5+ 23.Be2! g2 24.Qxg2 21...g3
22.Be3? 22.Bxf4 exf4 is apparently a draw since the passed pawn is so strong that Black can achieve (at least) perpetual check: 23.Ke2! 23.Kd2? Be3+ 24.Kc3 Qh8+! 25.Kb4 Bd2+ 26.Ka3 Qc3 and White gets mated though when I turned off the engine it took quite a while to see that if 27.Rb1 27.Nc7 Qxc7! and the black square attack continues 27...Qb4+ 28.Kb2 Bc3+! 28...Qd4+ 29.Ka3 Bb4+ 30.Ka4
wasn't at all clear to me and indeed Houdini confirms as I'd begun to suspect, that White escapes and is winning 29.Kc1 Qd4 30.Ra1 g2 and mate follows 23...Qh5+ 24.Qf3 Qh2+ 25.Kf1 Be3 26.Nc7 Qg1+ 27.Ke2 Qh2+ 28.Kf1 28.Ke1? g2 28...Qg1+ 22...Qh5+ Here Tanisha resigned and indeed she is quite lost: 22...Qh5+ 23.Kd2 Qh2+ 24.Kc3 Bxe3 25.Qh1 Bd4+ 26.Kb4 Bxa1 27.Qxa1 g2 0–1
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Boramanikar,T-Davaakhuu,M-0–12016C25Asian Youth Girls U-10

 

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1.e4 c5 2.d4 cxd4 3.c3 The Morra Gambit is for some reason rather sneered on by opening theory. But it's pretty hard to defend unless you know exactly what you're doing and very dangerous indeed in a junior tournament. g6 The main line starts 3...dxc3 4.Nxc3 Nc6 5.Nf3 d6 6.Bc4 e6 7.0-0 Be7 8.Qe2 If Black wants to avoid the gambit then 3...Nf6 4.e5 Nd5 is a line of the c3 Sicilian 3...d3 is also reasonable and say 4.Bxd3 4.c4 4...Nc6 5.Nf3 d6 6.0-0 Nf6 or 6...g6 4.cxd4 d5 5.Bb5+!? This allows Black to exchange off the white squared bishops which ought in principle to help her in this sort of position. But it does stabilise the centre. 5.e5 Nc6 6.Nc3 Bg7 is normal when White doesn't want to play 7.Nf3 because Bg4 is most annoying so you'd normally choose between 7.h3 and 7.Bb5 5...Bd7 5...Nc6 6.Nc3 6.exd5 Qxd5 7.Nc3 Qxg2 is bad for White 8.d5 Qxh1 9.dxc6 6...Nf6 6...dxe4? 7.d5 a6 8.Ba4 b5 9.dxc6 bxa4 10.Qxd8+ Kxd8 11.Bf4 and White is much too quick 7.e5 Ne4 8.Nge2 is quite a nice version for White who has good control of the centre with no problems regarding ...Bg4. 6.Bxd7+ Qxd7 7.e5 Now there's no pin with ...Bg4 so White can happily play Nf3 in a moment. Bg7 This position would be a very nice Franch/Caro for Black if ,...g6 hadn't been played but here the potential black square weaknesses have to be borne in mind. 8.Nf3 f5?! This prevents a later kingside attack by White but takes any pressure off the centre and weakens e6. Posiitonally speaking, if we compare the position in the centre to the Czech Benoni - 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 e5 - it is seldom correct after ...f5 by Black to then exchange on e4 as has effectively happened here (...c5xd4). On the other hand the exchange of bishops - black squared in the Czech Benoni - white squared here - is a positional gain. 8...Nc6 9.0-0 f6 was normal and perfectly playable 9.0-0 9.h4 was quite a normal reaction when h5 must be a threat. h6 10.Nc3 e6 9...e6 10.Nc3
10...a6? When you're behind in development as Black is here you have to be extremely careful. This prevents Nb5 but creates a weakness on b6 which turns out to be competely fatal and Tanisha now takes advantage excellently. The only question was whether a6 deserved one or two question marks. 10...Nc6 is bad because of 11.Nb5 but it's far from obvious since after the counterpunch Nxe5 White needs to find 12.Ng5! Qxb5 12...Nf7 13.Nxe6! is the point 13.Nxe6 Qd7 14.Nxg7+ Qxg7 15.dxe5 Ne7 16.Bg5 with a winning position 10...Ne7 11.Bg5 Nbc6 was normal. White has the advantage but the game continues. 11.Na4! Both hitting b6 and preparing Nc5 to hit e6. Qc6 11...Qc7 12.Ng5 Ke7 13.Nc5 is over 12.Be3 b6 13.Rc1 Qb7 14.Ng5! Ke7 15.Qb3
threatening both Nxb6 and Nc5 15...Nd7 16.Qb4+ Ke8 17.Qd6! Nf8 18.Rc7 Qb8 19.Qc6+ Nd7 20.Qxd7+ Kf8 21.Qf7# A very nice attack by Tanisha who gave her opponent absolutely no chance after the disastrous 10...a6? 1–0
  • Start an analysis engine:
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Boramanikar,T-Khodadadi,F-1–02016B22Asian Youth Girls u-10

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Jonathan Speelman, born in 1956, studied mathematics but became a professional chess player in 1977. He was a member of the English Olympic team from 1980–2006 and three times British Champion. He played twice in Candidates Tournaments, reaching the semi-final in 1989. He twice seconded a World Championship challenger: Nigel Short and then Viswanathan Anand against Garry Kasparov in London 1993 and New York 1995.

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