Sharjah Masters 04-05: Children warriors

by Albert Silver
3/28/2017 – Rounds four and five of the Sharjah Master open saw the final confrontations between hugely disparate ratings, with top boards still facing as much as 600 Elo differences. It wasn’t all fun and games for the favorites though, with Gawain Jones tweeting about ‘near perfect defense’ from his 10-year-old opponent. Illustrated report with videos and analysis.
Experience the meteoric rise of the youngest Grandmaster of all time into the world elite in specially selected master games. IM D'Costa presents brilliant victories in a new interactive training format with video feedback!

All photos by Maria Emelianova

Meet CM Aditya Mittal, 10 years old, who faced...

... GM Gawain Jones in round four, one of the leaders. The photo above is not merely a chance to suggest it was not an easy fight.

It was not just him though:

Wang Hao faced 11-year-old FM Sadhwani Raunak, rated 2218 in round four

It almost seems like everyone is going to be baptized with a tough fight against a youngster:

And then of course there are the 10-year-old IMs... ok, 11 years old now. One thing is clear: they don't make those 10-year-olds like they used to... Below, Indian prodigy Praggnanandhaa shares his entertaining win in round four:

Praggnanandhaa vs Abdulkarim 

 

11-year-old Paggnanandhaa plays an excellent game, with a dose of chaos (left in the notes) and shares his analysis and what he saw

The surprises aren't only coming from the kids either. 19-year-old WFM Srija Seshadri, rated a modest 2166 FIDE, started with three easy wins over sub-2000 opponents, only to face a 2643 rated GM in round four. She drew! But that was not the only surprise. The biggest one was when she faced another 2643 rated GM in round five, and drew him as well! Go girl, go!

Video report on round four by Daniel King

 

In this short video, you will find live footage of Jones and the exhausting opponent mentioned above, as well as comments by Srija Seshadri after her first GM draw

French WGM Anda Safranska is now at 3.0/5, and will face her third straight GM in round six

Pawan Dodeja vs Matthias Bluebaum

 

Matthias Bluebaum, the German no.2, find himself against a hyper aggressive rival who refuses to be intimidated. What ensues is a dynamic battle, handled with aplomb. An interesting and instructive game.

Daniel King with Murad Abdulla as they plot their next videos. The slew of video analysis, interviews, and reports have been a delight to follow.

Priyanka Nutakki v Rasmus Svane

 

19-year-old GM Rasmus Svane shows how he converted an endgame in textbook fashion

Indian GM Sethuraman may have lost to Wang Hao in round three, but with four other wins, he is still very much in the mix. It shows how tough the event is that with 4.0/5 he is still only 25th in the standings this far.

Daniel King analyzes Amin Bassem vs Akila 

 

This is the opening Amin Bassem hoped would bring a swift and easy victory. It turned out a lot harder than he had expected.

 

Imagine being nearly 600 Elo over your opponent. You imagine an easy win and thus try to bully your way to it with a highly irregular opening, but instead find yourself questioning your strategy as your opponent responds well. Daniel King shares insights on how to handle this 'blitz' opening play.

Arkadij Naiditsch vs Karthikeyan P.

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1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.Bf4 Bg7 4.e3 d6 5.Be2 0-0 6.0-0 Nbd7 7.c3 A48:1 d4 Nf6 2 Nf3 g6: Torre, London and Colle Systems 7.h3 Qe8 8.Bh2 e5 9.Na3 exd4 10.exd4 Qd8 11.c4 Re8 12.Bd3 Nf8 13.Nb5 Bd7 14.Nc3 Qc8 15.Nd5 Ne6 16.Qd2 1-0 (69) Naiditsch,A (2684)-Gupta,A (2626) Douglas 2016 7...b6 8.a4 a6 9.h3 Bb7 10.Na3 c5 11.Bh2 Ra7 LiveBook: 4 Games 12.Qb3N 12.Nd2 Qa8 13.Bf3 Rb8 14.Re1 Bxf3 15.Qxf3 Qxf3 16.Nxf3 0-1 (76) Kostic,V (2435) -Damljanovic,B (2567) Goracici 2015 12...Qa8 13.Rfd1 b5 14.axb5 axb5 Black wants to play ...Bd5. 15.Bxb5 Obviously not 15.Qxb5? Ba6 and the bishop on e2 is lost. 15...Bxf3 16.gxf3 Qxf3 17.Bf1! Ne4 18.Qc2 Ng5 19.Bg2 Qh5! 19...Nxh3+ is not as precise, and Black showed great alertness by avoiding the obvious. 20.Kf1 Qh5 21.Qe2 Qh6 21...Qxe2+ 22.Kxe2 Ng5 23.Nc4 and White is much better as he conquers the a-file. 22.Qg4 Ng5 23.Bf4 Bf6 24.Nc4 Rxa1 25.Rxa1+- 20.Kf1! Rb8 20...cxd4 was stronger and would have kept the balance. 21.exd4 Nf3 22.Bg3 Nh4 23.Bxh4 Qxh4 24.Qe4! and the position is roughly equal. 21.Nc4 Rc7?
Black misses White's next shot, and is now lost. 21...Rxa1= 22.Rxa1 cxd4 22.Nxd6!± exd6 23.Bxd6 Rbc8 24.Bxc7 Rxc7 25.d5 Nxh3 26.Ra8+ Nf8 27.Rd2! Ng5? 27...Nxf2± is a better chance. 28.Rxf2 Be5 28.Qd1? 28.d6 Rd7 29.Qa4 28...Qxd1+? 28...Qh4 29.Rxd1+- Rd7 30.f4! Nge6 31.dxe6! Losing the rook, but winning the game. Rxd1+ 32.Ke2 Strongly threatening e7. Rg1 32...fxe6 33.Kxd1 Bf6 33.e7 Rxg2+ 34.Kf3 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Naiditsch,A2702Karthikeyan,P25071–02017A481st Sharjah Masters 20175

A look at the playing hall. Notice the very comfortable chairs for all players, something all players will appreciate.

Gabriel Sargissian vs Srinath Narayanan

 

Rasmus Svane vs Mykhaylo Oleksiyenko

 

Once again, showing off his technical skills, Rasmus Svane reaches this rook endgame against GM Oleksiyenko, rated 2643, and converts it in a virtuoso display.

 

Watch the analysis by 19-year-old Rasmus Svane as he shows how he converted the rook endgame, proving that not all rook endgames are drawn.

Daniel King analyzes Valeriy Neverov vs Sandro Mareco

 

Sandro Mareco, the Elo favorite, faces the veteran GM Neverov, and scores a fairly smooth victory. Daniel King looks at the game, and notably the opening system the Argentinian player employed.

Standings after five rounds

Rk
SNo
Ti.
Name
FED
Rtg
Pts
  TB 
rtg+/-
1 6 GM Adhiban B. IND 2682 4,5 13,5 8,3
2 10 GM Jones Gawain C B ENG 2676 4,5 13,0 8,6
3 5 GM Wang Hao CHN 2683 4,5 12,0 7,6
4 16 GM Fressinet Laurent FRA 2662 4,5 10,0 5,7
5 21 GM Kravtsiv Martyn UKR 2641 4,5 9,5 7,1
6 38 GM Svane Rasmus GER 2570 4,5 9,5 7,6
7 11 GM Akopian Vladimir ARM 2675 4,0 12,5 1,1
  28 GM Adly Ahmed EGY 2593 4,0 12,5 6,2
9 17 GM Amin Bassem EGY 2660 4,0 12,0 1,5
10 2 GM Kryvoruchko Yuriy UKR 2708 4,0 11,5 -0,5
11 4 GM Naiditsch Arkadij AZE 2702 4,0 11,0 -0,5
12 35 GM Idani Pouya IRI 2576 4,0 10,5 2,4
13 19 GM Kuzubov Yuriy UKR 2643 4,0 10,5 -2,9
14 46 GM Schroeder Jan-Christian GER 2543 4,0 10,5 3,3
15 22 GM Bluebaum Matthias GER 2632 4,0 10,5 -1,5
16 45 GM Pichot Alan ARG 2556 4,0 10,0 2,2
17 47   Xu Yinglun CHN 2540 4,0 10,0 2,7
18 36 GM Maghsoodloo Parham IRI 2576 4,0 10,0 0,2
19 15 GM Mareco Sandro ARG 2664 4,0 10,0 -1,6
  40 GM Fier Alexandr BRA 2568 4,0 10,0 -1,5
21 31 GM Gledura Benjamin HUN 2588 4,0 9,5 2,9
22 48 GM Harika Dronavalli IND 2539 4,0 9,0 2,1
23 49 GM Vishnu Prasanna. V IND 2534 4,0 9,0 2,6
24 57 GM Deepan Chakkravarthy J. IND 2483 4,0 8,0 10,7
25 23 GM Sethuraman S.P. IND 2629 4,0 8,0 2,7
26 142 WFM Srija Seshadri IND 2166 4,0 7,5 29,2
27 9 GM Anton Guijarro David ESP 2676 3,5 13,0 -4,6
28 20 GM Oleksiyenko Mykhaylo UKR 2643 3,5 12,0 -5,3
29 80 GM Laxman R.R. IND 2403 3,5 11,5 10,4
30 12 GM Iturrizaga Bonelli Eduardo VEN 2673 3,5 11,5 -4,7

Click for complete standings

Watch the games live on the Live Replayer

 
Live: 8th Sharjah Masters-A 2025
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1.e4 16 c5 1:33 2.Nf3 8 d6 19 3.d4 10 cxd4 7 4.Nxd4 6 Nf6 12 5.Bb5+ 12 Bd7 1:01 6.c4 15 Bxb5 5:54 7.Nxb5 39 a6 3:19 8.N5c3 8:37 e6 5:21 9.0-0 2:03 Be7 26 10.Be3 6:44 Nbd7 1:28 11.Nd2 1:40 0-0 2:06 12.a3 9:09 Qc7 8:46 13.Rc1 4:26 Rfc8 3:02 14.b4 13:09 b6 7:19 15.f3 15:11 Qb7 2:41 16.Qb3 6:10 h6 13:49 17.Rc2 2:06 Rc7 8:21 18.Rfc1 4:02 Rac8 6 19.Ne2 2:50 b5 5:53 20.cxb5 3:56 Rxc2 24 21.Rxc2 19 axb5 1:03 22.Rxc8+ 6:37 Qxc8 1 23.Nd4 45 Qa6 32 24.Qd3 5:59 Ne5 2:00 25.Qxb5 20 Qxa3 16 26.N4b3 2:38 Bf8 9:43 27.Bd4 2:42 Qa2 37 28.Qf1 1:51 Qa4 2:13 29.b5 38 Qb4 2:51 30.Qe2 4 Be7 1:54 31.g3 43 g5 3:17 32.Kg2 1:18 Nfd7 42 33.Be3 38 Bd8 1:34 34.f4 22 gxf4 1:24 35.gxf4 2 Ng6 8 36.Qc4 36 Qxc4 1:15 37.Nxc4 1 d5 13 38.exd5 22 exd5 1 39.Nb2 1:12 Nh4+ 1:30 40.Kf2 44 Nf5 6 41.Na4 46 Kf8 1:25 42.Nc3 28 Nd6 2:36 ½–½
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StWhiteEloWBlackEloBResRndid
Tabatabaei,M2670Abdusattorov,N27719.15222651
Mayank Chakraborty2436Burmakin,V24359.15222717
Sargsyan,S2666Ivic,V26309.25222652
Mahdavi,R2445Harshavardhan G B24419.25222718
Daneshvar,B2621Indjic,A26379.35222653
Prraneeth Vuppala2474Tarigan,G24159.35222720
Sevian,S2694Gavrilescu,D25549.45222655
Wang,S2462Zhang,D24109.45222721
Salem,A2631Woodward,A25479.55222656
Schekachikhin,M2364Levin,E24539.55222722
Zemlyanskii,I2563Theodorou,N26119.65222657
Plotnikov,B2056Meng,Y24439.65222723
Muradli,M2603Kozak,A25789.75222658
Bharadia Yash2355Jiang,H24399.75222724
Vetokhin,S2558Paravyan,D25969.85222659
Beydullayeva,G2394Zia,T23749.85222725
Amar,E2569Mamedov,E24929.95222660
Ahmad,A2283Vismay Sachar20029.95222726
Siddharth,J2472Pichot,A25879.105222661
Liyanage,R2387Davudov,T22799.105222728
Samunenkov,I2572Pranav Anand25559.115222662
Raahul V S2378Poormosavi,S23799.115222729
Giri,A2738Aditya Mittal25479.125222663
Shyaam Nikhil P2430Chubakov,S22719.125222731
Visakh N R2507Karthik Venkataraman25659.135222664
Assaubayeva,B2494Jumabayev,R25519.145222666
Dai,C2531Ilamparthi A R24699.155222667
Sethuraman,S2552Sargissian,G26419.165222669
Nguyen,N2632Raja Rithvik R25459.175222671
Predke,A2631Petkov,M25249.185222672
Mendonca,L2630Oro,F24549.195222673
Zhu,J2541Tin,J26019.205222674
Azarov,S2596Samadov,R25219.215222676
Iniyan,P2573Movahed,S25189.225222677
Pang,T2485Akobian,V25649.235222678
Xiao,T2493Bharath Subramaniyam H25569.245222679
Nigmatov,O2457Sanal,V25559.255222684
Rohith Krishna S2490Sankalp Gupta25599.265222685
Grebnev,A2556Nikitenko,M25169.275222686
Kuybokarov,T2542Klimkowski,J25039.285222687
Lobanov,S2527Tippa,A16149.295222689
Huang,R2491Can,E25689.305222690
Vakhidov,J2546Malek,J25119.315222693
Isik,A2482Madaminov,M25209.325222694
Kacharava,N2516Royal,S24939.335222695
Tarhan,A2472Ferreira,J25379.345222696
Seemann,J2453Vescovi,G25849.365222698
Meng,Y2443Mayank Chakraborty24368.15147694
Indjic,A2637Sargsyan,S26668.25147628
Poormosavi,S2379Mahdavi,R24458.25147695
Burmakin,V2435Plotnikov,B20568.35147696
Tabatabaei,M2670Visakh N R25078.45147631
Tarigan,G2415Zhang,D24108.45147697
Abdusattorov,N2771Salem,A26318.55147632
Zia,T2374Prraneeth Vuppala24748.55147698
Pranav Anand2555Daneshvar,B26218.65147635
Mkrtchyan,M2292Wang,S24628.65147699
Theodorou,N2611Vetokhin,S25588.75147636
Sharipov,D2269Harshavardhan G B24418.75147701
Mamedov,E2492Muradli,M26038.85147638
Paravyan,D2596Amar,E25698.95147639
Jagreet Misra1999Ahmad,A22838.95147704
Davudov,T2279Beydullayeva,G23948.105147705
Woodward,A2547Azarov,S25968.115147642
Levin,E2453Tissir,M23208.115147707
Aditya Mittal2547Pichot,A25878.125147643
Popovic,M2334Shyaam Nikhil P24308.125147708
Bai,J2572Assaubayeva,B24948.135147644
Jumabayev,R2551Samunenkov,I25728.145147645
Akobian,V2564Siddharth,J24728.155147646
Gavrilescu,D2554Nigmatov,O24578.175147649
Maghsoodloo,P2706Xiao,T24938.185147650
Bharath Subramaniyam H2556Nguyen,N26328.195147651
Sanal,V2555Mendonca,L26308.205147652
Tin,J2601Sethuraman,S25528.215147654
Ilamparthi A R2469Ahmadzada,A25648.245147658
Sankalp Gupta2559Pang,T24858.255147663
Sargissian,G2641Kacharava,N25168.265147664
Aronyak Ghosh2514Predke,A26318.275147665
Movahed,S2518Can,E25688.285147666
Klimkowski,J2503Grebnev,A25568.295147667
Royal,S2493Zhu,J25418.305147668
Petkov,M2524Isik,A24828.315147670
Samadov,R2521Malek,J25118.325147671
Gupta,A2577Rohith Krishna S24908.335147672
Divya Deshmukh2469Kuybokarov,T25428.345147673
Tippa,A1614Ferreira,J25378.355147674
Nikitenko,M2516Tarhan,A24728.375147677
Vescovi,G2584Vakhidov,J25468.385147679
Madaminov,M2520Seemann,J24538.395147680
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Born in the US, he grew up in Paris, France, where he completed his Baccalaureat, and after college moved to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He had a peak rating of 2240 FIDE, and was a key designer of Chess Assistant 6. In 2010 he joined the ChessBase family as an editor and writer at ChessBase News. He is also a passionate photographer with work appearing in numerous publications, and the content creator of the YouTube channel, Chess & Tech.

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