Karnataka State Chess Championship - halfway through and in full swing!
The Akshayakalpa Karnataka State Chess Championship is halfway through. The over-the-board battles are slowly getting longer and more intense. At the conclusion of day three seven players have emerged as joint leaders with perfect scores of 5.0/5 points each and they are being followed by as many as fourteen players who are just half a point behind with 4.5/5. Thanks to various initiatives of Akshayakalpa, the tournament has established itself as a zero-plastic sporting event. The authorities have effectively managed to avoid the use of even a single plastic or paper cup. Consequently, the food is being served on steel ware and players are being provided with steel bottles. Hinduja Reddy, our author who is present at the venue, sends an illustrated report.
Isha Sharma among the seven leaders
Top-seed and Karnataka’s first Woman International Master Isha Sharma has scored a perfect 5.0/5 points so far to be among the seven leaders at the end of five rounds of Akshayakalpa Karnataka State Open Chess Championship organized by Innovators Chess Academy at Silicon City Academy of Secondary Education in Bengaluru. On the first board, Isha playing black pieces scored a convincing victory against Anantharam R U. Anantharam chose to surprise his opponent by playing the irregular 1.b4 but Isha maintained her composure and managed to get a slightly better position out of the opening. Not long after she landed with a decisive advantage after White blundered on move 34.
Anantharam R U - Isha Sharma, Round 5
White had to play 34.Rd4 in the last move and the position would have remained equal. But 34.Nxa5 was a mistake and allowed 34...Rc1+ 35.Kh2 h4!
There is no good way to prevent this. Something like 36.g4 / g3 runs into 37...hxg3+ after which Black gets a winning passer in the g-pawn. In the game, 36.Nb3 Rb1 was played and White decided to call it a day!
On the second board, Vivek Nambiar defeated Shiva S in a Classical Dutch-Stonewall Defense. Vivek, playing White, got clear opening advantage after few inaccuracies from the black side. This was enough for White to build a strong pressure in the center. Black soon succumbed after a deadly blunder on move 30.
Video Gallery
Watch the highlights comprising of rounds four and five from day three of Akshayakalpa Karnataka State Chess Championship 2019!
At the Akshayakalpa Karnataka State Chess Championship 2019, players and parents got an 'hands on' experience on how to turn a lump of clay into something artistic. Each candidate got to practice on the wheel. At the end of the workshop, they could take home all the beautiful pieces.
Vidya Narayan is a busy chess mom. She is the mother of talented chess player Avantika Banujit Narayan. We caught up with her and asked her few questions. Hear her talk about how her daughter started playing chess in this video.
Check out in the video below of all the Akshayakalpa products being sold at the Akshayakalpa Karnataka State Chess Championship 2019!
An environment friendly initiative by Akshayakalpa
Results of round four
Bo. | No. | Name | Rtg | Pts. | Result | Pts. | Name | Rtg | No. | ||
1 | 1 | WCM | Sharma Isha | 2182 | 3 | 1 - 0 | 3 | Aravinda B R | 1622 | 37 | |
2 | 36 | AIM | Abhijit Chutia | 1623 | 3 | 0 - 1 | 3 | Nambiar Vivek | 2030 | 4 | |
3 | 41 | Devi Das Suresh Pai | 1615 | 3 | 1 - 0 | 3 | Parthasarathy R | 1984 | 5 | ||
4 | 43 | Apoorv Kamble | 1600 | 3 | 1 - 0 | 3 | Varma Shabdhik | 1947 | 6 | ||
5 | 7 | Santoshkashyap Hg | 1931 | 3 | ½ - ½ | 3 | Namboothiri K N | 1619 | 39 | ||
6 | 45 | Hariharan S Pillai | 1568 | 3 | 0 - 1 | 3 | Likhit Chilukuri | 1926 | 8 | ||
7 | 9 | Rakshith Srinivasan | 1899 | 3 | 1 - 0 | 3 | AIM | Sushrutha Reddy | 1617 | 40 | |
8 | 10 | Sharan Rao | 1894 | 3 | 1 - 0 | 3 | Thirunarayanan Sampath Kumar | 1610 | 42 | ||
9 | 13 | Manasa K. | 1830 | 3 | 1 - 0 | 3 | Sujay B M | 1541 | 48 | ||
10 | 51 | Amith A | 1525 | 3 | 1 - 0 | 3 | Jagadish P | 1829 | 14 |
Results of round five
Bo. | No. | Name | Rtg | Pts. | Result | Pts. | Name | Rtg | No. | ||
1 | 23 | Anantharam R U | 1763 | 4 | 0 - 1 | 4 | WCM | Sharma Isha | 2182 | 1 | |
2 | 4 | Nambiar Vivek | 2030 | 4 | 1 - 0 | 4 | Shiva S | 1756 | 24 | ||
3 | 8 | Likhit Chilukuri | 1926 | 4 | ½ - ½ | 4 | Arnav Muralidhar | 1739 | 26 | ||
4 | 32 | Vaibhav Kalpaka | 1675 | 4 | 0 - 1 | 4 | Rakshith Srinivasan | 1899 | 9 | ||
5 | 33 | Anand Vittal T R | 1672 | 4 | ½ - ½ | 4 | Sharan Rao | 1894 | 10 | ||
6 | 34 | ACM | Anil Thungesh | 1665 | 4 | 1 - 0 | 4 | Manasa K. | 1830 | 13 | |
7 | 41 | Devi Das Suresh Pai | 1615 | 4 | 1 - 0 | 4 | Sudarshan Bhat | 1815 | 15 | ||
8 | 43 | Apoorv Kamble | 1600 | 4 | ½ - ½ | 4 | AIM | Kaushik G Iyer | 1788 | 17 | |
9 | 18 | Teja Kirthi | 1785 | 4 | ½ - ½ | 4 | Amith A | 1525 | 51 | ||
10 | 64 | Anirudh Sharma | 1446 | 4 | ½ - ½ | 4 | Gavi Siddayya | 1783 | 19 |
Standings after round five
Rk. | SNo | Name | Typ | sex | Gr | Rtg | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | |
1 | 20 | Keshav Kothari | U16 | 1775 | 5,0 | 0,0 | 13,5 | 17,5 | |||
2 | 41 | Devi Das Suresh Pai | 1615 | 5,0 | 0,0 | 13,0 | 17,0 | ||||
3 | 4 | Nambiar Vivek | 2030 | 5,0 | 0,0 | 12,0 | 16,0 | ||||
9 | Rakshith Srinivasan | U16 | 1899 | 5,0 | 0,0 | 12,0 | 16,0 | ||||
5 | 1 | WCM | Sharma Isha | w | 2182 | 5,0 | 0,0 | 11,0 | 15,0 | ||
6 | 34 | ACM | Anil Thungesh | U16 | 1665 | 5,0 | 0,0 | 10,5 | 14,5 | ||
248 | Ajith Chandy Jose | 0 | 5,0 | 0,0 | 10,5 | 14,5 | |||||
8 | 8 | Likhit Chilukuri | 1926 | 4,5 | 0,0 | 14,0 | 18,5 | ||||
17 | AIM | Kaushik G Iyer | U16 | 1788 | 4,5 | 0,0 | 14,0 | 18,5 | |||
10 | 7 | Santoshkashyap Hg | 1931 | 4,5 | 0,0 | 13,0 | 17,5 |
Complete results and standings
About the author
Hinduja Reddy is a 24-year-old Chess Entrepreneur who lives in Bengaluru. She is a former National Women's B bronze medalist, chess writer, coach and co-founder of ChessMine events.