1st Tamil Nadu IM Norm Closed Circuit Chess Tournament – Chennai
All the four foreign players suffered defeats at the hands of their Indian opponents in the first round of the Tamil Nadu IM Norm Closed Circuit Chess tournament, organized by Tamil Nadu State Chess Association at Abu Sarovar Portico, Chennai. The tournament had an exciting start with all game ending decisively.
In the shortest game of the day twelve year old Goutham Krishna H of Kerala out played International Master AsylbekAbdyzhaper of Kyrgyztan in 25 moves. In the Kings Indian defence, Goutham voluntarily allowed to open his castled king side by playing Nh5. After opening both the f- and g- files, Goutham stunningly sacrificed his Rook for a pawn on g2 on the 23rd move.
In an equally good game, WGM Srija Seshdri of NLC outwitted IM David Gochelashvili of Russia in the Spanish opening. She concentrated her forces on the king side and also used the same g- file combination like Goutham. She sacrificed a knight on 37th move and paved way for the victory by offering her Rook for a Bishop on the 39th move.
In the battle between the two youngsters L Srihari of Pondicherry and double IM norm holder S Harshad of Coimbatore the former prevailed over the latter in the Najdorf variation of the Sicilian defence by Harshad. Srihari exchanged his Rook for a Bishop and two valuable pawns of Harshad but made amendments by combining his Rook and Queen beautifully.
FM Ashwath of Chennai over powered the experienced New York based GM Razet Ziatdinov in the English opening – Neo Catalan variation, filled with attacks and counter attacks, wherein Ashwath had an edge over the Grandmaster Razet had to give up his Knight through a pawn fork and resigned on the next move.
Sixty year old International Master K Murugan, a retired sports officer at NLC Neyveli returned to competitive chess after a gap of nearly twenty five years. He displayed no sign of his age by defeating the eighteen year old WFM Ayan Allahverdiyeva of Azerbaijan in the Queens Indian defence played by the former European under 14 girls champion. In a Queen and Bishop for Ayan against the Queen and Knight for Murugan, the latter’s King had a mini walk from g1 to g5, weaving a mating threat, which forced Ayanto resign on the 35th move.
Earlier Shri. J Meghanatha Reddy, IAS, Member Secretary, Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu inaugurated the tournament in the august presence of Dr.M. Manickam, President, TNSCA, Shri D.V. Sundar, former Vice President of the World Chess Federation, Shri. Manuel Aaron the first International Master from India, Arjuna Awardee and nine times national champion, Shri P Stephen Balasamy, General Secretary, TNSCA and Shri B. Murugavel, Vice President, TNSCA.
The mega project of fifty International Master norm chess tournaments in a year is the brain child of Dr. M. Manickam and the venues for the first ten tournaments have been fixed already. The project is bound to produce more and more International Masters in Tamil Nadu as well as India.
Results of Round 1
Srihari L (Pondicherry) 1 beat S Harshad (TN)
Murugan K (TN) 1 beat AyanAllhverdiyeva (AZE)
Ashwathh R (TN) 1 beat RazetZiatdinov (USA)
SrijaSeshadri (TN) 1 beat David Gochlashvili (RUS)
AsylbekAbdyzhaper (KGZ) lost to H Goutham Krishna (KER) 1
from L to R: B Murugavel Vice President TNSCA, R. Anantharam Vice President TNSCA, Dr. M. Manickam, President TNSCA, P Stephen Balasamy, General Secretary, TNSCA, Promod Raj Moree Chief arbiter and D.V. Sundar, former Vice President, World Chess Federation
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