World Junior Championship crossed the halfway point
FIDE World Junior Championship in New Delhi crossed its halfway mark. The strongest teenagers from all over the world are enjoying the rest day before entering the second part of the tournament with 5 more rounds to go. After six rounds Evgeny Shtembuliak (Ukraine, 2577) and Aram Hakobyan (Armenia, 2561) are tied for the lead in the open section with 5 points each. They are paired to meet in round 7, with Shtembuliak having White. Both leaders have been undefeated so far. There is a big group of players a half-point behind, including the 14-year-old Indian prodigy, the winner of World Youth Chess Championship U18, Praggnanandhaa. Mobina Alinasab (Iran, 2239) is the sole leader in the girls’ section with 5.5 points. She conceded only half-a-point in the encounter with the World Youth Chess Championship U18 winner Polina Shuvalova (Russia, 2412) who is breathing down the leader’s neck with 5 points. Top-10 after 6 rounds: Open 1. Evgeny Shtembuliak (UKR) – 5.02. Aram Hakobyan (ARM) – 5.03. Praggnanandhaa R (IND) – 4.54. Miguel Santos Ruiz (ESP) – 4.55. Murali Karthikeyan (IND) – 4.56. Ravi Haria (ENG) – 4.57. Semen Khanin (RUS) – 4.58. Mihnea Costachi (ROU) – 4.59. Volodar Murzin (RUS) – 4.510. Shant Sargsyan (ARM) – 4.0 Girls 1. Mobina Alinasab (IRI) – 5.52. Polina Shuvalova (RUS) – 5.03. Rakshitta Ravi (IND) – 4.54. Vaishali R (IND) – 4.55. Bibisara Assaubayeva (KAZ) – 4.56. Arpita Mukherjee (IND) – 4.57. Altantuya Boldbaatar (MNG) – 4.58. Divya Deshmukh (IND) – 4.59. Berdnyk Mariia (UKR) – 4.510. Antova Gabriela (BGR) – 4.5 Official site Photo: ChessBase India
Grand Swiss: Four at the top as Nakamura joins the leaders
Round nine of the Isle of Man Fide Grand Swiss saw one more player joining the leaders – Hikaru Nakamura. The American had a slow start to the tournament with four draws and one win in the first part of the event, but then he picked up speed and is now in the leading pack. Levon Aronian and David Anton drew their game on board one in what was a long and sharp battle. The most anticipated game of the day – between World Champion Magnus Carlsen and World No 2 Fabiano Caruana, ended in a draw after perpetual check. Carlsen is now on 6 points and shares fifth to 15th place in a group which is dominated by six Russians. Round nine of the Grand Swiss will be memorable for some of the youngest players at the event as Raunak Sadhwani (13), Vincent Keymer (14) and Jonas Buhl Bjerre (15) all confirmed they had qualified for GM title. One of the toughest battles of the 9th day of the Isle of Man Grand Swiss was on board one where Spaniard David Anton – who made his way to the leading three in round eight – played as Black against Levon Aronian. The opponents played sharply into the opening. It started as a battle of preparations in the Italian – with 19 moves being played in the first 20 minutes. There was even a novelty by Black – 17…c5 – but both played these first 19 moves so confidently that it seemed there were no surprises there. The game developed into a dynamic position with a material imbalance, where White had a knight and a bishop for a rook and two pawns. Black launched an attack on White’s king, but after exchanging pieces the position seemed even. Aronian, however, had two things in his favor: he spent considerably less time than his opponent and, he had a clearer path ahead in terms of play while Anton had to pay attention to several factors – development, control of the center and coordination of his attack on the White king. Aronian then offered an exchange of queens wishing to simplify but also significantly diminish the resources Anton could use in his attack. Black accepted the exchange and the game moved into an endgame. For the greater part of the game, it seemed that Black had to make more of an effort to maintain equality, struggling to coordinate his rooks. At the same time, Aronian did manage to stop Black’s pawn advance on the queenside. But Anton did not allow his position to deteriorate – after returning material in the later stage of the game (giving a rook for a pawn) he was aiming for a rook and knight vs. rook ending, which is a theoretical draw. In the final stage of the game, White was a piece up but Black had two pawns of compensation with the a-pawn on the third rank, supported by the rook from behind. Aronian eventually accepted that further attempts might lead to the tables being turned and the players agreed to draw after more than five hours of play. With this draw, the two maintain their position among the leaders of the tournament. (Photo: Maria Emelianova/Chess.com) World Challenger vs World Champion: The derby of round nine The most anticipated game of the tournament was that between World Champion Magnus Carlsen and the challenger for his title, World No 2, Fabiano Caruana. The last time the two played was at the Sinquefield Cup, where they split a point. The game between the two progressed fast in the first nine moves of the English opening. Then Caruana got into a deep think and spent 19 minutes on what appeared on the surface to be a logical move. Carlsen made an interesting decision in the 11th move: despite a somewhat loose pawn structure on the queenside (pawns on a2, doubled pawns on c2 and c3, and with the Black bishop attacking the c3 spot from a5), the World Champion, placed his bishop on f4 (which was a novelty) and opted for castling long. The decision seemed like a sign of World Champion’s determination to go into a sharp play and seek a victory. (Until round 9, Carlsen had five draws and was clearly disappointed in Round 8 when Wang Hao forced a quick draw as White). Carlsen’s decision to castle on the queenside was also founded on a thorough analysis: Black was lacking in development. Nevertheless, it seemed like a risky choice against World No 2. Then, on move 17, after black played 16.Rfe8, Magnus went into a tank (47 minutes long!), and eventually played 17.Rhe1. It was then the American’s turn to think. Having had other choices which would have led to uncertainty, Caruana then decided to sacrifice his bishop on c3 and send his queen to harass the exposed white king. After perpetual checks by the black queen, a draw was sealed on the move 25. Apart from splitting a point and saving faces, both players got something else: Caruana maintained his place in the top leaders, while the World Champion added one more game to his unbeaten streak which is now just one game shy of one hundred. (Photo: David Llada) Anand finally reaches the top three boards After a surprise loss in Round one on board four, Viswanathan Anand was relegated to lower boards but in the past eight days managed to pull himself together, keep his head, and slowly but confidently progressed towards the top. In Round nine he was playing on board three as Black against Russia’s Kirill Alekseenko. The Italian opening was played, like on board two, but a variation in which White puts pressure on black’s e-5 pawn. Alekseenko got out of the opening with a pair of bishops and used them to test Black’s accuracy. Anand, however, defended very well and, in the process, activated his knight which dominated the center and pushed white’s strong pieces back. After 31 moves, in a balanced position, the opponents decided to bury the hatchet.