Shubham Kumthekar

Norway Chess 06: Hari beats Giri!

Pentala Harikrishna of India raced to his second consecutive win at the Norway Chess Tournament 2016 by outplaying the super-solid Anish Giri. Hari’s decision to opt for the French Defence in reply to Giri’s 1.e4 worked wonders as the Indian Grandmaster emerged with the more comfortable position out of the opening. The matters further worsened for Giri courtesy of his 26th move, which helped Hari secure the superior endgame. Sidestepping any possible tricks, Hari went on to convert his endgame advantage into a full point.

The other decisive game of the day was played between Pavel Eljanov and Nils Grandelius. The former scored his first victory of the tournament after Grandelius committed a huge blunder on move 35.

Meanwhile, World Champion Magnus Carlsen’s tough defence helped him escape with a draw against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. While Carlsen is currently in sole lead with 4/6, as many as 4 players – Vachier-Lagrave, Topalov, Harikrishna and Kramnik – are only half a point behind him.

Results

Giri	0-1	Harikrishna
Vachier-Lagrave	½-½	Carlsen
Eljanov	1-0	Grandelius
Kramnik	½-½	Aronian
Li Chao	½-½	Topalov

Norway Chess 05: Harikrishna, Topalov get off the mark

Pentala Harikrishna and Veselin Topalov, who were having a quiet Norway Chess 2016 so far, scored their first wins by overcoming Li Chao and Nils Grandelius respectively. While Harikrishna’s win helped him get back to 50%, Topalov galloped to the joint-second spot on the leaderboard.

Harikrishna’s victory was an enterprising one. Just when it seemed Li Chao’s position was getting comfortable, Hari unleashed a couple of deadly blows on moves 24 and 25. After this, Li Chao found the going tough, with the game ending in a resounding victory for Hari on move 42.

Meanwhile, the central game of the day between Magnus Carlsen and Anish Giri ended in a draw. As such, Carlsen is still in sole lead with 3.5/5, half a point ahead of Vachier-Lagrave, Topalov and Kramnik.

Harikrishna	1-0	Li Chao
Topalov	1-0	Grandelius
Carlsen	½-½	Giri
Kramnik	½-½	Eljanov
Aronian	½-½	Vachier-Lagrave

U.S. Championship 07 & 08: Caruana, Wesley So in joint lead

Round 7

The seventh round of the U.S. Championship 2016 proved to be one of the most exciting ones so far. As many as 4 games finished decisively and only 2 games resulted in draws. As regards the standings, the most important result was GM Wesley So’s emphatic victory over GM Alexander Shabalov. On the other hand, GM Fabiano Caruana was held to a draw by 15 year old GM Xiong Jeffery.

As such, after 7 rounds of play, Caruana and Wesley So were tied for the top spot with 5.5/7.

Round 8

While Caruana and Wesley So were held to draws, Nakamura registered his second consecutive win to move on to 5.5/8. This puts Nakamura on the joint-second spot along with GM Ray Robson, only half a point behind leaders Caruana and Wesley So.

Norway Chess 01-03: Carlsen takes early lead

The 4th edition of Altibox Norway Chess Tournament commenced on the 19th of April, 2016. A total of 10 players form the field of this elite event, which boasts of an average rating of 2770. Local star and World Champion Magnus Carlsen is the top seed.

Round 1

The tournament took off on an exciting note with 3 of the 5 encounters ending decisively. Magnus Carlsen registered a thumping win over Pentala Harikrishna while Kramnik and Giri also made a fine start to the event with victories over Grandelius and Eljanov respectively.

Round 2

The second round was a relatively subdued affair. The only decisive game of the day was Maxime Vachier-Lagrave’s victory over Anish Giri with the black pieces. MVL, playing his favourite Najdorf Sicilian, overcame Giri convincingly in a mere 28 moves. Meanwhile,the Topalov-Carlsen battle resulted in a draw.

Round 3

The third round once again saw four draws and a solitary victory. Grandelius’s bold opening play against the World Champion backfired as Magnus Carlsen went on to win the game with relative ease.

As such, Magnus Carlsen is currently in lead with 2.5/3, half a point ahead of Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Vladimir Kramnik. Indian hope Harikrishna has had a quiet tournament so far with a total score of 1/3.

U.S. Championship 06: Caruana beats Onischuk, jumps into sole lead

GM Fabiano Caruana scored an important victory over GM Alexander Onischuk in the 6th round of the U.S. Championship 2016, thus jumping into sole lead with 5/6. Caruana, playing the White side of a Ruy Lopez, dominated the proceedings right from the start and went on to win an impeccable game.

Meanwhile, the high-voltage encounter between GM Wesley So and GM Hikaru Nakamura ended in a draw. A popular line of the French Defence gave rise to an interesting battle. However, the queens were exchanged soon and on the 28th move, Wesley So decided to play it safe by opting for a perpetual.

Results

Wesley So	½-½	Nakamura
Caruana	1-0	Onischuk
Kamsky	½-½	Robson
Shankland	0-1	Shabalov
Akobian	½-½	Lenderman
Chandra	½-½	Xiong

Dubai Open Final: Gawain Jones steals the show

GM Gawain Jones’s convincing victory in the final round of the Dubai Open 2016 saw him clinch the title in what turned out to be an exciting finish. Jones, playing White, overcame the then sole leader GM Boris Savchenko in the finale of this extremely strong open.

In an event boasting of 46 GMs and a total of 195 players, the English GM scored a total of 7.5 points and remained unbeaten throughout the course of the event.

GM Vladimir Akopian was another player who finished with 7.5 points. However, Jones’s superior tie-break score meant that Akopian had to content himself with the runners-up spot.

The event witnessed as many as 60 Indians participating, with GM Vidit Gujrathi performing the best of the lot. The youngster notched up a total of 7 points and finished 5th in the final rankings.

Final Standings

Bangkok Open Final: Surya Ganguly clinches the title

A final round victory over GM Loek Van Wely helped GM Surya Shekhar Ganguly triumph at the Bangkok Open 2016. Ganguly scored a total of 7.5 points and remained unbeaten throughout the course of the event.

The Ganguly-Van Wely battle took off with the ever-popular Sicilian Najdorf. While the Indian GM did obtain a fairly favourable position out of the opening, he was unable to capitalize on it. As such, an equal position arose around the 30-move mark. However, with Van Wely erring on moves 34 and 36, the game swung back in Ganguly’s favour. This time, Ganguly duly grabbed his chance and went on to score the full point.

On the other hand, the Bok-Khairullin encounter ended peacefully whilst GM Vallejo Pons Francisco overcame GM Nigel Short with the black pieces. As such, both – Ganguly and Vallejo – ended up with 7.5 points each. It was Ganguly’s superior tie-break score that helped him finish first, with Vallejo finishing as the runner-up.

Amongst other Indians in the fray, GM Sunilduth had a good tournament, finishing 5th in the final rankings.

Final Standings

Candidates Final: Karjakin triumphs in thrilling finale

With a final round victory over Fabiano Caruana, Sergey Karjakin won the Candidates Tournament 2016, thus securing the right to play the current World Champion Magnus Carlsen in a World Championship match later this year.

Going into the fourteenth and final round, Karjakin and Caruana were tied at the top of the table with 7.5 points each. Add to it the fact that the duo were to clash against each other in the final round, the tournament was all set for an exciting finish. The game, as it turned out, lived up to the hype.

The Karjakin-Caruana clash took off with the Rauzer Sicilian. A complex battle ensued, whereby both the players tried to generate as much activity as possible. However, Caruana’s inaccurate 36th move allowed Karjakin to wheel out a beautiful Rook sacrifice. From that point on, matters quickly fell apart for Caruana, with the American Grandmaster resigning on move 42.

All the other games viz. Svidler-Anand, Giri-Topalov and Nakamura-Aronian resulted in draws.

The Carlsen-Karjakin World Championship match will be held in New York City this November. As it turns out, this match will be the ‘youngest’ ever undisputed World Championship match in the history of chess.

Final Standings

1	Sergey Karjakin	8.5
2	Fabiano Caruana	7.5
3	Viswanathan Anand	7.5
4	Anish Giri	7
5	Peter Svidler	7
6	Levon Aronian	7
7	Hikaru Nakamura	7
8	Veselin Topalov	4.5

Candidates 09: Anand beats Aronian, joins Karjakin in lead

Continuing his good run of form at the FIDE Candidates Tournament 2016, Viswanathan Anand registered his 3rd victory of the event by overcoming Levon Aronian with the White pieces. Courtesy of this important victory, Anand has moved on to 5.5/9, joining Sergey Karjakin at the top of the table.

Anand’s victory was a fine example of virtuoso strategic play coupled with excellent practical decisions. To begin with, Anand surprised one and all when he opted for the Closed Guico Piano instead of his favourite Ruy Lopez. Indeed, he emerged with the more pleasant position out of the opening. In the middlegame, Anand kept improving his pieces, soon reaching a better endgame.

It was on the 38th move, during Aronian’s acute time-trouble, that Anand opted for an interesting practical decision in the form of 38.Kg4. In reply, Aronian was unable to find the best continuation, allowing Anand to obtain serious winning chances. Finally, the Armenian GM made a huge blunder on move 57 which helped Anand wrap up the matters rather quickly.

Meanwhile, Anish Giri failed to capitalize on a significantly better position against Fabiano Caruana. The Giri-Caruana battle finally ended in a 96-move draw. The remaining games, viz. Topalov-Svidler and Nakamura-Karjakin, were also drawn.

Candidates 06: A dramatic round!

The 6th round of the Candidates Tournament 2016 proved to be the most enthralling one so far with all the four games producing a whole lot of excitement. While two games ended decisively, the remaining two turned out to be extremely interesting draws. However, what ‘stood out’ was a touch-move incident in the Aronian-Nakamura game. Game by game report follows:

Anand-Svidler

Out of a normal-looking Ruy Lopez, Anand launched a powerful attack on Svidler’s king starting with 18.Rxe4. In reply, Svidler was unable to find the exact defensive resources, thus helping Anand win a 24-move miniature.

Caruana-Karjakin

In a topical variation of the Queen’s Indian Defence, Karjakin had achieved a satisfactory position out of the opening. Interestingly, he decided to go for a double-edged Queen sacrifice on move 18, which resulted in Caruana possessing the better chances. Despite Caruana’s advantage, Karjakin defended brilliantly and escaped with a crucial draw on move 36.

Topalov-Giri

Against the Grunfeld Defence, Topalov wheeled out the ultra-aggressive sideline with 3.h4. In reply, Giri opted for a Benko setup, emerging with the slightly better chances out of the opening. Indeed, the Dutch GM kept his initiative going all the way, which helped him emerge with an extra pawn in the endgame. However, he was unable to convert his material advantage and the game petered out to a draw.

Aronian-Nakamura

Just like the other games of round 6, the clash between Aronian and Nakamura generated a lot of interest. While Aronian had the pressure for the major part of the game, he missed a winning opportunity on move 53. After this missed opportunity, the game seemed to be coasting away to a draw despite Aronian possessing an extra pawn. However, something unexpected happened – on move 74, Nakamura touched his king with the intention of moving it. On realizing that any king move in the position would simply lose, he claimed he was adjusting the king. Aronian objected to this, upon which Nakamura was forced to move his king under the ‘touch-move’ rule. Aronian won shortly after this scandalous incident.

After a thrilling sixth round, Karjakin and Aronian are in joint lead with 4/6. Anand is placed sole third with 3.5/6.