Serbian GM Nikola Sedlak (2537) took sole lead after the end of the 4th round with a perfect score of 4.0/4.
India’s IM N. Srinath (2464) could only draw with GM Suat Atalik (2564) with the white pieces to stay in the hunt with 3.5/4. Untitled Indian Md. Nubairshah Shaikh (2423) meanwhile continued with his solid performance with another draw to stand at 2.5/4.
Check the pairings for Round 5 here.
The 6th round of the 42nd Indian Women Challengers Chess Championship saw Vaishali R retain her perfect score as she overcame IM Nisha Mohota with the black pieces. After a rather strange opening, the chances looked evenly balanced. However, in the middlegame, Vaishali got a strong attack going on the King side which ultimately resulted in a swift victory for the Tamil Nadu player.
Meanwhile, the 2nd-board game between Nimmy A. G. and Michelle Catherina ended in peace while top seed Tania Sachdev scored a victory over Priyanka K on the 3rd board.
After 6 rounds, Vaishali R leads the pack with a fantastic tally of 6/6, followed by 5 players on 5/6.
Round 6 Results: Click Here
“Junior world champion, country’s youngest Grandmaster when he became one (Parimarjan Negi broke his mark in 2006) and part of the only Indian team that won a Chess Olympiad medal (bronze, 2014), Pendyala Harikrishna has done enough to draw the kind of attention he doesn’t. But then, a chess player’s journey is seldom followed with the fervour reserved for spectator sports.
Those who pursue excellence do so quietly, hardly creating flutter even when they achieve. Harikrishna’s triumph at Edmonton International in Canada last week can be categorised among those. The 10-player field had Elo ratings ranging from 2733 to as low as 2133, with former World No 2 Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine, China’s Asia No 2 Wang Hao and Indian GM Surya Sekhar Ganguly adding weight. Harikrishna drew with them and beat the rest to finish a point ahead with 7.5.
This is likely to secure the 29-year-old a career-best Elo rating of 2740. His 2733 before the event was already the best for an Indian after Viswanathan Anand, whose highest has been 2814. Harikrishna’s world ranking of 25 is third best for Indians after Krishnan Sasikiran, who was 21 in 2007. While Sasikiran has fallen to 76 at 2642, Harikrishna hasn’t dipped under 2700 since September 2013. “Rankings are not so important as they were a couple of years ago. Not many know I was 25 in 2006, although my rating was 2680. So I didn’t feel special when I reached 25. I was happy with my play because that’s what matters. I won a closed tournament after almost three years, after Wijk Aan Zee in 2012,” Harikrishna told Express via email.
“Every victory is important. I played good games and it helps me evaluate my strength. Every tournament gives me a chance to test my skills. If I play well consistently, I can improve further. I’m happy so far the way I’m playing. There are areas to improve. I have to work on them to go higher,” said the player from Guntur, who will take part in club leagues in Turkey and Spain.
The Spanish league is where Anand plied his trade for a long time. A football fan, the former world champion often compared Russia with Real Madrid. Harikrishna too takes interest in other sports. “I like playing tennis, badminton, basketball, table tennis, whichever is available. Don’t read a lot of books. Chess makes me calm and makes me sit,” quipped the BPCL employee, who was coached by Gary Kasparov’s former second Evgeny Vladimirov in formative years. “I’ve been out since childhood. Travelling is the best thing for me!”
This liking for travel has earned him a place on the global chess map, even though the journey has been low-key. As long he keeps heading north, Harikrishna shouldn’t mind.”
PS: When I attempted to read this article on the original news site from my mobile, I was greeted with a Spam virus Ad popup. Thereafter there was another Ad which started playing Audio without me doing anything. Hence decided to copy-paste the complete article here to avoid the same frustration to the readers.
Original source: newindianexpress.com
After 5 rounds of the 42nd National Women Challengers Chess Championship 2015, Vaishali R from Tamil Nadu is ruling the roost with a perfect score of 5/5. A victory over WGM Bhakti Kulkarni of Goa has put Vaishali in the sole lead, just ahead of Nisha Mohota, Nimmy A.G. and Michelle Catherina, all of whom are on 4.5 points each.
Meanwhile, top seed Tania Sachdev is on the joint 3rd spot with 6 others.
The 6th round will be an interesting one as Vaishali will meet the experienced IM Nisha Mohota while Nimmy and Michelle will clash against each other.
Round 5 Results: Click Here
Chinese GM Wang Yue (2716) moved into sole lead with a victory over prodigy GM Wei Yi (2724). He stands at 2.5/3.
The highest rated Chinese player GM Ding Liren (2749) meanwhile won his game against IM Wang Chen (2521) to stay in the hunt with 2.0/3. India’s GM Krishnan Sasikiran (2640) could only draw with World Junior Champion GM Lu Shanglei (2595) and stands at 1.0/3.
Check the Round 4 pairings here.
A fantastic run of form in the later part of the tournament proved rewarding for the Spanish GM Del Rio De Angelis Salvador as he convincingly won the 23rd edition of Montcada Open Chess Tournament. Del Rio finished with a total score of 7.5 and remained undefeated throughout this 9-round event.
The second place was bagged by GM Narciso Dublan who also remained undefeated while notching up 7 points. Meanwhile, as many as 6 players, including Indian IM Thejkumar, finished joint 3rd with 6.5/9. On the tie-breaks, Thejkumar finished a creditable 5th in the final rankings.
Final Standings: http://www.chess-results.com/tnr155515.aspx?lan=1&art=1&rd=9&turdet=YES&flag=30&wi=984
Chinese prodigy GM Wei Yi (2724) won a spectacular game with the white pieces against Cuba’s GM Lazaro Batista. In a Sicilian Tajmanov position, Wei Yi unleashed a flurry of tactics to win in a breathtaking fashion.
GM Krishnan Saiskiran meanhile could only draw with IM Wang Chen (2521) to move to 0.5/2.
Check the pairings for Round three here.
The final round of the Porticcio Open 2015 witnessed hard-fought games on most of the top tables. GM Areshchenko overran GM Bacrot out of a relatively quiet Ruy Lopez while GM Laznicka’s heavy Queen-side attack triumphed against Bartosz Socko’s King-side play.
As a result, Areshchenko and Laznicka tied for the first place with 7.5 points each but it was Areschenko who won the laurels, thanks to his better tie-break score. GM Fressinet took the third spot.
Meanwhile, GM S.P. Sethuraman, the lone Indian hope at this event, won his last round game convincingly to finish 4th with a total of 7 points.
Final Standings: http://www.echecs.asso.fr/Resultats.aspx?URL=Tournois/Id/34158/34158&Action=Cl
The 6th Hainan Donzhou Super GM Tournament is being held in China from 2nd July, 2015 and 11th July, 2015. Chinese GM Yu Yangyi (2736) continued delivering stellar results with a victory playing the white pieces against Indian GM Krishnan Sasikiran (2640).
World Junior Champion GM Lu Shanglei (2595) meanwhile could not hold up against GM Wang Yue (2716), who joined Yangyi in the lead. Other games ended in draws.
You may check the pairings here.
Playing with the Black pieces, Indian GM Pentala Harikrishna (2733) was facing Chinese GM Wang Hao (2704), where he needed a draw to clinch clear first place. However, if GM Wang Hao could win this particular game, he would tie for first with GM Harikrishna. A classic India-China duel was in the offing.
And GM wang Hao pushed with all his might. He had almost close to a decisive advantage, however, GM Harikrishna smartly kept pressurizing White’s pawns and cleverly liquidated to a drawn endgame to hold fort and win the tournament by a full point’s margin with 7.5/9.
GM Wang Hao meanwhile tied for the second place with GM Vassily Ivanchuck of Ukraine and GM S.S. Ganguly of India, with 6.5/9.
Check the Final Ranking Cross-table here.