Kishan Gangolli wins his sixth consecutive blind national title
He started his streak in 2012 and has won all the national A championships that have been held until 2019. Kishan Gangolli won the National A 2019 in Nagpur and became the blind national champion sixth time in a row. But this time things were much closer than usual. He had Subhendu Patra on his toes throughout the event. Finally Subhendu settled for second spot, Aryan was third and Krishna Udupa fourth. These four will represent India at the World Individual Championships in Cagliari, Italy in April 2019. Another excellent development for blind chess was the hosting of a Round Robin Women's National A for the first time in history. Himanshi Rathi from Gujarat dominated the field and won the title. In-depth report from the venue by chief arbiter Manjunatha Murthy.
Round 11:
Bo. | No. | Rtg | Name | Result | Name | Rtg | No. | ||
1 | 6 | 1634 | Prachurya Kumar Pradhan | ½ - ½ | Patil Shirish | 1673 | 14 | ||
2 | 7 | 1448 | Hariharan Gandhi | - - + | Aryan B Joshi | 1863 | 5 | ||
3 | 8 | 1522 | Shashidhar K M | 0 - 1 | Krishna Udupa | 1697 | 4 | ||
4 | 9 | 2008 | Kishan Gangolli | 1 - 0 | Makwana Ashvin K | 1747 | 3 | ||
5 | 10 | 1634 | Swapanil Shah | ½ - ½ | Marimuthu K | 1563 | 2 | ||
6 | 11 | 1812 | Kavlekar Sanjay R. | ½ - ½ | Patra Subhendu Kumar | 1686 | 1 | ||
7 | 12 | 1557 | Waghmare Sachin Lahu | 0 - 1 | Soundarya Kumar Pradhan | 1819 | 13 | ||
After the completion of 11 rounds Kishan Gangolli moved into sole lead. He surprised his opponent by playing the side line in the Nimzo Indian Defense. In the middle game on 16th move he proved his supremacy by sacrificing his queen. Ashvin was shocked as he did not expect this. Here after he tried to defend but couldn’t stop the defending champion and surrendered on the 36th move. This is also Kishan's favourite game from the event.
Kishan Gangolli vs Ashvin Makwana
In another game Ruy Lopez Berlin variation was played by Kavlekar Sanjay against Patra Subhendu Kumar. The game was equal up to middle game. Subhendu advanced his pawns which allowed Sanjay to counter attack. Sanjay got a pawn but in end game over looked a move and settled for draw.
Hariharan Gandhi withdrew from the tournament due to his bad health.
Round 12
Bo. | No. | Rtg | Name | Result | Name | Rtg | No. | ||
1 | 14 | 1673 | Patil Shirish | 0 - 1 | Soundarya Kumar Pradhan | 1819 | 13 | ||
2 | 1 | 1686 | Patra Subhendu Kumar | 1 - 0 | Waghmare Sachin Lahu | 1557 | 12 | ||
3 | 2 | 1563 | Marimuthu K | ½ - ½ | Kavlekar Sanjay R. | 1812 | 11 | ||
4 | 3 | 1747 | Makwana Ashvin K | 1 - 0 | Swapanil Shah | 1634 | 10 | ||
5 | 4 | 1697 | Krishna Udupa | ½ - ½ | Kishan Gangolli | 2008 | 9 | ||
6 | 5 | 1863 | Aryan B Joshi | 1 - 0 | Shashidhar K M | 1522 | 8 | ||
7 | 6 | 1634 | Prachurya Kumar Pradhan | + - - | Hariharan Gandhi | 1448 | 7 |
The tournament gets more and more interesting as at the end of the twelfth and penultimate round Kishan and Subhendu are both in joint lead. Subhendu Patra won a piece against Sachin Waghmare and comfortably converted his advantage.
In another game Kishan Gangolli played against his former coach Srikrishna Udupa. In French exchange variation both the players played carefully, exchanging pieces early went for peace. This draw result still opened the door for a possible new champion.
Shashidhar K M played with black pieces and opted for the Elephant Gambit against Aryan Joshi. Aryan eagerly accepted the pawn gambit and carefully saved the pawn, willingly exchanged the pieces without any mistake and completed the game successfully.
Round 13
Bo. | No. | Rtg | Name | Result | Name | Rtg | No. | ||
1 | 7 | 1448 | Hariharan Gandhi | - - + | Patil Shirish | 1673 | 14 | ||
2 | 8 | 1522 | Shashidhar K M | ½ - ½ | Prachurya Kumar Pradhan | 1634 | 6 | ||
3 | 9 | 2008 | Kishan Gangolli | ½ - ½ | Aryan B Joshi | 1863 | 5 | ||
4 | 10 | 1634 | Swapanil Shah | 0 - 1 | Krishna Udupa | 1697 | 4 | ||
5 | 11 | 1812 | Kavlekar Sanjay R. | ½ - ½ | Makwana Ashvin K | 1747 | 3 | ||
6 | 12 | 1557 | Waghmare Sachin Lahu | ½ - ½ | Marimuthu K | 1563 | 2 | ||
7 | 13 | 1819 | Soundarya Kumar Pradhan | 1 - 0 | Patra Subhendu Kumar | 1686 | 1 |
For the first time in many years in blind chess the tournament wasn't decided until the final round. Both Kishan and Subhendu had chances of winning the title. Both Kishan and Subhendu had tough opponents to face. While Subhendu was up against Soundarya Pradhan, Kishan had to fight against Aryan Joshi.
Soundarya's play in the final game was quite representative of the way he likes to play chess - free flowing and full of original ideas. However, he was helped greatly by Subhendu who was clearly tensed about winning his maiden National title. What transpired was a perfect example of how development is important in chess.
Aryan essayed the Slav defence against Kishan. While Kishan saw that Subhendu had lost and a draw was enough to be the sole champion, Aryan felt that a draw would help him secure his spot in top four to represent India at the World Individual Championships. The players agreed to a quick draw.
Top three spots had been decided. For the fourth place there was a fight between Marimuthu and Krishnu Udupa. Marimuthu had drawn his game against Sachin Lahu. Udupa took his chance and played some ambitious chess from the black side of Sicilian Kalashnikov and beat Swapnil Shah to finish fourth.
Final standings
Rk. | SNo | Name | FED | Rtg | Club/City | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | |
1 | 9 | Kishan Gangolli | IND | 2008 | Kar | 10,0 | 0,0 | 59,75 | 7 | |
2 | 1 | Patra Subhendu Kumar | IND | 1686 | Odisha | 9,5 | 1,0 | 54,75 | 8 | |
3 | 5 | Aryan B Joshi | IND | 1863 | Mah | 9,5 | 0,0 | 58,00 | 8 | |
4 | 4 | Krishna Udupa | IND | 1697 | Kar | 9,0 | 0,0 | 57,00 | 7 | |
5 | 2 | Marimuthu K | IND | 1563 | T N | 8,5 | 0,0 | 53,25 | 6 | |
6 | 3 | Makwana Ashvin K | IND | 1747 | Guj | 8,0 | 0,0 | 47,25 | 6 | |
7 | 13 | Soundarya Kumar Pradhan | IND | 1819 | Odisha | 7,5 | 0,0 | 40,25 | 6 | |
8 | 6 | Prachurya Kumar Pradhan | IND | 1634 | Odisha | 7,0 | 0,0 | 42,00 | 4 | |
9 | 8 | Shashidhar K M | IND | 1522 | Kar | 5,0 | 1,0 | 20,50 | 4 | |
10 | 10 | Swapanil Shah | IND | 1634 | Mah | 5,0 | 0,0 | 23,50 | 3 | |
11 | 11 | Kavlekar Sanjay R. | IND | 1812 | Goa | 4,5 | 1,0 | 26,25 | 2 | |
12 | 14 | Patil Shirish | IND | 1673 | Mah | 4,5 | 0,0 | 24,75 | 2 | |
13 | 12 | Waghmare Sachin Lahu | IND | 1557 | Mah | 3,0 | 0,0 | 16,50 | 2 | |
14 | 7 | Hariharan Gandhi | IND | 1448 | T N | 0,0 | 0,0 | 0,00 | 0 |
Kishan Gangolli, Subhendu Patra, Aryan B Joshi and Krishna Udupa will represent the country in the forthcoming World Individual Chess Championship for the Blind and Visually Impaired 2019 to be held in Cagliari, Italy from 5th to 15th April, 2019. Marimuthu K, who showed phenomenal chess throughout the tournament missed the flight to Italy by a whisker finishing 5th.
Women's Championships:
This was the first time that women's Championship for the blind was benging held in the history of Indian chess.
Starting Rank
No. | Name | FideID | FED | Rtg | Club/City | |
4 | Sarita Manoj Kataria | 25122967 | IND | 1387 | Mah | |
2 | Vaishali Nrendra Salavkar | 25085891 | IND | 1379 | Mah | |
1 | Megha Chakraborty | 25665294 | IND | 1308 | W B | |
6 | Tijan Punaram Gawar | 45090572 | IND | 1179 | Mah | |
3 | Mrunali Pande | 25643258 | IND | 1175 | Mah | |
7 | Neha Nalin Pawaskar | 25051563 | IND | 1168 | Mah | |
5 | Rathi Himanshi | 35082752 | IND | 1119 | Guj | |
8 | Khorasiya Khushali | 45011834 | IND | 0 | Guj |
Final rankings:
Rk. | SNo | Name | FED | Rtg | Club/City | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | |
1 | 5 | Rathi Himanshi | IND | 1119 | Guj | 6,0 | 0,0 | 17,25 | 5 | |
2 | 2 | Vaishali Nrendra Salavkar | IND | 1379 | Mah | 5,0 | 0,5 | 13,25 | 3 | |
3 | 1 | Megha Chakraborty | IND | 1308 | W B | 5,0 | 0,5 | 12,25 | 4 | |
4 | 4 | Sarita Manoj Kataria | IND | 1387 | Mah | 4,5 | 0,0 | 12,25 | 2 | |
5 | 3 | Mrunali Pande | IND | 1175 | Mah | 4,0 | 0,0 | 8,25 | 3 | |
6 | 7 | Neha Nalin Pawaskar | IND | 1168 | Mah | 2,5 | 0,0 | 3,25 | 2 | |
7 | 6 | Tijan Punaram Gawar | IND | 1179 | Mah | 1,0 | 0,0 | 0,00 | 1 | |
8 | 8 | Khorasiya Khushali | IND | 0 | Guj | 0,0 | 0,0 | 0,00 | 0 |
ChessBase India will bring you coverage from the World Individual Championships that will be held in Cagliari, Italy.
Darpan Inani in HDFC advertisement:
Darpan Inani, India's highest rated blind chess player's achievements were recognized when HDFC launched an ad based on his life for the HDFC life insurance: