Shubham Kumthekar

Lake Sevan Round 1: Exciting Start!

The 2015 edition of the annual Lake Sevan Tournament, which traditionally encourages young talents from all over the globe, commenced with a bang as 3 out of the total 5 games finished decisively whilst the Gabuzyan – Hovhannisyan game resulted in a fighting draw. The only disappointment of the first round was a rather quick draw between GM Salem and GM Vidit.

The excitement of the opening round was further accentuated by the quality of fight in all 3 decisive games. These games saw GMs Anton Guijarro, Artemiev and Duda make full use of White pieces by scoring victories, albeit in hard-fought battles.

Round 1 Results:

Name	Rtg	Res.	Name	Rtg
Anton Guijarro	2626	1-0	Petrosian Tigran L	2630
Salem	2615	½-½	Vidit	2643
Artemiev	2660	1-0	Ter-Sahakyan	2593
Gabuzyan	2589	½-½	Hovhannisyan	2611
Duda	2632	1-0	Sevian	2578

Indian Women Challengers Final: Vaishali Wins!

The final round of the RamRatna 42nd National Women Challengers 2015 turned out to be a hard-fought one with all the top 9 games finishing decisively. Vaishali R, Tania Sachdev and Soumya Swaminathan won their respective games to tie for the first spot with a tally of 9 points each. However, Vaishali was crowned the ‘National Women Challengers 2015’ Champion, thanks to her superior Tie-Break score. Vaishali also gained a whooping 80 Rating points from this 11-Round event.

Meanwhile, the Runner-Up spot was clinched by Soumya Swaminathan, followed by Tania Sachdev on the Third rank.

Final Ranking after 11 Rounds: Click Here

Benasque Open Round 9: Rodshtein beats Jorge Cori

The penultimate round of the Benasque Open 2015 saw a group of new leaders emerge as GM Maxim Rodshtein scored a very instructive victory over GM Jorge Cori, the sole leader prior to Round 9.

The Jorge Cori – Rodshtein game, which started off quite harmlessly with the London System, hung pretty much in the balance right up to the early endgame. Despite Rodshtein getting his Rook to the second rank, the assessment didn’t change much. However, that was when Jorge started to go astray with a flurry of small errors. Slowly but surely capitalizing on Jorge’s mistakes, Rodshtein registered a clinical victory on move 63.

Amongst Indians, GM Adhiban scored a flawless win over GM Antal whilst IM Gagare went down against GM Grigoriants.

Going into the final round, four players, including GM Adhiban, jointly lead the table with 7.5 points apiece. The leaders are being trailed by a pack of 7 more players with a tally of 7/9.

Round 9 Results: Click Here

Indian Women Challengers Round 10: In for an exciting finish!

The penultimate round of the RamRatna 42nd National Challengers Chess Championship 2015 proved to be the most exciting one so far. The top-board encounter saw Soumya Swaminathan convincingly win against overnight leader Vaishali R. In a game which took off with the Scotch Opening, Soumya calmly and swiftly overcame her in-form opponent.

This defeat of Vaishali’s allowed Soumya Swaminathan, Tania Sachdev and Bhakti Kulkarni to catch up with her on the top spot. The aforementioned four players lead the table with 8 points apiece, closely followed by Michelle Catherina on 7.5 points.

With a lot of players packed closely together ahead of the 11th round, the final round promises to be nothing short of exciting.

Round 10 Results: Click Here

Benasque Open Round 8: Jorge Cori in sole lead

With a victory over GM Gretarsson of Iceland, leading Peruvian GM Jorge Cori has taken up sole lead at the Benasque Open 2015 with a tally of 7 points. The Gretarsson-Jorge Cori game turned out to be a rather complicated affair out of a topical variation of the Grunfeld Defence. However, in the middlegame, Gretarsson quickly went astray, thus enabling Jorge to secure a relatively comfortable victory.

Jorge is being trailed by as many as 10 (!) players on 6.5 points each, which includes two Indians namely GM Adhiban and IM Shardul Gagare. Gagare notably overcame GM Ubilava in the 8th round of this 10-round event.

Round 8 Results: Click Here

Indian Women Challengers Round 9: Vaishali back in lead!

A swift victory by Vaishali R over Michelle Catherina in the 9th round of the RamRatna 42nd National Women Challengers 2015 saw the former regain her sole lead with a tally of 8/9. Vaishali emerged a pawn up out of the opening and never really allowed Michelle to get back in the game. Michelle resigned on move 41, thus marking Vaishali’s 8th full-point of the tournament.

Meanwhile, the top-board game between Bhakti Kulkarni and Tania Sachdev turned out to be a rather long draw with 88 moves being played. This draw has pushed Tania back to the second spot whilst Bhakti Kulkarni and Soumya Swaminathan are ranked joint-3rd.

Results of Round 9: Click Here

World Open 2015 Final: Lendermann triumphs on Tie-Breaks!

After 9 rounds of gruelling chess at the World Open 2015, as many as 8 (!) Grandmasters tied for the 1st-8th spots in the final rankings with 7 points apiece. However, GM Alex Lendermann secured the sole first rank as he won the Tie-breaks after overcoming GM Rauf Mamedov in an Armageddon game.

Meanwhile, John Michael Burke of USA, rated 2258, recorded an amazing performance as he finished tied for the 9th-17th spots along with several strong Grandmasters.

Amongst Indians, GM Panchanathan and GM-elect Ashwin Jayaram turned out to be the best performers with 6 points each and a tie for 18th-34th places.

Final Rankings: Click Here

Indian Women Challengers Round 8: Tania defeats Vaishali

A Caruana-like start by Vaishali R at the RamRatna 42nd National Challengers Chess Championship was brought to a halt by top-seed Tania Sachdev as the latter won a convincing game against the overnight leader with a nice tactical blow on move 33. With this win, Tania has joined Vaishali at the top of the rankings with 7 points apiece.

In other top games, Bhakti Kulkarni overcame Rucha Pujari while Michelle Catherina won against Ivana Maria Furtado. With these wins, Bhakti and Michelle have taken up the joint second spot with 6.5 points each.

Round 8 Results: Click Here

Indian Women Challengers Round 7: Vaishali does a ‘Caruana’!

Tamil Nadu youngster Vaishali R continued her unchallenged dominance at the RamRatna 42nd National Challengers Chess Championship as she overcame Saranya J in a fine attacking game with the White pieces. Vaishali dramatically sacrificed a knight on move 14 with the idea of exposing her opponent’s King in the centre, and after that, there was no looking back. Saranya resigned on the 23rd move. With this win, Vaishali has notched up an exhilarating ‘Caruana-like’ start with 7 points in as many games.

Meanwhile, on the 2nd board, top seed Tania Sachdev won a convincing game with the White pieces in the Main Line of Slav Defence. Tania is now ranked a sole second, one point behind Vaishali.

The top-board game in Round 8 promises to be a crucial one as Vaishali R, playing black, will take on Tania Sachdev. A draw or win for Vaishali will keep her comfortably placed ahead of the rest of the field. However, a victory for Tania will leave the field wide open.

Round 7 Results: Click Here

Indian Women Challengers Round 6: Vaishali Unstoppable!

The 6th round of the 42nd Indian Women Challengers Chess Championship saw Vaishali R retain her perfect score as she overcame IM Nisha Mohota with the black pieces. After a rather strange opening, the chances looked evenly balanced. However, in the middlegame, Vaishali got a strong attack going on the King side which ultimately resulted in a swift victory for the Tamil Nadu player.

Meanwhile, the 2nd-board game between Nimmy A. G. and Michelle Catherina ended in peace while top seed Tania Sachdev scored a victory over Priyanka K on the 3rd board.

After 6 rounds, Vaishali R leads the pack with a fantastic tally of 6/6, followed by 5 players on 5/6.

Round 6 Results: Click Here