chessbase india logo

1st Guwahati GM Open R4-5: The Wrath of Ratnakaran

by Shahid Ahmed - 17/03/2022

IM Ratnakaran K and IM Sayantan Das emerged as the coleaders after Round 5 of 1st Guwahati International GM Open 2022. Ratnakaran won both games with a brilliant display of attack against GM Karthik Venkataraman and GM Fawzy Adham (EGY). Sayantan scored victories against Kumar Gaurav and IM Sai Agni Jeevitesh. It is well-known that both leaders have GM-level strength. Six players are trailing by a half point 4.5/5 each. They are all GMs - Neuris Delgado Ramirez (PAR), Azer Mirzoev (AZE), Iniyan P, Pavel Ponkratov, Cristhian Rios Camilo (COL) and Stany G A. Round 6 starts today at 9:30 a.m. IST. Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

12-year-old Akshay Borgaonkar shines

12-year-old Akshay Borgaonkar (1985) had a fantastic day. First he was on the verge of beating IM Sidhant Mohapatra (2359). The IM somehow managed to salvage a draw. In the fifth round, Akshay made the most out of his opportunity in the queen ending to beat IM Raahul V S (2478).

IM Ratnakaran K unleashed his creative side | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Round 4: Iniyan - Himal: 0.5-0.5

GM Iniyan P (2516) had a very interesting encounter against IM Himal Gusain (2408). At first Iniyan was winning then Himal and finally they arrived at a Rook vs Queen, which is known to be incredibly difficult to defend.

Position after 61...e1Q

To win a Rook vs Queen endgame, Black needs to bring the opponent's king to the edge of the board by using Zugzwang and/or Triangulation, whichever is required according to the position. Eventually get a Philidor position like this:

Analysis - It is winning for White irrespective of whose turn

If the above position is White to play then White needs to do a triangulation by queen to win it. For e.g. 1.Qe5+ Ka7/8 2.Qa1+ Kb8 3.Qa5 and White gets the same position but it is Black to play. This is all theory and easier said than done especially when you are low on time and opponent keeps defending correctly. Iniyan managed to put up incredible resistance and save the game.

Iniyan put up a very strong resistance against Himal | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Ratnakaran - Karthik: 1-0

When IM Ratnakaran K (2316) is given an opportunity to attack, he will have a great day. Unfortunately it was GM Karthik Venkataraman (2485) who had to suffer.

Position after 26.f4

26.f4 flows the attack freely for White. 26...exf4 27.e5 Qg5 28.e6 Re7 29.Qe4 Be8 30.Nxd6 and it's all over for Black. He could only delay the inevitable for another 14 moves.

Ratnakaran scored an emphatic victory | Photo:  Aditya Sur Roy

Kaustuv Kundu had a solid draw against GM Azer Mirzoev (AZE) | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

FM Aaryan Varshney - IM C R G Krishna: 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Akshay - Sidhant: 0.5-0.5

12-year-old Akshay Borgaonkar (1985) was completely winning against IM Sidhant Mohapatra (2359).

Position after 24...Rh6

It is evident that White has the upper hand but how to maximize it? Find out the best continuation for White after 24...Rh6.

IM Sidhant Mohapatra used his experience to somehow escape with a draw against Akshay Borgaonkar | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Samaritan Dutta - WGM Divya Deshmukh: 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

WIM Parnali S Dharia - Rintu Brahma: 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Anushka Gupta - WIM Franco Valencia Angela: 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Round 5: Ratnakaran - Fawzy: 1-0

IM Ratnakaran K (2316) first sacrificed a piece to create a passed pawn against GM Fawzy Adham (EGY).

Position after 20.cxb6

White sacrificed his knight at f3 to create a passed pawn on b6. 20...Qd7 21.b7 Rab8 Black could have taken the pawn 21...Qxb7 which would have met with a double attack 22.Bc5.

Position after 26.Rxd5

White had already sacrificed a knight. Now Ratnakaran decided to sacrifice an exchange 26.Rxd5 which means White is actually down by a rook. The reasoning here is simple 26...cxd5 27.bxa5 and now White wants to roll the connected passed pawns on the queenside. Computer will tell you that Black is winning but the reality is far from it. Two humans are playing, thus you have to factor in emotions, psychological aspect of the game and the clock too, none of these can be comprehended by a silicon. 27...Rxe7 28.Bxe7 Bd4 29.Bh4 the away Ratnakaran transfers his bishop from one side of the board to another is beautiful. Such creative play often induces mistakes. Adham was no exception 29...g5 30.Qg6+ Bg7 and it's all over for Black.

Position after 30...Bg7

Can you find out the finish for White? He is truly called the Indian Tal for a reason.

The Indian Tal - IM Ratnakaran K strikes | Video: ChessBase India

What a magical win by Ratnakaran | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

IM Sayantan Das (left) defeated IM Sai Agni Jeevitesh J to join the lead | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

IM P Shyam Nikhil - GM Visakh N R: 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

IM Himal Gusain - GM Deepan Chakkravarthy: 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

IM C R G Krishna - Kaustuv Kundu: 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Akshay - Raahul: 1-0

12-year-old Akshay Borgaonkar (1985) defeated the reigning Asian Junior champion, IM Raahul V S (2478).

Position after 27...a6

Black sacrificed the pawn at a6 with a tactical idea which does not work. 27...a6 28.Qxa6 b4 29.axb4 Nxb2 and now 30.Kb3! is an excellent move. Black's knight at b2 is virtually trapped. White does not need to capture it immediately. 30...Nd1 is not actually an escape for the path because White can force the queen exchange via 31.Qd3. White eventually went on to win the queen ending after mutual errors.

Akshay Borgaonkar certainly had a great day | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Pradip Ghosh - Saptarshi Roy: 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Garv Rai - IM Rahul Sangma: 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Siddhant Tamhankar - WIM Parnali Dharia: 1-0 | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy

Highlights

A few interesting finishes from Round 5

IM Ratnakaran K - GM Fawzy Adham (EGY): 1-0

IM Manish Anto Cristiano F - GM Iniyan P: 0-1

GM Karthik Venkataraman - Imtiaz Islam Bora: 1-0

IM Nitin S - Trailokya Nanda: 1-0

For more Round 4 and Round 5 photos, please click at the respective links.

 

A total of 254 players including 13 GMs, 16 IMs, 2 WGMs and 3 WIMs are taking part from 11 federations across the world including India. The tournament is organized by All Assam Chess Association from 14th to 20th March 2022 at Guwahati, Assam. The ten-round Swiss league tournament has a time control of 90 minutes + 30 seconds increment from move no.1

Replay Round 4-5 games

Round 5 results

Bo.No. NameTypRtgPts.ResultPts.NameTypRtg No.
115
GMRios Cristhian Camilo24494½ - ½4GMDelgado Ramirez Neuris2622
2
226
IMRatnakaran K.231641 - 04GMFawzy Adham2490
8
327
IMSai Agni Jeevitesh J231640 - 14IMDas Sayantan2459
14
41
GMPonkratov Pavel26411 - 0IMAbdisalimov Abdimalik2435
18
517
IMShyaamnikhil P2442½ - ½GMVisakh N R2522
3
621
IMGusain Himal2408½ - ½GMDeepan Chakkravarthy J.2520
4
75
GMStany G.A.25171 - 0Gholami Orimi Mahdi2420
20
833
IMManish Anto Cristiano F22360 - 1GMIniyan P2516
6
97
GMMosadeghpour Masoud2511½ - ½GMKarthikeyan P.2397
24
1011
GMMirzoev Azer24761 - 0FMAaryan Varshney2277
32
1113
IMKrishna C R G2466½ - ½Kaustuv Kundu2281
31
129
GMKarthik Venkataraman248531 - 03Imtiaz Islam Bora2004
54
1356
Borgaonkar AkshayU15198531 - 03IMRaahul V S2478
10
1458
CMThapa Krishna197930 - 13IMTahbaz Arash2469
12
1519
IMNitin S.242731 - 03Trailokya Nanda1973
60
1659
Pradip Ghosh19743½ - ½3GMSaptarshi Roy2402
22
1723
IMShahil DeyU15240031 - 03Santanu Borpatra Gohain1943
62
1825
IMSidhant Mohapatra235931 - 03Himanshu Ranjan1884
66
1965
AGMSparsh Khandelwal192730 - 13Dhananjay S2310
28
2067
Garv RaiU1518693½ - ½3IMSangma Rahul2286
30

Details

Round 6 pairings

Bo.No. NameGrTypRtgPts.ResultPts.NameGrTypRtg No.
114
IMDas Sayantan245955IMRatnakaran K.2316
26
26
GMIniyan P2516GMPonkratov Pavel2641
1
32
GMDelgado Ramirez Neuris2622GMMirzoev Azer2476
11
415
GMRios Cristhian Camilo2449GMStany G.A.2517
5
53
GMVisakh N R252244Kaustuv Kundu2281
31
64
GMDeepan Chakkravarthy J.252044FMPoormosavi Seyed Kian2229
35
728
Dhananjay S231044GMMosadeghpour Masoud2511
7
88
GMFawzy Adham249044Imocha LaishramNE2049
47
934
FMAradhya Garg223644GMKarthik Venkataraman2485
9
1012
IMTahbaz Arash246944FMGaikwad Siddhant2016
51
1138
WIMPriyanka K221544IMKrishna C R G2466
13
1240
Arpan Das216644IMShyaamnikhil P2442
17
1342
IMMohota Nisha214744IMNitin S.2427
19
1446
Sri Sai Baswanth P205744IMGusain Himal2408
21
1548
Praloy Sahoo204744IMShahil DeyNEU152400
23
1624
GMKarthikeyan P.239744Singh Soram RahulNE2006
53
1752
Arnav MaheshwariU15201044IMSidhant Mohapatra2359
25
18103
Mrinmoy RajkhowaNEU15163444IMSai Agni Jeevitesh J2316
27
1916
IMNigmatov Ortik24454Borgaonkar AkshayU151985
56
2018
IMAbdisalimov Abdimalik2435Pradip Ghosh1974
59

Details



Contact Us