1/18/2018 – When the 2700+ rated GM confirmed his participation for the Delhi International 2018, questions arose whether he would be able to win the tournament or not. With the under-rated Indian players, it was not going to be easy. However, Naiditsch showed to the world that he was a class apart as he easily won the tournament with 8½/10. He paced himself in exemplary style and was never in danger of falling behind. Ziaur Rahman finished second and Nubairshah Shaikh was third. We bring you the final round report along with some pictures of the prize giving ceremony. | Pictured: Top three winners of the tournament with Bharat Singh Chauhan and Arkadij Naiditsch (centre), Ziaur Rahman (left) and Nubairshah Shaikh (right) | Photos: Niklesh Jain
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If the Delhi International 2018 was a 10-kilometre run, then Arkadij Naiditsch zoomed past everyone is the first 8 kilometres and then walked his way to the finish line in the last two. He seemed simply in control of everything during the tournament and scored a clinical 8½ / 10 (with draws against Ratnakaran, Akash PC Iyer and Alberto David).
The final round clash between Naiditsch and Alberto David ended in a quick draw. Naiditsch was happy with a draw, because even if Ziaur Rahman won, Naiditsch knew he would win the event due to direct encounter being the first tiebreak, and Arkadij had beaten Rahman in round seven.
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1.e4
1,172,273
54%
2421
---
1.d4
951,243
55%
2434
---
1.Nf3
283,163
56%
2440
---
1.c4
182,996
56%
2442
---
1.g3
19,775
56%
2427
---
1.b3
14,397
54%
2427
---
1.f4
5,920
48%
2377
---
1.Nc3
3,834
50%
2384
---
1.b4
1,765
48%
2379
---
1.a3
1,228
54%
2405
---
1.e3
1,074
49%
2409
---
1.d3
958
50%
2378
---
1.g4
667
46%
2361
---
1.h4
457
53%
2378
---
1.c3
436
51%
2426
---
1.h3
283
56%
2419
---
1.a4
115
60%
2464
---
1.f3
96
46%
2431
---
1.Nh3
91
66%
2508
---
1.Na3
42
62%
2482
---
Please, wait...
1.Nf3Nf62.c4g63.b4Bg74.Bb20-05.g3c66.Bg2d57.cxd5
A15: English Opening: 1...Nf6Nxd57...cxd58.0-0a59.b5a410.Na3Qd611.Nc2Ne412.Rb1Nd713.Bxg7Kxg714.Rb4Nef615.a3e51-0 (48) Salgado
Lopez,I (2627)-Baklan,V (2601) Linares 20178.Bxg7Kxg7LiveBook: 3 Games9.a3The position is equal.a510.Nc3White should try10.bxa5=Qxa511.0-010...Nxc3NPredecessor:10...Bg411.0-0axb412.Nxd5Qxd513.axb4Rxa114.Qxa1+f60-1 (41) Pedersen,J (1397)-Camps,J (1512) IECC
email 200511.dxc3Qxd1+12.Rxd1axb413.axb4Ra314.Rc1Na615.0-0Rd816.Ne5Be617.Ra1Rxa117...Rxc3seems wilder.18.Nxc6Rd219.h4Rcc220.Be4Rb218.Rxa1Nc719.h4Nb5!20.c4Nc321.b521.Ra7
was necessary.21...cxb5-+22.cxb5f6And not22...Nxb523.Bxb7Rd224.e3=23.Nf3Nxe2+24.Kh2Nc3!25.Ra7Bd5Resist25...Nxb526.Rxb7Bd727.Bh326.Nd4Kf7And now ...Bxg2 would win.27.Nc2Nxb528.Bxd5+Rxd529.Rxb7 Endgame KRN-KRNRd230.Kg1Nd631.Rc7Ne432.Nb4Nxf233.Nc6
33...Ke6! Hoping for ...Kd6.34.Nxe7
34...Ng4!35.Nc8h535...Kf5-+...Ne5 is the strong threat.36.Ne7+Ke436.Nb6?36.Ra736...Ne337.Kh1Rd338.Na438.Kg138...Kf5Black is clearly winning.39.Nb239.Rc1Kg440.Nc539...Rb340.Nc4Nxc4Precision: White = 40%, Black = 87%.0–1
Ziaur Rahman was one of the stars of the tournament, hugely out performing his initial seeding as number 23, and turning in a 2701 performance rating. The Bangladeshi number one revealed that he "was very scared" playing against Naiditsch, but he immediately bounced back with wins over GMs Ivan Rozum and Sergei Tiviakov.
Endings with rook and minor piece against rook and minor piece occur very frequently, even more often than rook endings, yet there's not much literature on them. This endgame DVD fills this gap. The four different material constellations rook and knight vs rook and knight, rooks and opposite coloured (and same coloured ) bishops and rook and bishop vs rook and knight are dealt with. In view of the different material constellations Karsten Mueller explains many guidelines like e.g. "With knights even a small initiative weighs heavily".
For Rahman this was one of the most important performances of his chess career. Not only did he finish second and took home Rs. 4,00,000 (about €5,100 euro), but he also gained 31 Elo points. This means that he is back into the 2500 league! A place where he deserves to be.
GM Ziaur Rahman on how he beat two strong 2580+ GMs | ChessBase India on YouTube
Arkadij Naiditsch vs. Alberto David | Photo: Niklesh Jain
Naiditsch turned in five straight wins before coasting to the finish with two draws:
1.e4c62.d4d53.exd5cxd54.c4Nf65.Nc3e66.Nf3Bb47.cxd5Nxd58.Qc2Nc69.a3Be710.Bd3h611.0-00-012.Qe2LiveBook: 18 Games. B14:
Caro-Kann: Panov-Botvinnik Attack with 5...e6 and 5...g6Bd712...Qd613.Bc2Bd714.Qd3f515.Nxd5exd516.g3g517.Bd2Bf618.h4gxh419.Bf4Qe720.Bxh61-0 (38) Naiditsch,A (2687)-Nisipeanu,L (2681) Wijk aan Zee 201013.Nxd5NFind the theoretical novelty and annotate with similar games:13.Re1Rc814.Nxd5exd515.Bb1h516.Ne5g617.Bxg6fxg618.Nxc6Rxc619.Qxe7Qxe720.Rxe71/2-1/2 (34) Gaponenko,I (2418)-Maric,A (2455) Varna 200213...exd514.Bb1Re815.Qd3
Qh7+ would kill now.15...g616.Bxh6Bf6!17.Ba2Bf518.Qd2½–½
Accept the Morra Gambit with confidence. Tame the Grand Prix Attack. Put fear into the heart of every tedious 2 c3 player. You can make 1...c5 a dangerous weapon whether it's an open or closed Sicilian.
The find of the tournament was Nubairshah Shaikh who scored 8.0/10, earned his maiden GM norm and also finished third. Nubair's tournament was already very successful after he had achieved his GM norm in nine rounds. Hence, he offered his opponent Vignesh a draw after just three moves. But Vignesh was in a fighting mood and went for a full-blooded fight. Nubair played a model game in the Caro-Kann and won in style.
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Replay and check the LiveBook here
Please, wait...
1.e4c62.d4d53.Nc3dxe44.Nxe4Bf55.Ng3Bg66.h4h67.Nf3e68.h5Bh79.Bd3Bxd310.Qxd3Nf611.Bd2Be7B19: Classical Caro-Kann: 4...Bf5
main line12.0-0-0c513.Be3LiveBook: 3 GamesQa5The position is equal.
14.Kb10-015.Ne4Rd816.Nxf6+Bxf617.Qe4
17...Nc6NPredecessor:
17...Na618.g4cxd419.Bxd41/2-1/2 (50) Rafiee,M (2327)-Ni, H (2691)
Karlsruhe 201618.dxc5Qb5
25.Qxa7Qf326.Re125...Rd5Black wants a kill.26.Qc4Qf327.Qf1Qxf128.Rxf1Bxc129.Rxc1Rxh5Endgame KR-KR30.c4Kf831.Kc2Ke732.Rd1g533.c5?33.b433...g4
Black is clearly winning.34.b4Rd535.Rg1h536.Kc3f5Precision: White
= 24%, Black = 72%.0–1
The Caro Kann is a very tricky opening. Black’s play is based on controlling and fighting for key light squares. It is a line which was very fashionable in late 90s and early 2000s due to the successes of greats like Karpov, Anand, Dreev etc. Recently due to strong engines lot of key developments have been made and some new lines have been introduced, while others have been refuted altogether. I have analyzed the new trends carefully and found some new ideas for Black.
First have a look at the game in our game viewer and then listen to the lad analyze the game.
Nubair Shah Shaikh shows his win against Vignesh along side IM Sagar Shah | ChessBase India on YouTube
IM Tania Sachdev was a special guest at the event. ChessBase India caught up with Tania to speak about the Delhi International 2018, her role at the Gibraltar Chess Festival and how chess can make it to the Olympics.
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.
Tania Sachdev, in Hindi and English | ChessBase India on YouTube
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.
Chess Festival Prague 2025 with analyses by Aravindh, Giri, Gurel, Navara and others. ‘Special’: 27 highly entertaining miniatures. Opening videos by Werle, King and Ris. 10 opening articles with new repertoire ideas and much more.
Experts examine the games of Max Euwe. Let them show you which openings Euwe chose to play, where his strength in middlegames were, which tactical abilities he had or how he outplayed his opponents in the endgame.
This interactive video course of over 8 hours, provides an in-depth exploration of the Pirc Defence, a favoured opening for people looking to play for the win with the black pieces.
Pirc Defence Powerbase 2025 is a database and contains a total of 10027 games from Mega 2025 or the Correspondence Database 2024; of these 874 are annotated.
The Pirc Defence Powerbook 2025 consists for a greater part of engine games (168 000), to which has been added high value material from Mega and the Correspondence Database (115 000).
The free app from ChessBase! ChessBase Mobile has everything you need as a chess player on the go:
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