7/5/2018 – It was an exciting final day at the Commonwealth Championships 2018. At the end of penultimate round we had four leaders with a score of 6½ / 8. P. Karthikeyan was the only one who won his game. With 7½ / 9, he became the Commonwealth Champion. Tania Sachdev scored 6.0 / 9 and took the women's title. Report by SAGAR SHAH, for ChessBase India. | Photo: Amruta Mokal
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Sagar Shah shows you on this DVD how you can use typical patterns used by the Master of the past in your own games. From opening play to middlegame themes.
Why memorising endless theory might not be the best path - and how an idea-based repertoire can change your game.
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Silver & bronze to Vaibhav Suri & Debashis Das
P. Karthikeyan won the Commonwealth Championships hosted by the Delhi Chess Association in New Delhi from June 26th to July 3rd. The championship tournament was held as an open tournament, with over 160 players participating. Before the final round, Akash G, Debashis Das, Lalith Babu and Karthikeyan P. were equal with 6½ points. Lalith and Debashis drew in the final round, while Karthikeyan defeated Akash G. in the second major game, earning the title of Commonwealth Champion.
The top three: P. Karthikeyan - gold, Vaibhav Suri - silver (left), Debashis Das - bronze (right) | Photo: Amruta Mokal
Tania Sachdev took 23rd place with 6 points and was awarded the title of Commonwealth Champion as the best woman in the field.
The vast majority of the participants came from the host country, which provided 134 players. South Africa was the second largest contingent with 8 players. One participant who played under the English flag: Manoj Arora.
Karthikeyan's last round win came in a fine game from the black side of the Sicilian Najdorf:
Akash 0-1 Karthikeyan (annotated by IM Sagar Shah)
When choosing an opening repertoire, there are days when you want to play for a win with Black, when you want to bear down on your opponent’s position with a potentially crushing attack. The Najdorf is perfect for just such occasions. Strategy, combinations, attack and defence, sacrifices and marvellous manoeuvres — exciting chess is all about the Najdorf!
It can be said that Karthikeyan was a tad lucky with the pairing. With a score of 4½ / 6 he was one point behind the leaders at that point. However, he zoomed ahead in the last three rounds beating three IMs — Watu Kobese, S. Nitin and G. Akash. I would say that last two — Nitin and Akash were in great form in the tournament and had beaten many GMs. To outplay them with ease, showed that Karthikeyan was the deserving champion. After the event, we spoke to Karthikeyan about how he felt.
"What I understood recently is that these GM norms, rating, titles will spoil your game. It is for commercial purposes only. If you improve your game, everything will follow...I practised calmness before the tournament and that is the reason why I am still in the zone, it seems. If you would have interviewed me tomorrow, perhaps I would be more excited!", says Karthikeyan, who could be seen with his eyes closed trying to focus and meditate before each game.
Karthikeyan's usual pose at the start of the round, and sometimes even in between the rounds! | Photo: Sagar Shah
It comes as no surprise that which such a calm and clear head, Karthikeyan is able to calculate much better. Here's a position from his game against South African IM Watu Kobese.
Watu Kobese has just moved his king to h8. White to play. What did Karthikeyan do here? Check the answer in the video below:
Interview with the Commonwealth Champion 2018 - P. Karthikeyan
The women's prize was keenly contested as well. It was not a separate event — the top three finishers in the open section would win the gold, silver and bronze medals. Tania Sachdev won the gold, M. Mahalakshmi the silver (the only one to win two medals — Open and under-20) and Kiran Manisha Mohanty went back home with the bronze!
The aim of this course is to help you understand how to make tactical opportunities arise as well as to sharpen your tactical vision - these selected lectures will help to foster your overall tactical understanding.
(Women L to R) M. Mahalakshmi, Tania Sachdev and Kiran Manisha Mohanty | Photo: Amruta Mokal
After her first-round loss to V.S. Negi Tania recovered admirably and finished with 6.0/9 to take home the gold. For Sachdev, this was the second consecutive Commonwealth title. Adding to her growing list of achievements, Tania was extremely pleased with the trophy.
"You never get tired of winning", says Tania showing off her trophy, adding that it is about the size of her nephew.
On this DVD, well-known Indian WGM Tania Sachdev shows you how to evaluate certain positions and then find the right concepts and plans on the basis of her own games.
On the Indian team for the Olympiad:
"I've been part of the national team since 2008 and it's always very special to play for India at the Olympiad, but this year is even more special...Jacob's our trainer [Jabob Aagaard -Ed.]. We've got the best team ever: Humpy, Harika, we've got a great trainer and I think that just having this great support system has really motivated all of us to give our best. Of course, what happens there — there's no guarantee, but I know that each one of us is very inspired to play for India in Batumi."
What better way to celebrate your success! Tania's family: Her husband Viraj Kataria (right), brother in law and mother in law | Photo: Amruta Mokal
Sagar ShahSagar is an International Master from India with two GM norms. He loves to cover chess tournaments, as that helps him understand and improve at the game he loves so much. He is the co-founder and CEO of ChessBase India, the biggest chess news portal in the country. His YouTube channel has over a million subscribers, and to date close to a billion views. ChessBase India is the sole distributor of ChessBase products in India and seven adjoining countries, where the software is available at a 60% discount. compared to International prices.
GM Blohberger presents a complete two-part repertoire for Black: practical, clear, and flexible – instead of endless theory, you’ll get straightforward concepts and strategies that are easy to learn and apply.
GM Blohberger presents a complete two-part repertoire for Black: practical, clear, and flexible – instead of endless theory, you’ll get straightforward concepts and strategies that are easy to learn and apply.
GM Blohberger presents a complete two-part repertoire for Black: practical, clear, and flexible – instead of endless theory, you’ll get straightforward concepts and strategies that are easy to learn and apply.
Opening videos: Sipke Ernst brings the Ulvestad Variation up to date + Part II of ‘Mikhalchishin's Miniatures’. Special: Jan Werle shows highlights from the FIDE Grand Swiss 2025 in the video. ‘Lucky bag’ with 40 analyses by Ganguly, Illingworth et al.
In this video course, Grandmaster Ivan Sokolov explores the fascinating world of King’s Indian and Pirc structures with colours reversed, often arising from the French or Sicilian.
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