World Junior R02+03: the tournament builds up

by Sagar Shah
10/9/2014 – In the first round there were, naturually, mostly lopsided Swiss pairings, but things started to get more interesting in the next two rounds. Currently five players are leading with perfect 3.0/3 scores in the Open section, and one in the Girls. And of course there are multi talents in Pune, India, like Erik Ronka, who sports a rating of 2183 and plays a mean Presto agitato.

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Rounds two and three: the tournament builds up!

By Sagar Shah

While the first round saw many lopsided pairings, things started to get a little more interesting in the second and third rounds of the World Junior Chess Championships 2014. After three rounds, the Open section has five players with a perfect score of 3.0/3. They are Wei Yi (2641), Cori Jorge (2612), Kovalev Vladislav (2548), Lu Shanglei (2533), Idani Pouya (2517). Surprisingly in the girls section we already have a sole leader with three points: FM Daria Pustovoita (2354) of Russia. As was the case with the first round report, here too we will let the pictures do the talking.

One of the prime examples of how a well prepared IM can give a tough time to super grandmasters
was the battle between GM Robin Van Kampen (2641) vs IM Bai Jinshi (2406)

Bai Jinshi was so well prepared that he hardly used his time for the 26 moves that he made and effortlessly drew against his opponent, who was rated almost 250 points above him

[Event "World Junior Open 2014"] [Site "Pune IND"] [Date "2014.10.07"] [Round "2.2"] [White "Van Kampen, Robin"] [Black "Bai, Jinshi"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B48"] [WhiteElo "2641"] [BlackElo "2406"] [PlyCount "51"] [EventDate "2014.10.06"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nc3 Qc7 6. Be3 a6 7. Qd2 Nf6 8. O-O-O Bb4 9. f3 Ne7 10. Nde2 b5 11. Bf4 e5 12. Bg5 h5 13. Kb1 Ba5 14. Bxf6 gxf6 15. h4 Bb7 16. Qd3 O-O-O 17. Nd5 Nxd5 18. exd5 Rdg8 19. Rh3 Qc4 20. Qxc4+ bxc4 21. Ng3 c3 22. Nf5 Kc7 23. d6+ Kb6 24. Ne7 Rg7 25. Nf5 Rgg8 26. Ne7 1/2-1/2

Two of the best Indian players crossed swords with each other in round three. GM Sahaj Grover (2491) vs GM Vidit Gujrathi (2635) ended in a draw. Vidit can be a little upset with the result as he had a clear advantage but he had some luck going his way when he converted a seemingly impossible position to win a rook endgame in round two.

[Event "World Junior Open 2014"] [Site "Pune IND"] [Date "2014.10.07"] [Round "2.4"] [White "Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi"] [Black "Vignesh, NR."] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D58"] [WhiteElo "2635"] [BlackElo "2360"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "6k1/5p2/6p1/7p/8/2R1PKP1/r4PP1/8 w - - 0 38"] [PlyCount "46"] [EventDate "2014.10.06"] {Such positions should be easily drawn. However it is instructive to see how White, who was the superior player, tried to maximize his chances.} 38. e4 Kf8 (38... Kg7 {keeping the king on g7 was much simpler.}) (38... f6 $5 { Preventing e5 also looked interesting.}) 39. Re3 Ke7 40. Re2 Ra3+ 41. Kf4 Kf6 42. e5+ Ke6 43. Kg5 Ra5 44. f4 Ra3 45. Kh4 Ra1 (45... Kf5 $1 {stopping g4 makes it very difficult for White to make progress.}) (45... f6 {leads to a position similar to the game.}) 46. g4 hxg4 47. Kxg4 f6 (47... Rb1 {trying to wait is a dangerous strategy:} 48. Kg5 Rg1 49. Rb2 Ke7 50. Rb7+ Ke6 51. Rb6+ Ke7 52. Kh6 Rxg2 53. Kg7 $18) 48. Rb2 Ra6 49. Rb5 Rc6 50. g3 Ra6 51. Rc5 Rb6 52. Ra5 Rc6 53. Ra7 $1 fxe5 54. fxe5 Rc5 (54... Kxe5 55. Kg5 Ke6 (55... Ke4 56. g4 Kf3 57. Ra3+ Kf2 58. Kh6 $18) 56. Kxg6 Ke5+ 57. Kh5 Kf6 58. g4 $18) 55. Kf4 g5+ 56. Kxg5 Rxe5+ 57. Kh6 Kf5 (57... Re4 58. Rg7 Kf5 (58... Kf6 59. g4 $18) 59. Rg5+ Ke6 60. g4 $18) 58. Rf7+ $1 {The final subtlety} Kg4 59. Rg7+ Kf3 60. g4 $18 Re6+ {A beautiful display of endgame technique by Vidit.} 1-0

After a scare in the first round, the Chinese super prodigy Wei Yi played confident chess in the next two rounds and is now 3.0/3. Surely, the readers are inquisitive as to what exactly happened in round one. Wei Yi missed a mate in 13 moves right out of the opening.

[Event "World Junior Open 2014"] [Site "Pune IND"] [Date "2014.10.06"] [Round "1.3"] [White "Wei, Yi"] [Black "Muthaiah, AL."] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B31"] [WhiteElo "2641"] [BlackElo "2215"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [PlyCount "80"] [EventDate "2014.10.06"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 g6 4. Bxc6 dxc6 5. h3 Bg7 6. d3 Nf6 7. Nc3 O-O 8. Be3 Nd7 9. Qd2 Re8 10. Bh6 Bh8 11. h4 Qa5 12. h5 Qb4 13. hxg6 hxg6 14. O-O-O Bxc3 15. bxc3 Qa3+ 16. Kb1 Nb6 17. Bf8 f6 18. Qh6 ({White can announce a mate in 13 moves here.} 18. Rh8+ $1 Kf7 (18... Kxh8 19. Qh6+ $18) 19. Ng5+ $3 fxg5 20. Qxg5 $18 c4 (20... Na4 21. Rh7+ Ke6 22. Rxe7+ Kd6 23. Qe5#) 21. Rh7+ Ke6 22. dxc4 $1 Rxf8 (22... Bd7 23. Qxg6+ $18) 23. Qxg6+ Rf6 24. Qg4+ Ke5 25. f4+ Rxf4 26. Rh5+ Kf6 27. Qxf4+ Kg7 28. Rg5+ Kh7 29. Qh4#) 18... Kf7 19. Qg7+ $2 ( 19. Ng5+ {was still winning.}) 19... Ke6 20. Ng5+ fxg5 21. d4 c4 (21... Nc4 $17 22. Qg8+ Kd7 23. Qxc4 Rxf8 $19) 22. d5+ cxd5 23. exd5+ Kd7 $17 {Black is definitely better with an extra piece but later went on to lose.} 24. d6 Kc6 25. Qxg6 Bd7 26. dxe7+ Kb5 27. Rh5 Bc6 28. Qxg5+ Ka6 29. Qc5 Qxc5 30. Rxc5 Bxg2 31. Rd6 Rxf8 32. exf8=Q Rxf8 33. Rxc4 Rxf2 34. Rb4 Bc6 35. Kc1 Nd5 36. Ra4+ Kb6 37. Kb2 Ne3 38. Kb3 Rxc2 39. Re4 Kc7 40. Rxe3 Rh2 1-0

Out of the Chinese three players in the open section two are in the lead with 3.0/3. One is Wei Yi as mentioned above and the other is the blitz master Lu Shanglei (2533).

The 1995 born Chinese player Lu Shanglei recently beat Magnus Carlsen in World Blitz Championship. In the World Juniors he is playing extremely well and the finish to his third round game against IM Shardul Gagare was aesthetically beautiful.

[Event "World Junior Open 2014"] [Site "Pune IND"] [Date "2014.10.08"] [Round "3.5"] [White "Lu, Shanglei"] [Black "Gagare, Shardul"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B15"] [WhiteElo "2533"] [BlackElo "2419"] [PlyCount "75"] [EventDate "2014.10.06"] 1. e4 c6 2. Nc3 d5 3. d4 g6 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. h3 dxe4 6. Nxe4 Nd7 7. Bc4 Ngf6 8. Nxf6+ Nxf6 9. O-O O-O 10. Re1 Qc7 11. Ne5 Nd5 12. Bb3 b5 13. c3 a5 14. a4 Bb7 15. Bxd5 cxd5 16. axb5 f6 17. b6 Qd6 18. Nd3 e5 19. Nc5 Rf7 20. Qb3 Qc6 21. Be3 e4 22. Ra4 f5 23. c4 f4 24. cxd5 Qc8 25. d6 $2 (25. Bxf4 $1 Rxf4 26. d6+ $18) 25... fxe3 26. fxe3 Qf5 27. Nxb7 Qf2+ 28. Kh2 Qxe1 29. d7 Bf6 (29... Bf8 $1 $11 ) 30. Nd6 Raf8 31. Ra1 $2 (31. b7 Bh4 32. Qxf7+ Rxf7 33. b8=Q+ Rf8 34. Ne8 $18) 31... Qxa1 32. Nxf7 Qe1 $2 (32... a4 $1 33. Qe6 Rxf7 $11) 33. b7 a4 34. Qe6 Bh4 35. Nd8+ Kg7 36. b8=Q Bf2 37. Qe7+ Kg8 38. Qf7+ 1-0

38.Qe7-f7+ was a nice way to finish off the game

Kovalev Vladislav (2548) from Bulgaria is 3.0/3

FM Daria Pustovoitova (2354) is the sole leader in the women's section with 3.0/3

WFM Irina Petrukhina (2218) from Russia with a score of 2.5/3

WIM Ivana Maria Furtado drew with WGM Padmini Rout in round three and is now on 2.5/3

WIM Ni Shiqun (2312) of China is 2.0/3

Cyrielle Monpeurt (2115) from France is on 1.5/3

The two GM-hopefuls of India Aravindh Chithambaram and Murali Karthikeyan. Both have made their three GM norms and only need to cross 2500 to get the title. Murali was 2499 at the start of the tournament but lost his first round and is now 2492 in the Live Rating list, while Aravindh is on 2484.

Dhaval Shah, the co-owner of RBS Ahmednagar Checkers team in the
Mahrashtra Chess League watches the top games with two little fans.

Waiting for the players is really a boring job! Some pass their time reading books...

… while some simply doze off

The Under-10 World Champion Nihal Sarin is playing wonderfully with a score of 2.0/3. He has one win and two draws and all his opponents were rated above 2400. The little kid came to the analysis room to show his third round game, and the clarity with which he analysed the game was simply mind blowing.

An inspiring video showing Nihal's restless style of play, how he never sits at the board during the game

GM Abhijit Kunte (right), who is not only the main organizer of this event but also a strong grandmaster, came to the commentary room and analysed a few games with the author of these lines (middle). He was witty and funny, as you can see by the reaction of WGM Soumya Swaminathan (left)!

The interview with Abhijit Kunte starts at 2 hours 17 min, and Nihal Sarin's from 4h 28 min

The lobby of Hotel Grand Hyatt where the tournament is being played has a piano. We found a young boy trying his hand at the instrument. He was so good that we had to go and interview him. And guess what?!! He is a 2183 rated player from Finland and has 11 years of experience of playing the piano. His name is Erik Ronka and maybe he is the future Mark Taimanov!

Erik Ronka playing the third movement (Presto agitato) of Beethoven's "Moonlight" Piano Sonata

Pictures by Amruta Mokal

Top Open standings after three rounds

Rg. Snr Ti. Name FED EloI Pkt.
rtg+/-
1 3 GM Wei Yi CHN 2641 3.0
5.9
2 5 GM Cori Jorge PER 2612 3.0
6.2
3 11 GM Kovalev Vladislav BLR 2548 3.0
7.2
4 16 IM Idani Pouya IRI 2517 3.0
6.4
5 13 GM Lu Shanglei CHN 2533 3.0
6.6
6 46 FM Gaehwiler Gabriel SUI 2360 2.5
22.8
7 48 FM Arat Ufuk Sezen TUR 2357 2.5
21.6
8 21 GM Grover Sahaj IND 2491 2.5
5.0
9 4 GM Vidit Santosh Gujrathi IND 2635 2.5
0.8
10 118   Ganesh R IND 2030 2.5
85.2
11 1 GM Fedoseev Vladimir RUS 2661 2.5
-0.8
12 8 GM Grigoryan Karen H. ARM 2591 2.5
0.1
13 32 IM Sunilduth Lyna Narayanan IND 2420 2.5
5.1
14 15 GM Antipov Mikhail Al. RUS 2524 2.5
0.5
15 17 GM Ankit R. Rajpara IND 2508 2.5
0.9
16 12 GM Dragun Kamil POL 2546 2.5
-0.7
17 28 IM Narayanan Srinath IND 2443 2.5
-0.2
18 23 IM Aravindh Chithambaram. IND 2485 2.5
-1.2
19 25 IM Tari Aryan NOR 2450 2.5
-0.4
20 37 IM Bai Jinshi CHN 2406 2.0
6.6
21 45 CM Prince Bajaj IND 2369 2.0
13.2
22 52   Kozganbay Erkin KAZ 2328 2.0
14.6
23 73   Ritviz Parab IND 2205 2.0
38.4
24 83   Sai Vishwesh.C IND 2151 2.0
63.6
25 88   Siva Mahadevan IND 2141 2.0
61.6
26 18 IM Ghosh Diptayan IND 2508 2.0
-0.1
27 22 IM Ducarmon Quinten NED 2487 2.0
-0.1
28 101   Nihal Sarin IND 2076 2.0
66.0
29 2 GM Van Kampen Robin NED 2641 2.0
-4.9
30 24 IM Kantans Toms LAT 2485 2.0
-1.1
31 6 GM Duda Jan-Krzysztof POL 2599 2.0
-4.6
32 126   Swain Ashirwad IND 1998 2.0
64.8
33 51 FM Nasanjargal Urtnasan MGL 2330 2.0
3.6
34 53 FM Koksal Ege TUR 2321 2.0
3.2
35 27 IM Das Sayantan IND 2445 2.0
-1.3
36 54   Beradze Irakli GEO 2318 2.0
3.2
37 34 IM Gagare Shardul IND 2419 2.0
-1.5
38 62   Kumaran B IND 2279 2.0
2.8
39 20 GM Bajarani Ulvi AZE 2496 2.0
-4.5
40 7 GM Bok Benjamin NED 2591 2.0
-6.3
41 66   Gahan M.G. IND 2252 2.0
2.2
42 10 GM Oparin Grigoriy RUS 2552 2.0
-5.7
  63   Navalgund Niranjan IND 2267 2.0
2.2
44 59   Harsha Bharathakoti IND 2297 2.0
0.6
45 14 GM Abasov Nijat AZE 2528 2.0
-5.9
46 19 IM Karthikeyan Murali IND 2499 2.0
-6.8
47 30 IM Kriebel Tadeas CZE 2428 2.0
-6.0
48 43 FM Bersamina Paulo PHI 2380 2.0
-11.0
49 36 FM Csonka Balazs HUN 2409 2.0
-6.1
50 31 FM Ben Artzi Ido ISR 2423 2.0
-6.9
51 61   Visakh Nr IND 2282 2.0
-8.6
52 57 FM Blazeka Matej CRO 2311 2.0
-11.0

Top Girls standings after three rounds

Rg. Snr Ti. Name FED EloI Pkt. rtg+/-
1 4 FM Pustovoitova Daria RUS 2354 3.0 12.4
2 34   Pratyusha Bodda IND 2078 2.5 46.4
3 37 WFM Sviridova Vlada RUS 2069 2.5 20.6
4 35   Imeeva Aysa RUS 2077 2.5 20.4
5 16 WGM Mona Khaled EGY 2191 2.5 14.2
6 19 WFM Gevorgyan Maria ARM 2160 2.5 13.4
7 2 IM Arabidze Meri GEO 2409 2.5 0.0
8 6 WGM Padmini Rout IND 2331 2.5 3.2
9 1 WGM Goryachkina Aleksandra RUS 2430 2.5 -0.9
10 18 WIM Ivana Maria Furtado IND 2165 2.5 22.0
11 70 WFM Chitlange Sakshi IND 1827 2.5 80.4
12 5 WIM Zhai Mo CHN 2339 2.5 1.2
13 8 WIM Nguyen Thi Mai Hung VIE 2299 2.5 2.6
14 3 WGM Khademalsharieh Sara. IRI 2366 2.5 -1.0
15 13 WFM Petrukhina Irina RUS 2218 2.5 5.8
16 15 WIM Chumpitaz Ann PER 2201 2.5 4.8
17 59 WCM Munoz Claudia USA 1906 2.0 62.8
18 17   Nandhidhaa Pv IND 2174 2.0 11.2
19 21 WIM Frayna Janelle Mae PHI 2140 2.0 13.6
20 22 WFM Zarkovic Mila SRB 2136 2.0 10.4
21 55   Aakanksha Hagawane IND 1926 2.0 26.8
22 28 WFM Saranya J IND 2107 2.0 4.4
23 11 WIM Ibrahimova Sabina AZE 2271 2.0 -8.4
24 7 WIM Ni Shiqun CHN 2312 2.0 -9.8
  36 WFM Monnisha Gk IND 2069 2.0 2.8
26 10 FM Brunello Marina ITA 2275 2.0 -9.8
27 20   Gelip Ioana ROU 2154 2.0 -5.8
28 30 WFM Srija Seshadri IND 2099 2.0 -10.4

Live video commentary on the official site by our reporters Sagar Shah and V. Saravanan

WJCC Round 2 Video Report

WJCC Round 3 Video Report

Links

The games are being broadcast live on the official web site and on the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download a free Playchess client and get immediate access. You can also use ChessBase 12 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs.

Sagar 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.

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