Kunte shocks Komliakov

Kozhikode, March 10: Asian junior champion Abhijit Kunte of India played a masterly game in the sixth round to get the better of leader and ...

Kozhikode, March 10: Asian junior champion Abhijit Kunte of India played a masterly game in the sixth round to get the better of leader and GM Victor Komliakov of Moldova and surge into lead with 4.5 points in the Indian Independence Golden Jubilee GM Chess Tournament at Hotel Hyson Heritage today. The win also helped Kunte get a good cushion in his quest of a GM norm as he has scored these points in the elite group of Grandmasters.

The significance of Kunte’s victory today was that the Indian showed a great strategically insight while converting a small advantage into a rewarding win. Playing with white against the Pirc Defence, Kunte soon entered a system which Varghese Koshy regularly employs. Komliakov had to accept doubled pawns in the central file. Kunte capitalised on the GMs cramped opening system and slowly built up a small advantage. Once, he brought back his knight to the eighth rank, Komliakov was in trouble. Kunte sacrificed an exchange and won three pawns in return. The beauty of the sacrificewas that the GM had to walk into a `zugzwang’ with his rook and knight tied down to the eighth rank. They remained there as spectators for the rest of the game as Kunte rolled his Kingside pawns along and completed the win in 45 moves.“He was in trouble quite early. I was happy that he selected this opening as I have played three games in this before,” said Kunte. “It is very difficult to penetrate after the small advantage. He also proposed a draw after the 12th move but I knew I could not lose and continued,” he added.

Seven-time national champion Pravin Thipsay woke up from his slumber and inflicted a 58-move defeat on GM Leonid Yurtaev of Kirghystan. Thipsay kept the bishop pair in the Ruy Lopez and then won an exchange on move 36. The Indian GM, who had lost four games so far, completed the rout by creating a passed pawn on the Queenside. Indian GM Dibyendu Barua escaped from defeat against former national champion P Konguvel, who won two pawns in the Sicilian Defence and threatened to win thegame. However, Barua managed to hang in there and force perpetual checks in a Queen and pawn ending after 64 moves. K Sasikiran tried his best to eke out a win against the Queens Gambit Declined of Murugan. The Queen and rook ending was drawn after 63 moves.

Story continues below this ad

In another upset, Zia-ur Rahman of Bangladesh outplayed top seed Utut Adianto of Indonesia in 41 moves of semi-Slav Defence. Zia enjoyed a strong centre and got the decisive advantage by move 25. He got connected pawns in the centre to stop which Adianto had to give his bishop. The top seed’s agony did not end there as Zia combined his Queen, bishop and rook to get a mating combination.

DV Prasad and Lanka Ravi played a quick 15-move draw in the Classical Caro-Kann. The game was drawn when both the players came across a variation with which they were not familiar.

Results: (6th round)

Abhijit Kunte (India) 4.5 bt V Komliakov (Moldova) 4; Adianto (Indonesia) 3 lost to Zia-ur Rahman (Bangladesh) 3.5; D Barua (India) 3.5 drew with Konguvel(India) 2.5; P M Thipsay (India) 1.5 bt Yurtaev (India) 3; D V Prasad (India) 2.5 drew with L Ravi (India) 2.5; Sasikiran (India) 4 drew with Murugan (India) 1.

Seventh round pairings

Zia-ur Rahman v D Barua; Komliakov v Adianto; L Ravi v Abhijit Kunte; Yurtaev v Prasad; Murugan v Thipsay; Konguvel v Sasikiran.

4 minutes, 1 window: How thieves pulled off the quickest-ever heist at Louvre Museum

World2 hr ago

Thieves steal pieces from France's royal crown jewel collection in a daring heist at the Louvre Museum, using a crane to enter and escaping on motorbikes in just four minutes. The incident raises concerns about the museum's security and outdated measures, despite its popularity among millions of visitors.

View all shorts

Live Blog

PHOTOS