Tags:
Journalism of Courage
Las Vegas, Aug 3: Indian Grandmaster Dibyendu Barua’s gallant efforts went in vain when he went down to the fancied Russian GM Alexander Khalifman in a heart-stopping tie-breaker on the third day of the first round of the World Chess Championships, at Hotel Caesars Palace here yesterday.
The Indian Grandmaster lost narrowly, by a 1.5-2.5 margin. GM Khalifman now meets American GM Gata Kamsky who is coming back to chess after a self-imposed exile of five years.
In the first of the tie-breakers, Khalifman won the toss and played with white pieces. The opening was Queens Gambit orthodox defence, like in their earlier encounter. Once again the Indian Grandmaster was saddled with a weak pawn in the centre. The Grandmaster from Moscow required no invitation to exploit it.
Khalifman targetted the weak queen’s pawn with his major as well as minor pieces. Barua tried a desperate queen sacrifice but had to give up the game soon. This victory put the Russian in the lead for the first time in the match and herequired just a draw in their next game. Barua opened with king’s pawn and Khalifman was well prepared to meet Barua in Sicilian Defence. The tall Russian equalised easily and it appeared as if the game was headed towards a draw.
However, Barua noticed the black queen had sidelined herself too far into Barua’s territory and the black king was defenceless for a moment. He pounced on this opportunity and attacked with his queen and rook. The Indian dragged Khalifman’s king out of its castle and inflicted a checkmate on the 43rd move.
The unfancied Indian had fought back for another playoff of 15 minutes each. The mini-match begun with Barua having the white pieces. The Indian Grandmaster played brilliantly to obtain a dangerous offensive against Khalifman’s king. However, the Russian saved the day with an imaginative sacrifice of his queen and the game ended in a draw.
Khalifman’s perseverance paid in the end when he tired Barua out in the endgame where he had a tiny but persistent edge. The Indian bowedout of the match on the 89th move. Barua’s mastery over handling the white pieces was instrumental in the unexpected but creditable show against the Russian, but his inability to equalise from the black pieces cost him the match.
Barua-Khalifman
Round one
Barua wins with white; Score 1-0
Khalifman wins with white; Score 1-1
First tie-breaker
Khalifman wins with white; Score 1-0
Barua wins with white; Score 1-1
Second tie-breaker
Barua draws with white 1.5-1.5;
Barua loses with black; 1.5-2.5
