Srinath Narayanan wins 3rd Kolkata International

by Aditya Pai
5/24/2018 – The third edition of Kolkata International Grandmaster Open came to a close on Tuesday. At the end of nine rounds, GM Srinath Narayanan emerged on top of the field with a score of 7½/9. This was one of the best Grandmaster events organised in India and also happens to be the last event of FIDE Presidential candidate Nigel Short before he begins his election campaign. | Photo: Shahid Ahmed

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Narayanan and a bit of luck

After a three year long hiatus, the Kolkata Open Grandmaster tournament took place at the New Town School in the capital city of West Bengal, India from May 14th to 22nd. The tournament attracted 193 players from twelve countries. The field was headlined by the FIDE Presidential Candidate GM Nigel Short and consisted of 28 GMs, 31 IMs, two WGMs along with several FMs, CMs and WIMs, making it arguably the strongest tournament ever in Kolkata and one of the strongest in India.

One afternoon round was played on each day of the event with a time control of 90 minutes for the entire game plus 30 seconds per move starting from the first move. At the end of the scheduled nine rounds, GM Srinath Narayanan and GM Deepan Chakkravarthy finished at the top of the leaderboard scoring 7½/9 apiece. After the tiebreaks were applied, GM Narayanan was declared the title winner.

For Srinath, luck had been smiling on him for quite a few rounds. In the penultimate round, for example, Srinath was pitted against local GM Deep Sengupta who surprised him with a Trompowsky Attack with the white pieces. But the boot was on the wrong foot when Sengupta miscalculated and dropped a piece on the tenth move, giving his opponent the full point within barely one hour of play.

Deep Sengupta resigning his penultimate round game against Srinath Naryananan at the 3rd Kolkata International GM Open

Neither player looked happy with the way the game ended | Photo: Amruta Mokal

 
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1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5 d5 3.e3 c6 4.Bd3 Bg4 4...Qb6 5.b3 Nbd7 6.Nd2 e5 7.c3 Bd6 8.Ne2 Qc7 9.h3 0-0 10.Rc1 Re8 11.0-0 a6 12.c4 exd4 13.exd4 dxc4 14.Nxc4 1/2-1/2 (69) Jobava,B (2690)-Sjugirov,S (2650) Riadh 2017 5.Ne2 Nbd7 6.f3 D00:1 d4 d5: Unusual lines Bh5 7.0-0 Bg6 8.c4 LiveBook: 3 Games e6 9.cxd5 Bxd3N Predecessor: 9...cxd5 10.Nbc3 Be7 11.Nf4 Bxd3 12.Nxd3 0-0 13.Rc1 Nb6 14.b3 Rc8 15.Qd2 Ba3 16.Rb1 Bb4 17.Nxb4 1-0 (17) Cruzado Duenas,C (2579)-Cinca,D (2376) ICCF email 2010 10.dxc6?
10.Qxd3 was the only good move. cxd5 11.e4 10...Bxe2!
0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Sengupta,D2563Narayanan,S25250–12018D003rd Kolkata GM Open 20188

Narayanan talks about his miniature against Deep Sengupta with IM Sagar Shah | ChessBase India Youtube

In the seventh round, too, Srinath was struggling to hold ground against the two time Indian National Champion, GM Murali Karthikeyan. Karthikeyan was clearly winning; all that was remaining was to find a couple of accurate moves to wrap things up.

 
Narayanan vs Karthikeyan, Kolkata 2018
Position after 41.Bb1

In this position Karthikeyan, playing black, just had to just play 41...Kg7 followed by Bb5 to finish the game. However, Karthikeyan opted to go for 41...Ba4 and after 42.Qd3, gave away all his advantage with 42...Bd7 and even went on to lose.

 
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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 c5 4.d5 b5 5.Bg5 exd5 6.cxd5 h6 7.Bxf6 Qxf6 8.Qc2 d6 9.e4 a6 10.a4 b4 LiveBook: 46 Partien. E10: Blumenfeld-Gambit 11.Nfd2 11.Nbd2 Bg4 12.e5 dxe5 13.Ne4 Qf4 14.Nfd2 Bf5 15.Bd3 Bxe4 16.Nxe4 Nd7 17.d6 f5 18.g3 Qf3 19.0-0 1-0 (27) Rodshtein, M (2673)-Tazbir,M (2517) Germany 2016 11...g6 12.Nc4 Nd7 Weiß steht etwas besser. 13.Nbd2 Qe7N 13...h5= bleibt in der Remisbreite. Vorgänger: 13...Bg7 14.Bd3 0-0 15.0-0 Ne5 16.f4 Nxd3 17.Qxd3 Qd4+ 18.Qxd4 Bxd4+ 1/2-1/2 (41) Goncalves,J (2504)-Valverde Toresano,A (2291) IECG email 1996 14.Bd3± Bg7 15.0-0 g5 16.Rfe1 Besser ist 16.f4± 16...0-0 17.Nf1 Rb8 18.Ng3 Und Sf5 würde nun gewinnen. Ne5 19.Rad1 19.Nxe5= Bxe5 20.Qe2 19...b3! 20.Qe2 Rb4 21.a5 21.Rb1 21...Bg4! Schwarz bestimmt, wo es lang geht. 22.f3 Nxc4 23.Bxc4 Bd7 24.Rd2 Rfb8 25.Ra1 Qd8 26.Bxa6 Ra8! 27.Ra3 27.Rdd1 27...c4-+ 28.Bxc4 Rxa5 29.Rxa5 Qxa5 30.Bd3 Ra4 Schwarz hat starke Kompensation. 31.Nf1 Ra1 32.g4 Be5 33.Kg2
33...Qc5 33...Rc1! 34.Ng3 Qc5 34.Rd1
34.Qf2 war nötig. 34...Ra2? 34...Bxb2!-+ ist viel giftiger. Droht ...Lc1 und aus. 35.Rxa1 35.Qxb2 Ra2 35...Bxa1 35.Rb1 Qd4 35...Bb5!? 36.Bxb5 Bxb2 36.Nd2? 36.Kh1 36...Rxb2-+ 37.Rxb2 Qxb2 38.Nc4 Qc1 Schwächer ist 38...Qxe2+ 39.Bxe2 b2 40.Bd3 39.Nxe5 dxe5 40.Qf1 b2 ...Dxf1+ ist eine echte Drohung. 41.Bb1 Ba4 Weiss muss nun ...Lc2 beachten. 42.Qd3 Bd7? 42...Kg7-+ Und weiter mit ...Lb5! wäre nett. 43.Ba2 Qe1 43.d6? 43.Qf1!= und Weiss steht sicher. h5 44.h3 43...Kf8 44.Ba2 Weiss hofft, mit Dd5 fortzusetzen. Be6?? 44...Kg7-+ und alles wird gut. Droht stark ...Le6. 45.Qd5 Qf4 45.d7+- Bxa2? 45...Bxd7+- 46.Qxd7 Qf4 47.Qc8+ Kg7 46.d8Q+ Kg7 47.Q3d6 Precision: Weiß = 30%, Schwarz = 59%.
1–0
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Narayanan,S2525Karthikeyan,M26171–02018E103rd Kolkata GM Open 20187

The Blumenfeld Gambit - A sharp weapon in the Benoni

It was back in the 1920s that the Russian master Benjamin Blumenfeld invented his famous gambit 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 c5 4.d5 b5!?, and to the present day the opening retains great popularity. Black plays for the initiative and the win from the word go.

With back-to-back wins in the seventh and the eighth round, Srinath was able to take sole lead in the tournament, half-a-point ahead of his nearest rival. So, in the final round, he could afford a rather sedate draw against GM Shyam Sundar which assured him a shared first place.

The three-player pack chasing Srinath included the top seed of the tournament, GM Nigel Short, GM Deepan Chakkravarthy and FM Arjun Erigaisi.

Short and Erigaisi were pitted against each other in the finale. While a win would have propelled either player to the first spot, a draw had its own incentive for the 15-year-old: he would have earned his first Grandmaster norm. From the black side of the Reti opening, Erigaisi was able to equalize comfortably and, in the end, secured a draw after 39 moves. With this draw, Arjun also reached the 2500 rating threshold required for the GM title besides scoring the GM norm.

 
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1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 Bg4 3.Bg2 Nd7 4.c4 e6 5.cxd5 exd5 6.h3 A07: Réti Opening: New York and Capablanca Systems Bh5 7.Nc3 c6 8.0-0 Ngf6 9.d3 Bd6 LiveBook: 26 Games 10.Be3N 10.e4 Predecessor: 10.e4 0-0 11.g4 Bg6 12.Nh4 Nxe4 13.dxe4 Qxh4 14.exd5 c5 15.Nb5 Bb8 16.d6 a6 1/2-1/2 (46) Oparin,G (2616)-Shirov,A (2673) Moscow 2016 10...0-0= 11.Qd2 Re8 12.Rfe1 Nf8 13.Rac1 Bc7
Strongly threatening . ..Bxf3. 14.Na4 Ne6 15.Nd4 Nd7 16.b4 a6 17.a3 Bg6 18.Nxe6 Rxe6 19.Bd4 h5 20.Rb1 b5 The position is equal. 21.Nc3 Bb6 22.Bxb6 Qxb6 23.Rbc1 Rae8 24.e4 dxe4! 25.dxe4 Ne5 26.Qe3 Qxe3 27.Rxe3 Nc4 28.Re2 f5 29.exf5 Bxf5 30.Rxe6 Rxe6 31.a4 Ne5 32.axb5 axb5 33.Na2 Kf8 34.Rc5
Threatens to win with f4. 34...g6 35.Nc1 Ke7 36.Nb3 Black must now prevent Nd4. Nd3 37.Rxc6 Rxc6 38.Bxc6 Nxb4 39.Bxb5 Bxh3 Precision: White = 54%, Black = 48%.
½–½
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Short,N2656Erigaisi Arjun2488½–½20183rd Kolkata GM Open 20189

Arjun breezes through some of his games from his GM-norm-winning performance in Kolkata | ChessBase India YouTube

Nigel Short receiving his prize at the closing ceremony of the Kolkata International GM Open

With a draw GM Nigel Short finished third on the leaderboard | Photo: Shahid Ahmed

Short shared a hilarious speech at the closing ceremony | ChessBase India Youtube

While this game ended in a draw, GM Deepan Chakkravarthy let all hell break loose in his third-board encounter against GM Deep Sengupta. From the black side of an English opening, Sengupta essayed a novelty which did more harm to his position than good. In response, the Madurai-based grandmaster sacrificed his knight to keep his opponent's king in the centre.

 
Chakkravarthy-Sengupta, Kolkata, 2018
Position after 11.Nc6!

Sengupta accepted the offered knight but, in the resulting position, he was hardly able to move a piece. Unable to find a way out of this traffic jam of pieces, he thrust his h-pawn forward in an attempt to liberate his rook. But by this point, serious threats loomed over Sengupta's king stuck in the centre and a blunder on the 18th move spelt doom for Black.

 
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1.c4 e6 2.g3 d5 3.Bg2 Nf6 4.Nf3 d4 5.b4 a5 5...Bxb4 6.Qa4+ Nc6 7.Ne5 Rb8 8.Nxc6 bxc6 9.Qxa7 Rb6 10.Qa4 0-0 11.0-0 e5 12.d3 Bg4 13.Qc2 1/2-1/2 (32) Karjakin,S (2771)-Anand,V (2785) Dubai 2014 6.b5 LiveBook: 3 Games. A13: English Opening: 1...e6 c5 7.e3 Nbd7 7...Bd6= 8.0-0± White is better. Bd6N Predecessor: 8...Nb6 9.exd4 cxd4 10.d3 Bc5 11.Ba3 Qd6 12.Bxc5 Qxc5 13.a4 1/2-1/2 (37) Sanjay,N (2337)-Lokesh,P (2295) Dindigul 2014 9.exd4 cxd4 10.Nxd4 Be5
10...Nb6 11.Nc6! But not 11.Bb2?! Qb6= 11...bxc6 12.d4 Bc7 13.Bxc6 Rb8 14.Ba3 White has strong compensation. Bb7 15.Nc3 h5 15...Bxc6± 16.bxc6 Nb6 16.Re1+- h4 17.Qd3 Rh6
...hxg3 is the strong threat. 18.Qf5 Strongly threatening Rxe6+! Ng4? 18...Nh7 19.d5 Qf6 20.dxe6 fxe6 21.Qxf6 Nhxf6 19.Qxg4 White is clearly winning. hxg3 20.hxg3 g5 21.Nd5 Bxc6 22.bxc6 Nf8 23.Be7 Qc8 24.Qxg5 White threatens Qg8 and mate. Rg6 25.Nf6+ Precision: White = 98%, Black = 36%.
1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Deepan Chakkravarthy J2516Sengupta,D25631–020183rd Kolkata GM Open 20189

Deepan Chakkravarthy receiving his prize at the Kolkata International GM Open

With a sparkling performance, Deepan not only finished joint first but also won the 'Game of the Day' prize | Photo: Shahid Ahmed

Other exciting moments

The tournament was action-packed and filled with moments of excitement throughout. Like in all open tournaments, there were some upsets in the early rounds. In fact, in the first round itself, the fourth seed of the tournament, GM Farrukh Amonatov, was held to a draw by the 16-year-old Kushager Krishnater. The Tajik GM, however, was rather happy about this result as he thought he was completely lost in the position.

Kushager Krishnater shares his ideas with IM Sagar Shah | ChessBase India Youtube

The string of upsets continued in the second round too as WIM Vantika Agrawal defeated Karthikeyan, the third seed of the tournament and two-time Indian national champion. The game was especially impressive because Karthikeyan is known to shine in complex positions thanks to his outstanding calculating ability. But Vantika chose to take the bull by the horns in this game and willingly steered into a complicated position. And, as they say, 'fortune favours the brave'; Karthikeyan blundered on his 36th turn and was forced to resign in a few moves.

IM Vantika Agrawal on her win against the third-seeded GM Murali Karthikeyan | ChessBase India Youtube

GM Ivan Rozum's sixth-round game was another thrilling point in the tournament. Rozum had taken the sole in the tournament with a perfect score of 6.0/6, beating GM Deep Sengupta in the previous round. In round six, he was pitted against GM Adam Tukhaev. By the time the following position was reached, it looked like Rozum was well on his way to victory, continuing his dream run in the tournament.

 
Tukhaev-Rozum, Kolkata, 2018
Position after 43.Kd3

Make the moves in the live diagram

Here, all black had to do was to get to the d7 square with his king and execute the imprisoned passed pawn. After this, Black's queenside majority would decide matters. Of course, Rozum was aware of this. But the Russian GM chose the wrong route. He went 43...Kg7, which allowed the tactical stroke 44.Nd6 Rxc7 45.Ne8+ and it was lights out soon. 

Round 6 game between Adam Tukhaev and Ivan Rozum at the Kolkata International GM Open

While this loss dragged Rozum to joint second place, it propelled Tukhaev to the pole position | Photo: Shahid Ahmed

 
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1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.Bd3 Nc6 5.c3 Nf6 6.Bf4 g6 7.Nf3 Nh5 8.Bg5 Bg7 9.h3 0-0 10.Na3 f6 11.Be3 e5 12.g4 Nf4 13.Bxf4 exf4 14.Qd2 Qe7+ 15.Qe2 Qd6 16.0-0-0 a6 17.Nc2 Bd7 18.Rdg1 b5 19.h4 b4 20.c4 Rfe8 21.Qd2 dxc4 22.Bxc4+ Kf8 23.b3 Rac8 24.h5 Na5 25.Qd3 Nxc4 26.bxc4 Qe6 27.hxg6 Qxc4 28.Qxc4 Rxc4 29.gxh7 Kf7 30.g5 Bf5 31.g6+ Bxg6 32.Rxg6 Kxg6 33.Nh4+ Kg5 33...Kf7 34.Nf5± 34.Rg1+ Kxh4 35.Rxg7 Rh8 Black is completely winning. He has things under control. 36.d5 Kh5 37.d6 Kh6 38.Rc7 Rxc7 39.dxc7 a5! How Rozum could lose this position is beyond me. 39...Rc8 40.h8Q+ 40.Nxb4 Rxc7+ 41.Kd2 Kxh7 42.Nxa6 Ra7-+ 40...Rxh8 41.Nxb4 a5 42.Nd5 Rc8 43.Kd2= 40.Nd4 Kxh7 41.Nb5 Rc8 42.Kc2 a4! 43.Kd3 Kg7?? 43...Kg8 44.Kc4 b3 45.axb3 a3 46.Kc3 Kf8 47.b4 Ke7 48.Kb3 Kd7 49.Kxa3 Rh8-+ Once the pawn is controlled the rook can now roam freely, pick up the f2 pawn and win the game. 44.Nd6 b3 45.axb3 a3 46.Nxc8 The rook has to be taken as Kc3 would be met with Rxc7+ a2 47.Nb6 a1Q 48.c8Q Qb1+ 49.Kc3 White is now a piece up and Tukhaev went on to win with ease. Qe1+ 50.Kc4 Qe2+ 51.Kd5 Qxf2 52.Qg4+ Kf7 53.Nc4 f3 54.Nd6+ Kf8 55.Qf4 Kg7 56.Qxf6+ Kh7 57.Ne4 Qa7 58.Ng5+ Kg8 59.Qg6+ Kf8 60.Ne6+ What a heartbreak for Ivan Rozum. 1–0
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Tukhaev,A2551Rozum,I25811–02018A003rd Kolkata International Open Grandmast6.1

The Kolkata International GM Open also happens to be GM Nigel Short's last tournament before he embarked on a seven-country tour to campaign for the FIDE elections. In the interview below, he talks to IM Sagar Shah about his campaign strategies.

"I am the only alternative to the continuation of the bad old ways" says GM Nigel Short | ChessBase India Youtube

Players weigh in on why this was one of the best-organised tournaments in India | ChessBase India Youtube

Final standings (top 20)

Rk. Name Pts.  TB1 
1 Narayanan Srinath 7,5 0,0
2 Deepan Chakkravarthy J. 7,5 0,0
3 Short Nigel D 7,0 0,0
4 Shyam Sundar M. 7,0 0,0
5 Erigaisi Arjun 7,0 0,0
6 Harsha Bharathakoti 7,0 0,0
7 Tukhaev Adam 6,5 0,0
8 Rozum Ivan 6,5 0,0
9 Burmakin Vladimir 6,5 0,0
10 Amonatov Farrukh 6,5 0,0
11 Nihal Sarin 6,5 0,0
12 Karthikeyan Murali 6,5 0,0
13 Rahman Ziaur 6,5 0,0
14 Gupta Abhijeet 6,5 0,0
15 Vishnu Prasanna. V 6,5 0,0
16 Neverov Valeriy 6,5 0,0
17 Nguyen Van Huy 6,5 0,0
18 Iniyan P 6,5 0,0
19 Sengupta Deep 6,0 0,0
20 Sandipan Chanda 6,0 0,0

Brochure of the 3rd Kolkata International Chess Tournament.

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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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