Commonwealth Chess Round three: Women power prevails!

by Jitendra Choudhary - 06/07/2017

Women players at the Commonwealth Chess Championships 2017 are showcasing great form. Swati Ghate defeated GM Deepan Chakravathy, while IM Shyam Nikhil was beaten by WGM Bhakti Kulkarni. Priyanka K refuses to stop and won against CRG Krishna. Mary Ann Gomes, Bhagyashree Thipsay, and many more girls showed positive results in the third round. At the top both the favourites Abhijeet Gupta and Aravindh Chithambaram drew their games. Local boy Vaibhav Suri is in the lead along with five other players. Report from the capital of India.

WGM Swati Ghate scored the biggest upset of the day by beating GM Deepan Chakravarthy

Bhakti Kulkarni managed to overcome the strong International Master Shyam Nikhil

[Event "Commonwealth Chess-ch 2017"]
[Site "Delhi"]
[Date "2017.07.05"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Shyaamnikhil P"]
[Black "Kulkarni Bhakti"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C45"]
[WhiteElo "2450"]
[BlackElo "2255"]
[PlyCount "168"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Bc5 5. Nb3 Bb6 6. Nc3 Qf6 7. Qe2 Nge7 8.
Be3 O-O 9. O-O-O d6 10. Qd2 {C45: Scotch Game} (10. f3 Be6 11. h4 Bxe3+ 12.
Qxe3 Rad8 13. Nb5 Bxb3 14. axb3 d5 15. Bd3 a6 16. Nxc7 d4 17. Qg5 Qd6 {1-0 (43)
Kovchan,A (2585)-Solovchuk,A (2409) Rivne 2016}) 10... Bxe3 11. Qxe3 Be6 12. f4
{White is slightly better.} Rfe8 13. Qd2 $146 ({Predecessor:} 13. h4 Bxb3 14.
axb3 Nf5 15. Qf2 Nfe7 16. g4 Nb4 17. g5 Qe6 18. Bh3 Qg6 19. h5 {1-0 (19)
Martinez Cuevas,L-Manez Alino,S Spain 2003}) 13... Rad8 14. g3 a6 15. Bg2 Bc4
16. Nd4 (16. Kb1 {with more complications.} Bxb3 17. axb3 h6 18. Rhe1 Qg6 19.
Bf3) 16... Nxd4 17. Qxd4 Qxd4 18. Rxd4 Be6 19. Rd2 b6 20. Re1 Bc8 21. b3 Kf8
22. e5 dxe5 23. Rxd8 Rxd8 24. Rxe5 Rd6 25. Re2 Bg4 26. Rf2 Ke8 27. h3 Bd7 28.
g4 Bc6 29. Bf1 Bb7 30. f5 f6 31. Bc4 Kf8 (31... h5 $5) 32. Ne2 b5 33. Be6 Nc6
34. Nf4 Ne5 35. b4 Rd4 36. Bb3 $1 {Black must now prevent Ne6+.} Rxb4 37. a3 (
37. Ne6+ $11 Ke7 38. Nc5) 37... Re4 $17 38. Ne6+ Ke7 39. Nc5 Re3 $1 40. Be6 $2
(40. Nxb7 $17 Rxb3 41. cxb3 Nd3+ 42. Kd2 Nxf2 43. Ke3 Nxh3 44. Nc5) 40... Bh1 (
{And not} 40... Rxa3 41. Nxb7 Rxh3 42. g5 $11) 41. Rh2 Bc6 42. Kb2 Nf3 43. Rf2
Nd4 44. Bg8 Rxh3 45. Nxa6 h5 46. Rd2 $2 (46. Nb4 Bd7 47. c3) 46... Nf3 $19 47.
Re2+ Ne5 (47... Kf8 $142 48. Ba2 hxg4) 48. gxh5 Bf3 49. Re3 (49. Rf2 {might
work better.}) 49... Rxh5 $2 (49... Kd6 $19 {and Black stays clearly on top.}
50. Rc3 c6) 50. Nxc7 $17 Rxf5 51. Nxb5 Rf4 52. Rc3 (52. Kc3 $17 {was necessary.
}) 52... Bc6 53. Na7 Bd7 $1 54. Nc8+ $1 Kf8 (54... Bxc8 $5 55. Rxc8 g5 $17) 55.
Bd5 Rd4 56. Nb6 Ke7 57. Rc7 $2 (57. Bb3 $11) 57... Kd6 $1 $19 58. Ra7 $2 (58.
Kc3 Rd1 59. Ra7) 58... Rxd5 59. Nxd5 Kxd5 60. a4 g5 61. a5 g4 {...g3 is the
strong threat.} 62. a6 Kc6 (62... g3 $2 63. Rb7 $17) 63. Ra8 f5 $2 (63... Kb6
$19 64. a7 Kb7) 64. Rb8 $15 Kc7 (64... Kd6 $1 $17 {Strongly threatening ...g3.}
65. a7 Bc6) 65. a7 $11 Bc6 66. a8=Q Bxa8 67. Rxa8 {Endgame KR-KN} g3 68. Ra1
Nf3 69. Rf1 $2 (69. Kc3 $1 $11 {and White stays safe.}) 69... g2 $19 70. Rxf3
g1=Q 71. Rxf5 {KQ-KR} Qd4+ 72. Kc1 Qe3+ 73. Kb2 Kc6 74. Rh5 Qd4+ 75. Kc1 (75.
Kb3 $142) 75... Qg4 76. Rh1 {[#] intending Rd1.} Qf4+ $1 77. Kb2 $11 Qd4+ 78.
Kb1 Qb4+ 79. Kc1 Qf4+ $2 80. Kb1 $2 {[#]} Qf3 $1 81. Re1 Kc5 82. Kc1 (82. Kb2
$142) 82... Qa3+ 83. Kd2 Kd4 84. Rb1 Qe3+ {Precision: White = 41%, Black = 48%.
} 0-1

K. Priyanka continued her phenomenal run. After getting the better of Padmini in round two, she now beat IM CRG Krishna

Mary Ann Gomes was clearly worse against Abhijit Kunte, but managed to hold a draw

After her fantastic victory in round two, Shanya lost the third round to Ziaur Rahman

WIM Bhagyashree Thipsay beat Tania Sachdev

Talented Madhya Pradesh youngster Nityata Jain beat Sumit Grover

Top seed Abhijeet Gupta was held to a draw by Nubairshah Sheikh

Aradhya Garg managed to beat IM M.S. Thejkumar

Christine Namaganda is yet to win a game at the event, but the experience she is gaining is invaluable

Ankit Rajpara is playing after a long time, but managed to show his class and beat IM Nisha Mohota

Soumya Swaminathan lost to GM Swapnil Dhopade

Sri Lanka's talent Thilakarathne drew against GM Tejas Bakre

Sri Lanka's Sachini Ranasinghe scored her first win of the event!

With 2.0/3 Kumar Gaurav is already gaining 64 Elo points

Video impressions:

Results of Round 3:

Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.
1	20	IM	Mohammad Nubairshah Shaikh	2392	2	½ - ½	2	GM	Gupta Abhijeet	2625	1
2	2	GM	Aravindh Chithambaram Vr.	2593	2	½ - ½	2	IM	Sardana Rishi	2379	21
3	23	IM	Wohl Aleksandar H.	2355	2	0 - 1	2	GM	Vaibhav Suri	2558	3
4	24	WGM	Soumya Swaminathan	2349	2	0 - 1	2	GM	Swapnil S. Dhopade	2517	5
5	6	GM	Kunte Abhijit	2504	2	½ - ½	2	WGM	Gomes Mary Ann	2331	25
6	31	WGM	Swati Ghate	2278	2	1 - 0	2	GM	Deepan Chakkravarthy J.	2482	9
7	32	IM	Mohota Nisha	2271	2	0 - 1	2	GM	Ankit R. Rajpara	2474	11
8	14	IM	Shyaamnikhil P	2450	2	0 - 1	2	CM	Kulkarni Bhakti	2255	33
9	34	CM	Thilakarathne G M H	2231	2	½ - ½	2	GM	Bakre Tejas	2449	15
10	53		Priyanka K	2081	2	1 - 0	2	IM	Krishna C R G	2399	19

Complete results

Rank after Round 3:

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	3	GM	Vaibhav Suri	IND	2558	3,0	0,0	4,0	5,5
2	11	GM	Ankit R. Rajpara	IND	2474	3,0	0,0	4,0	5,0
3	53		Priyanka K	IND	2081	3,0	0,0	4,0	4,5
4	5	GM	Swapnil S. Dhopade	IND	2517	3,0	0,0	4,0	4,0
5	31	WGM	Swati Ghate	IND	2278	3,0	0,0	3,0	4,0
	33	CM	Kulkarni Bhakti	IND	2255	3,0	0,0	3,0	4,0
7	1	GM	Gupta Abhijeet	IND	2625	2,5	0,0	4,5	6,0
8	2	GM	Aravindh Chithambaram Vr.	IND	2593	2,5	0,0	4,5	5,5
	6	GM	Kunte Abhijit	IND	2504	2,5	0,0	4,5	5,5
	20	IM	Mohammad Nubairshah Shaikh	IND	2392	2,5	0,0	4,5	5,5
	25	WGM	Gomes Mary Ann	IND	2331	2,5	0,0	4,5	5,5

Complete Rankings

Round 4 on 2017/07/06 at 9.30 Hrs

Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.
1	3	GM	Vaibhav Suri	2558	3		3	WGM	Swati Ghate	2278	31
2	5	GM	Swapnil S. Dhopade	2517	3		3	CM	Kulkarni Bhakti	2255	33
3	11	GM	Ankit R. Rajpara	2474	3		3		Priyanka K	2081	53
4	1	GM	Gupta Abhijeet	2625	2½		2½	GM	Murshed Niaz	2399	18
5	2	GM	Aravindh Chithambaram Vr.	2593	2½		2½	IM	Mohammad Nubairshah Shaikh	2392	20
6	21	IM	Sardana Rishi	2379	2½		2½	GM	Kunte Abhijit	2504	6
7	25	WGM	Gomes Mary Ann	2331	2½		2½	GM	Grover Sahaj	2484	8
8	26	FM	Erigaisi Arjun	2324	2½		2½	GM	Mollah Abdullah Al Rakib	2480	10
9	12	GM	Gagare Shardul	2472	2½		2½		Aradhya Garg	2281	29
10	15	GM	Bakre Tejas	2449	2½		2½	WIM	Thipsay Bagyashree Sathe	2046	58

Pairings of round three

Chess-results link of age categories:

U-8 Open (Ilamparthi in action)

U-8 Girls

U-10 Open

U-10 Girls (It is going to be a race between Savitha and Sahithi)

U-12 Open

U-12 Girls (Divya Deshmukh is a clear favourite)

U-20 Open (GM Shardul Gagare is the favourite)

U-20 Girls

Live games:

Following live games of the Commonwealth has been made very easy. You can now do it from the ChessBase India website by clicking on the link below. The games begin at 15.00 hours (except for double rounds on 6th of July). Apart from just watching the live games, you can also view the games of the previous rounds (and download them if you are a ChessBase Account Premium Member). There's also some light analysis of the games done by using the Tactical analysis feature.

Follow the games live by clicking on this link

Articles on Commonwealth 2017 on ChessBase India:

Commonwealth Chess Championships 2017 begin today

Live Games from Commonwealth 2017

Round one: Kumar Gaurav stuns GM Ziaur Rahman

Round two: A full blooded King's Indian fight

About the author:

Jitendra Choudhary is a chess trainer in Delhi. He is from Madhya Pradesh, but shifted to Delhi to pursue his passion related to chess. He currently teaches students, works as an arbiter and would like to dedicate more time to being a chess journalist.