The penultimate round of the World Youth Championships 2019 was filled with action. Praggnanandhaa continued his sprint towards the title in under-18 open section by winning his game against Paulius Pultinevicius. Shant Sargsyan was saved by the skin of his teeth against Mitrabha Guha and is still right on the heels of Praggnanandhaa. Polina Shuvalova keeps her lead intact in under-18 girls. Nazerke Nurgali has finally managed to edge out Leya Garifullina in under-16 girls and Rudik Makarian has taken the sole lead in under-16 open. Aydin Suleymanli from Azerbaijan leads in the under-14 open while Bat-Erdene Mungunzuul has come strongly to the top as the sole leader in under-14 girls. The last round is played on today when the 18 medal winners will be decided.
The team of officials inaugurates round 10 of the under-18 open top board | Photo: Amruta Mokal
No draws on top boards! | Photo: Amruta Mokal
Praggnanandhaa beat Pultinevicius and confirmed a medal for India whereas Shant Sargsyan beat Mitrabha Guha taking the second spot for now.
26.c4!? was a well-timed decision by Pragg. You may feel that after 26...dxc4 27.bxc4 b4, the pawn on c4 is weak and the knight on c5 is very strongly placed. But Pragg had seen it beforehand that the knight on c5 is not stable and can be evicted with ♘b3, when either Black has to take on b3 and give White a protected passer or move from c5, when the c-pawn starts marching down the board.
35.c6 by Pragg in this position was a mistake because Black could take 35...♜xc6 36.♖dxc6 ♝xc6 37.♗xa6 ♜a8! 38.♗xc8 ♜xa5 39.♖xc6 and it seems like White is simply a piece up, but...
39...b3!! This is the point that is easy to miss! This would help Black to save the draw!
Pultinevicius took on c6 with his bishop and after 36.♗xa6 everything was fine for White. Pragg went on to win the game.
Praggnanandhaa with Sagar Shah
With a great interest and stamina Praggnanandhaa explaining the game for the viewers and never disappointing someone for autographs and selfies! | Photo: Amruta Mokal
Praggnanandhaa explains his round 10 win
Shant Sargsyan scored a lucky victory in the tenth round. He was completely lost in the endgame against Mitrabha Guha. But Mitrabha hallucinated for a move and it was all over!
White is completely winning here. He is a pawn up and has the bishop pair:
After a few inaccuracies it was already time to start thinking about a draw here with 44.♗xd2 followed by taking on c6. However, Mitrabha took on c6 allowing Black to queen. What was the point of his play? Isn't the bishop on d5 hanging with a check? Well, he played his bishop back to f3.
After 45...♛c2 he had to throw in the towel as cxb7 is met with Bd4! White can make a queen, but there is mate coming up! Mitrabha resigned.
Polina Shuvalova maintained her half point lead after defeating Lara Schulze on board one | Photo: Amruta Mokal
Vantika Agrawal chases the top spot with a crucial win over Yan Tianqi | Photo: Amruta Mokal
Vantika Agrawal speaks about her win over Yan Tianqi
The American Hans Niemann suffered another loss against Arash Daghli of Iran | Photo: Amruta Mokal
It was a King's Indian where White seemed to have made early inroads on the queenside. But it turns out that although White broke through on the queenside, the real action was on the kingside where Arash Daghli struck with his pawns, typical of the King's Indian.
Rudik Makarian sailed ahead with his victory against Harshavardan G B | Photo: Amruta Mokal
He is now the sole leader in under-16 open.
The draw between the top board Zhang Xiao and Leya Garifullina made it possible for Nurgali to get the sole lead after defeating Laman Hajiyeva on board two | Photo: Amruta Mokal
Nazerke Nurgali from Kazakhstan is the sole leader in under-16 girls | Photo: Amruta Mokal
She had some nervous moments in the tenth round, but finally managed to come out on top!
Black to play and win!
Aydin Suleman drew with Vo Pham Thien Phuc who is on a blazing streak by increasing 256 points and a whopping performance of 2438! | Photo: Amruta Mokal
The game saw many ups and downs, but in this final position where the players repeated their moves with 44...♛e1 45.♖f1 ♛e5 46.♖f5, Thien Phuc could have continued the game with 44...♛d6! The main point being that 45.♖xd5 is met with 45...♜e8! and Black is winning!
Jeet Shah, the local boy from Mumbai, has played really well and is gaining 170 Elo points
Eline Roebers lost to Bat-Erdene Mungunzul who now becomes the sole leader with 8.0/10 for the first time in this event | Photo: Amruta Mokal
The Indian duo who drew with each other is still in contention for the medal and will face the leaders in the last round | Photo: Amruta Mokal
Chess Players flaunting their style in chess! | Photo: Amruta Mokal
Mr. Samir Yagnik, the Executive Director of Electra EV with the Tournament Director Mr. Ravindra Dongre | Photo: Amruta Mokal
Three different professions come together! Chess is fun! | Photo: Amruta Mokal
IM Sagar Shah was the final speaker on October 11th and he spoke about "What stopped him from becoming a GM"
The entire talk by Sagar
The session was attended by many coaches and parents, including Sagar's parents as well!
