Shubham Kumthekar

Khanty FIDE GP 07: A day of White victories!

The 7th round of the Khanty Mansiysk FIDE GP 2015 saw the White side dominate with all 3 decisive results of this round going in White’s favour.

The most important result of the round (as regards the tournament standings) was Dominguez’s win over Svidler. With this victory, Dominguez leaped up to the 2nd spot.

Amongst other results, Giri overcame Tomashevsky whilst Nakamura defeated Vachier-Lagrave, who lost his 4th consecutive game.

After 7 rounds, Caruana leads the pack with 5/7, closely followed by Dominguez and Karjakin in the 2nd spot.

Zalakaros Open Round 7: Boruchovsky in sole lead

The 7th round of the Zalakaros Open 2015 saw GM Boruchovsky maintain his sole lead with 6/7 as he overcame IM Wagner with the Black pieces. GM Kovalenko and GM Ragger are closely behind Boruchovsky with 5.5 points each.

Amongst Indians, GM Adhiban won his 7th round game against GM Ruck Robert to maintain his joint 3rd position while IM Sagar Shah successfully held GM Csaba Horvath to a draw.

Full Round 7 Results: http://www.chess-results.com/tnr164932.aspx?lan=1&art=2&rd=7&wi=821

Khanty FIDE GP 06: Caruana continues to dominate

Dejection: Grischuk missed a nice drawing resource against Caruana. Grischuk 0-1 Caruana (Pic Source: http://khantymansiysk2015.fide.com/)

The 6th round of the Khanty-Mansiysk FIDE Grand Prix 2015 was easily the most exciting round of the tournament so far. Three decisive results were witnessed in this round with the rest of the games ending in draws.

The game that attracted the most interest in Round 6 was undoubtedly Grischuk vs Caruana. After an intense struggle throughout, the former missed an important chance of setting up a fortress in a Rook+Bishop vs Rook+Bishop+Pawn endgame. This allowed Caruana to grab the full-point and maintain his sole lead with 5 more rounds to go.

In the other decisive games, Svidler swiftly overcame Giri while Karjakin beat Vachier-Lagrave. This was Vachier-Lagrave’s 3rd loss on the trot.

Full Round 6 Results:

NAME	RTG	RES.	NAME	RTG
Gelfand	2744	½ – ½	Dominguez	2734
Svidler	2734	1 – 0	Giri	2776
Tomashevsky	2749	½ – ½	Nakamura	2799
Vachier-Lagrave	2754	0 – 1	Karjakin	2753
Jobava	2699	½ – ½	Jakovenko	2738
Grischuk	2780	0 – 1	Caruana	2803

Zalakaros open Round 5: Four players in joint lead

After 5 rounds of the Zalakaros Open 2015, four players – GMs Efimenko, Ragger, Boruchovsky and Papp Gabor – lead the table with 4 points each. GM Efimenko joined the leaders group courtesy of his important victory over GM Vajda Levente in Round 5.

Amongst Indian results, GM Adhiban drew GM Medvegy and now, is on the joint-second position with 3.5 points. Meanwhile, the husband/wife duo of IM Sagar Shah and Amruta Mokal is on 2.5/5 each. The two have been paired against each other for the 6th round of the tournament.

Full Round 5 Results: http://www.chess-results.com/tnr164932.aspx?lan=1&art=2&rd=5&wi=821

Zalakaros Open Round 4: Three players in lead

After 4 rounds of the Zalakaros Open Chess Tournament 2015, GMs Ragger, Boruchovsky and Papp Gabor lead the pack with 3.5/4 each. 12 others closely follow the trio on 3/4, including Indian GM B. Adhiban, who is the 7th seeded player in this strong open.

The other Indians in the fray – IM Sagar Shah and Amruta Mokal – have had contrasting results. The former has struggled with a total of 1.5/4 so far while the latter has drawn a couple of higher-rated players and has managed to notch up a total of 2 points.

Complete Round 4 Results: http://www.chess-results.com/tnr164932.aspx?lan=1&art=2&rd=4&wi=821

Khanty FIDE GP 2015 Round 4: Caruana in Sole Lead

Sole leader after Round 4: Fabiano Caruana (Pic Source: http://khantymansiysk2015.fide.com/) — Sole leader after Round 4: Fabiano Caruana
(Pic Source: http://khantymansiysk2015.fide.com/)

Overnight joint-leader GM Fabiano Caruana raced clear ahead of the rest of the field as he won an important game with the black pieces against GM Vachier-Lagrave in the 4th round of the Khanty-Mansiysk FIDE GP 2015. The latter over-extended on all fronts in the middlegame and Caruana was spot on in taking advantage of the same.

Meanwhile, the rest of the games ended in draws.

Round 4 Results:

PLAYER	RTG	RESULT	PLAYER	RTG
Gelfand	2744	0.5 – 0.5	Giri	2776
Dominguez	2734	0.5 – 0.5	Nakamura	2799
Svidler	2734	0.5 – 0.5	Karjakin	2753
Tomashevsky	2749	0.5 – 0.5	Jakovenko	2738
Vachier-Lagrave	2754	0 – 1	Caruana	2803
Jobava	2699	0.5 – 0.5	Grischuk	2780

Khanty FIDE GP Round 3: Three players in joint lead

The magnificent playing arena! (Pic Source: http://khantymansiysk2015.fide.com/)

The 3rd round of the Khanty-Mansiysk FIDE GP 2015 witnessed two decisive games as GMs Caruana and Svidler overcame GMs Tomashevsky and Jakovenko respectively. This was Jakovenko’s second consecutive defeat. The rest of the games ended in draws, albeit not short of some excitement.

After 3 rounds, Caruana, Svidler and Dominguez lead the table with 2/3 each. The trio is being closely followed by 6 other players on 1.5/3.

Round 3 Results:

PLAYER	RTG	RESULT	PLAYER	RTG
Jobava	2699	½ – ½	Gelfand	2744
Grischuk	2780	½ – ½	Vachier-Lagrave	2754
Caruana	2803	1 – 0	Tomashevsky	2749
Jakovenko	2738	0 – 1	Svidler	2734
Karjakin	2753	½ – ½	Dominguez	2734
Nakamura	2799	½ – ½	Giri	2776

Khanty FIDE GP Round 2: Lone winner Dominguez!

GM Dominguez Perez Leinier (Pic Source: http://khantymansiysk2015.fide.com/)

The 2nd round of the Khanty Mansiysk FIDE GP 2015 saw only one decisive game in which Dominguez overcame the first-round winner Jakovenko in 36 moves. Dominguez’s play was quite inspirational as he sacrificed the exchange just out of the opening. Although he did stumble on his way with the questionable 19. Bxd4, Jakovenko was unable to take due advantage of the same. After that, Dominguez never looked back and went on to register a fantastic victory. You may replay the game here: http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1791983

After 2 rounds, Dominguez and Tomashevsky lead the pack with 1.5/2.

Round 2 Results:

PLAYER	RTG	RESULT	PLAYER	RTG
Gelfand	2744	0.5 – 0.5	Nakamura	2799
Giri	2776	0.5 – 0.5	Karjakin	2753
Dominguez	2734	1 – 0	Jakovenko	2738
Svidler	2734	0.5 – 0.5	Caruana	2803
Tomashevsky	2749	0.5 – 0.5	Grischuk	2780
Vachier-Lagrave	2754	0.5 – 0.5	Jobava	2699

EnterCard Chess Qualifier 05: Hammer, Fressinet lead after the classical tournament

With draws in the final round of the EnterCard Scandinavian Masters Classical Tournament, GMs Hammer and Fressinet go into the rapid tournament with a comfortable lead over their nearest rivals.

The only decisive game of the day was Agdestein vs Hansen. The game followed a rather ‘See-Saw’ course with both the players making mutual mistakes. However, at one point, Agdestein made a string of mistakes which finally brought about Hansen’s first victory in this tournament.

The Rapid Section of the tournament will be played today. The overall winner will qualify for the super-tournament ‘Norway Chess 2015’.

Khanty FIDE GP Round 1: Tomashevsky, Jakovenko start with a win

Jobava misplayed a nice position out of the opening. Jobava 0-1 Tomashevsky. (Pic Source: http://khantymansiysk2015.fide.com/) — Jobava misplayed a nice position out of the opening. Jobava 0-1 Tomashevsky.
(Pic Source: http://khantymansiysk2015.fide.com/)

The opening round of the Khanty-Mansiysk FIDE GP 2015 saw two decisive games while the remaining games finished in draws. Amongst the drawn games, only MVL – Gelfand proved to be an exciting one.

The best game of the day was Jakovenko’s nice positional win over Anish Giri. In a Ragozin Defence, Giri surprisingly opened the position on his own despite Jakovenko possessing the Bishop pair. The ploy backfired on Giri as Jakovenko was able to force matters into an advantageous Rook ending (for Jakovenko), which the Russian player won in a clinical fashion.

However, the other decisive game – Jobava vs Tomashevsky – was nowhere near one-sided. Jobava obtained an excellent position right out of the opening but later went astray in the middlegame. Tomashevsky pounced upon this opportunity and decided the game in his favour in the middlegame itself.

Round 1 Results:

PLAYER	RTG	RES.	PLAYER	RTG
Vachier-Lagrave	2754	0.5 – 0.5	Gelfand	2744
Jobava	2699	0 – 1	Tomashevsky	2749
Grischuk	2780	0.5 – 0.5	Svidler	2734
Caruana	2803	0.5 – 0.5	Dominguez	2734
Jakovenko	2738	1 – 0	Giri	2776
Karjakin	2753	0.5 – 0.5	Nakamura	2799