Shubham Kumthekar

Delhi Final: A thrilling finish!

The 14th edition of the Delhi Open was won by Russian GM Ivan Popov with a tally of 8/10.

However, Popov, who was leading the field for a major part of the tournament, was unable to secure the sole first place. Ukrainian GM Valeriy Neverov threw a spanner in Popov’s works by beating the Russian GM in the 10th and final round of the event. With GM Atilla Czebe drawing against GM Sivuk Vitaly, three Grandmasters – Popov, Neverov and Czebe – ended up on 8 points each. Thanks to his superior tie-break score, Popov was declared the winner, with Czebe and Neverov finishing 2nd and 3rd respectively.

Amongst Indians, GM Lalith Babu, IM Sayantan Das and GM Vaibhav Suri tied for the 4th-10th places. IM Sayantan Das’s impressive performance helped him achieve his second Grandmaster Norm.

Four more players (all from India) were also successful in making norms: Pradeep Kumar, Himal Gusain and Mehar Chinna Reddy made IM norms while Srija Seshadri made a WIM norm.

Final Standings

Tata Steel 01: Three white victories

Masters

The opening round of the Tata Steel Masters 2016 witnessed three decisive results and four draws, with all the three decisive games resulting in favour of the white side. The highlight of the day was GM Wesley So’s seemingly effortless win over the super-solid GM Anish Giri. In other decisive games, GM Caruana won convincgly against GM Eljanov while GM Ding Liren overcame GM Adams.

Meanwhile, World Champion Magnus Carlsen had to settle for a draw against GM Navara.

Results:

Caruana	1-0	Eljanov
Ding Liren	1-0	Adams
Navara	½-½	Carlsen
Mamedyarov	½-½	Van Wely
Wesley So	1-0	Giri
Hou Yifan	½-½	Karjakin
Wei Yi	½-½	Tomashevsky

Challengers:

The first round of the Challengers section turned out to be massively exciting with all the 7 games ending decisively. To single out, GM Baskaran Adhiban, the only Indian in the fray, scored a fascinating victory over GM Abasov.

Results:

Haast	0-1	Van Foreest
Antipov	0-1	Ju Wenjun
Dreev	1-0	Bok
Safarli	1-0	Sevian
Adhiban	1-0	Abasov
L’Ami	1-0	Admiraal
Nisipeanu	1-0	Batsiashvili

Delhi 09: Czebe closes in on Popov

The 9th and penultimate round of the Delhi Open 2016 saw Hungarian GM Czebe Atilla score a resounding victory over GM Lalith Babu of India. With the top-board encounter between GMs Ivan Popov and Solodovnichenko ending in a quick draw, Czebe’s victory helped him inch closer to Popov, who is currently leading the field with 8/9. Czebe is sole second with 7.5/9.

Earlier in the day, the Czebe – Lalith clash took off with a strange kind of Reti opening that offered equal chances to both the sides. However, Lalith Babu quickly went astray after the opening, allowing Czebe to gain a significant advantage. From that point on, the Hungarian GM never looked back as he went on to convert his advantage in an extremely swift fashion.

With the top two players separated by only half a point and three players following them on the third spot, the 10th and final round promises an exciting finish to this premier open event.

Complete Round 9 Results

Delhi 08: Exciting draw in Grachev-Popov

The top-board clash between top-seed GM Boris Grachev and second-seed GM Ivan Popov lived up to its hype, despite the game resulting in only a draw. Typically for the Botvinnik Variation of the Semi-Slav Defence, the game took an extremely sharp course with White offering a handful of material for an attack on the black king. However, Popov, playing black, was able to put up the best possible defence which forced Grachev to opt for a perpetual check. The game ended in a draw on move 29. (You can check the complete game here)

Meanwhile, GMs Yuri Solodovnichenko, Lalith Babu and Czebe Atilla inched closer to the tournament leader GM Popov with victories over IMs Vignesh NR, Sayantan Das and Ravi Teja respectively. Popov is currently leading the tournament in a dominating fashion with 7.5 points while Solodovnichenko, Lalith Babu and Czebe have scored 6.5 points each.

The 9th and penultimate round of the tournament promises to be an immensely exciting one, with as many as five GM vs GM battles to be witnessed today.

Complete Round 8 Results

Delhi 06: Ivan Popov 6/6!

GM Ivan Popov of Russia continued his dominance at the Delhi Open 2016 by registering his sixth consecutive victory in as many rounds. Popov, playing black, overcame GM Czebe Atilla of Hungary in yesterday’s round. On sole second place is GM Vitaly Sivuk of Russia with 5.5 points. Sivuk won a crucial game against GM David Alberto in round 6 of this 10-round event.

Meanwhile, untitled Pradeep Kumar R. A. of India continued with his excellent run of form by beating GM Ernst Sipke to move on to 5/6.

Round 6 Results: Here

Delhi 04: Three Grandmasters in lead

The top-board clash in Round 4 of the Delhi Open 2016 saw GM Ivan Popov score an enterprising victory over GM Nguyen Duc Hoa. Playing the black side of a Modern Benoni, Popov wheeled out a theoretical exchange sacrifice right after the opening. Soon, the battle turned complex and a few mutual mistakes were observed. However, White’s blunder on the 41st move enabled Popov to clinch the matters almost immediately.

On the 2nd and 3rd boards, GMs Anton Demchenko and Sivuk Vitaly overcame Himal Gusain and IM Rahul Sangma respectively.

The star of the round, however, turned out to be Pradeep Kumar R. A of India. The untitled Indian registered an upset by defeating Russian GM Artur Gabrielian.

After four rounds of this 10-round open, GMs Ivan Popov, Anton Demchenko and Vitaly Sivuk are leading the pack with 4/4 each.

Round 4 Results: Here

NZ Open Ch Final: Gawain Jones clinches the title

A draw against GM Fier in the 9th and final round of the New Zealand Open Chess Championship 2016 proved sufficient for GM Gawain Jones to finish as the sole winner. Jones, who started off as the second seed, finished with 7.5/9 and remained unbeaten throughout the course of the tournament.

For the second place, a three-way tie was witnessed as GMs Nigel Short, Ju Wenjun and Ma Qun finished with 7 points each. However, it was Ju Wenjun who emerged as the frontrunner in the race for the second place, thanks to her superior tie-break score.

Amongst players from the host country, FM Alexei Kulashko turned out to be the best player. Kulashko scored a total of 6 points.

Final Standings: Here

NZ Open Ch 08: Jones still on top, Ju Wenjun sole second

A convincing victory over FM Koop Thorben in the 8th round of the New Zealand Open Chess Championship 2016 helped GM Ju Wenjun inch closer to the tournament leader GM Gawain Jones. The Chinese GM has notched up 6.5 points so far whilst Jones, who drew GM Ma Qun in today’s round, is leading the table with 7/8.

Meanwhile, the clash between GMs Fier and Short on the second table ended peacefully. The duo, together with GM Ma Qun, IM Daulyte and FM Kulashko, are placed joint-third with 6 points each.

The 9th and final round of this open event will witness tournament leader Jones take on Fier while Ju Wenjun is paired against Daulyte. The tournament is poised for an exciting finish, especially if Ju Wenjun manages to rack up a victory.

Round 8 Results: Here

NZ Open Ch 07: Gawain Jones reigning supreme

GM Gawain Jones’s excellent endgame technique helped him register a comfortable victory over FM Aleksei Kulashko in the seventh round of the New Zealand Open Chess Championship 2016. With this victory, the English GM has now moved on to an impressive 6.5/7, a point ahead of his closest competitors.

However, the 2nd and 3rd boards, featuring GM vs GM clashes, generated a lot more interest. Despite an interesting draw in Fier – Ju Wenjun, it was GM Nigel Short’s convincing win over GM Matthieu Cornette that hogged the limelight. Playing the White side of the King’s Indian Defence, the former World Championship Challenger duly capitalized on his opponent’s mistakes to emerge with a dominant position. Cornette saw nothing better and decided to resign on move 31. GMs Short, Fier, Ma Qun and Ju Wenjun are currently placed joint-second with 5.5/7.

Round 7 Results: Here

Rilton Cup Final: Rodshtein wins the tournament, crosses 2700 mark

The Rilton Cup 2015/16 was held in the city of Stockholm, Sweden. A total of 94 players including 18 GMs, 2 WGMs and 19 IMs took part in this 9-round open, wherein GM Jon Ludvig Hammer of Norway started as the top-seed.

With a final-round victory over GM Hans Tikkanen, GM Maxim Rodshtein of Israel emerged as the winner of the tournament. Rodshtein notched up an impressive tally of 8 points, winning seven games and drawing two. In doing so, he also managed to cross the coveted 2700 mark in the live ratings.

Top-seed GM Hammer also had a good tournament. By overcoming IM Zumsande in the final round, he secured the second place with a total of 7.5 points by his name. Meanwhile, GM Erik Blomqvist finished on a credible third spot, gaining as many as 23 ELO points along the way.

Final Standings: Here