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JAPFA GM Round 4: A Tale of Two Upsets!

The fourth round of the JAPFA Grandmaster Chess Tournament was easily the hardest fought round so far, with as many as 5 decisive results! Overnight leader GM Nguyen Anh Dung continued his fine form as he overcame IM Sophie Milliet of France.

However, upsets took centre-stage in this round. The top 2 seeds – GM Tiviakov and GM G.N. Gopal – suffered major setbacks at the hands of IM Sukandar Irine Kharisma and FM Ali Muhammad Lutfi respectively. With 2 upsets suffered in 4 games, GM G.N. Gopal is indeed having a tough outing at Jakarta.

After 4 rounds, GM Nguyen Anh Dung is sitting pretty at the top of the table with 3.5/4 and a nice one-point cushion. IM Sukandar and IM Sean Winshand are joint 2nd with 2.5/4.

Tomorrow’s round will witness the first all-GM clash of the tournament as GM Antonio takes on GM Nguyen. A crucial encounter is on our cards!

Full results and pairings can be checked here: http://www.chess-results.com/tnr169744.aspx?lan=1&art=2&wi=821

Shamkir Chess 2015: Vugar Gashimov Memorial Super-Tournament begins

The Shamkir Chess tournament (in memory of Vugar Gashimov) kicks-off today at Shamkir, Azerbaijan. The super tournament is expected to be a grand affair with both the World Champion Magnus Carlsen of Norway and vice World Champion Vishy Anand of India battling it out.

As per the draws, Vishy will play Carlsen with the white pieces in the very first round. The tournament is a nine round all-play-all which will be played from today to 26th April, 2015.

The pairings for Round 1 are as follows:

White                                             Black
1 GM Kramnik, V. (0) 2783           GM Adams, M. (0) 2746
2 GM So, Wesley (0) 2788             GM Giri, Anish (0) 2790
3 GM Mamedov, Rauf (0) 2651    GM Vachier-Lagr. (0) 2762
4 GM Anand, V. (0) 2791               GM Carlsen, M. (0) 2863
5 GM Mamedyarov (0) 2754        GM Caruana, F. (0) 2802

Official website: https://www.shamkirchess.az/en

You may follow all the action live in your Followchess App.

World Amateur Chess 2015: Sandhya on 4/4!

Open Section

After 4 rounds of World Amateur Chess championship, two Turkish players – Dogan Mire Deniz and Onturk Senan Utku – lead the pack with 4/4.  Among notable Indian results, Manjunath Jain defeated a higher-rated player while Abhishek Thomre drew another 1900+ player.

The full pairings for Round 5 can be checked here: http://www.chess-results.com/tnr164371.aspx?lan=1&art=2&rd=5&fed=IND&turdet=YES&flag=30&wi=984

Women’s Section

Indian hope Sandhya G. maintained her perfect score and her sole lead as she won against her higher rated Mongolian opponent Khulan Enkhsaikhan. Meanwhile, Aparajita Gocchikar of India held her higher rated opponent Reis Virginia of Brazil to a draw.

In the fifth round, Sandhya will clash against Koutsogiannopoulou Theodora of Greece, who is on the sole second spot with 3.5/4.

The full pairings for Round 5 can be checked here: http://www.chess-results.com/tnr164372.aspx?lan=1&art=2&rd=5&turdet=YES&flag=30&wi=984

JAPFA GM : GM Nguyen Anh Dung in sole lead

Round 2

Round 2 saw two decisive encounters as Grandmasters Sergei Tiviakov and Nguyen Anh Dung won their respective games, with the latter winning his second game on the trot. GM G.N. Gopal, the only Indian player in the field, had to settle for a draw against WGM Aulia Medina (ELO 2404).

Round 3

This round witnessed two decisive results as well. GM G.N. Gopal finally won his first game of the tournament as he overcame WGM Alina L’Ami. In the other decisive game, IM Sukandar Irine Kharisma caused a small upset by defeating GM Antonio Rogelio Jr.

After 3 rounds, GM Nguyen Anh Dung has taken the early lead with 2.5/3 while Indian GM G.N. Gopal is joint 3rd with 1.5/3.

The results and pairings for this tournament can be checked here: http://www.chess-results.com/tnr169744.aspx?lan=1&art=2&wi=821

Bangkok: Twelve players in lead

Twelve players share the lead with 5.0/6 at the 15th Bangkok Chess Club Open, 2015. The two top seeds Chinese GM Wang Hao and Spanish GM Francisco Vallejo drew their sixth round battle to stay in the pack of joint leaders.

Among the Indians, GM Deepan Chakkravarthy, GM Surya Shekhar Ganguly, GM Abhijit Kunte and IM Himanshu Sharma are in the pack of leaders with 5.0/6. Notably, GM Kunte will be playing the seventh round on the first board against the top seed GM Wang Hao.

Indian youngsters are performing admirably well with many players doing well to increase rating points.

You may check out the pairings for Round 7 here: http://www.chess-results.com/tnr169298.aspx?lan=1&art=2&rd=7&flag=30&wi=821

World Amateur Chess Championship 2015: Round 3

The World Amateur Chess Championship 2015 is in progress at Halkidiki, Greece. 120 players have flocked in from all round the globe to participate in the Open section, while the Women’s section has witnessed 19 participants.

Open Section

In Round 3 of the Open Section, top seed Villar Juan of Peru went down against Wlogalski Olivier of Belgium. The latter leads the tournament standings along with four others on 3/3. Among Indians, Manjunath Jain and Abhishek Thomre held their respective higher-rated opponents to draws, while Vivek M. succeeded in overcoming Iatros Aristidis of Greece.

The full pairings for Round 4 can be checked here: http://www.chess-results.com/tnr164371.aspx?lan=1&art=2&rd=4&turdet=YES&flag=30&wi=984

Women’s Section

In Round 3 of the Women’s Section, Indian player Sandhya G., playing on the first board, came out on top against her higher-rated opponent WCM Gitu Paula-Alexandra of Romania. After three rounds, 14th-seeded Sandhya solely leads the tournament table with 3/3.

The full pairings for Round 4 can be checked here: http://www.chess-results.com/tnr164372.aspx?lan=1&art=2&rd=4&turdet=YES&flag=30&wi=984

The JAPFA Grandmaster Tournament 2015 Commences!

The JAPFA Grandmaster Chess Tournament 2015 commenced today in Jakarta, Indonesia. 12 players are contesting this round-robin tournament with an average ELO of 2452.
The field boasts of 4 GMs, 1 WGM, 6 IMs and 1 FM.

GM G.N. Gopal is the lone Indian in the fray.

The top seeds are:

GM Sergei Tiviakov The Netherlands 2662
GM G.N. Gopal India 2577
GM Antonio Rogelio Jr Philippines 2483
GM Nguyen Anh Dung Vietnam 2464

In the opening round, only one GM – Nguyen Anh Dung – managed to score the full point. GM Tiviakov and GM Antonio were held to draws by IM Alina L’Ami and IM Ali Muhammad Lutfi respectively, whilst GM G.N. Gopal was shocked by IM Sean Winshand Cuhendi in a nice attacking game. Amongst others, WGM Aulia Medina overcame IM Purnama and now leads the pack along with Nguyen Anh Dung and Sean Winshand.

The results and pairings of the tournament can be checked here: http://www.chess-results.com/tnr169744.aspx?lan=1&art=2&wi=821

Dubai Open: GM Dragan Solak wins

The ninth and the final round at the 17th Dubai Open Chess Tournament came to an end with six players tied at 7.0/9. Turkish GM Dragan Solak (2602) finished at the top of the heap thanks to better tie-break.

IM Sayantan Das was the best performer among the Indians with 6.0/9 finishing 17th in the main prize-list.

Rk. Name FED Rtg Pts.
1 GM Solak Dragan TUR 2602 7
2 GM Howell David W L ENG 2687 7
3 GM Fedoseev Vladimir RUS 2674 7
4 GM Istratescu Andrei FRA 2630 7
5 GM Ivanisevic Ivan SRB 2638 7

You may check out the complete ranking list here: http://www.chess-results.com/tnr168053.aspx?lan=1&art=1&rd=9&fed=TUR&turdet=YES&flag=30&wi=984

Bangkok Chess r4 : Three players share lead

Second seed GM Vallejo (2696) of Spain shares the lead with GM Gustaffson and GM Barbosa after the fourth round at the Bangkok Chess Club Open. The top boards witnessed numerous upset results with top seed Wang Hao (2702) settling for a draw with GM Jozsef Horvath (2522) and third seed GM Nigel Short (2678) losing to GM Oliver Barbosa (2489).

Young Indian untitled player Ritviz Parab (2188) is having a fairy tale tournament. He held Indian GM Surya Shekhar Ganguly (2619) to a draw on the fifth board to continue his fine run. In another all India clash, another youngster Michelle Catherina (2179) drew with IM Himanshu Sharma (2416) to become India’s latest Women International Master (WIM).

Pairings for Round 5:

Name Pts. Name Pts.
GM Gustafsson Jan 4 – GM Vallejo Pons Francisco 4
GM Wang Hao 3½ – GM Barbosa Oliver 4
GM Schebler Gerhard 3½ – GM Ganguly Surya Shekhar 3½
IM Sammalvuo Tapani 3½ – GM Horvath Jozsef 3½
IM Dimakiling Oliver 3½ – IM Ghosh Diptayan 3½
GM Laylo Darwin 3½ – IM Swapnil S. Dhopade 3½
Ritviz Parab 3½ – GM Torre Eugenio 3½
GM Short Nigel D 3 – IM Ikeda Junta 3½
GM Socko Bartosz 3 – GM Lazarev Vladimir 3
IM Ahlander Bjorn 3 – GM Rasmussen Allan Stig 3

You may check the pairings for round 5 here: http://www.chess-results.com/tnr169298.aspx?lan=1&art=2&rd=5&fed=IND&flag=30&wi=821

Bangkok Chess club open : 10 players on 3/3!

The 15th Bangkok Chess Club Open, 2015 began with 37 Indians in fray in the Open section. GM Wang Hao (2713), GM Vallejo Fransisco Vallejo (2696) and GM Nigel Short (2678) won their first three rounds quite comfortably.

GM Surya Shekhar Ganguly (2613) leads the Indian challenge and he will be playing the fourth round with an unlikely Indian co-leader in the form of Ritviz Parab (2188) of Goa who is off to a blazing start.

After 3 rounds, 10 players are on 3/3!

You may check out the pairings for round 4 here: http://www.chess-results.com/tnr169298.aspx?lan=1&art=2&rd=4&fed=IND&turdet=YES&flag=30&wi=821