India beats China for the first time in India-China Summit

3rd India China Chess Summit – 2018

Report by International Arbiter Suresh Chandra Sahoo

Team India has won the prestigious 3rd India – China Chess Summit 2018, for the first time in the summit’s history, comfortably by beating China in the final round. The Indian team collected six lakh rupees for their stupendous efforts and Chinese team received four lakh rupees for their runner up spot. The title sponsor of this International match was DSYS, Govt. of Odisha also, supported by OSJA and All India Chess  Federation. It was jointly organised by All Odisha Chess Association & KIIT, at International Chess Hall, KIIT University, Bhubaneswar, Odisha.

Final Round

GM Lu Shanglei  and played the Ruy Lopez and faced a Smyslov System 3…..g6 against Aryan Chopra. After 17th move of black, the Indian Grand Master seemed to be in a better position. But resourceful play by Lu Shanglei, with good maneuvering of his minor pieces, created counter play against the Black King and won on 42nd move.

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In the second board game between GM Murali Karthikeyan and Xu Xiangyu, there was a theoretical battle in a Petroff Defence. The Indian GM was having the upper hand after the 33rd move, with his centralized King. However, as soon as GM Aravindh Chithambaram won his game, Murali decided not to press further since a draw was enough to win the match against China. The game was drawn on 39th move.

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On the 3rd Board, young Chinese Grand Master Bai Jinshi opted for the Catalan System. However, Srinath offered stiff resistance and defended accurately, and saved a costly half point. The players agreed to draw on the 42nd move.

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The game of the tournament was played by young Indian GM and former Indian Junior National Champion, Aravindh Chithambaram, who launched the Keres Attack against Sicilian Scheveningen System of GM Xu Yinglun of China. Aravindh played very aggressively by storming his king side pawns and had good space advantage. Aravindh’s heavy pieces penetrated into his adversary’s camp, resulting in a thumping win on 29th move.

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Valedictory Ceremony

Shri Bharat Singh Chauhan, Secretary All India Chess Federation was the Chief Guest for the Valedictory Ceremony. Other dignitaries who were also present Prof. Sasmita Samanta, Registrar KIIT, IM Sekhar Chandra Sahu, Vice President, AICF and President AOCA; Shri Krushna Kumar Sarma, Secretary, AOCA; Shri Ranjan Mohanty, Vice President, AOCA and Chairman Organising Committe.