32nd PSPB Inter Unit Rapid Team Pool R1-3: V S Raahul stuns Praggnanandhaa in 26 moves

by Shahid Ahmed - 09/03/2023

19-year-old IM Raahul V S (ONGC B) scored a huge victory over GM R Praggnanandhaa (IOC A) in the third round. Raahul's team ONGC B lost to IOC A by a 1-3 score, however, this individual victory is certainly going to give him a boost in confidence. The 32nd Inter Unit PSPB Rapid Team Chess Championship 2023 is a non-rated event. India's top players take part in it. The event is a good opportunity for the youngsters to face some of the best the country has to offer, score some upset victories and who knows which company/sponsor might get impressed by their performance and possibly help them in their future. Pool stage Round 4 starts today at 9:30 a.m. IST. Photo: Aditi Singh/PSPB

ONGC A grabs early lead in Pool 2

Pool 1 has seven teams which means in each round one team gets a Bye. Pool 2 has eight teams which means each team gets to play seven matches. Currently, ONGC A is leading Pool 2 with a perfect 6/6. MRPL and IOC A are sharing the lead 5/6 in Pool 1, although it must be noted that IOC A has played only two matches as they had a Bye in the first round. The top four finishers of each Pool will advance to the Quarterfinals.

IM V S Raahul (ONGC B) scores a big win over GM R Praggnanandhaa (IOC A) | Photo: Aditi Singh/PSPB

International Women's Day 2023 celebrated by the women cutting a delectable cake | Photo: IA Nitin Shenvi

Pool 2 Round 2: ONGC A - BPCL: 2.5-1.5

GM Venkatesh M R scored the sole win for his team BPCL against the World no.2 and World Blitz 2022 Women Silver medalist, GM Koneru Humpy.

Venkatesh - Humpy

Position after 9.Bc2

9...d6/h6 transposes into a Ruy Lopez-like structure. Black went for 9...Nxd5 10.exd5 e4 11.Ne1 Nb8 12.f3 f5 13.fxe4 fxe4 14.d3 e3 15.Qf3 Ra6 16.Qf7+ Kh8 17.Bxe3+ and Black's position fell apart soon.

GM Venkatesh M R won 21st Dolomitenbank Lienz Open 2023 three weeks ago | Photo: Georg Weiler

Pool 2 Round 2: ONGC A - BPCL: 2.5-1.5

Pool 1 Round 3: ONGC B - IOC A: 1-3

Former Asian Junior Open champion, IM Raahul V S (ONGC B) scored a fantastic victory over GM R Praggnanandhaa (IOC A).

Raahul - Praggnanandhaa

Position after 16.b3

16.b3 gives Black a substantial advantage. However, it is not easy to find out how, especially in a rapid time control. 16...cxd3 17.Qxc6 and now computer recommends 17...Be6 to be the best continuation. 18.Nec3/Ng3 Rc8 is what's suggested. 17...Bh3 allows White to stay in the fight 18.Ng3 Rc8 19.Qxa6 Bg2 turns things in White's favor.

Position after 19...Bg2

Find out the correct way to proceed for White after 19...Bg2. Raahul won the game in another seven moves.

The Asian Junior Open 2021 Gold medalist, IM V S Raahul is a very strong player | Photo: Shahid Ahmed

Pool 1 Round 3: ONGC B - IOC A: 1-3

Replay Pool 1 Round 1-3 games

Replay Pool 2 Round 1-3 games

Pool 1 Round 3 results

No.	Team	Team	Res.	:	Res.
1	ONGC-B	IOC-A	1	:	3
2	MRPL	NRL	3	:	1
3	OIL-B	IOC AOD	2	:	2
4	IOC-B	bye		:

Details

Pool 2 Round 3 results

No.	Team	Team	Res.	:	Res.
1	BPCL	BCPL	4	:	0
2	OIL-A	ONGC-A	0	:	4
3	HPCL-A	PETRONET LNG	3	:	1
4	EIL	HPCL-B	½	:	3½

Details

Pool 1 standings after Round 3

Rk.	SNo	Team	Games	+	=	-	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB4	TB5
1	4	MRPL	3	2	1	0	5	0	9	12	23
2	1	IOC-A	2	2	0	0	5	0	7	24	16
3	3	ONGC-B	3	2	0	1	4	0	9	13	24
4	2	IOC-B	2	1	0	1	3	0	4	0	10
5	6	IOC AOD	3	0	2	1	2	1	4	14	9
6	5	OIL-B	2	0	1	1	2	1	2	4	5
7	7	NRL	3	0	0	3	0	0	1	5	3

Details

Pool 2 standings after Round 3

Rk.	SNo	Team	Games	+	=	-	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB4	TB5
1	1	ONGC-A	3	3	0	0	6	0	10,5	30	26
2	2	BPCL	3	2	0	1	4	0	9,5	13	24
3	6	HPCL-B	3	2	0	1	4	0	7,5	20,5	20,5
4	3	OIL-A	3	2	0	1	4	0	7	12	18
5	5	EIL	3	1	1	1	3	0	5,5	10	14,5
6	4	HPCL-A	3	1	0	2	2	0	5	7	11
7	8	BCPL	3	0	1	2	1	0	2	6	5
8	7	PETRONET LNG	3	0	0	3	0	0	1	2	1

Details

Pool 1 Round 4-7 pairings

Round 4 on 2023/03/09 at 09:30 hrs
No.	Team	Team	Res.	:	Res.
1	NRL	OIL-B		:
2	IOC-A	MRPL		:
3	IOC-B	ONGC-B		:
4	IOC AOD	bye		:
Round 5 on 2023/03/09 at 11:15 hrs
No.	Team	Team	Res.	:	Res.
1	MRPL	IOC-B		:
2	OIL-B	IOC-A		:
3	IOC AOD	NRL		:
4	ONGC-B	bye		:
Round 6 on 2023/03/09 at 14:00 hrs
No.	Team	Team	Res.	:	Res.
1	IOC-A	IOC AOD		:
2	IOC-B	OIL-B		:
3	ONGC-B	MRPL		:
4	NRL	bye		:
Round 7 on 2023/03/09 at 15:45 hrs
No.	Team	Team	Res.	:	Res.
1	OIL-B	ONGC-B		:
2	IOC AOD	IOC-B		:
3	NRL	IOC-A		:
4	MRPL	bye		:

Details

Pool 2 Round 4-7 pairings

Round 4 on 2023/03/09 at 09:30 hrs
No.	Team	Team	Res.	:	Res.
1	BCPL	HPCL-B		:
2	PETRONET LNG	EIL		:
3	ONGC-A	HPCL-A		:
4	BPCL	OIL-A		:
Round 5 on 2023/03/09 at 11:15 hrs
No.	Team	Team	Res.	:	Res.
1	OIL-A	BCPL		:
2	HPCL-A	BPCL		:
3	EIL	ONGC-A		:
4	HPCL-B	PETRONET LNG		:
Round 6 on 2023/03/09 at 14:00 hrs
No.	Team	Team	Res.	:	Res.
1	BCPL	PETRONET LNG		:
2	ONGC-A	HPCL-B		:
3	BPCL	EIL		:
4	OIL-A	HPCL-A		:
Round 7 on 2023/03/09 at 15:45 hrs
No.	Team	Team	Res.	:	Res.
1	HPCL-A	BCPL		:
2	EIL	OIL-A		:
3	HPCL-B	BPCL		:
4	PETRONET LNG	ONGC-A		:

Details

Related news:

	IOC A win the 32nd PSPB Inter Unit Rapid Team Championships @ 14/03/2023 by Himank Ghosh (en)
	32nd PSPB Inter Unit Rapid Team Pool R4-7: Isha Sharma takes down Padmini Rout @ 10/03/2023 by Himank Ghosh (en)
	Airports Authority of India clinch MPL National Team 2023 Open and Women for the second consecutive year @ 17/02/2023 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
	MPL National Teams 2023 R8: AAI on the verge of second consecutive triumph @ 16/02/2023 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
	MPL National Teams 2023 R7: AAI continues their winning streak @ 15/02/2023 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
	MPL National Teams 2023 R5-6: Defending champions AAI in domination mode @ 14/02/2023 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
	MPL National Teams 2023 R4: PSPB emerges sole leader @ 13/02/2023 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
	MPL National Teams 2023 R2-3: Kishan Kumar stuns Deepan Chakkravarthy @ 12/02/2023 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
	MPL National Teams 2023 R1: Srihari astonishes Adhiban @ 11/02/2023 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
	MPL 42nd National Team Open and 20th National Team Women Chess Championship 2023 preview @ 09/02/2023 by R Anantharam (en)