Indian National Challengers Final: Swapnil Dhopade Triumphant!

A crucial victory by IM Swapnil Dhopade over IM Thejkumar in the Final Round of the National Challengers Chess Championship 2015 helped the former to clinch the title in this 13-round qualifying event. After suffering a shock loss against Lokesh N. in the 2nd Round, Swapnil made a fantastic comeback in the tournament and further went on to secure the sole first spot with a total of 10 points.

Meanwhile, as many as 10 players tied for the second place with 9.5 points each.

A total of 12 players qualified for the National Premier Chess Championship to be held later this year. The selected players:

Rank

 Players

Points

1

 IM Swapnil Dhopade 10
2 FM Praneeth Surya

9.5

3

 GM Murali Karthikeyan 9.5
4 GM Neelotpal Das

9.5

5

 GM M. R. Venkatesh 9.5
6 GM Shyam Sundar

9.5

7

 IM Rathnakaran K 9.5
8 IM Karthikeyan P

9.5

9

 GM Abhijit Kunte 9.5
10 IM Shyam Nikhil

9.5

11

 IM Arghyadip Das 9.5
12 GM Deep Sengupta

9

Sinquefield Cup 05: Carlsen, Aronian in lead

With a victory over Wesley So in the 5th Round of the Sinquefield Cup 2015, World Champion Magnus Carlsen joined World No. 11 Levon Aronian at the top of the table. The latter, on the other hand, was held to a draw by Alexander Grischuk.

Meanwhile, Veselin Topalov, the joint-leader after Round 4, suffered his first loss of the tournament as Fabiano Caruana overcame him with utmost precision in a game that lasted 53 moves. Coincidentally, it also turned out to be Caruana’s first victory in this 9-round event.

However, India’s sole hope Viswanathan Anand was once again unsuccessful in bringing home the full point as Frenchman Vachier-Lagrave held the ‘Madras Tiger’ to a draw.

Round 5 Results:

White

 Res. Black

Aronian

 ½-½ Grischuk
Carlsen 1-0

So
Nakamura ½-½

Giri

Anand

 ½-½ Vachier-Lagrave
Topalov 0-1

Caruana

Sinquefield Cup Chess 02: Topalov in sole lead

A convincing victory over Hikaru Nakamura in the 2nd round of the Sinquefield Cup 2015 helped Veselin Topalov take an early lead in this 9-round Super Tournament.

The Topalov-Nakamura encounter commenced with a popular variation in the Ruy Lopez. Soon, a complicated position was reached thanks to Topalov’s interesting pawn sacrifice on move 16. Topalov followed up this sacrifice excellently – winning the pawn back after a few moves and keeping the pressure on Nakamura. The latter finally crumbled under pressure and Topalov rounded off the game on move 73.

Meanwhile, defending champion Fabiano Caruana and World No. 2 Viswanathan Anand lost their second consecutive game on the trot as they went down to Magnus Carlsen and Alexander Grischuk respectively.

Round 2 Results:

White

 Result Black
Grischuk 1-0

Anand

Topalov

 1-0 Nakamura
Vachier-Lagrave ½-½

Aronian

Giri

 ½-½ So
Caruana 0-1

Carlsen

Indian National Challengers 10: Swapnil beats Karthikeyan!

The 10th Round of the National Challengers Chess Championship saw the lead change hands as IM Swapnil Dhopade scored a crucial victory over overnight leader GM Karthikeyan to move in to the sole lead with 8 points.

In the Karthikeyan-Swapnil encounter, the latter wheeled out the Caro-Kann Defence in reply to Karthikeyan’s 1.e4. However, Karthikeyan’s handling of the opening left much to be desired which allowed Swapnil to secure a better position right out of the opening, despite playing the black pieces. Although the game went on for a total of 60 moves, Swapnil was always in control of the matters and in the end, registered a clean victory over his higher-rated opponent.

Meanwhile, as many as 13 players are trailing Swapnil with a margin of just half a point. With 3 more rounds to go, a huge number of players are still in with a chance of clinching the title.

Round 10 Results: Here

Sinquefield Cup Chess 01: A Scintillating Start!

The 3rd edition of the Sinquefield Cup took off in a breathtaking fashion with all the 5 games in Round 1 finishing decisively.

The biggest result of the day was World Champion Magnus Carlsen’s defeat against World No. 3 Veselin Topalov. The Carlsen-Topalov game, which took off with the Moscow Variation in the Sicilian Defence, turned murky right in the opening. Although both sides made inaccuracies, it was Topalov who emerged as the beneficiary of the complicated opening battle. After a few precise moves, Topalov took total control over the matters and duly converted his advantage into a full-point.

Meanwhile, World No. 2 Viswananthan Anand went down with the black pieces against his arch-rival Hikaru Nakamura. Although the Nakamura-Anand encounter turned out to be a tougher fight than the rest of the games, the ‘Madras Tiger’ was unable to hold his position for too long and soon lost an important pawn on move 42. Anand promptly resigned on move 43, albeit a bit prematurely.

The rest of the games, pretty much like Carlsen-Topalov, turned out to be one-sided affairs with the winners dominating their opponents for the major part of their respective games.

Round 1 Results:

White

 Result Black
Giri, Anish 1-0

Grischuk, Alexander

So, Wesley

 0-1 Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime
Aronian, Levon 1-0

Caruana, Fabiano

Carlsen, Magnus

 0-1 Topalov, Veselin

Nakamura, Hikaru

 1-0

Anand, Viswanathan

Indian National Challengers 09: A Sole Leader Emerges!

The 9th round of the National Challengers Chess Championship 2015 finally saw a sole leader coming through as GM Murali Karthikeyan moved on to 7/9 by overcoming IM Anurag Mhamal on the First board. In other top games, GMs Laxman and Neelotpal drew their personal encounter while GM Kunte scored a crucial victory over top-seeded GM Sengupta.

The 10th round of the tournament will witness GM Karthikeyan, the leader, taking on IM Swapnil Dhopade, who is on the joint-second spot along with 7 others. With 4 more rounds to go, the field is still pretty wide open.

Round 9 Results: Here

French Chess Championship Final: Bauer, Skripchenko Clinch Titles!

Men’s Section:

After 11 Rounds of gruelling chess at the 20th French Chess Championship 2015, GMs Christian Bauer and Tigran Gharamian finished tied for the first spot with 7.5 points each. However, Bauer edged out Gharamian in the Tie-breakers with a 1.5-0.5 scoreline to clinch the French Championship Title for the 3rd time in his career. Meanwhile, GM Etienne Bacrot secured the sole third place with a total tally of 7 points.


Women’s Section:

The Women’s section witnessed a relatively easier fight for the 1st place as Almira Skripchenko’s last round draw helped her clinch the 6th French Title of her career with an impressive tally of 9 points. Almira was followed by WGM Nino Maisurdze and IM Sophie Milliet on the 2nd and 3rd spots respectively.

Indian National Challengers 08: Field Wide Open!

The 8th Round of the National Challengers Chess Championship 2015 witnessed draws on both of the top two boards. However, in other important games, GM Neelotpal Das and IM Anurag Mhamal scored crucial wins. The duo overcame IM Stany and GM Shyam Sundar respectively.

After 8 Rounds of this 13-round event, 5 players – namely IM Mhamal and GMs Karthikeyan, Sengupta, Laxman & Neelotpal – are leading the pack with 6.5 points each. Meanwhile, a massive 18 participants are currently tied for the 2nd spot with 6 points each.

Round 8 Results: Here

Indian National Challengers 07: Three Grandmasters In Lead

The 7th round of the National Challengers Chess Championship 2015 saw the top-board game between the leaders – GMs Laxman and Karthikeyan – end in a draw. This result allowed GM Sengupta to catch up with the aforementioned duo by scoring a victory over IM Ramnath Bhuvanesh.

After 7 rounds, the trio of Laxman, Karthikeyan and Sengupta is currently leading the pack with 6 points each followed by as many as 12 players on 5.5/6.

Round 7 Results: Here

Indian National Challengers Chess 04: Four Players With Perfect Score

At the end of four rounds of the National Challengers Chess Championship 2015, a total of four players – including IM Himanshu Sharma and GMs Sengupta, Laxman and Shyam Sundar – are leading the pack with a perfect score of 4/4. The aforementioned players overcame Lokesh N, Harsha Bharathakoti, IM Sameer Kathmale and IM Rahul Sangma respectively in the fourth round of this 13-round event.

Meanwhile, as many as 14 players are currently placed joint-second with a score of 3.5/4.

Round 4 Results: Here