Volume : 8 Issue : 10 Price Rs. 25 April 2015

A I C F C H R O N I C L Ethe official magazine of the All India Chess Federation

INDIA CHINA SUMMIT CHESS

Story on p.23

Room No. 70,Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium,Chennai - 600 003.Ph : 044-65144966 /Telefax : 044-25382121E-mail : indianchessfed@gmail.comPublisher: V. HariharanEditor : C.G.S. Narayanan

AICF CHRONICLE APRIL 2015

Price: Monthly Rs.25 Annual Rs.300

Readers are invited to offer their feedback on the regular features in the AICF Chronicle and are also invited to send interesting articles, annotated games and chess anecdotes to the Editor at ‘www.indianchessfed@gmail.com’ or ‘cgsnarayanan@hotmail.com.

Inside…..LIC 2nd International Grandmasters Chess Tournament,Kolkata...Ganguly wins titleby IA R. Anantharam 1

3rd Bhubaneswar All India Open FIDE Rating Chess Championship 2015 R.R.Laxman wins titleFA Suresh Chandra Sahoo,Chief Arbiter 5

3rd Chess Specific Open FIDE rated Tournament 2015…Sahaj Grover wins titleby IA Gopakumar MS, Chief Arbiter 8

1st ADRA FIDE Open International Rating Chess Tournament, Purulia, West Bengal….Joydeep Dutta is championby IA L.R.Bhuvanaa Sai, CA 12

15th Jharkand Senior State FIDE Rating Chess Championship 2015,Ranchi…..Pritam Singh is ChampionNihar Ranjan Sasmal IA ,Chief Arbiter 14

Selected games annotated by IM Manuel Aaron 16

Prize winning studies from4th FIDE World Cup in composing 40

Tactics from master games by S.Krishnan 42

Test your endgame

by C.G.S.Narayanan 43

Masters of the past-51

Lionel Adalbert Kieseritzky 44

AICF Calendar 48

From the Editor’s desk

Planet ‘4538 Vishyanand’ arrives in space! It is exciting news for chess lovers that five-time World Champion and India’s first chess grandmaster Vishwanathan Anand has been granted the honour of having a minor planet named after him. With this privilege,

Anand joins former world chess champions Alexander Alekhine and Anatoly Karpov who have had similar honour bestowed on them. AICF congratulates the Indian chess maestro who incidentally has become the first Indian sportsperson to be so honoured.

At the India-China summit chess meet at Hyderabad the second half did not go India’s way. After the sides won two rounds apiece to be level at the half way stage, the second half decisively tilted in favour of the visitors who won the Scheveningen System double round event to lift Komatireddy Prateek Reddy Trophy. Looking back at the event, AICF has really provided the Indian team good practicing ground against Olympiad gold medallist prior to the World Team Championship to be held at Armenia in April. This issue contains, in its centre pages, the report, photographs and a few selected games from the event.

Mariya Muzychuk has become the 15th Women's World Chess Champion at Sochi beating Natalia Pogonina of Russia. Indian challenge sadly ended in the semi-finals when IM Dronavalli Harika, performing at her career best, went down fighting in the tie-break games. Earlier in the quarterfinals Champion accounted for the top seeded Indian GM Koneru Humpy in the rapid tie-break. Report on this event is also carried in the centre pages. Lionel Adalbert Kieseritzky is featured in the ‘Masters of the past’ series. Selected games from Chennai Open and National Team Chess Championships annotated by IM Manuel Aaron are also presented in this issue.

C.G.S.Narayanan

LIC 2nd International Grandmasters Chess Tournament,Kolkata...

Ganguly wins title by IA R. Anantharam

The LIC 2nd International Grandmasters Chess Tournament was organised by Dibyendu Barua Chess Academy at the Indian Council for Cultural Relations, Kolkata from 15th to 25th March 2015. One hundred and thirty participants from eleven federations included seventy five title holders- 27 GMs, 24 IMs, 4 WGMs, 2 WIMs, 9 FMs, 6 WFMs and 3 CMs. It was a nine round Swiss system, with a time control of 90 minutes with 30 seconds increment per move. Much to the joy of players, there was only one round a day.

Former PCA world championship finalist Nigel Short of England was the top seed in the tournament, followed by GM Kokarev Dmitry of Russia and GM Quesada Perez Yuniesky of Cuba. The Indian contingent was spearheaded by grandmasters SS Ganguly, Sandipan Chanda and Deep Sengupta – all from Kolkata. World junior champion Lu Shanglei of China led a field of four players from China. An average rating of 2287 for 131 players speaks volumes about the strength of the tournament.

Hiccups in the first round was no exception to the tournament, especially Cubans found the going tough on their first visit to India. Fourteen year old Puranik Abhimanyu of Maharashtra shocked fourth seeded Cuban grandmaster Ortiz Suarez Isan Reynaldo (2625), rated 360 points above him and third seeded Quesada Perez of Cuba escaped with a draw against thirteen year old Kolkata boy Rajdeep Sarkar, with a similar rating difference.

Veteran and former national champion P. Konguvel of PSPB overcame GM Pavel Kotsur of Kazakhstan and Abhishek Kelkar of Maharashtra defeated GM Abdulla Rakib of Bangladesh in the second round. Another Bangladesh GM Enamul Hossain was a victim to Orissa’s Utkal Ranjan Sahoo in this round. By the end of third round, Nigel, Ganguly, IM N Srinath of Tamil Nadu and Abhishek were leading with three points each. Favourites Nigel and Ganguly had a perfect four points in four rounds, after registering convincing victories over Petr Kostenko of Kazakhstan and IM N. Sinath.

While the two leaders drew in the clash between them, GM elect Swapnil Dhopade subdued Kovalev Vladislav of Belarus to join them at the top in the fifth round. Ganguly defeated Swapnil and Nigel beat second seed Dmitry to keep the lead between them, after six rounds. Lu Shanglei joined the duo at the top, by beating IM Shardul Gagare, as Nigel and Ganguly were held by Stupak Kirill of Belarus and Wang Chen of China respectively.Ganguly survived a scare from Lu Shanglei to split the point and Nigel forced Sandipan Chanda to a draw by repetition of moves, enabling the trio to keep the overnight lead at the end of the eighth and penultimate round.Nigel had to be content with a draw against Lu, but Ganguly outwitted Ortiz Suarez of Cuba to be crowned an outright winner of the prestigious tournament, held in his home town.

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35 GM Oral Tomas CZE 5½36 Kunal M. IND 5½37 Roy Prantik IND 5½38 IM Swapnil S. Dhopade IND 539 GM Shyam Sundar M. IND 540 GM Sriram Jha IND 541 IM Satyapragyan Swayangsu IND 542 WGM Swathi Ghate IND 543 CM Puranik Abhimanyu IND 544 IM Chakravarthi Reddy M IND 545 Gusain Himal IND 546 Abhishek Kelkar IND 547 IM Vijayalakshmi S IND 548 IM Shyam Nikil P. IND 549 FM Raghunandan K S IND 550 GM Hossain Enamul BAN 551 IM Mohota Nisha IND 552 IM Murali Krishnan B.T. IND 553 FM Rakesh Kumar Jena IND 554 Abhishek Das IND 555 GM Bakre Tejas IND 556 Saravana Krishnan P. IND 557 Gurung Rakesh IND 558 GM Roy Chowdhury Saptarshi IND 559 Singh S. Vikramjit IND 560 WFM Vaishali R IND 561 GM Kostenko Petr KAZ 4½62 Sahoo Utkal Ranjan IND 4½63 Navalgund Niranjan IND 4½64 Patil Pratik IND 4½65 IM Girinath P.D.S. IND 4½66 GM Abdulla Al-Rakib BAN 4½67 WGM Soumya Swaminathan IND 4½68 Santu Mondal IND 4½69 IM Konguvel Ponnuswamy IND 4½70 Hemant Sharma (del) IND 4½71 FM Thakur Akash IND 4½72 Lakshmi Narayanan Mv IND 4½73 Pradeep Kumar R.A. IND 4½74 Aradhya Garg IND 4½75 Hirthickkesh Pr IND 4½76 Raja Harshit IND 4½77 IM Saravanan V. IND 4½78 IM Swayams Mishra IND 479 WGM Kiran Manisha Mohanty IND 480 IM Himanshu Sharma IND 481 Rajdeep Sarkar IND 4

He received a cash prize of three lakh rupess for his efforts. Nigel, with a higher tiebreak finished runner up, followed by Lu Shanglei and 4th and 5th places were won by Kolka-tans Deep Sengupta and Sandipan.Ms. Usha Uthup, popular singer was the chief guest for the closing ceremony in the august presence of India’s second grandmaster Diby-endu Barua and a host of other dignitaries.Final ranking Rk Name FED Pts 1 GM Ganguly Surya Shekhar IND 7½2 GM Short Nigel D ENG 73 GM Lu Shanglei CHN 74 GM Sengupta Deep IND 75 GM Sandipan Chanda IND 76 IM Wang Chen CHN 6½7 GM Gopal G.N. IND 6½8 GM Quesada Perez Yuniesky CUB 6½9 GM Kokarev Dmitry RUS 6½10 Xu Yinglun CHN 611 GM Stupak Kirill BLR 612 IM Narayanan Srinath IND 613 GM Laxman R.R. IND 614 GM Ortiz S Isan Reynaldo CUB 615 IM Rathnakaran K. IND 616 GM Kovalev Vladislav BLR 617 GM Rahman Ziaur BAN 618 GM Lalith Babu M.R. IND 619 Vignesh Nr IND 620 IM Gagare Shardul IND 5½21 GM Deepan Chakkravarthy J. IND 5½22 Harikrishnan.A.Ra IND 5½23 IM Stany G.A. IND 5½24 IM Das Sayantan IND 5½25 Kulkarni Rakesh IND 5½26 IM Lin Chen CHN 5½27 IM Das Arghyadip IND 5½28 GM Ankit R. Rajpara IND 5½29 Ravi Teja S. IND 5½30 GM Kotsur Pavel KAZ 5½31 GM Neelotpal Das IND 5½32 GM Kunte Abhijit IND 5½33 Harsha Bharathakoti IND 5½34 Visakh Nr IND 5½

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Workshop for Arbiters of National Championships 2015Prof. R. Anantharam IA

The Workshop for chief arbiters and deputy chief arbiters of National Chess Championships 2015 was organized by All India Chess Federation at Hotel Royal Regency, Chennai on 11th April 2015. Thirty four arbiters attended the one day workshop with zeal and enthusiasm. Mr. CGS Narayanan, Fide Master for Chess Composition and Editor AICF Chronicle, inaugurated the Workshop in the morning. In his inaugural address, he elaborated the Arbiter’s responsibilities, when they send a report to AICF, about tournaments in which they serve as chief arbiters.

Arbiters who attended the courseMr. V. Hariharan, Secretary, All India Chess Federation discussed in detail about the importance of fide id to a player, the arbiter’ role in creating fide ids, their duty to check ids in tournaments etc. He also explained the new fide rules in getting e-mail ids from new players and also about the eradication of double ids of players.

Prof.R. Anantharam gave a lecture on the rules and regulations introduced by fide after 1st July 2014, mainly focusing on the Anti-cheating measures and prohibition of mobile phones in tournament halls. He also lectured on many new regulations to be adopted by the arbiters, with respect to AICF and their states.

In the post lunch session, Prof. Anantharam discussed answers for the 40 questions he sent to the arbiters about one week earlier. Most of the questions were based on Laws of Chess and a few of them on Rating, Title regulations and Swiss pairing. All the arbiters enjoyed and were benefitted by the lively interaction and exchange of views. They informed that the questions were challenging and useful, as they oriented towards problems arising in tournaments.

In his valedictory address, Mr.V. Hariharan detailed about the procedure in admitting players with foreign passports, PIO cards etc. to tournaments.

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(L-R)Mr. Radheshyam, GM SE Rly,GM Sriram Jha Champion,Joydeep Dutta Runner up, Santu Mondal Third, Mr. Anshul Gupta DRM Adra Divn.

1st ADRA FIDE Open International Rating Chess Tournament, Purulia

15th Jharkand Senior State FIDE Rating Chess Championship 2015,Ranchi…

Champion Pritam Singh receiving the trophy from Mrs. Poonam Singh, Principal Sarala Birla Public School,Mahilong,Ranchi, Pradip Varma, President All Jharkhand Chess Association. Nihar Ranjan Sasmal IA, Chief Arbiter is also seen.

The 3rd Bhubaneswar All India Open FIDE Rating Chess Championship was inaugurated by Sj. Diptesh Patnaik, IPS, Dy Inspector General of Police Govt. of Odisha, Bhu-baneswar.Other dignitaries Mr. Manoj Kumar Panigrahi, Jt Secretary, All Odisha Chess Association; Mr. GC Mohapatra, Executive Member, All Odisha Chess Association, Mr. Subhasis Patnaik, Secretary, Khordha District Chess Association – cum – Executive Member All Odisha Chess Association and Mr. Suresh Chandra Sahoo, F.A., Chief Arbiter, Execu-tive Member, All Odisha Chess Association were present on the dias. With the total prize fund of Rs. 5,00,000 the event attracted 165 participants from thirteen States (Andhra Pradesh-25, Assam-1, Chhatisgarh-3, Chan-digarh-1, Jharkhand-3, Karnatak-9, Kerala-1, Maharashtra-16, Odisha-59, Tamilnadu-20, Telengana-2, Uttar Pradesh-2, West Ben-gal-14, Madhya Pradesh-1) States & 05 from Special units (ICF -2, KIIT – 4, LIC – 1, RLYs-1, Andhra Bank-1) with one Grandmaster, one Women Grandmaster, four International Masters, five FIDE Masters, one Women FIDE Master and two Women Candidate Masters. IM Himanshu Sharma(2432) of Railways was the top seed.

Six Players shared the lead with full points at the end of 4th round and after 5th round only GM RR Laxman was leading with five points while six players closely followed with 4.5 points. After the sixth Round three

players with (5.5), after the seventh round 5 players with six points, after the eighth

round only two players, GM RR Laxman and a 14 year old boy of West Bengal FM Mitrabha Guha, shared the lead with seven points. After the end of round nine, GM RR Laxman dominated the show with sole lead of 8 points and clinched the Championship with a cash prize of `75,000/-. IM Himanshu Sharma of Railways became Runner-up & bagged ` 45,000/- & IM Vikramaditya Kulkarni of Ma-harashtra stood 3rd with ` 25,000/-.

There were many upsets right from the first round. Round 1:WGM Kiran Mnisha Mohanty, 2135 lost to Meyank Mohapatra, 1294 of Odisha Dutta Ramakrishna J, 1247, AP beat Ketan Boricha, 2056, Maharashtra Round 3:Rajesh Nayak, 2013, Odisha beat Himal Gosain, 2343, Chandigarh Deepthamsh Reddy. M 2097, AP lost to Lakshmi C, 1588, TN Biswajit Sahu, 1456, Odisha beat Ketan Boricha, 2056, Maharashtra Rajarshi Dutta, 1830, WB lost to Jyoti Ranjan Padhi, 1420, Odisha Round 4:Ramakrishna J, 2145, Andhra Bank beat Rajdeep Sarkar, 2268, WB Chakravarthi Reddy M, 2283 lost to Rajesh Nayak, 2013, Odisha Jayakumar S, 2065, TN lost to Hrusikesh Rath, 1714, Odisha Nilsu Pattnayak, 1701 beat Chakravarthi Y.V.K. 2014, AP Sa Kannan, 2014, TN lost to Raahul V S, 1701, TN Sreeshwan Maralakshikari, 1601, Ap beat Harshavardhan G B, 1931, TN Jyoti Ranjan Padhi, 1420, Odisha beat FM Sankalp Baliarsingh, 1810 Biswajit Sahu, 1456, Odisha beat Bristy Mukherje, 1814, West Bengal Round 5:FM Rakesh Kumar Jena, 2299, Odisha lost to WFM Vaishali R, 2149, TN Sunyasakta Satpathy, 1847, Odisha beat Mohammad Ashraf, 2189, KIIT Raahul V S, 1701, TN beat Gavi Siddayya, 1975,

3rd Bhubaneswar All India Open FIDE Rating Chess Championship 2015

R.R.Laxman wins titleFA Suresh Chandra Sahoo,Chief Arbiter

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Karnatak WGM Kiran Manisha Mohanty, 2135, LIC drew with Sreeshwan Maralakshikari, 1601, AP Ghosh Samriddhaa, 1776, WB lost to Manthan Kashyap Datta, 1381, Assam.Round 6:Hirthickkesh Pr, 2131, TN beat IM Stany G.A., 2380, KAR Anil Kumar O.T., 2143, KER beat Navalgund Niranjan, 2252, TNBonu Ravi Kumar, 1664, AP lost to Jayanth Reddy K, 1330, AP Round 7:Prajesh R, 2128, TN beat IM Chakravarthi Reddy, 2283, MAHRajdeep Sarkar, 2268 lost to Bartakke Amardeep S., 2145, MAHRound 8:FM Mitrabha Guha, 2143, WB beat IM Kulkarni Vikramaditya, 2354, MAH Gusain Himal, 2343, CHND lost to Hirthickkesh Pr, 2131, TN WCM Saina Salonika, 1830, ODI lost to Raj Santosh Panda, 1516, Odisha.

Out of 30 unrated players 10 players will get the rating in the month of April. Two players Krishnater, Kushager, 1635, Maharashtra and Sreeshwan, Maralashikari, 1601, Telengana increased 160, 106 in their rating respec-tively.

In the valedictory ceremony the Chief guest was Sj. Sarat Chandra Mishra, IPS (Retd.) Ex Director General of Police, Govt. of Odisha. Other dignitaries who graced the occasion on the last day were Mr. Debashis Mekap, Vice President, Khordha District Chess Associa-tion; Mr. GC Mohapatra, Executive Member, All Odisha Chess Association & Subhasis Patnaik, Secretary, Khordha District Chess Association – cum – Executive Member, All Odisha Chess Association. The Press and Media covered the event very well. Without any dispute the tournament ended success-fully.The Chief Arbiter for the Event was FIDE Arbiter Suresh Chandra Sahoo ably assisted by FA Arghya Arpan Parida and SNA Bhabesh Mohanty of Odisha.

Final Ranking: Rk. Name Club Pts. 1 GM Laxman R.R. ICF 82 IM Himanshu Sharma RLY 7.53 IM Kulkarni Vikramaditya MAH 74 Ravi Teja S. RLY 75 FM Mitrabha Guha WB 76 Harikrishnan.A.Ra TN 77 FM Mishra Soumyaranjan ODI 6.58 FM Rakesh Kumar Jena ODI 6.59 Hirthickkesh Pr TN 6.510 FM Ramakrishna J. AB 6.511 Lakshmi Narayanan Mv TN 6.512 Syed Anwar Shazuli ICF 6.513 Bartakke Amardeep S. MAH 6.514 Sahoo Utkal Ranjan KIIT 6.515 Adhithya S TN 6.516 WGM Kiran Manisha Mohanty LIC 6.517 Nayak Rajesh ODI 618 WFM Vaishali R TN 619 Kulkarni Vinayak MAH 620 Gusain Himal CHD 621 Prajesh R TN 622 Navalgund Niranjan TN 623 IM Stany G.A. KAR 624 Rajdeep Sarkar WB 625 Anilkumar O.T. KER 626 Srinath Rao S.V. MAH 627 Ankan Roy WB 628 Deepthamsh Reddy. M AP 629 Mohammad Ashraf KIIT 630 Krishnater Kushager MAH 631 IM Chakravarthi Reddy M TEL 632 Harshini A TN 633 Sa Kannan TN 634 Baivab Mishra ODI 5.535 Sunyasakta Satpathy ODI 5.536 Chakravarthi Y.V.K. AP 5.537 Binayak Rath ODI 5.538 Nayak Biswajit ODI 5.539 S Maralakshikari TEL 5.540 Lakshmanrao D. AP 5.541 WFM Bidhar Rutumbara ODI 5.542 Abijit Mistry WB 5.543 Mishra Anwesha ODI 5.544 WFM Lakshmi C TN 5.545 Boricha Ketan MAH 5.5

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46 Panda Sambit ODI 5.547 Bonu Ravi Kumar AP 5.548 Yuti Mayur Patel MAH 5.549 Vignesh R TN 5.550 Sadhu S Adithya TN 551 Raahul V S TN 552 Vatsal Singhania JHA 553 Pattnayak Nilsu ODI 554 Smaraki Mohanty KIIT 555 Rahul Srivatshav P AP 556 Sirsat Shekhar V. MAH 557 Gavi Siddayya KAR 558 WCM Salonika Saina KIIT 559 Shyamashree Sarkar WB 560 Harshavardhan G B TN 561 Akshay V Halagannavar KAR 562 Ghosh Samriddhaa WB 563 Mishra Srinibas ODI 564 Rath Hrusikesh ODI 565 FM Sankalp Baliarsingh ODI 566 Pranab Kumar Patra ODI 567 Dinesh Sinha UP 568 Sahoo Ankita ODI 569 Manthan Kashyap Datta ASM 570 Arvind Ramnath Iyer KAR 571 Panda Raj Santosh ODI 572 Bristy Mukherjee WB 573 Chandrahaas M C J AP 574 Prasannakumar Nayak ODI 575 Patel Mayur MAH 576 Subhadip Seth WB 577 Rangarajan Srinivasan TN 578 Godavarthi Chiranjeevi AP 4.579 Aneek Das WB 4.580 Sahu Biswajit ODI 4.581 Mahitosh Dey ODI 4.582 Anshul Nigam JHA 4.583 Padhi Jyoti Ranjan ODI 4.584 Rakshitta Ravi TN 4.585 Datta Ramakrishna J AP 4.586 Arpan Das (jr) WB 4.587 Karmakar Ramen ODI 4.588 Biswal Gitashree ODI 4.589 Jishitha D AP 4.590 Aryan Mohapatra ODI 4.591 Rajarshi Dutta WB 492 Jayanth Reddy K AP 4

93 Jayakumaar S TN 494 My Aditya AP 495 Mohapatra Meyank ODI 496 Chatterji Anantyoya ODI 497 Animith Srimani WB 498 Srimathi R TN 499 Abhirami Madabushi AP 4100 Sanjib Kumar Mohanta ODI 4101 Das Gaurab ODI 4102 Kalur Nikhil AP 4103 Sarath Chandra K AP 4104 Dikshant Dash ODI 4105 Kriti Mayur Patel MAH 4106 Aditya S Hariharan TN 4107 Maheswar Dalnayak ODI 4108 Pracheta Agarwal JHA 4109 Abhinav C Kodali AP 4110 D S Subrahmanyam AP 4111 Das Devanssh Arav ODI 4112 Ramesh Kumar Sonker UP 4113 Pati Sandeep ODI 4114 Jayadeba Patel ODI 4115 Raivath Mallela AP 4116 Abhinav Ganti AP 4117 Panda Miracle ODI 4118 Praneeth R AP 4119 Boricha Yohan MAH 4120 Md Imtiaz Alam ODI 3.5121 Hota Sampanna ODI 3.5122 B Chidambaram.C TN 3.5123 WCM Wankhade Sanskruti MAH 3.5124 Manish Kumar (2006) ODI 3.5125 Sahu Aswini Kumar ODI 3.5126 Sahu Bibek Kumar ODI 3.5127 Subhrajyoti Sarkar WB 3.5128 Pranav Kondapalli AP 3.5129 Neeraj Anirudh K AP 3.5130 Samal (2005) Ansuman ODI 3.5131 Siddhartha Sarkar WB 3132 Prasmit Prayansu ODI 3133 Bartakke Aditya MAH 3134 Swain Gobinda Chandra ODI 3135 Abhishek Nayak ODI 3136 Mallick Saswat ODI 3137 Panda Abhinandan ODI 3138 Nayak Suddh Simon ODI 3139 Sevitha Viju M AP 3

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The 3rd Chess Specific Open FIDE Rated Chess Tournament was conducted by Grand-masters Chess Academy at Major Dhyan-chand National Stadium, India Gate, at the heart of National capital from 25-29 March 2015. A total number of 440 players which in-cludes one Grandmaster, three International Masters and 348 International rated players from different parts of India participated in the event which were spread over five days with a time control of 90 minutes and 30 seconds increment from move 1. The total prize fund of the event was Rs. 8,00,000. In a brief opening ceremony, Shri. Bharat Singh Chauhan, Chief Executive Officer All In-dia Chess Federation inaugurated the event in presence of Shri. AK Verma, Hony Secretary of Delhi Chess Association. The Tournament was played under Swiss System with nine rounds and had Grandmaster Sahaj Grover as the top seed. With Round one starting on time and the players went into their business mode from the start itself.

The tournament progressed on expected lines as seeded players registered comfortable vic-tories on earlier part of the event. Unexpect-edly second seed International Master Vishal Sareen withdrawn from the tournament due to personal reasons, when he was maintain-ing a perfect score at the end of fourth round. Top seed Sahaj Grover and third seed Rahul Sangma took the joint lead at

the end of sixth round matches and main-tained the same till the end. In the final round, Grover beat K Srikanth of Indian Air Force while Sangma outwitted Sanjeet Mano-

har of Gujarat to tie for the pole position with eight and half points from possible nine. But better tie break score helped top seed Grover to clinch the title along with a cash award of Rs. 60,000/- while Sangma finished as first runner and pocketed a cash prize of Rs. 50,000/- along with coveted trophy and Rajarishi Karthi of Tamilnadu finished as second runner-up.In the rating category of 1999-1600, Anurag Jaiswal of West Bengal secured first prize with Rs. 50,000/- cash prize while in Below 1599 category, S Jeeva-nandam of Tamilnadu won the first prize to pocket same amount as cash prize.Priyanka K of Tamilnadu adjudged as best female player while Asish Sehgal of Haryana become best among unrated players. Avdhoot Lendhe of Maharashtra, Gukesh D of Tamilnadu and Garv Rai of Delhi finished best among Un-der-15, Under-12 and Under-8 age categories respectively. Nishant Malhotra and Vantika Agrawal become Best Delhi player and Best Delhi girl player respectively.

At a colourful closing ceremony, Shri. Bharat Singh, CEO All India Chess Federation gave away the cash prizes and trophies to the win-ners along with Shri. AK Verma, Secretary Delhi Chess Association, Shri. R S Tiwari, International Arbiter and Shri. G B Joshi, FIDE Trainer.

Final standings:Rk Name Club Pts1 Grover Sahaj DEL 8½2 Sangma Rahul W R 8½3 Rajarishi Karthi TN 7½4 Anurag Jaiswal WB 7½

3rd Chess Specific Open FIDE rated Tournament 2015…

Sahaj Grover wins titleby IA Gopakumar MS, Chief Arbiter

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5 Hemant Sharma (del) DEL 7½6 Praveen Kumar C. ICF 7½7 Gandhi Anish MAH 7½8 Sanjeet Manohar GUJ 79 Negi Virender Singh DEL 710 Deepak Katiyar DEL 711 Vinoth Kumar M. TN 712 Deepak Rai DEL 713 Joshi Govind Ballabh DEL 714 Sumit Grover J&K 715 Katiyar Prashant UP 716 Srikanth K. IAF 717 Ashutosh Kumar BIH 718 Ganguly Ritabroto WB 719 Mohammed Dilshad KER 720 Ramakrishna Perumalla TEL 721 Kranthi Kumar B. TEL 722 Phoobalan P. ICF 6½23 Vigneshwaran N. TN 6½24 Jeet Jain GUJ 6½25 Maulik Raval GUJ 6½26 Kalyan Kumar Y. AP 6½27 Nishant Malhotra DEL 6½28 Priyanka K TN 6½29 S. Jeevanandam TN 6½30 Avdhoot Lendhe MAH 6½31 Grahesh Y AP 6½32 Kadav Omkar MAH 6½33 Anand Nadar MAH 6½34 Vakil Akhtara MAH 6½35 Singh Arvinder Preet PUN 6½36 Arjun Satheesh KER 6½37 Vantika Agrawal DEL 6½38 Aishwin Daniel MP 6½39 L Krishna Bhushan D TEL 6½40 Ashwani K Grover PUN 6½41 R KMishra IAF 6½42 A Alpesh Laxmikant MAH 6½43 Naveen S Hegde KAR 644 Sanku Mitra WB 645 Trivedi Karan R GUJ 646 Karthik Gopal G AP 647 Sanchit Anand DEL 648 Abhishek Jaiswal UP 649 S Mithilesh Kumar DEL 650 Joy Lazar M.A. KER 651 Roop Saurav BIH 6

52 Anustoop Biswas WB 653 Dilip Das WB 654 Suraj Dahiya HAR 655 Madhusoodanan K.R. KER 656 Aarudhra Ganesh TN 657 Ankit Sen UP 658 Baig Akram DEL 659 Sunil Vaidya MAH 660 Niklesh Kumar Jain MP 661 Cheniram Pegu ASM 662 Gukesh D TN 663 Patil Mitali Madhukar MAH 664 Pimpalkhare Vedant MAH 665 Sachin Malik DEL 666 Pranav V TN 667 Mayank Soni DEL 668 Sarbojit Paul WB 669 Diwan Rajesh ofspb 670 Om Batra DEL 671 Doshi Moksh Amitbhai GUJ 672 Bala Subramaniyan R TN 673 Om Kharola DEL 674 Dave Kantilal RAJ 675 Dhruv Kakkar HAR 676 Surya Dhanush G AP 677 Anshul Kaushik HAR 678 Banjan Priyadarshan MAH 679 Nicolas John MAH 680 Aditya Guhagarkar MAH 681 Rajeev Kumar PUN 682 Sahil Dhawan HAR 683 Amit Panchal MAH 684 Gupta Rajesh R.S. MAH 685 Verma H.S. DEL 686 Aditya Mittal MAH 687 Subba Raju S. TEL 688 Gajwa Ankit MP 5½89 Joshi Abhijeet MAH 5½90 Saket Kumar KAR 5½91 Shrutarshi Ray WB 5½92 Ayush Bhai Mehta MP 5½93 Sharma Varun MP 5½94 Ramana Babu B. AP 5½95 Vikrant Jaglan HAR 5½96 Vijaya Kumar A.V.S. AP 5½97 Aansh Gupta DEL 5½98 Prasath K R TN 5½

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99 Mayur Patel GUJ 5½100 Vardan Nagpal DEL 5½101 Isha Sharma KAR 5½102 Deshmukh Nachiket MAH 5½103 Rajeev V.M. KER 5½104 Rajesh Kumar Nath HP 5½105 Gajengi Rajababu MAH 5½106 Arnav Tiwari DEL 5½107 Pathak Anshu Kr UP 5½108 Mendonca Leon Luke GOA 5½109 Sathyanarayanan S. TN 5½110 Rishabh Jain DEL 5½111 Rawal Shailesh GUJ 5½112 Patel Vivek GUJ 5½113 Vishesh Agrawal DEL 5½114 Shijil K KER 5½115 Mishra Uttam CHT 5½116 Aryan DEL 5½117 Prithu Gupta DEL 5½118 Ashish Sehgal HAR 5½119 Gaur H C IAF 5½120 Srihari N. DEL 5½121 D Vrushali Umesh MAH 5½122 Dony K V IAF 5½123 Sana Gupta DEL 5½124 Makhija Aashna MAH 5½125 Vidya Sagar J.B.M. AP 5½126 Aditya Mittal HAR 5½127 Shanya Mishra DEL 5½128 Herschelle Gupta DEL 5129 Panesar Vedant MAH 5130 Wanjari Rajendra MAH 5131 Shah Rishab MAH 5132 Dheekshith Kumar R TN 5133 Chakravarthi S.V.C. TEL 5134 M Tulasi Ram Kumar TEL 5135 Kaushal N Panchal GUJ 5136 Shivam Verma BIH 5137 Vaibhav Aggarwal HAR 5138 Alok Sinha DEL 5139 Vesave Govardhan MAH 5140 Pujjam Bansod MAH 5141 Bhanot Stuti HAR 5142 Rathi Dhanashree MAH 5143 Likhit Chilukuri KAR 5144 Raunak Mondal WB 5145 Acharya Abhijit GUJ 5

146 Shankarasubbu B TN 5147 Sasanka Shandilya ASM 5148 Arvind Kumar Mishra UP 5149 Raees Ahmed A Q MAH 5150 Ravindra Raju AP 5151 Karthik Kumar Pradeep AP 5152 Kaur Palkin DEL 5153 Sudhir Kumar HAR 5154 Yashashwat Srivastava DEL 5155 Thaker Kautilya P GUJ 5156 Goswami Kaushalgiri GUJ 5157 Ashok B AP 5158 Umer S.M MP 5159 Krithigga K TN 5160 Abhay Bandewar MP 5161 Prasanta Mondal WB 5162 Dinesh Kumar Gupta DEL 5163 Vikee Vishal BIH 5164 Arun R TN 5165 Shourya Jain MAH 5166 Manya Bagla DEL 5167 Ayush Srivastava UP 5168 Dhiraj Patil MAH 5169 Shah Mihir GUJ 5170 Tayyeb Asif Md ofspb 5171 Rohan Nag Chowdhury WB 5172 Akhilesh K. Srivastava DEL 5173 Girkar Nilesh MAH 5174 Garv Rai DEL 5175 Aan Sikka DEL 5176 Pasricha Jayan PUN 5177 Shatrughan Kaushik UP 5178 Pulkit Jain UP 5179 Sivasankar Sudha Sathyan KER 5180 Raval Dipak GUJ 5181 Sarvadh Sathiaram TN 5182 Stephen Raj A TN 5183 Arnab Kumar Mullick DEL 5184 Hiren K G TN 5185 Padma Gogoi ASM 5186 Dhande Girish MAH 5187 Shashwat Dubey UP 5188 Bidyut Kr. Mondal WB 5189 Achleshwar Singh HAR 5190 Vikram Vishwajeet UP 5191 Tarun Kanyamarala TEL 4½192 Kushagra Gupta DEL 4½

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210 Meet Puri MAH 4½211 Sapre Shreyas MAH 4½212 Shahil Dey ASM 4½213 Rajesh Rajput GUJ 4½214 Manas Rajawat DEL 4½215 Nitheesh Pothireddy AP 4½216 Pukhraj Singh PUN 4½217 Ishaan Singh M CHD 4½218 Saurabh Mathur UP 4½219 Gursimar Singh Arneja DEL 4½220 Atul Bihari Sharan JHA 4½221 Bhagyashree Patil MAH 4½222 Ruthwik K.V.S. DEL 4½223 Kalyani B AP 4½224 Nivedan Bhardwaj CHD 4½225 Ali Khan Aamir Gulrez UP 4½226 Vineet Pandey MP 4½227 Sulekh Kumar Malik HAR 4½228 Pradeep Nautiyal UTT 4½229 Raman Sharma HAR 4½230 Pandi Durai P TN 4½231 Bhavyay Gupta DEL 4½232 Dhyana Patel GUJ 4½233 Pankaj Sindhu HAR 4½234 Karra Abhinav MAH 4½235 Trisha Kanyamarala TEL 4½236 Ritvik Gupta DEL 4½237 Mahi Rajawat DEL 4½238 KM K Ramanatha AP 4½239 Prathivya Gupta DEL 4½240 Ganesh Kumar HP 4½241 Deepanshu Khemka DEL 4½242 Sushrutha Reddy KAR 4243 Sareen Vishal DEL 4244 Manush Shah GUJ 4245 Falgun D Purohit GUJ 4246 Uttam Prakash Sharma HAR 4247 Ameen Mohammad MAH 4248 Debanga Kalita ASM 4249 Soham Kamotra J&K 4250 Makwana Jaydev Sinh DEL 4251 Anil Shivpuri DEL 4252 Archi Agrawal DEL 4253 Mehak Jain DEL 4254 Munna Das Bairagi MP 4255 Giri Abhishek MAH 4256 Chandan Palash N MAH 4

257 Kranti Kumar Gupta UP 4258 Priyadarshi Alok BIH 4259 Rajagopalan DEL 4260 Aaryan Varshney DEL 4261 Manuj Mittal RAJ 4262 Aanya Agarwal DEL 4263 Harshe Arvind MP 4264 Ruhaan Mahindru MAH 4265 Ketan Kaushik UP 4266 Dr Prabhat Kumar BIH 4267 Aaryansh Bhartiya DEL 4268 Devang Singla PUN 4269 Kaamyaa Negi DEL 4

Puzzle of the monthby C.G.S.Narayanan

In the diagram below both white and black retract their last move and after that black plays a helpful move so that white mates next. To give a clue white has just moved to h5 capturing a black piece. Before that the just captured black piece has captured a white piece on h5. Find the pieces captured by white and black and then the helpful black move leading to white mate.

Dr.Julio SunyerThe Chess Amateur 1923

White and black retract their last move.Then Helpmate in one!

(solution on page 48)

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APRIL 2015

1st ADRA FIDE Open International Rating Chess Tournament, Purulia, West Bengal

Joydeep Dutta is championby Debasish Barua IA, Chief Arbiter

The 1st ADRA FIDE Open International Rating Chess Tournament was organized at Rail-way Officers’ Club, Adra, Purulia, (W.B.) from 26th to 30th March 2015 successfully by the Rly.Authorities with 88 players out of which 54 fide rated players along with GM Sriram Jha and IM Sayantan Das played in this tournament.The top seed was IM Sayantan Das with ELO 2433 and the second Seed was GM Sriram Jha with ELO 2409. In the inaugura-tion ceremony DRM Mr. Anshul Gupta, S.E .Rly, declared the Chess Tournament open by making first move on the chess board, IM Atanu Lahiri, Secretary, BCA,Shri V.P. Saraf, ADRM/S.E.Rly/ADRA and Shri.S.P. Chandrikapure, Org. Secy. & Sr. DEN(Co)/Adra and other distinguished personalities were present on the dais .

The tournament took place in a remote place named ADRA in Purulia district of West Ben-gal. The organizers were disappointed due to less number of entries though the organizers have taken adequate initiatives for wide publicity. All amenities for players, parents and guardians were very effective and free accommodation to all participants near the venue was provided. The tournament hall was air-conditioned and very spacious with sufficient toilet facilities .All players felt comfortable to play in such pleasant environment. The Rail-way Officers' Club is a beautiful garden area with green meadows and colourful flowering plants.The organizers have arranged to serve tea and aqua water to all participants in the tournament Hall. They also provided refreshments, lunch and dinner at nominal cost to all the participants and guardians.

No dispute or arguments arose during the tournament. AICF and FIDE guide lines were strictly followed in the tournament hall. It may be mentioned here that no complaint was placed before the Appeals’ Committee. Strict silence was maintained during the tournament. The tournament was played in an eight round swiss league format. At the end of the final round FM Joydeep Dutta of Railways became the Champion with 6.5 points with better tie break and bagged Rs. 50000/-and a big KING Trophy. GM Sriram Jha of LIC and Santu Mondal of Income Tax secured second and third places and richer by Rs. 30000/ and trophy and Rs. 20000/-and trophy respectively. In the final round Sriram Jha drew with Santu Mondal and Arindam Mukherjee lost to Joydeep Dutta.A total of Rupees four lakhs together with forty glittering trophies were distributed among prize winners including the age group players.

In the prize distribution ceremony Shri Radhey Shyam, GM, S.E. Rly as Chief Guest, IM Atanu Lahiri, Secretary, BCA, Sri Tanmoy Chakraborty, D.M. Purulia, Shri Rupesh Kumar, S.P., Purulia, Shri Manoj Pandey, CPO, SE Rly., and Shri Anshul Gupta, DRM, SE Rly/Adra were present.Total prize money of Rs. 4,00,000/- distributed amongst the Prize Winners. The Railway authorities have shown their eagerness to conduct the second edition of this

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tournament well in advance with more prize money and amenities to participants.Final ranking Rk Name Pts1 FM Dutta Joydeep 6½2 GM Sriram Jha 6½3 Santu Mondal 64 Chattarjee Laltu 65 Abhishek Das 66 Pradip Ghosh 67 Bhattacharya N Shekhar 68 Cheela Naga Sampath 69 Nath Rupankar 610 Arindam Mukherjee 5½11 IM Das Sayantan 5½12 Biswajit Chatterjee 5½13 Verma Sanjay 5½14 Basu Suman 5½15 Ambarish Sharma 5½16 Saptorshi Gupta 5½17 Rao K. Damodar 5½18 Kaustuv Kundu 519 Srinivasa Rao G.V. 520 Pranay Rajak 521 Raja Bose 522 Sambarta Banerjee 523 Tapan Kumar Dey 524 Maheshwar P 525 Abhijit Bhattacharjee 526 Sounak De (1) 4½27 Umesh S Lalwani 4½28 Venkatesh H 4½29 Rounak Pathak 4½30 Satyanarayan U 4½31 Prasada Rao G 4½32 Hrishikesan Sundararajan 4½33 Sanjib Chatterjee 4½34 Nihar Ranjan Banerjee 4½35 Pallab Bala 436 Sunil Kumar Ray 437 Swarnava Biswas 438 Shuvam Roy 439 Babu Rao 440 Pranav Ram Hariharan 441 Rajendra Pr. Nag 442 Jayesh Khatri 4

43 Adrian Sajjan 444 Krishna Prasad 445 Surya Prakash Murugesan 446 CH. Narayana Rao 447 Netai Sinha 448 Priya Ranjan Das 449 Udhaya Chandran Bharath 450 Manoj Kumar Sharma 451 Manash Bala 452 Hiran Banerjee 453 Sandip Debnath 3½54 Prasad Kaustav 3½55 Prodip Biswas 3½56 Atreya Nandy 3½57 Debanjan Ghosh 3½58 Rajnikant Pandey 3½59 Md. Shabbir Ali 3½60 Rishi Kumar Gupta 3½61 Shaswata Paul 3½62 Samir Sarkar 363 Anup Kumar Ghosh 364 Ajay Kumar Chaudhuri 365 Rahul Sharma 366 Mithu Pandey 367 Prem Kumar 368 Chinmoy Kumar Majhi 369 Vipul Kumar 370 P. Dharan 371 Anuj Kumar Paswan 2½72 Meghali Kumari 2½73 Sajal Basu Roy 2½74 Siddhartha Dhibar 2½75 Soumil Banerjee 2½76 Chandra Kishore Majhi 277 Kalyan Dutta 278 Deepankar Roy 279 Subhasish Dey 280 Kushagra Gautam 1½81 Nawal Kishore Singh 1½82 Sunkara Ramesh 183 Ch. Dolly Sailaja ½84 Akhilesh Kumar Mehta 085 N. K. Singh 086 Rajapu Srinivas 087 Swapnaneel Gorai 088 V. K. Sharma 0

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APRIL 2015

Aditya Birla Memorial 15th Jharkhand Se-nior State Fide Rating Chess Champion-ship-2015 was inaugurated by Chief Guest Mr. Amar Bauri, Sports Minister,Ranchi, on 21st Mar’2015 at Sarala Birla Public School, Mahilong, Ranchi in the presence of Mr. Pra-dip Varma, President All Jharkhand Chess Association, Mr.Pritam Singh, Sect AJCA & Mr. Manish Kumar, Sect, RDCA along with other dignitaries. This wonderful state rating event was successfully organized by Ranchi District Chess Association under the supervision of Mr.Manish Kumar, Sect, Ranchi District Chess Association for the third Consecu-tive time under the aegis of All Jharkhand Chess Association & under the AICF event code 109680/JHAR/2015 & was recognized by AICF and FIDE.

A record no of 143 participants (from 10 districts) had taken part in this event from different parts of the state. A total of 9 rounds Swiss system league was played with a time control of 60 min. with 30 sec increment. A total no of 61 rated players were there with a record nos of 45 new Fide id has created in this tournament.

Top seed of the tournament was Swaraj Palit-2032, followed by Pritam Singh-2026(8 times state champion), Rajesh Kumar-2005 etc. Total Cash Prizes was Rs.51,000/- with a 1ST prize of Rs.10,000/- +Champions trophy followed by runners up of Rs.8000/-,Rs.5000/- etc.At the end top seed Swaraj palit who fin-

ished with 9th ranked where as 2nd seed veteran player Pritam Singh clinched the top honor and became the Champion of 15th Jharkhand State Chess Champion for the 3rd consecutive times(a total 9 times) at the same venue and was awarded Cash Prize of Rs.10,000/- along with Champions Trophy. In the PD ceremony, he dedicated his Champions trophy to the President of AJCA Mr. Pradip Varma. He scored 8 points out of a possible 9 points. He along with Pri-yanka kumari, Alka Das & Saurabh Mandal were qualified for the forthcoming National Challengers chess to be held at UP from 2nd-12th August’2015. This tournament was a selection for both National Challeng-ers, Women & U-25 categories.

In the closing ceremony the Chief guest was Mrs. Poonam Singh, Principal Sarala Birla Public School,Mahilong,Ranchi, Mr. Pradip Varma, President All Jharkhand Chess As-sociation, Mr. Pritam Singh, Sect AJCA along with Mr. Manish Kumar, RDCA & Mr.Nihar Ranjan Sasmal(IA) Chief Arbiter.

I express my heartiest thanks to the or-ganizing body i.e. Ranchi District Chess Association and AJCA for giving me an op-portunity to undertake the responsibility as Chief Arbiter.The Press and Media covered the event well and we had considerably very good support from the parents and guardians of participants too.This event has added to the new mileage of Jharkhand state as one of the fast developing Chess states in eastern India after Odisha and West Bengal.

15th Jharkand Senior State FIDE Rating Chess Championship 2015,Ranchi

Pritam Singh is ChampionNihar Ranjan Sasmal IA ,Chief Arbiter

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Final Ranking: Rk. Name Pts. 1 Singh Pritam 82 Priyanka Kumari 7.53 Alka Das 7.54 Saurabh Mandal 75 Manideep Mukhi 76 Sudhakar Prem Dutt 77 Shashi Kant 78 Anshul Nigam 6.59 Swaraj Palit 6.510 Pracheta Agarwal 6.511 Saikat Dutta 6.512 Manish Sharma 6.513 Umesh Saw 6.514 Kumar Sanu 6.515 Kumari Rama 6.516 Vatsal Singhania 6.517 Rajesh Kumar 618 Kamal Kishore Debnath 619 Sandil Nirmal Chandra 620 Basant Khandelwal 621 Pritesh Mehta 622 Kundu Uttam 623 Manisha Masi 624 Ramesh Kumar 625 Shubham Srivastava 626 Swapnil Anand 627 Umesh Kr. Agrawal 628 Bidisha Roy 5.529 Ankit Kumar Singh 5.530 Raja Bose 5.531 Nishant Raj 5.532 Ajit Kumar Saw 5.533 Satendra Chauhan 5.534 Singh Shivjee 5.535 Ishan Gupta 5.536 Sharma Prahlad 5.537 Pragyanand Kumar 5.538 Satyam Kumar 5.539 Imran MD 5.540 Lokesh Kumar 5.541 Deepak Lal Saha 5.542 Dev Anoop Kr Singh 5.543 Soukhin Pramanik 544 Kumar Aswini 545 Aman Choubey 5

46 Chandan Kumar Prasad 547 Pradip Kr. Mahato 548 Bijay Kumar Sinha 549 Bishnujeet Verma 550 Choudhury Yamuna 551 Mukherjee Sanchit 552 Samyak Anand 553 Biplab Chandra Dalal 554 Binod Kumar Saw 555 Avijit kumar Roy 556 Hritik Verma 557 Jha M.M 558 Suyash Patel 559 Geet Maini 560 Ehtesham MD 561 Shivam Prasad 562 Soren Palton 563 Vatsal Nagelia 564 Herman Minz 565 Ram Krishna 566 Siddharth Kumar 567 Sashank Pandey 568 Manauar Hussain 4.569 Biranchi Kumar Sinha 4.570 Ishant Kumar 4.571 Kshitiz 4.572 Mritunjay Choudhary 4.573 Ankit Kumar Singh 4.574 Rohit Verma 4.575 Raj Kumar Soni 4.576 Rupesh Kumar 4.577 Shaswata Paul 4.578 Raish Imam 4.579 Kumar Rishabh Raj 4.580 Kushanand Singh 481 Bhavesh Kumar Gupta 482 Mukherjee Archit 483 Sagar Aryan 484 Sachin Kumar 485 Ashish Kumar 486 Mayank Sekhar Tiwari 487 Apurba Chakraborty 488 Nitin 489 Om Narayan Bhuyan 490 Anand Kumar 491 Kumar Prashant 492 Rahul Mukhi 4

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APRIL 2015

Selected games from Chennai Open 2015

Annotated by IM Manuel AaronNguyen,Duc Hoa (VIE) (2507) Harikrish-nan A Ra (2124) [E09]1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.g3 Be7 5.Bg2 0–0 6.0–0 c6 7.Qc2 Nbd7 8.Nbd2 b6 9.e4 dxe4 10.Nxe4 Nxe4 11.Qxe4 Bb7 12.Rd1 Qc7 13.Bf4 Bd6 14.Bxd6 Qxd6 15.Ne5 Nf6 16.Qf3 [16.Qc2 has been met here.] 16...Rac8 17.c5! bxc5 18.Nc4! Qe7 [If 18...Qd5? 19.Qb3! Qd7 20.dxc5± with a huge advantage for white.] 19.Qa3! ensures that he re-captures the pawn on c5 with a big advantage. 19...Nd5 20.dxc5 Ba8 21.Nd6 Rb8 22.Rd4 Rfd8 [If 22...Qf6 23.Rd2 a6 24.Qxa6 (24.Rad1 Bb7 25.Qa5±) 24...Rxb2 25.Ne4 Qe5 26.f4 Qb8 27.Qe2 Rxd2 28.Qxd2²] 23.Re1 Qf6 24.Red1 Rd7 25.R1d2 h6 26.Ra4 Qe7 27.Re2 Rc7 28.Bh3

Threatening a sacrifice on f7. 28...Rf8 [The threat of Nxf7 was real because if now: 28...Rd7 29.Nxf7 Kxf7 30.Bxe6+ Qxe6 31.Rxe6 Kxe6 32.Rxa7+-] 29.Bg2 Rd8 30.h4 Rdd7 31.Bh3 Qd8 32.Qb3 [32.f4!± would tighten white's grip over the black forces, but many

experienced players would instinctively avoid such a move that 'weakens' his own castled position.] 32...Qf8 33.Bg2 Black has to wait and watch while white jockeys his forces to make the final attack. Now white has a change of plan. He plans to bring this bishop to c2 and his queen to d3 to make a deadly battery against h7. Black cannot easily guess where the blow is going to land. 33...Rd8 34.Be4 Nf6 35.Qa3 Qe7 [If 35...Nxe4 36.Rexe4 because the white knight is occupying the key square while the black bishop is just an insignificant piece of wood in the corner of the board.] 36.Bc2 h5 37.Rf4 Rf8

38.Qd3 Threatens 39 Rxf3! and 40 Qh7# and provokes black's reply which weakens his position decisively. 38...g6 [If 38...Rd8 Mak-ing way for the king to flee from the threat-ened Qxh7# then comes further agony with: 39.Re5! Rcd7 40.Rg5 e5 41.Rff5 (41.Rxf6 Qxf6 42.Qh7+ Kf8 43.Qh8+ Ke7 44.Nc8+ Rxc8 45.Qxc8 Bb7 46.Qb8+-) ] 39.Re5 Nd5 40.Rd4 Nf6 41.Rg5 Rb8 42.Nxf7!! (See diagram)[42.Nxf7 Qxf7 43.Rxg6+ Kh8 (43...Kf8 44.Rf4!) 44.Rd8+ Rxd8 45.Qxd8+ Ne8 46.Qg5 threatening 47 Rh6 mating.] 1–0

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Annotated by IM Manuel Aaron

(Position after 42.Nxf7)

Ramnath,Bhuvanesh R (2405) K.Praneeth Surya (2212) [B20]1.e4 c5 2.b3 d6 3.Bb2 Nf6 4.Bb5+ Bd7 5.Bxd7+ Nbxd7 6.d3 g6 7.f4 Bg7 8.Nf3 0–0 9.a4?! [There was no need to forestall ...b5. 9.0–0 is more usual here.] 9...e5 [Bet-ter was: 9...d5 10.e5 Nh5 11.Qd2 Bh6 12.g3 Ng7= black has absolutely no problems.] 10.fxe5 Ng4 11.Nc3 Qa5 12.Qd2 Bh6?! [This is tempting, playing along the weak dark squares of white. Better was: 12...Ndxe5 13.0–0 Nxf3+ 14.Rxf3 f5 15.Raf1 d5! 16.exf5 (16.exd5 Rae8³ with advantage to black as the white rooks are doubled along the f-file where nothing is about to happen and the knight is pinned along two diagonals.) 16...d4 17.Ne4 Qxd2 18.Nxd2 Ne3 19.fxg6! (19.Rc1 Rxf5) 19...Nxf1 20.gxh7+ Kxh7 21.Kxf1= White has two pawns for the sacrificed ex-change.] 13.Qe2 Ne3 14.h4?! [It is difficult to comprehend this move. Probably he wants to play Ng5 and threaten black's Ne3. But he never gets to it. Better was to take the second pawn with: 14.exd6! f5 15.Kf2! c4 16.Nd1± Ng4+ 17.Kg1 cxb3 18.cxb3 Qb6+ 19.Kf1

Qxb3 20.e5 Rae8 21.d4± The moral we draw from this is that when we cannot fathom the correctness or otherwise of your opponent's sacrifice, accept it and put the onus of proving it right on your opponent.] 14...d5! 15.exd5 Rae8! With the white king caught in the cen-tre, black is playing imaginatively and is on the verge of seizing the initiative. 16.Kf2! Ng4+ [If 16...Nxe5 17.Nxe5 Rxe5 18.Ne4! Rf5+ 19.Kg1 Nxd5 The fight now revolves around the control of the key f6 square. 20.c4! Nf4 (20...Be3+ 21.Kh2 Qd8 (Or 21...Bf4+ 22.g3 Be5 23.cxd5+-) 22.g3 wins.) 21.Qe3! Qd8 22.Rd1±] 17.Kg1 Be3+? [Black gets a clear advantage with 17...Ndxe5 18.Nxe5 Be3+ 19.Kf1 Rxe5 20.Qxg4 Bd4 21.Rh3 Bxc3 22.Bxc3 Qxc3 23.Rc1 Rfe8] 18.Kf1 h5? [Once again black misses to reap the benefits of his previous active play! With this one move, black slips from a good game to a lost game. And it is the same move: 18...Ndxe5 19.Nxe5 Rxe5 20.Qxg4 Bd4³ as in the commentary to black's 17th move.] 19.Ne4!+- Bd4?

[This completely overlooks white's brilliant reply. Best was: 19...Bf4 20.Nd6 Ndxe5 21.Nxe8 Rxe8 22.Rh3 though black would still lose.] 20.b4!! Qd8 [Black sees too late that

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Annotated by IM Manuel Aaronif 20...Qxb4 21.c3! the black bishop is lost.] 21.Nxd4 cxd4 22.Bxd4 Ndxe5 [22...Ngxe5 23.Re1 b6 24.Rh3+-] 23.Bc5 f5! The only move to keep the attack going. 24.Ng5 Nf7?! [Best here was to mix aggression with cau-tion: 24...Qxd5! 25.Re1 Rf6 26.d4 b6 27.Qb5 Rc6 28.Bxb6 Qxb5+ 29.axb5 Rxb6=] 25.Qf3

[Stronger was: 25.Qd2 Nxg5 26.Bxf8 Kxf8 27.hxg5 (27.Qxg5 Qb6 28.Qf4 Ne3+ 29.Kg1 Nxc2+ 30.Kh2 Nxa1 31.Rxa1 and white stands better with his extra pawn.) 27...Qxd5 28.Re1 Rxe1+ 29.Qxe1 Qd4 30.Rh3 Qf4+ 31.Ke2± though white has the problem of bringing his rook into the game and warding off the per-petual check threats from the black queen.] 25...Nxg5 26.hxg5 Rf7 27.Re1 Rxe1+ 28.Kxe1

28...Ne5 [At a first glance 28...b6 29.Bd4 Qe7+ appears to be very good for black, but 30.Kd2! (30.Kd1 Qxb4µ) 30...Qxb4+ 31.Bc3 Qxa4 32.Re1! While the white king is safe in the centre, the black king is vulnerable on the king-side with the white bishop's action along the long black diagonal is damaging. 32...Qd7 33.Re6! Kh7 34.Qe2! Qxd5 35.Re8+-] 29.Qe3 Qxd5 30.Rh4! Once this rook comes to life, black's game is over. 30...Nc6 31.b5 f4 32.Rxf4 Rxf4 33.Qxf4 Qxc5 34.bxc6 Qxc6 35.Qe4 Qxc2 [If 35...Qxe4+ 36.dxe4 and white easily wins the pawn ending.] 36.Qxg6+ Kf8 37.Qf6+

37...Kg8 [If 37...Ke8 38.g6 Qc1+ 39.Ke2 Qc2+ 40.Ke3 Qc1+ 41.Ke4 Qe1+ 42.Kf5+-] 38.g6! Now that white is threatening mate in two with 39 Qf7+ Kh8 40 Qh7# black's defen-sive resources are vastly reduced. 38...Qb3 39.d4 b6 40.Kf2 a6 41.Kg1 b5 42.axb5 axb5 43.Kh2 Now that the white king is safely tucked away from checks on h2, white is ready for the winning procedure. 43...Qd5 44.Qe7! [44.Qe7 b4 45.Qh7+ Kf8 46.g7+ wins.] 1–0Kathmale,Sameer (2267)Mozharov,Mikhail (2557) [B19]

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Annotated by IM Manuel Aaron

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bf5 5.Ng3 Bg6 6.h4 h6 7.Nf3 e6 8.h5 Bh7 9.Bd3 Bxd3 10.Qxd3 Nf6 11.Bd2 Be7 12.0–0–0 0–0 13.Kb1 c5 14.Be3 cxd4 [14...Nbd7 in this position is logical but the GM obviously wants to take his opponent out of the book.] 15.Nxd4 Nbd7= 16.Ne4 Qa5= 17.g4?! Ne5! [17...Nxg4 18.Nb3 Qd5 19.Qxd5 exd5 20.Rxd5 Ndf6=] 18.Nxf6+ Bxf6 19.Qe2 Rfc8 20.Nb3 [white should have continued aggressively with: 20.g5! hxg5 21.h6 Nc4 22.c3 Qe5 23.Qf3²] 20...Qa4 21.Bd4 Qc4= This rules out any complications favourable for white. 22.Qxc4 Rxc4

23.Na5?! [This plays into black's hands. Better was 23.Bxe5 Bxe5 24.Rhe1 Bc7 25.f3 Rd8 26.Rxd8+ Bxd8 27.Rd1 Bb6 28.Rd7 Rf4 29.Rxb7 f5 30.gxf5 Rxf3=] 23...Ra4 24.Nxb7 Nxg4 25.Bxf6 Nxf6³ Material is level. But white's two separated pawns on the king-side offer black chances of victory. 26.b3 Rf4 27.Nd6 [White reconciles to the loss of a pawn. If 27.Rh2 Rb8 28.Nc5 Rc8 29.Nd3 Rf5 30.Rdh1 Kf8 Black has the advantage as the two white rooks are tied to the defence of his h5 pawn while the black forces regroup and attack at leisure.] 27...Rxf2 28.c4 Kf8

29.Rhf1 Rh2 30.c5 With the game going downhill rapidly, white pins his hope on his pased c-pawn. 30...Ke7 (See Diagram)

[Black plays cautiously. The h5 pawn was not poisoned: 30...Rxh5 31.Rc1 Rd5 32.b4 h5 33.Kc2 Ke7 34.Rf3 a5 and it is a simple win for black.] 31.c6 Nd5! 32.Nf5+ Kf8!µ 33.Rxd5 The threasts of ...Nc3+ and ...Rc8 threatening his c6 pawn have forced white to give up the exchange. 33...exd5 34.c7 Rc8 35.Rc1 Ke8! 36.Nd6+ Kd7 37.Nxc8 Kxc8 38.Rf1 Rxh5! 39.Rxf7 g5 [39...Rg5 for 40...h5 was stron-ger.] 40.Rf5 Rh1+ 41.Kc2 Kxc7 42.Rxd5 Rh2+ 43.Kc3[No decent chess player would play the passive43.Kb1? ]43...Rxa2 44.Rf5 g4 45.Rf7+

[45.Rh5 Ra6 to be followed by ...Rg6 and

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Annotated by IM Manuel Aaronadvancing the g-pawn.] 45...Kd6! Black plans the sacrifice of his h-pawn to rapidly advance his g-pawn. In such endings, it does not matter who has more pawns, it matters who queens first. 46.Rf6+ Ke5 47.Rxh6 g3 48.Rg6 Kf4 49.b4 g2 50.Kb3 Re2 51.Kc4 Kf3 52.Kb5 Kf2 53.Rf6+ Ke1 54.Rg6 Kf1 55.Ka6 Ra2+ 56.Kb7 g1Q 0–1

Karthikeyan,P (2400)Sa Kannan (1932) [A90]1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 c6 5.g3 Ne4 6.Bg2 f5 7.0–0 Bd6 8.Qc2 0–0 9.Ne5 Nd7 10.Nd3 Qf6 11.e3 [A 2003 game S.Shaidulina vs S.Strutinska went: 11.f3 dxc4 12.Nf4 Nxc3 13.Qxc3 c5 and black won even-tually.] 11...g5 12.f3 Nxc3 13.Qxc3 Qg7 [Better was: 13...dxc4 14.Qxc4 Nb6 15.Qb3 f4 16.exf4 Qxd4+ 17.Kh1 gxf4 18.Bxf4 Bxf4 19.Nxf4 Qc4 20.Qa3 with a slight advan-tage for white.] 14.Bd2 h5 [Again 14...dxc4 15.Qxc4 Nb6 16.Qb3 f4=] 15.e4 dxc4 16.Qxc4 Nb6 17.Qc2 Qxd4+ 18.Kh1 Qg7 19.Bc3

19...Qg6 [It was best to place the queen on the h-file where the white king is situated: 19...Qh6 20.Ne5 h4 21.gxh4 Qxh4 22.f4 with

equal chances.] 20.Ne5 Bxe5 21.Bxe5 Bd7 With the disappearance of the dark square bishops from the board, the chances have tilted in favour of white as the black king has no pawn cover. 22.a4 Be8 23.a5 Nd7 24.Bd6 Rf7 (See diagram)

25.a6! creating weak pawns for black on the queen-side. 25...Nf6 26.axb7 Rxb7 27.Bc5 Rf7 [If 27...fxe4 28.fxe4 e5 (28...Nd7 29.Bd6) 29.Rf5 and white is nearly winning. Black's problem is his ineffective light-square bishop. It should be on g6.] 28.Qc4 Nd7 29.Bd4 Nf8 30.Rfe1 Kh7 31.Bc3 Qg8 [If 31...Bd7 32.Qd4 Qg8 33.Rxa7±] 32.Ra5 Rd8 33.Re5 h4 [Better, but still losing was: 33...f4 34.gxf4 Rxf4 35.Qc5 Kh6 36.Qe7 Rb8 37.Bd2+-] 34.exf5 hxg3 35.fxe6 Rf4

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Annotated by IM Manuel Aaron36.e7! Qxc4 37.exd8Q Rh4 [If 37...Bg6 38.Rxg5 gxh2 39.Re7+ Kh6 40.Bg7+ Kxg5 41.Re5# It is a mate by double check!] 38.Qxe8 Very cool! 38...Rxh2+ 39.Kg1 Ng6 40.Rxg5 Still, black cannot give a check from c5. 1–0Mehar,Chinna Reddy C.H (2281)David,Alberto (Ita) (2578) [B40]1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.b3 b6 4.Bb2 Bb7 5.Qe2 Nc6 6.Nc3 [A 2006 game between P.Vavra 2311 and N.Vyskocil 2307 went: 6.c3 d5 7.exd5 Qxd5 8.Na3 Nf6 9.0–0–0 Be7 and eventually black won.] 6...a6 7.0–0–0 Nd4 8.Qe3 Nxf3 9.gxf3 Nf6 10.Rg1 b5 11.Kb1 Qc7 12.f4 c4 [An exciting variation is: 12...b4 13.e5 bxc3 14.exf6 g5 15.dxc3 Qxf4 16.Rxg5 Qxh2 17.Rxc5!] 13.bxc4 bxc4 14.f5 Bc5 Adventurous, as he lives danger-ously in the following moves, offering his g7 pawn, etc. 15.d4! [Good, but not so strong was: 15.Qe2 Qxh2 16.Rxg7 Rb8] 15...cxd3 16.Qxd3 Rb8!?

17.Ka1 [17.Rxg7 Qxh2 18.fxe6 dxe6 19.Qc4 Be7 (or 19...Rc8 20.Qa4+ Ke7 (20...Kf8 21.Rg2 Qb8 22.Bxa6²) 21.e5! Qxe5 22.Nd5+ Qxd5 23.Rxd5 Nxd5+-) 20.Rg2 Qf4 21.Ka1=] 17...Bc6 18.Rb1 [An aggressive defence is

always better than a passive defence. Best was to carry the attack to black with: 18.Rxg7 Qxh2 19.fxe6 fxe6 20.Nd5 exd5 21.Bxf6 Qxf2 22.e5±] 18...Qe5 19.Nb5 [19.Rxg7=] 19...Qxh2 (See diagram)

20.Rxg7 White was forced into capturing this pawn. But this move is now too late. 20...Bxb5 21.c4 Bc6 [If 21...Qh6 22.Qg3 d6 23.cxb5 Nxe4 24.Qg2 e5 and the game is almost equal.] 22.Bxf6 Rxb1+ 23.Qxb1 Bd6! 24.Rg3? [This loses quickly. Better was: 24.c5 Bc7=] 24...Bxg3 25.fxg3

25...0–0! Probably white forgot that black still has the right to castle!! Now, black wins because of being exchange up. 26.Qd3 [After 26.Qd3 Qf2! (threat: 27...Bxe4! 28 Qxe4 Qxf1+ winning.) 27.Bd4 (27.Be2 Bxe4

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28.Qxe4 Qe1+ 29.Kb2 Rb8+ 30.Kc2 Qb1+!) 27...Qe1+ 28.Qb1 Qxb1+ 29.Kxb1 Bxe4+] 0–1

Selected games from NationalTeam Chess, GoaAnnotated by IM Manuel AaronSharma,Dinesh (LIC) (2391)Vidit,Gujrathi (PSPB) (2617) 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.Nc3 Nc6 4.e4 e6 5.Be2 Qb6 6.d3 Bd6 [A strange move which would give white many options to seize the initiative. Seen so far has been: 6...Be7 7.0–0 0–0 8.Rb1 Rd8 9.Bg5 happened in P.Gelazonai 2321 vs P.Kalagashvili 2237 in 2001 which black eventually won.] 7.0–0 0–0 8.a3 [8.b3 releasing the Bc1 for action elsewhere was better.] 8...Ng4 9.h3 [This is run of the mill. For a queer move like 6...Bd6, white must did deep to find the refutation. A good alternative here is: 9.b4 cxb4 10.Nb5 Bb8 11.h3 Nge5 12.Be3 Nxf3+ 13.Bxf3 Qd8 14.axb4 white has the advantage, for if now 14...Nxb4 15.Bc5 wins the exchange.] 9...Nge5 10.Na4 Nxf3+ 11.Bxf3 Qc7= With the white knight perched on a4, black has a very slight pull in this po-sition. 12.g3 b6 13.Bg2 Be5 14.Rb1 Rb8 15.Bd2 Bd4 16.Kh1 b5! 17.Nc3

17...bxc4! The strategic idea behind this ap-parently simplifying move is to bring pressure on white's queen-side along the half open b-file. 18.dxc4 Ba6 19.b3 Rb7 20.Ne2 Rfb8 21.Qc2 Bf6 22.Rfc1 [Black gets a clear ad-vantage after: 22.Bc3 Bxc3 23.Qxc3 Na5 and white loses a pawn for if 24.Nc1 Bxc4µ] 22...Na5! 23.Bxa5 Qxa5 24.a4 This weak-ening of the b4 square is forced. After allow-ing such a big advantage to a grandmaster it is generally difficult to survive. 24...Rb4 25.Rd1! Qb6?! [This is based on the tactic that if white's Rd1 takes on d7, then black could play ...Bxc4 as the white rook on b1 is supported only by his queen. However, it was better to offer the d-pawn on d6 instead of on d7 from where the white rook can still cause damage to black. Better was: 25...d6! and if now 26.Rxd6 Bxc4 and black is poised to win more pawns.] 26.Rxd7

[Better was the trappy: 26.Nf4 Rxb3 (26...Bd4 27.Nd3 Rxb3 28.a5 Qb7 29.e5 Rxb1 30.Bxb7 R1xb7) 27.Rxb3 Qxb3 28.Qxb3 Rxb3 29.Rxd7 Rb1+ 30.Kh2 g6 31.Rxa7 Bxc4 32.h4 Bd4] 26...Bxc4! 27.Rc1 Bxb3 [Another possibility was: 27...Bxe2 28.Qxe2 Rd4 29.Rd1 Qxb3] 28.Qxc5 Qxc5 29.Rxc5 Bxa4 30.Rxa7 h6

Annotated by IM Manuel Aaron

( contd on p.27 )

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India China Summit

China Beat India 18-14

The second half did not go India’s way. After the sides won two rounds apiece to be level at 8-8 at the half way stage, the second half went decisively in favour of the visitors. China won 2.5-1.5, 3-1, 2-2 and 2.5-1.5 to wrap up the series with a healthy four point margin.

The Chinese pulled up their socks in the second half to win the 4-player Scheveningen system double round event with a 18-14 margin at Hyderabad on March 10, 2015. The Telangana Chess Association organised this event on behalf of the sponsors, the All India Chess Federation.

Considering the strength of the teams, a similar score could have been anticipated. However, being hosts, India should have done better. Sasikiran and Adhiban were off form. Sethuraman and Lalith Babu performed well.

Sethuraman scored 5/8 and Lalith Babu got 4.5/8 to pump Elo points into their April 2015 numbers. Sasikiran made 2 and Adhiban 2.5 and the Indian scoring suffered on account of it.China won but the margins they got would not have pleased their rating numbers. Ding Liren made 5/8, Wei Yi and Wang Chen scored 4.5/8 each, Zhou Jiangchao 4.

China won the Komatireddy Prateek Reddy Trophy and INR 600,000 while India received INR 400,000. The Governor of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana States, E.S.L. Narasimhan was the Chief Guest in the closing ceremony.The aim of this event was to give training for the Indian team before playing in the World Team Championship at Armenia. Facing Olympic Champions China would be the best practice and the All India Chess Federation provided that. The event took place at the Marriott Hotel in Hyderabad.

Lalith Babu helps India level scoresM.R. Lalith Babu of Vijayawada helped India level the scores against China. He defeated Wang Chen with the black pieces in round two to help India win 2.5-1.5. After two rounds, the series

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was tied 4-4 with six rounds or 24 games still to be played.In the top board, Adhiban could only draw with white against World No.14 ranked Ding Liren. In a rook ending, Adhiban had to fight and get a draw after 70 moves with the white pieces.In the other two games, Wei Yi-Sethuraman and Sasikiran-Zhou Jianchao ended in draws. Lalith Babu won a piece against Wang Chen but was able to cash the point in a touch and go ending after 59 moves. Lalith Babu played the Caro-Kann and his opponent went for the two knights

variation. Chances for both sides opened up in the opposite coloured bishop ending. Game became lively. Lalith Babu raced ahead by one move to win the game.

AICF Central Council Meeting on 05.04.2015

The AICF Central Council meeting took place at the Hyatt Regency in Chennai on 05.04.2015 and the following were some of the important decisions taken at the meeting.

• The Central Council placed on record its thanks to the FIDE President Mr.Kirsan Ilyumzhinov for giving Indian Women Team a place in the ten teams World Women Team Chess Championship to be held at Chengdu, China from 18th to 29th April, 2015.

• It was decided to conduct one day workshop for the Administrators of all the State Chess Associations.

• The Central Council decided to nominate an Ad-Hoc Committee to run the affairs of the All Assam Chess Association till such time fresh elections are held to the office bearers of the Association. The Ad-Hoc Committee to have the following members: Rajeev Kumar Bora,Chairman,Laishram Imocha,Member,BinodKhemka,Member,MridulKumarMahanta,Member and Biswajit Bharadwaj,Secretary

• The Central Council was informed by Mr.Bharat Singh, CEO,AICF that this year Commonwealth championship will be open only for Commonwealth countries.

• The Central Council informed all the members regarding the new Regulations to be introduced by FIDE with regard to registration of new chess players wherein it is necessary for the players

25

to have email ids.

• The Central Council welcomed the newly formed “The Andhra Pradesh Chess Association” with Mr.Y.D.Rama Rao as President and Mr.Devaram Srihari as General Secretary.

• It was also decided to regulate the participation of players to Asian and World Schools from 2016 onwards. To include this also part of ACTC so that players may get the benefit of airfare from the Government.

Mariya Muzychuk is the new World Women's ChampionMariya Muzychuk of Ukraine won the FIDE World Women's Chess Championship when she defeated Natalia Pogonina of Russia by 2.5-1.5 in a best of four finals at Sochi, Russia on Easter Sunday.On course, Muzychuk beat Y Yuan (Can) 2.5-1.5, Monika Socko (Pol) 3-1, A Stefanova (Bul) 1.5-0.5, Koneru Humpy (Ind) 2.5-1.5, D Harika (Ind) 3.5-2.5, Natalia Pogonina (Rus) 2.5-1.5.

In the second game of the best of four series, Mariya wrested sole lead with an attacking victory over Pogonina. Other three games were drawn. Mariya was never in big trouble in any of her games in the finals. The Ukrainian started the last game with her favorite move 1.е4. Pogonina also responded with her pet 1…е5. In the Scotch Four Knights Game she tried to avoid the main theory by implementing a weird-looking idea – her bishop came to b4 via c5. The idea is hardly promising by itself, however, it allowed Black to duck the home preparation of her opponent.

White got a spatial advantage and overall more pleasant game after the opening, bu then decided to build up the initiative by advancing her kingside pawns, weakening her own king. A sharp and dynamically balanced position arose, with both sides having pawn weaknesses. Tension grew with every minute. Black had a couple of opportunities to seize the initiative, but did not use them.

On the move 41 Mariya Muzychuk carried out a simplifying combination, transposing to an ending with two strong passed pawns against a knight. Black was left with no winning chances, and the game ended in a draw on the move 56 after the move repetition. Thus, Mariya Muzychuk won the match 2.5-1.5 and became the 15th World Champion! The first game victory against Humpy and second game win against Pogonina, showcased the brilliance of Mariya Muzychuk. This 1992-born player from Lviv in Ukraine is the younger sister of the more famous Anna Muzychuk who was herself eliminated in the quarter-finals by Pia Cramling.

"Those matches were very tense indeed. However, I always kept fighting and it probably helped me," said Muzychuk about the matches against Humpy and Harika.Her conversation with her sister became real. While packing the bags at home, Anna asked, “Are you taking your dress for the opening ceremony?” And I said: “No, I take it for the closing ceremony!” In fact I was hoping to win the championship even before it started!Mariya thanked her sister for helping her in chess and non-chess issues. She thanked her sister for not leaving (after the loss to Cramling) and for staying back and helping her. Back in Ukraine, Mariya had

 

 

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worked with Alexander Beliavsky. During the finals she received some help from Evgeny Miroshnichenko. She became the second player from Ukraine to win the title after Anna Ushenina (2012-2013).

Harika Loses To Mariya Muzychuk In Semis

Dronavalli Harika lost to Mariya Muzychuk of Ukraine after performing at her career best in the FIDE World Women’s Chess Championship at Sochi, Russia on March 31, 2015.In the two game classical control, the players drew both games. In the tie-break games, Harika lost the first game and came back with the black pieces to level the scores at 1-1.In the subsequent second play-off, Muzychuk drew the first and won the second with the black pieces. Harika lost a pawn on move 26 and never recovered in this decisive sixth game. Muzychuk won 3.5-2.5.

Report & photos courtesy: chessbase.com

K.Murali Mohan passes awayK Muralimohan (1950-2015) International Arbiter who passed away recently at Chennai on April 3, 2015 after a brief illness was involved in the game of chess for the last 40 years as a player, coach, arbiter and administrator and author.Muralimohan held the longest term as Secretary of the Chennai District Chess Association. He held similar positions at Madurai and Delhi. He retired voluntarily from UCO Bank as Manager after 28 years of service.

In the last decade, he was elevated as General Secretary of the Tamil Nadu State Chess Association and he was also Joint Secretary and Rating Officer of All India Chess Federation.As a player he had a strong FIDE rating of 2110. He represented Tamilnadu and Delhi in several National ‘B’ and National Team Chess Championships.Muralimohan was Chief Arbiter in various tournaments. The last time he was Chief Arbiter was in the National Women’s Premier at Chennai in 2011. He became an International Arbiter in 1988 and took the title of FIDE Instructor in 2008.

Muralimohan was a successful coach.WGM Aarthie Ramasamy was trained by him in the formative years and she went on to win National Under-12, 14 and 15 Championships and World Under-18 title. Among his other of his illustrious wards are International Master P.Karthikeyan and A.Ra Harikrishnan, youngest FIDE rated player in 2008.He founded Capa Chess Academy in 1991 and organized numerous tournaments ranging from Children’s tournaments to international level tournaments.He ran chess columns on tactics in magazines as Chess Mate. He authored many notable books such as ‘Endless Endings’, Zee Boom Bah, Kamikaze, New Tactical Weapons of Chess and ‘Learn Chess: The Game of Kings and the King of Games’.Wit and humour were his forte in his writings which set him apart from other authors. He contributed invaluable articles on rating systems and also ‘Test your endgame’ in ‘AICF Chronicle in 2007 and 2008’.

Shri.Kanickai Irudayaraj elected Vice PresidentShri.Kanickai Irudayaraj Gnanamuthu has been elected as 2nd Vice President (for Asia) at the 21st IPCA (International Physically Disabled Chess Association) Congress held in Serbia.

Black is better as his two bishops sweep the board and white's minor pieces are not well placed. 31.Rac7 Rb1+ 32.Rc1 R1b2 33.Bf3 Bb5 34.Rc8+ Rxc8 35.Rxc8+ Kh7 36.Nc3 Rc2 [After 36...Bxc3 37.Rxc3 Rxf2 38.Kg1 Rb2 black has won a pawn but the resultant position would be difficult for black to win because of the opposite colour bishops.] 37.e5! Threatening 38 Be4+ forking king and rook. 37...Rc1+! 38.Kh2 [38.Kg2? If 38...Bf1+ 39.Kh2 Bxe5 40.Be4+ g6–+] 38...Bxe5 39.Rc5 White coun-ters the pin along the c-file with a fork along the 5th rank. Now follows very interesting play. 39...Rxc3 40.Be4+ f5 41.Rxe5 Bd7 [Retaining same colour bishops in the ending gives white good winning chances. If 41...fxe4 42.Rxb5 e3 43.fxe3 Rxe3 and black should win this difficult ending after a long fight.] 42.Bg2 Rc2 43.Kg1 Rc1+ 44.Kh2 Rc2 45.Kg1 Kg6! 46.h4 Kf6 47.Re1 Rd2 48.Bf3 Ba4 49.Rb1 g5 50.hxg5+ hxg5 51.Ra1 Bb3 52.Rb1 Ba2 With an extra pawn, black is winning. He will plan to carefully advance his pawns to ensure victory. 53.Re1 e5 54.Bg2 g4 55.Rc1 e4! blocking out whites bishop from the game. 56.Bf1 Bb3 57.Rb1 Bd1 58.Ra1 white is naturally waiting for black to disclose his plans and does not do anything hasty. 58...Bf3 59.Re1 Kg5 60.Bb5 Rb2 [Exchanging rooks would throw away winning possibilities. After 60...Rd1 61.Rxd1 Bxd1 62.Kf1 Bb3 63.Ke2 Kf6 64.Ke3 Ke5 65.Bc6 and the game is practically drawn. After the inevitable pawn exchanges, white will just sacrifice his bishop for the last black pawn and draw.] 61.Bc4 Kf6 62.Bf1 Rd2 63.Bb5 Ke5 64.Bc4 f4 Without the advance of this pawn black cannot achieve

anything. 65.gxf4+ Kxf4 66.Ra1 g3 67.Rf1 [If 67.fxg3+ Kxg3 68.Kf1 Rh2–+] 67...g2 68.Re1

68...e3!! 69.fxe3+ Kg3! Black's mating plan of 70...Rd6, 71...Rh6 and 72 Rh1# cannot be stopped. 70.e4 Rd6 0–1Swapnil,Dhopade (Rly B) (2438) - Mokal,Amruta (Chess is Life) (2053) 1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5 d5 3.Bxf6 gxf6 4.c4 dxc4 5.e3 c5 6.Bxc4 cxd4 7.Nc3

[This is new. 7.exd4 Bg7 8.Ne2 0–0 led to vic-tory for black in H.Romero 2455 vs I Farago 2520 in 1986.] 7...Nc6³ [Not 7...dxc3?? 8.Bxf7+ wins the queen.] 8.Qh5 Ne5? [Mov-ing the knight again and doing nothing about completing her development will cost her heavily. She could retain equal chances with

Annotated by IM Manuel Aaron( contd from p.22 )

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Annotated by IM Manuel Aaron8...e6 9.0–0–0 Qc7 10.exd4 Qf4+ 11.Kb1 Nxd4 and the game is approximately level. Black's extra pawn does not mean much as he is yet to complete development of his pieces and his king is in the centre.] 9.Bb5+ Bd7 10.exd4 Ng6?! [Better was: 10...Bxb5 11.dxe5 Qd3 12.Nf3 Bc6=] 11.Nge2 Bxb5 12.Qxb5+ Qd7 13.0–0 Bg7 [If 13...Qxb5 14.Nxb5 Kd7 15.Rac1] 14.Qh5 0–0 Black was forced to castle here although she would have no protection for her h7 pawn thanks to the doubled f-pawns. Castling on the queen-side would have made the game still shorter. 15.Rad1 The general idea is Rd1–d3-h3 for attack on h7. 15...f5

16.d5 [If white takes his rook to h3 quickly without preparation he will not achieve any-thing: 16.Rd3 b5 17.Rh3 h6=] 16...Kh8± [If 16...f4 (to prevent 17 Ng3) then the other white knight quickly jumps into the fray. 17.Ne4!] 17.Ng3 f4 18.Nf5 Rg8 [If 18...Bxc3 19.bxc3 Rg8 20.Rd3± white's original plan of Rh3 is now successful] 19.Ne4 f6 20.Nc5 immediately exploiting the weak-ness on e6. 20...Qc8 21.Ne6 Bf8 22.Rd3 Bg7 23.Rh3! Diagram #[White's original attacking idea of bringing the rook to h3 for mate has been

successfully implemented. 23.Rh3 h6 24.Qxh6+ Bxh6 25.Rxh6#] 1–0Narayanan,Srinath (AI) (2456)Maheswaran,P (TN) (2276) [C77]1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.d3 d6 6.c3 g6 7.0–0 Bd7 8.Re1 Bg7 9.Bg5 [9.Nbd2 is usual here.] 9...h6 10.Bh4 0–0 11.Nbd2 Qe8 12.Bc2 Nh5 13.Nf1 f5 14.exf5 gxf5 15.Ne3 [Better was: 15.Bb3+ Kh8 16.Ne3 Na5 17.Bc2 Nf6! 18.d4 e4 19.Nd2 Qf7 20.b4] 15...Kh8 16.d4 e4 17.Nd2 Qg6 18.f3 Rg8!? Black has conceived an interest-ing mating attack along the half-open g-file. 19.fxe4 Nxd4!? 20.exf5 Bxf5 21.Bb1 [21.cxd4? Bxd4 22.Qf3 Bxc2 and black is win-ning.] 21...Rae8!= All the black forces are in play and the white king is under pressure. 22.g3 [Better was the complicated variation: 22.Nxf5 Nxf5 (Black is threatening the stun-ning ... Bd4+!!! and Qxg2#) 23.Qf3 Nxh4 24.Bxg6 Nxf3+ 25.Nxf3 Rxe1+ 26.Rxe1 Bxc3 27.Bxh5 Bxe1 28.Nxe1 with approximately equal material.] 22...Bxb1 23.Qxb1 Diagram # 23...Nf4! 24.cxd4 [24.Qxg6 Nxg6 25.Ng2 Nf5! and black has a tremendous advantage despite the exchange of queens.] 24...Bxd4 25.Ndf1 Nd3 26.Re2 Nf4 27.Re1

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Annotated by IM Manuel Aaron

(Position after 23.Qxb1)Nd3 28.Re2 Qe4 White does not accept the tacit draw offer by repetition and is now nearly winning! 29.a4 Nf4? [In sight of an amaz-ing victory, black stumbles and lets white off the hook. The winning move here was: 29...Rgf8! threatening 30...Rxf1+! 31 Qxf1 Bxe3+ wins hands down.] 30.Qxe4 Nxe2+ 31.Kf2 Rxe4 32.Kxe2 Rge8 33.Ra3 Bxb2µ For white's two knights, black has a rook and two pawns. A factor in favour of black is that the white bishop is a mere spectator on h4. 34.Rb3 Bd4 35.Kf3 Bc5 36.Nd5 [36.Bf6+ Kg8 37.Bb2 Rxa4 38.Rxb7 Bb6–+ the white rook is trapped.] 36...Re1 37.Nd2 c6 38.Nf6 R8e3+ 39.Rxe3 Rxe3+ Now black is clearly winning. 40.Kg4 d5 41.Kh5 Diagram

1...Bf8? [Why go into defence when attack was warmly beckoning! This is panic at the moment of victory! Winning immediately was: 41...Bb4! 42.Nf1 Rf3 or 42 Nb1 Re1 traps the hapless knight.] 42.Kg6 b5 [Again the same 42...Bb4! wins for the same reasons as given in the notes to the previous move.] 43.axb5 axb5 44.Ng4 Rd3 45.Bf6+ Kg8 46.Be5! Be7 [White is trying to work magic with his knight and bishop battery against the cornered black king. He is hoping for at least perpetual check. If now: 46...Rxd2? 47.Nf6+ Kh8 48.Nxd5+ Kg8 49.Nf6+ Kh8 50.Ne4+ Kg8 51.Nxd2+-] 47.Bg7! Diagram

[This is a very frightening move. White threat-ens 48 Nxh6#. It is not known whether black lost on time or he resigned fearing imminent mate. But he stood to gain a clear advan-tage after: 47.Bg7 Bg5! 48.Nf1 (48.h4 Rxg3! 49.hxg5 Rxg4 50.Bxh6 Rg3 and black's pawns should win.) 48...Ra3 49.h4 h5! 50.Be5 hxg4 51.Kxg5 b4µ] 1–0Gupta,Abhijeet (PSPB) (2622)Swayams,Mishra (AAI) (2481) [E12]1.d4 e6 2.c4 Nf6 3.Nf3 b6 4.a3 Bb7 5.Nc3 d5 6.cxd5 Nxd5 7.Qc2 Be7 8.e4 Nxc3 9.bxc3 0–0 10.Bd3 c5 11.0–0 Nc6 12.Bb2

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Annotated by IM Manuel Aaroncxd4 13.cxd4 Rc8 14.Qe2 Na5 15.Rad1 Re8 16.Ne5 Bd6 [A game Efimov 2405 vs Mokry 2450, 1985 went: 16...f6 17.Ng4 Bf8 18.Ne3 Qe7 19.e5² and white won eventu-ally.] 17.f4 White has good prospects with his central pawns limiting the black forces. 17...Qe7 18.Kh1!?

[An intuitive pawn offer. 18.a4= was simple and equal, but white wants adventure and a full point.] 18...Bxa3 19.Bxa3 Qxa3 20.Qh5 g6 21.Qh3 Qe7 [If 21...Nc6 22.Ng4! Qe7 23.e5 and the black castled position is on the verge of collapse.; however, 21...f5= leaves fewer options for white to gain the initiative.] 22.f5! exf5 23.exf5 Qg5 [the belated attempt to challenge the dominating white knight fails: 23...Nc6 24.fxg6 fxg6 25.Bc4+ Kg7 26.Rf7+ wins.] 24.Ng4! Rf8 25.Rde1 Rcd8 26.Re3 Kh8 [If 26...Rxd4 27.Nh6+ Kh8 (27...Kg7 28.f6+ Kh8 29.Nxf7+ Rxf7 30.Re8+) 28.fxg6 Bxg2+ 29.Qxg2 Qxg2+ 30.Kxg2 hxg6 31.Nxf7++-] 27.Rg3 Qh5 28.Nf6! Qxh3 29.Rxh3 The attack continues unabated even after the exchange of queens. 29...h5 Diagram # 30.Nxh5!! Bc8 [If 30...gxh5 31.Rxh5+ Kg8 32.Rg5+ Kh7 33.Rf4 Kh6 34.Rg3! mates.] 31.d5! Kg8 [31...Rxd5?? 32.Nf6+ Kg7 33.Nxd5+-] 32.Rg3 Rd6 33.h4 Nb7 34.Nf4 Nc5 Black's knight on c5 does

(Position after 29…h5)not affect white's king-side attack in any way. 35.Bb1! Kh7

36.Ne6!± Nxe6 [36...fxe6 37.fxg6+ Kg7 38.Rxf8 Kxf8 39.g7+ Kg8 40.Bh7+!] 37.dxe6 Bxe6 38.fxg6+ Kg7 39.gxf7+ Kh8 40.Rf6 Bf5 41.Rxf5 1–0Thejkumar,M. S (Rly A) (2438) Satyapragyan,S (Air India) (2409) 1.d4 e6 2.c4 Bb4+ 3.Bd2 Bxd2+ 4.Qxd2 f5 5.g3 Nf6 6.Bg2 0–0 7.Nc3 d6 8.Nf3 Qe7 9.0–0 c6 10.Rad1 d5 [A 1976 game L.Christiansen 2400 vs A.Kushnir 2365 went: 10...Nbd7 11.d5 cxd5 12.cxd5 e5 13.Ng5 Ne8 14.Ne6 Rf6 15.f4 Nf8 and eventually drawn.] 11.Qc2 Ne4 12.Ne5 Nd7 13.Nxe4 fxe4 14.Nxd7 Bxd7= 15.f3! exf3 16.exf3 Qb4 This queen sortie does not achieve much. Though black will be in a slightly minus

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Annotated by IM Manuel Aaron

position, he must try to get his bishop out of the pawn chain with 16...Be8 17.Rfe1 Bg6 18.Qe2 Rae8] 17.c5 b6 18.a3 Qa5 19.Rfe1 bxc5 20.dxc5 Rab8 21.Re3 Qd8 22.Rde1 White has a very firm grip over black's backward e6 pawn. To make matters worse his bishop is locked up at d7. 22...a5 23.f4 Qf6 24.Re5 Rb7 25.b3 Rfb8 26.R1e3 Qg6 27.Qd1 [27.Qxg6 hxg6 28.Bh3 Rxb3 29.Bxe6+ Bxe6 30.Rxb3 Rxb3 31.Rxe6 Rxa3 32.Rxc6 Rc3] 27...Rb5 28.Rc3 Qf6 29.Bf1! R5b7 30.Bh3 Kh8 He is going to allow the capture of his e6 pawn, but without check. 31.Rce3 Qf8 [31...Re8? 32.f5! and white captures the e6 pawn.] 32.Bxe6 Qxc5 33.Bxd7 Rxd7

Almost miraculously black has been able to avert any material loss. But it cannot be for long. 34.Qc2!! Qa7 [34...Qxc2?? 35.Re8+ mates.; also 34...Qb6 35.Qxc6!] 35.Qxc6 h6 36.Kg2+- Qb7 37.Qxb7 Rbxb7 38.Rd3! One does not have to win something, everytime one attacks. Here, it is just to pin down black's rooks to the defence of his d-pawn and break the spirit of the opponent. 38...Rb5 39.a4 Rc5 40.Kf3 Kg8 41.Ke3 d4+ Diagram # This is a desperate attempt to create counter chances.

42.Ke4 [Capturing the pawn also won: 42.Rxd4 Rxe5+ (or, if 42...Rc3+ 43.Kd2 Rdc7 44.Rc4! R7xc4 45.bxc4 Rxc4 46.Rxa5 and white should win comfortably.) 43.fxe5 Rb7 44.Rd3 Rb4 45.Kd2 Kf7 46.Kc3 Ke6 47.Rd6+ Kxe5 48.Ra6 and white will have two extra connected passed pawns on the queen-side.] 42...Rc1 43.Rxa5 Re1+ 44.Kf3 Rf1+ 45.Ke2! With two extra connected passed pawns on the queen-side, all that white has to do is to play sensibly, avoid giving anything back without reason and play aggressively when possible. 45...Rh1 46.h4! Rc7 47.Rxd4 Rc2+ 48.Kd3! Rg2 49.Ra8+ Kh7 [If 49...Kf7 50.Ra7+ Kg8 51.b4 Rxg3+ 52.Ke4 Rxh4 53.b5 and now 53...g5?? 54.Rd8# allows] 50.b4 Rxg3+ 51.Kc4 Rxh4 52.a5 Rh1 53.a6 Ra1 54.b5 Rg6 55.Rad8 h5 56.R8d6 h4

57.f5! Rxd6 [If 57...Rg5 58.Rxh4+ Kg8 59.Rd8+ Kf7 60.Rd7+ Ke8 61.Rhd4 Rxf5 62.a7 and white would win.] 58.Rxd6 h3 59.Rd3! If now 59...h2 60 Rh3+ Kg8 61 Rxh2 wins. 1–0

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Games from India- China SummitAnnotated by Ramirez Alvarez Alejandro,Sagar Shah : courtesy: www.chessbase.com

Sasikiran Krishnan (2682)Wei,Yi (2706) [D70]1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.f3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nb6 6.Nc3 Bg7 7.Be3 0–0 8.Qd2 e5 9.d5 c6 10.h4 cxd5 11.exd5 N8d7 12.h5 Nf6 13.hxg6 fxg6 14.0–0–0 Qd6 15.Kb1 Bf5+ 16.Ka1 h5 17.Nh3 e4 18.Bh6 Rad8 19.Bxg7 Kxg7 20.Nf4 Rfe8 21.Bb5 e3 22.Qd4 Re5 23.Bd3 Nbxd5 24.Nfxd5?

Sasikirian underestimates his opponent's chances. [24.Bxf5! gxf5 25.Ncxd5 e2 26.Rde1 Nxd5 27.Ne6+!! Would have been a brilliant way to gain an advantage. (27.Rxe2 the far more normal move, also was good for a plus.) 27...Qxe6 28.Rxe2 and the rook on e5 will fall.] 24...Bxd3 25.Rxd3 Nxd5 26.f4 Nxc3 27.Qxd6 Rxd6 28.Rxd6 Rd5! A beautiful sequence. Sasikirian has no choice but to take the rook, and although he is up the exchange, the powerful knight on d5, the passed pawn on e3 and the quickness with which the king can approach the center is enough to render his position hopeless. 29.Rxd5 Nxd5 30.g3 Kf6 31.Rd1 Ke6 32.Kb1 h4 33.gxh4 e2

34.Re1 Nxf4 35.Kc2 Kf5 36.Kd2 Ke4 37.b4 Kf3

(Position after 28…Rxd5)

38.a4 (See diagram) Kf2 39.b5 b6 40.Rh1 Ng2 0–1Ding,Liren (2755)Sethuraman,S.P (2623) [E60]1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 c6 4.Bg2 d5 The c6 line agains the fianchetto Grunfeld, is, as we have seen, a very solid way of dealing with White's attempts for and advantage. However, just because it is normally a solid line does not mean it always stays that way. 5.e3!? Not completely new, and maybe a trend? Kramnik used it recently and now Ding Liren is giving it a try. 5...dxc4 6.Ne2 Nbd7 [6...Bg7 7.0–0 Nbd7 (7...0–0 8.Na3 Nbd7 9.Nxc4 eventually led to a draw in Kramnik-Gelfand, but the Rus-sian already held a small edge here with his powerfully placed knight on c4 and open bishop on g2.) 8.Na3 Nb6 9.Qc2 was Potkin-Timman from Wijk aan Zee 2015.] 7.0–0 Bg7 8.Qc2 a new attempt, instead of recovering the pawn as quickly as possible Ding Liren tries to estab-lish a strong pawn center. 8...Nb6 9.e4 e5!? Breaking the position and creating a complex structure. 10.dxe5 Ng4 [10...Qd3? 11.exf6!!

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Would have led to a beautiful white victory. 11...Qxc2 12.fxg7 Rg8 13.Nbc3+- and now Black has real problems: the threat is Nd4 and Rd1, trapping the queen, while there doesn't seem any good way of helping it. Also a threat is Rd1–Rd2!] 11.Rd1 Qe7 12.f4

Risky but the only way to fight for an ad-vantage. [12.Nbc3 Nxe5 simply leaves Black up a pawn.] 12...f6 [12...Qc5+ 13.Nd4 is not that dangerous yet.] 13.exf6 Bxf6 14.e5 Bf5 15.Qc3 [15.exf6 Qc5+ is a big problem; White cannot take on f6 yet.] 15...Qc5+ 16.Nd4 Be7 Only sixteen moves of chess, but already a position that is incred-ibly complicated. White has the structural advantage with a powerful passed pawn on e5, but Black's pieces are fully mobilized, more than White can say for his own, and the monarch on g1 feels uncomfortable with that pin down g1–a7. White has to be very precise to not be worse, but if he survives he would be strategically much better. 17.Na3? [17.b3! Forced and sufficient. The move is dual purpose: The first it adds pressure on to c4, which is very important, second it lib-erates both a3 and b2 for the dark-squared bishop. 17...cxb3! (17...0–0–0 18.Ba3! Rxd4

19.Qxd4! Qxd4+ 20.Rxd4 an Black does not have enough for his lost material.) 18.axb3! 0–0–0 19.Ba3 Qxc3 20.Nxc3 Bxa3 21.Rxa3 White is structurally better, but Black has the following resource: 21...Ne3 22.Rd2 Nc2! 23.Rxc2 Rxd4 24.Re2 a6= and Black's activ-ity and blockade on the lightsquares should give him acceptable chances against White's pawn structure.] 17...0–0–0 White is now not on time to defend his diagonal. 18.h3 Bd3 Of course! Blac kdoesn't bother moving back the knight. 19.hxg4 Na4 This is the real key: White cannot lose control of d4, but where does his queen go? 20.Qe1 [20.Rxd3 Nxc3 21.Rxc3 Qxd4+ 22.Be3 Qd7 is clearly insufficient.] 20...Qxd4+ 21.Be3

[21.Kh2 Bxa3 is a horrible pin.] 21...Qxb2 alas, and unexpectedly, it is the knight on a3 that costs White the game. It is trapped, and with its loss White has no chance of surviv-ing. 22.Qa5 Qxa3 23.Bxc6 some clever last minute counterplay, but Black has many ways of countering it. 23...Bc5 [23...bxc6 24.Qa6+ Kd7 also worked, actually.] 0–1Lalith,Babu M.R (2556)Zhou,Jianchao (2578) [E16]1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Bb7 5.Bg2

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Bb4+ 6.Bd2 c5 A novelty idea. It scores rela-tively well, but if White follows some of the most principled routes it might be dubious for Black. 7.Bxb4 cxb4 8.a3 breaking with a3 soon is important: many people like to simply leave the pawn be on b4, and that always ends up back firing. The correct way of dealing with these kinds of set ups is, essentially, trading your a-pawn for the c-pawn. Meanwhile Black should fight for the dark squares.

8...bxa3 9.Nxa3 0–0 10.0–0 a5 11.Nb5 Na6 12.Qd2 Qe7 [12...d5! Is definitely more difficult for White to deal with. The game continuation allows Lalith to binding his oppo-nent.] 13.Qf4 Rab8 14.Qd6 of course. Now Black's lack of space is a real issue. 14...Qd8 15.Rfc1 Nb4 [15...Ne8 16.Qf4 is playable but that knight doesn't want to be on e8.] 16.Ne5! Bxg2 17.Kxg2 Rb7 The White knights on e5 and b5 are beau-tiful. Balck does have an annoying threat, though, to play Ne8 and trap the White queen! 18.Nd3! Ne8 19.Qf4 Nxd3 20.exd3 Excel-lent understanding. Lalith knows that the only way to break out of the bind is to eventually play d5, so he sets up his structure to counter

that! 20...d5 21.Ra3 dxc4 22.dxc4 Rd7 23.c5!

this passed pawn sill cause serious problems. 23...Nc7 24.c6 e5? [24...Rd5! Was a diffi-cult to find computer move. It was probably Black's best chance to survive, though after 25.Nxc7 Rf5 26.Qe3 Qxc7 27.Qc3 It's im-possible to question White's edge.] 25.dxe5 Rd5 26.Nxc7 Qxc7 27.Re3 White's up a pawn and Lalith brings it home comfortably. 27...Re8 28.Qe4 Rb5 29.Qd3 Rc5 30.Rxc5 bxc5 31.Qd5 Re6 32.Rd3 1–0Ding,Liren (2755)Sasikiran,Krishnan (2682) [C65] [Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro]The duel of titans! The two strongest players from each team fight it out in rounds five and

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six. Ding Liren is the first one with the white pieces, 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 The anti-Berlin; better get used to the lines stemming from this move as we will see if a lot more in the future. 4...d6 5.0–0 Bd7 6.c3 g6

This solid way of development has been popular for quite a while. White has had plenty of problems trying to break this setup. 7.Re1 Bg7 8.Bg5 [8.Nbd2 is indeed the more common move.] 8...0–0 9.Nbd2 Qe8!? A common idea. The point is that Nh5 is now playable and Black does not want to weaken his kingside with h6. 10.Nf1 Nh5 11.Ne3 f6 12.Bh4 Kh8 13.a4 a6 14.Bc4 Nd8 15.d4 Ne6 16.Nd5 Rc8 17.a5 Black is extremely solid and has control over f4, but the advan-tage and slightly greater central control gives White a slight edge.

17...Nef4 18.Nd2 Nxd5 19.Bxd5 Rb8 [19...c6 20.Bb3 leaves both b6 and d6 vulnerable to a knight jump to c4.] 20.Bb3 Be6 21.Nf1 Bxb3 22.Qxb3 f5 These kind of breaks always have to be calculated properly. DIng Liren has many captures that open up the position, and he chooses the correct one. [22...exd4 23.cxd4 Qf7=] 23.dxe5! [23.exf5 gxf5 24.dxe5 dxe5 is tempting at first, in order to play against the somewhat weakened pawns, but the activ-ity granted by them is not to be underesti-mated - a common motif in hanging pawn situations.] 23...Qxe5 [23...dxe5 24.Rad1 Here White can take his time before taking on f5.] 24.exf5 Qxf5 25.Ne3 Qd7 26.Nd5 c6 27.Re7!

This is the point, White does not retreat immedi-ately and instead harasses the queen out of any useful square. 27...Qg4 28.Ra4 Qf5 29.Ne3 Qb1+ 30.Qd1 Qxb2 Picking up the gauntlet, Black destroys the pawns on the queenside, but this comes at a risk: White is very active. 31.Nc4 Qxc3 32.Nxd6 Qc5 33.h3 A small prophylactic move before engaging in further aggression. Black doesn't have many moves. 33...Bf6 34.Rc4! Qa3 [34...Qxa5 35.Bxf6+

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Nxf6 36.Rh4! with strong threats on the king-side.] 35.Bxf6+ Rxf6 [35...Nxf6 36.Qd4+- the threat of Nf7+, among others, is deadly.] 36.Nf7+ Kg7 37.Qd7

It's clear that this queen move spells disaster for the Indian player. The seventh rank is too weak, the king too exposed and Ding Liren just has to mop up from here. 37...Kf8 38.Rce4 Qa2 39.Re8+ Rxe8 40.Rxe8+ Kg7 41.Ne5+ Kh6 [41...Rf7 42.Nxf7 Qxf7 43.Qxf7+ Kxf7 44.Rb8 is utterly hopeless.] 42.Ng4+ Kg5 43.Re5+ Kh4 44.g3+ Nxg3 45.fxg3+ Kxg3 Black threatens checkmate, but White has the greatest advantage of all in chess: the power to move. 46.Re3+ Black will be mated very shortly. 1–0Adhiban,Baskaran (2646)Zhou,Jianchao (2578) [B94] [Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro]1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 Nbd7 7.Bc4 Qb6 8.0–0!? An interesting pawn sacrifice, almost in the spirit of the poisoned pawn. Interestingly, Ad-hiban's teammate, Sethuraman, is one of the few people to who had employed it previously. [8.Bb3 is the normal continuation, with some big name matches here, including Vachier-

Lagrave-Dominguez, Savchenko-Grischuk and Jobava-Wojtaszek, among others..] 8...Qxb2 9.Nd5 Nxd5 10.Rb1 Qc3 11.Bxd5 Qc7

A better try. Here Black keeps his material and threatens e6. [11...e6 12.Bxb7 Bxb7 13.Rxb7 Nc5 14.Rb6 Nxe4 15.Be3 led to plenty of com-pensation in Sethuraman-Al Sayed, 2014.] 12.Re1 e6 13.f4 of course White is in no mood to withdraw his pieces, especially when he does not have to. [13.Bxe6 fxe6 14.Nxe6 Qc6 15.Nd8!? Qc5 16.Ne6 might be some kind of strange draw, but it looks very artificial. Black might find a way out of the attack.] 13...Nf6 14.Bxf6 gxf6 15.Bb3 Black has no develop-ment and has some serious weaknesses that White can latch on to, especially with f5, but Zhou Jianchao shows wonderful understand-ing of this type of positions! 15...h5! Despite not developing any pieces yet, Black goes on the offensive with a single pawn! This move is important for two reasons, one of them is that it makes White's king uncomfortable, the other is that it does not allow White's queen into h5. 16.Kh1 h4 17.h3 allowing h3 wouldn't be to anyone's liking. 17...Bd7 18.f5 e5 Of course it is important to keep the center closed, even

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if it means giving up d5. 19.Ne2 Rc8!

The key to Black's position, for now, is that Nc3 is not easy to accomplish. How important that pawn on b2 seems now! 20.Bd5 b5 21.c4 Bh6 22.Nc3 Bg5 23.a4 Qa5! Black has consolidated all around the board. White keeps some pressure, but he already has to be careful not to be worse. 24.Bb7? Too ag-gressive. [24.Qd3 b4 25.Na2 0–0 26.Nxb4÷] 24...Rxc4 25.Nd5 Rd4 26.Qf3 Rxa4

Asking "so what". Black is now up three pawns nad White has to desperately try to prove some compensation. 27.Bxa6 get-ting one back, but this gives Black too much time. 27...Kf8! [27...0–0 28.Bb7 is not as effective for Black: 28...Qa7 29.Ne7+! Kg7 30.Bc6] 28.Bb7 Qa7 Now White doesn't

have Ne7 and his bishop is in real problems. 29.Nc3 Ra3 30.Qd1 [30.Bd5 Bd2–+] 30...Rxc3 31.Qxd6+ Ke8 The king can take care of itself. 32.Rxb5 sheer desperation. 32...Bxb5 33.Rd1 Bd7 [33...Bd3–+] 34.Qxd7+ Kf8 35.Qd6+ Kg7 36.Bd5 Rhc8 37.Kh2 Bf4+ 38.Kh1 Rc1 0–1Sethuraman,S.P (2623)Zhou,Jianchao (2578) [B12][Sagar Shah]1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.Nf3 e6 5.Be2 c5 6.Be3 Qb6 7.Nc3 Nc6 8.Na4 Qa5+ 9.c3 c4 10.b4 Qd8 11.0–0 h6 12.Ne1 b5 13.Nb2 Nge7 14.a4 a6 15.g4 Bh7 16.Ng2 h5 17.f3 Ng6 18.Qd2 Be7 19.Nd1 hxg4 20.fxg4 Nh4 21.Nf4 Be4 22.Nh5 Rh7 23.Bf4 Ng6 24.Nf2 Nxf4 25.Nxf4 Bg6 26.Nxg6 fxg6 27.Qc2 Rh6 28.g5 Bxg5 29.Ng4 Ne7 30.Nxh6 Bxh6 31.Qa2 Nf5 32.axb5 Be3+ 33.Kh1 Qh4 34.Rf3 g5 35.Rxf5 Qe4+ 36.Bf3 Qxf5 37.Qg2?!

[37.Qe2!+-] 37...Ke7 38.Qe2 Bf4 [38...Rh8! 39.Qxe3 Rh3 40.Rf1 g4 41.bxa6 Rxf3 42.Rxf3 gxf3 43.Qf2 Qb1+ 44.Qg1 Qe4=] 39.Bg4 Qh7 40.bxa6? [40.Rxa6!+-] 40...Bxh2! 41.Kg2 Qh4 42.Qf3 Rf8 43.Qh3 Qf2+ 44.Kh1 Qb2? [44...Bg3 45.a7 Qf4 46.a8Q Rxa8 47.Rxa8

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Qe4+ 48.Kg1 Qe3+ 49.Kh1 Qe4+=] 45.Rd1 Bf4 46.Rf1 Ra8 47.b5 Qxb5? [47...Qc2!=] 48.Qh7!+- Rf8 49.Ra1 [49.Bh5! was the sim-plest win.] 49...Qe8 50.Rb1 [50.Qxg7+ Rf7 51.Qh6+-] 50...Rh8 51.Rb7+ Kd8 52.Rb8+ Kc7 The game has been a completely topsy turvy affair. Sethuraman had a winning position on many occasions but was unable to capitalize on them. In this position White has to make a decision whether he would like to take on h8 or on e8. What do you think is the best move? Do you think only one move wins or both are winning? 53.Qxh8

This move also wins but only by a whisker. [53.Rxe8! was the easier way to win. 53...Rxh7+ 54.Kg1 Kb6 55.Rxe6+ Ka7 56.Rc6 Rh8 57.Bf3 Bd2 58.Bxd5 Bxc3 59.Rxc4 Ba5 60.Bb7+-] 53...Qxb8 54.Qxb8+ [54.Qxg7+ Kb6 Should be defendable position for Black.] 54...Kxb8 55.Bxe6 Sethuraman assessed this position as winning and he wasn't wrong. 55...Bd2?Zhou Jianchao doesn't test Sethuraman to the fullest. [55...Ka7!? It was more important to eliminate the a6 pawn. The logic is not too difficult. In

opposite coloured bishop endgames passed pawns separated by a few files are much more dangerous than connected pawns. Hence it was important to eliminate the a6 pawn. 56.Bc8! This is the only winning move keeping the a6 pawn. (56.Bxd5? surprisingly this move throws away

the win. 56...Kxa6 57.Bxc4+ (57.e6 Bd6 58.Bxc4+ Kb6 59.Bf1 Kc7 60.c4 Bf4 61.c5 Be3 62.Bh3 Kd8 63.c6 Bf4= and everything remains under control.) 57...Kb6 58.Bf1 Bd2 59.c4 Bc3 60.e6 Kc7 61.Bh3 Kd8 62.d5 Bb4=) 56...Bc1 57.e6 Ba3 58.Kg2 g6 59.Kf3 Be7 60.Bb7 Kb6 61.Bxd5 Kxa6 62.Bxc4+ Kb6 63.Be2 g4+ 64.Kxg4 Kc7 65.Kf4+-] 56.Bxd5 Bxc3 57.e6! Bb4 58.Bxc4 g4 59.Kg2 Bd6 60.Kf2 Ka7 61.Bf1 g3+ 62.Kf3 Kb6 63.Ke4 Be7 1–0

Lalith,Babu M.R (2556)Ding,Liren (2755) [D43] [Sagar Shah]1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 c6 5.g3 Nbd7 6.Bg2 dxc4 7.0–0 b5 8.e4 Bb7 9.e5 Nd5 10.Ng5 h6?! [10...Be7 is what is usually played.] 11.Nxe6 fxe6 12.Qh5+ Ke7 13.Ne4

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White has sacrificed a piece. The Black king looks extremely uncomfortable on e7. This should be suf-ficient compensation but the Chinese players prepare such lines in quite some depth. 13...Qe8 14.Bg5+ hxg5 [14...N7f6 15.exf6+ gxf6 16.Bxf6+ (16.Nxf6 Qxh5 17.Nxh5+ hxg5) 16...Nxf6 17.Nxf6 Qxh5 (17...Kxf6 18.Qe5+) 18.Nxh5²] 15.Qxh8 Kd8 [15...Qg6 16.Nd6 Ba6 (16...Rb8 17.Rae1! The idea of this move can be understood with the help of a null move. (17.Be4 Qh6 18.Qg8 Qh5 19.Bxd5 cxd5 (19...exd5 20.Nf5++-) 20.f4± (20.Rae1 g4÷) 20...gxf4 21.Rxf4 Nxe5 22.dxe5 Qxe5 23.Nxb7+-) 17...-- 18.Be4 Qh6 19.Qg8 Qh5 20.Bxd5 cxd5 21.f4+- with the rook on e1 this is just crushing.) 17.Be4 Qh6 18.Qg8 Qh5 19.Bxd5 cxd5 20.Rae1!+- (20.f4 gxf4 21.Rxf4 Nxe5 22.Re1! Kxd6 23.Rxe5 Qe8 24.Rxf8 Qxf8 25.Qxe6+ Kc7 26.Qxa6±) ] 16.Qg8?! [16.Nxg5! This has to be the improvement in this position. 16...Qg6 (16...Kc7 17.Qg8 Kb6 18.Nxe6±) 17.f4! This position which is better for White was reached in Olszewski-Korobov. 17...Kc7 18.Be4 (18.Bh3? was played in the game which shows difficult such positions are. 18...Bc5! 19.Nxe6+ Qxe6 20.Qxa8 Bxd4+ 21.Kh1 Qxh3–+) 18...Qe8 (18...Qh6 19.Qxh6 gxh6 20.Nxe6++- Kb6 21.Bxd5 cxd5 22.f5+-) 19.Qh3±] 16...Qg6! Black seems already fine according to the engine. 17.Nc5 Kc7 18.Qxe6 [18.Nxe6+ Kb6 19.a4 a5!–+

20.axb5 Be7–+] 18...Qe8! What a brilliant ac-curate move. [18...Qxe6 19.Nxe6+ Kb6 20.Bxd5 cxd5 21.Nxg5= allows White to keep the balance.] 19.Bxd5 [19.Qxe8 was relatively the best. 19...Rxe8 20.Nxb7 Kxb7 21.Bxd5 cxd5 I am not really sure if White can defend this endgame. 22.f4 gxf4

(Position after 18…Qe8!)

23.Rxf4 Be7] 19...Nxc5 20.Qxe8 Rxe8 21.Bf7 [21.dxc5 cxd5–+] 21...Re7 22.Bg8? [22.Bg6 was the last chance to prevent the knight from coming to d3 but Black stands better after 22...Nd7µ] 22...Nd3–+ White's position is beyond salva-tion. 23.b3 c5 24.bxc4 cxd4 25.f4 gxf4 26.gxf4 g6 27.Rad1 Rg7 28.Bd5 bxc4 29.Bxc4 Nb2 30.Rc1 Kd8 31.Rf2 Nxc4 32.Rxc4 d3 33.Rd2 Rd7 34.Kf2 Bd5 35.Rc1 Ba3

[35...Ba3 Lalith resigned at this point. After 36.Rc3 Bb4 37.Rcxd3 Bxd2 38.Rxd2 Ke7 should not be too difficult to win this.] 0–1

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The 4th edition of FIDE World Cup for end-game studies attracted 48 entries.The general level of the entries, according to the judge Yochanan Afek, was very high with many in-teresting and original ideas and lots of fighting chess.The prize winners are presented here with judge’s comments.

1st Prize – The Cup winnerMirko Miljanic(Serbia)

White wins1.c6+ Ka8 2.Nc7+!(2.Qxd7? Re2+ 3.Kf3 Qf8+ 4.Kxe2 Qf3+ 5.Kxf3 stalemate!) 2…Qxc7 3.Rg8+ Rf8! (3…Nf8 4.Qxc7+-;3…Ka7 4.Qxd7 Rf4+5.Ke3 Rf7 6.Qd4+!+-) 4.Rxf8+ Nb8 5.Qh6 Qh7+!(5…Qe7+ 6.Kd5 Qb4 7.Qc1+-) 6.Rf5!! Qxh6 7.Ra5+ Na6 8.Rxa6+ Kb8 9.c7+ Kxc7 10.Rxh6+-Brilliant sacrificial anti-stalemate play on an open board, with the heavy cannons absolutely free. The battery Rook-pawn is created already in the first move to trap the black queen by checking her king should he move to the sixth rank. Following an amazing journey highlighted by 6.Rf5!! the very same rook eventually lands

on the other side of the very same pinning line to complete the initial job by role exchanges with the pawn in regards to the enemy royal couple. A highly original concept presented in an ex-emplary setting. A remarkable achievement!

2nd PrizeMartin Minski (Germany)

White wins

1.Re7+ Ka8 2.Qb1! (3.Qb7#) (2.Qxd4? Rc2+ 3.Kd8 Nc5! 4.Qd5+ Kb8) 2…Nb4 3.Qxb4 Rc2+ 4.Kd8 (4.Rc7? Qe6+ 5.Kd8 Qd5+ 6.Kc8 Qe6+;4.Kd7?? Qc6+ 5.Kd8 Qc8#) 4…Rc8+! (4…Qa6 5.Re1+-)5.Kxc8 (5.Kd7?? Qc6#)5…Qa6+ 6.Kc7(6.Kd7? Qc6+! Kxc6 stalemate; 6.Qb7+? Qxb7+ 7.Rxb7 stalemate) 6…Qc8+! [6…Qa7+ 7.Kd8! Qb6+! 8.Rc7!(8.Qxb6? stale-mate) 8…Qxb4 9.Bc6+ Kb8 10.Rc8+(10.Rb7+? Qxb7 11.Bxb7 Kxb7) 10…Ka7 11.Ra8+ Kb6 12.Rb8+ +-] 7.Kd6 (7.Kxc8 stalemate) 7…Qa6+8.Qb6!! [8.Bc6+? Qxc6+! 9.Kxc6 stalemate; 8.Kd5? Qd6+! 9.Kc4 (9.Qxd6 stalemate;9.Kxd6 stalemate) 9…Qd5+! 10.Kxd5 stalemate] 8…Qxb6+ 9.Bc6+ Kb8 10.Re8+[10.Rb7+? Qxb7 11.Bxb7 Kxb7

Prize winning studies from4th FIDE World Cup in composing

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12.Kd5 Kc7 13.Kxd4 Kd6]10…Ka7 11.Ra8#Another superb mutual sacrificial play to avoid mates and stalemates with the cherry on top – the formidable 8.Qb6!! to allow a model mate. A genuine masterpiece in an excellent setting!

3rd PrizeOleg Pervakov

White wins1.Kf7! [1.Rg3? Be1! 2.f7 Nf6 3.Rxh3+ Kg6 4.Bh2 Bb4+ +-;1.f7? Ng7! 2.Bh2 Bb4+ +-] 1…Bxf6 [1…Nxf6 2.Rg3 Kh6 (2…g1N 3.Rxg1 Kh6 4.Bf4+ Kf5 5.Rg5+ Kh4 6.Kg6+-)3.Bf4+ Kh5 4.Rxh3+ Kg4 5.Rg3+ Kh4 6.Rxg2+-] 2.Rg3! [2.Rg6? Bg7! 3.Bh2 Bh6 4.Bg1 (4.Rg3 Nd6+ 5.Kf6 Nc4=) 4…Ng7 5.Rg3 h2! 6.Bxh2 Nf5=] 2…Kh6 (2...Bh4 3.Rg6 Bf6 4.Bh2 Bc3 5.Rg4 Kh6 6.Kxe8+-] 3.Rxh3+ Bh4! 4.Rxh4+[4.Bh2? Kg5 5.Kxe8 Bf2! (5...Kg4? 6.Rxh4+! +-) 6.Ke7 Kg4 7.Rh8 Kf3 8.Rg8 Bxe3=]4…Kg5 5.Rh8!! [Logical try 5.Rh3?! Nd6+! (5…g1Q 6.Rg3+ Qxg3 7.Bxg3 Nf6 8.Bh4+! Kxh4 9.Kxf6 Kg4 10.Ke5 Kf3 11.Kd4+-) 6.Bxd6 g1Q 7.Rg3+ Kf5! 8.Bf4 (8.Rxg1 stalemate) 8…Qg2! 9.Ke7 Qg1 positional draw or stalemate 10.Rg5+ Qxg5+ 11.Bxg5 Kxg5 12.Ke6 Kg6! 13.Ke5 Kf7 14.Kxe4 Ke6=] 5…g1Q 6.Bf4+! [6.Rg8+? Ng7 7.Rxg7+ Kf5 8.Rxg1 stale-mate] 6…Kg4! [6…Kf5 7.Rh5+ Kg4 8.Rg5+

+-] 7.Rg8+(switchback)7….Ng7! 8.Rxg7+ Kf5 9.Bh6!! [9.Rg3? Qg2! 10.Ke7 Qg1 positional draw]9...Qa5 10.Rg5#A highly fierce struggle to avoid stalemate and positional draw in the best of classical style!

4th PrizeVladislav Tarasiuk(Ukraine)

White wins1.Rg8 [1.Rg6? Nc7+ 2.Kb6 Ne6+ 3.Kxb7 Nc5+ 4.Kc6 Na4 5.Rd6 Bg5 6.Rxd5 Bf6]1…Nc7+ 2.Kb6 Ne6+ 3.Kxb7 Bf6! [3…Bg5 4.Rxg5 Nxg5 5.Kc6] 4.Rg6 Nc5+ 5.Kc6! [5.Kb6? Bxc3; 5.Kc7? Be5+ 6.Kc6 d4 7.cxd4 Bxd4]5…Ne4 [5..Bxc3 6.bxc3 Ne4 7.Kxd5 Nxd3+ 8.Kd4 Ne2+ 9.Ke3]6.Rh6+!! [Thematic try: 6.Rxf6? Nxf6 7.b4 Ne4 8.b5 Nxc3 9.b6 d4 10.b7 d3 11.b8Q d2 12.Qh8+ Kg2] 6…Kg2 [6…Kg1 7.Rxf6 Nxf6 8.b4 Ne4 9.b5 Nxc3 10.b6 d4 11.b7 d3 12.b8Q d2 13.Qg3+!] 7.Rxf6! Nxf6 8.b4 Ne4 9.b5 Nxc3 10.b6 d4 11.b7 d3 12.b8Q d2 13.Qb2! +-A tiny intermediate check to the black king prior to the thematic exchange sacrifice makes a huge difference. A lovely logical study with a lively introduction!

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Tactics from master games by Srinivas Krishnan

1 2 White to play and win White to play and win

3 4 White to play and win White to play and win

5 6 Black to play and win White to play and win

(Solution on page )

 

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Test your endgame by C.G.S.Narayanan

Kalandadze 1967 Lubos Kopac 1966

1 2

Tjavlovski 1966 V.Bron 1965/67

3 4

Silkov 1966 Jakimcik 1965

5. 6

White to play and win in all the above six endings (Solutions on page ) 47

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Masters of the past-51 Lionel Adalbert Kieseritzky

Lionel Adalbert Bagration Felix Kieseritzky (1 January 1806– 18 May 1853 ) was a Baltic German chess master, famous primarily for a game he lost against Adolf Anderssen, which because of its brilliance was named "The Immortal Game".Kieseritzky was born in Dorpat (now Tartu), Livonia, Russian Empire into a Baltic German family. From 1825 to 1829 he studied at the University of Dorpat, and then worked as a mathematics teacher, like Anderssen. From 1838 to 1839, he played a correspondence match against Carl Jaenisch – unfinished, because Kieseritzky had to leave for Paris. In Paris he became a chess professional, giving lessons or playing games for five francs an hour, and editing a chess magazine.Kieseritzky became one of the four leading French masters of the

time, alongside Louis de la Bourdonnais, Pierre Charles Fournier de Saint-Amant, and Boncourt, and for the few years before his death was among the top two players in the world along with Howard Staunton. His knowledge of the game was significant and he made contributions to chess theory of his own, but his career was somewhat blighted by misfortune and a passion for the unsound. He enjoyed a number of other magnificent victories across his career, but his nerve was lacking when it came to tournament play.He was invited to play in the first international chess tournament, the London 1851 tournament, where he scored ½–2½ and was defeated in the first round by the eventual winner Adolf Anderssen. One of the games was finished in a mere 20 minutes after a horrific blunder Staunton described as having been "never equalled even among be-ginners of the game". The other loss was equally one-sided. During his time in London however, Kieseritzky also played an offhand game against Anderssen which has so thrilled generations of chess players that it has been dubbed "The Immortal Game". Despite losing, it was in fact Kieseritzky who recorded and published the game during his period as editor of La Regence.Kieseritzky is credited with invention of the first three-dimensional chess, Kubicschach ("Cubic Chess") in 1851, but failed to attract adherents. The 8×8×8 cube format was later picked up by Dr. Ferdinand Maack in 1907 when developing Raumschach ("Space Chess").Kieseritzky was never a popular man owing to his narcissistic character—considering himself the "Chess Messiah"—and on May 18, 1853, he died unmourned in Paris, France. He was buried in a pauper's grave, its location has been found but not his exact plot, and a memorial has been placed.The following game, played in Paris in 1844 against Schulten, represents probably his finest combination and bears a similarity to the famous "Immortal Game" he was to lose seven years later:1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Bc4 Qh4+ 4. Kf1 b5 5. Bxb5 Nf6 6. Nc3 Ng4 7. Nh3 Nc6 8. Nd5 Nd4 9. Nxc7+ Kd8 10. Nxa8 f3! 11. d3 f6 12. Bc4 d5 13. Bxd5 Bd6 14. Qe1? (14.e5! seems to be in White's favor. Instead he is delivered a beautiful forced checkmate.) 14... fxg2+ 15. Kxg2 Qxh3+!! 16. Kxh3 Ne3+ 17. Kh4 Nf3+ 18. Kh5 Bg4# 0–1

Courtesy:Wikepedia

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Front row (L-R) Third placed Mughaho Awomi from Nagaland, Runner-up Cheniram Pegu from Assam and Champion Y Dhanabir Singh from Manipur with dignitaries

1st Assam downtown FIDE Rated Chess Tournament,Guwahati.

Chief guest N N Dutta, Chancellor, Assam down Town University, makes the opening move

46

Categroy Below 1599 winner S Jeevanandam, Below 1999 winner Anurag Jaiswal, Runner up of the event Rahul Sangma and Winner Sahaj Grover

3rd Chess Specific Open FIDE rated Tournament,New Delhi …

Winner Sahaj Grover receiving winner's trophy. GB Joshi, AK Verma and Bharat Singh

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Solutions to ‘Tactics from master games’on page 421. Schon,E (2318) - Jones,RS (2414) [C42]Sydney AUS Sydney AUS (8.9), 08.01.2015Position after 30th move.White To play. 31.Nxd6! Rxe3 [31...cxd6 32.Rxe7+-] 32.Rxf7! Rxf7 [32...cxd6 33.Rf6+ Kh7 34.Rxf8 Wins] 33.Qxf7+ Kh8 34.Nf5 1–0

2. Gvetadze,Sopi (2315) - Javakhishvili,L (2486) [C02]72nd ch-GEO w 2015 Tbilisi GEO (4.1), 13.01.2015Position after 20th move.White to play. 21.Qh3! h6 [21...Kf8 22.Qxh7+-; 21...Nd7 22.Qxh7+ Kf8 23.Nxd7+ Bxd7 (23...Qxd7 24.g4 Bf7 25.g5 Bxg5 26.Qh8+ Ke7 27.Qxg7+-) 24.g4 Ke7 25.g5+-] 22.Rxf6! gxf6 23.Qg3+! Kh8 [23...Kf8 24.Ng6++-] 24.Nf7+ 1–0

3. Guliev,L (2385) Bayramov,Elvin (2051) [B70]70th ch-AZE 2015 Baku AZE (8.7), 41st move.White to play. 42.Rc7! Qxc7 [42...Qg8 43.Qe4+ Kxh5 44.g4+ Kh4 45.Qxe5 Rxb3 46.Qg3+ Rxg3 47.fxg3#; 42...Qf5 43.Rg7#] 43.Qe4+ Kxh5 [43...Kf7 44.Qh7++- Rc7]] 44.g4+ [44.g4+ Kh4 45.Qe3 e4+ 46.Qg3+ Qxg3+ 47.fxg3#] 1–0

4. Suran,J (2384) - Teske,H (2500) [B40]Prague Open 2015 Prague CZE (9.5), Position after 15th move.White to play 16.b4! Ba7[16...Bxb4 17.Nb6+-; 16...Be7 17.Nb6; 16...Bxf3 17.Qxf3] 17.Bxb7 [17.Bxb7 Qxb7 (17...Rb8 18.Bxa6+-) 18.Nd6+] 1–0

5. Karthikeyan,P2 (2435) -Gupta,Ab (2631) [B67]13th Parsvnath Open New Delhi IND (3.1), 10.01.2015Position after White's 31st move. Black to play. 31...Nxa3+! 32.bxa3 [32.Ka1 Nc2+

33.Kb1 Ra1#] 32...Qc2+! 33.Ka1 [33.Qxc2 bxc2+–+] 33...Rxa3+! [33...Rxa3+ 34.Bxa3 b2+ 35.Bxb2 (35.Ka2 b1Q#) 35...Ra8+] 0–1

6. Jankovic,A (2534) - Palac,M (2581) [E17]ch-CRO 2015 Opatija CRO (1.2), 11.01.2015Position after 33rd move.White to play. 34.Rxe5! dxe5 35.Bc6! Qb8 [35...Rf7 36.Rd6 Kf8 (36...Ra1+ 37.Kg2) 37.Qh6+ Ke7 38.Rd7+ Kf6 39.Qh8+ Ke6 40.Qe8++-] 36.Rd7+ Rf7 37.Rd8! Qc7 38.Qh4! Rf8 39.Rxf8 Kxf8 40.Qh8+ [40.Qh8+ Ke7 41.Qg7+ Kd6 (41...Kd8 42.Qf8#; 41...Ke6 42.Qxc7+-) 42.Qf6#] 1–0

Solutions to ‘Test your endgame’ on page 431.Kalandadze1.Rg4 Nh3 2.Nd7+ Kf7 3.Ne5+ Kf8 4.Rh4 Ng5 5.Rxh8 Nh7 6.Nd4 Kg7 7.Nf5+ Kxh8 8.Ng6#

2.Lubos Kopac1.Nc4+ Kb3 2.Nxe3 Bd3 3.Kc6 Ka4 4.Kc5 Bb5 5.Nd5 Be8 6.Nf6 Bb5 7.Kb6 wins

3.Tjavlovski1.Nb7+ Kc6 2.Nd8+ Kd6 3.Rf1 Rh7 4.Ke2 d1Q+ 5.Kc3 Rxd5 6.Kc4 Ra5 7.Rg3 Bf8 8.Ra3+ BxR 9.b3#

4. V.Bron1.Na5+ Ka6 2.Nc7+ KxN 3.Bd2+ Ka4 4.Be8+ Kb3 5.Bf7+ Ka4 6.Kc2 b1Q+ 7.KxQ g1Q+ 8.Ka2 Qg8 9.Bd5 Qf7 10.Ne6 Kb5 11.Nd4+ Ka4 12.Nb3+ wins

5.Silkov 1.Rf3 Ke4 2.Rh3 Be6 3.Rh6 Bg8 4.Nc4 BxN 5.Rh4+ Kd5 6.Nb6+ Kc5 7.KxB Rb1+ 8.Kc7 Rb4 9.c3 RxN 10.Rh5#

6.Jakimcik1.1.Sg5 Ng6 2.Ne6 Nf4 3.NxN h3 4.Nxh3 b5 5.Nf2 b4 6.Nd1 b3 7.Kd2 Kb1 8.Nd6 a1Q 9.Nc3+ Kxb2 10.Nc4#

Tariff for adverTisemenT :

Back Cover (Colour)Inside Cover (Colour)Full Page Inside (Colour)Full Page Inside (Black & White)Half Page Inside (Black & White)

Monthly (in Rs.)

15,00015,000 7,000 5,000 3,000

Annual (in Rs.)

1,20,0001,00,000

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AICF Calendar April 2015National Rapid &Blitz Chess Championship 25 Apr 15-29 Apr15 Odisha1st Thali Seva Sangh FIDE rated 25 Apr 15- 29 Apr 15 AhmedabadDr.Hedgewar Open FIDE Rated Open 26 Apr15-02May15 Daryaganj,Delhi6th KCM FIDE rated Open 29Apr15-03May15 Coimbatore,TNDon Bosco Birth Bicentenary FIDE Rated 01May15-05May15 Irinjalakuda,KeralaAll India FIDE Rating Open 01 May 15-05 May15 BelgaumTamilnadu State Open FIDE Rated 01 May 15-06 May15 Trichy, TNOGCA 3rd All India Open FIDE Rating 02 May15- 03 May15 Hyderabad Bhopal FIDE Rating Chess Tournament 04May15-09May15 Bhopal, MPDelhi State Open FIDE Rated 04 May15-10 May15 New Delhi3rd KPK Open FIDE Rating Tmt 06May15-10 May15 Tirupur,TN2nd Desai Pratishtan Late Shri.LaxmikantV Desai Mem.All India Open FIDE rating 06 May15-10May15 Mardol,GoaUdupi District 01st FIDE Rated Open 13 May15-17 May15 Manipal,KarnatakaRotary Irinjilakuda Kerala Senior State FIDE Rated 14 May15-18 May15 Kerala2nd Imperia Structures FIDE Rated Tmt 16May15-20May15 JNStadium,Delhi1st SCS All India FIDE Rated 17 May 15-21May15 Sivakasi,TNGrandmaster Tournament ,Odisha 24 May15-31 May15 BubaneshwarGrandmaster Tournament, Mumbai 02 Jun15- 09 Jun 15 MumbaiNational Under-9 Championship 11 Jun15-19 Jun15 Gujarat Commonwealth Chess 22 Jun15- 30 Jun 15 DelhiNational Women Challenger 02 Jul15-11 Jul15 DelhiNational Under 11 Boys&Girls 13 Jul15-21Jul15 PuducherryGM Chess Tournament 13 Jul15-20 Jul15 Hyderabad,APNational Junior Boys & Girls Championships 24 Jul15-31 Jul15 TamilnaduNational Challenger Chess Championship 02 Aug15-12 Aug15 Uttar PradeshNational Under-13 Boys & Girls Ch’ships 16 Aug15-24 Aug 15 Haryana

Solution to ‘Puzzle of the month’ on page 11: Black played BRh8x WQh5 and then white played WKg6x BRh5.After retracting the above moves we have BR at h8 and WK at g6.Now black plays 0-0 and white mates with Qh7!

49

Top three prize winners with Guests: (L-R) GC Mohapatra, Executive Member, AOCA; 3rd IM Vikramaditya Kulkarni, Chief Guest Sj. Sarat Chandra Mishra, IPS (Retd.) Ex Director General of Police;Subhasis Patnaik, Secy Khordha Dist Chess Association-cum-Executive Member AOCA; Champion GM RR Laxman; Mr. Debashis Mekap, Vice President, Khordha District Chess Association; Runner up - IM Himansu Sharma

3rd Bhubaneswar All India Open FIDE Rating Chess Championship

Inauguration (L-R) On the Podium-Subhasis Patnaik, Secy Khordha Dist Chess Association-cum-Executive Member AOCA; On the dais - FA Suresh Chandra Sahoo, Chief Arbiter; Manoj Kumar Panigrahi, Jt Secy AOCA, Diptesh Patnaik, IPS, Dy Inspector General of Police Govt of Odisha, Bhubaneswar;GC Mohapatra, Executive Member, AOCA

Ustad Rashid Khan, famous Hindustani vocalist, inaugurating the tournament.

Final Round Game between S.S.Ganguly and Cuban GM Ortiz Suarez

Champion Surya Sekhar Ganguly with Runner Up Nigel Short and GM Dibyendu Barua, Vice President, AICF

LIC 2nd International Grandmasters Chess Tournament,Kolkata...