Vantika upsets top seed Solozhenkina and takes India forward!

Vantika upsets top seed Solozhenkina and takes India forward!
By Lakshmi Priyaa TT, FIDE Instructor

Today, Indians recorded 9 wins drew 4 games and suffered 5 losses.At the end of round 8, we are seeing some promise from the girls and are aspiring higher closures from the boys. With another 3 rounds to go, it’s a bit too too early to comment on where we are heading to!

Last year’s Bronze Medal winner in World Youth Under 14 Championship, Vantika outclassed the top seeded player of her group today in the 8th round, in what could be described as a flawless masterpiece. There were no thrilling sacrifices or breath taking combinations or any kind of such moves which would gather a large crowd around her board but the simplicity in which Vantika conducted the entire game was a treat for all those who are matured and experienced players themselves! It was indeed an experience to go through the game and the manner in which Vantika brought about the resignation of her mighty opponent, Solozhenkina Elizaveta of Russia in hardly 30 moves.
It appeared to be a King’s Indian Defence and the Fianchetto variation but black’s 7th move which put her Queen’s pawn in the centre , it could have been transposed into Gruenfeld. However, Vantika’s next move put a full stop to all these guesses and it was evident that Vantika has prepared these moves deeply and formulated her own system. Vantika’s homework gave her an undisputed advantage and she had an overwhelming position at the end of 20 moves only. Black’s pieces couldn’t find favorable positions in the centre and especially Black’s Queen was quite miserable. Vantika, avoided grabbing of a pawn and pressed on with her superior pieces and her patience was well rewarded. After 5 more moves, Vantika won a pawn as well as a piece. Solozhenkina could have resigned here but it must have been inertia that made her continue for another 4,5 moves. The finish was also quite spectacular with Vantika sacrificing her exchange and threatened to win black’s Queen – it was curtains for Solozhenkina!
Superb, positional butyet a crushing victory for Vantika!

Saina Salonica held her position strong by ensuring a point split with her higher rated opponent in the Under 14 G section. Aakanksha Hagwane as well split points in 40 moves, a quick warm up after her previous round setback. Priyanka Kalidass after slow warm up seems now on track racing to the forefront in the Under 16 G section.

In the open section, after some setbacks Indian boys did pick up pace in the earlier rounds, however have seen some losses this round. The strongest player of the Indian contingent played on a ‘must win mode’ fought it like a warier without taking the opportunities he had on the board for draw.., however, to lose the war after a brilliant long fight.

We are now entering the last 100 meters of the run. The last 3 -4 games of the championship are most crucial requiring higher level of energy and utilization of physical, emotional and energy reserves the players would have conserved in the earlier rounds. Every move has to be cautious and every half of a point matters.
Let’s affirm our team with our good wishes and cheers to fuel and strengthen their medal pursuit through this last crucial leg of the championship!
(Games Analyzed by FT Jayant Suresh Gokhale and Mr Hanuantha Rajanna)

Results of Indian Players for the day: Round 8
Under 18 Open:
9. WIM Vaishali R(2295) IND 4 Drew with 4FMPlenca Jadranko (2396) CRO; 14. Kalogeris Ioannis (2271) GRE 4 Beat 4FM Rajdeep Sarkar (2347) IND; 23.Vergara Jofre Felipe(2115) CHI 3 Beat 3IM Krishna Teja N (2268) IND

Under 18 Girls:
8. WIM Mahalakshmi M (2221) IND 4 Beat 4Kanakova Natalie (2175) CZE; 20. Toshali V (1766) IND 2½ Beat 2½Albekova Dilyara (1784)KAZ
Under 16 Open:
4. IMRaghunandan Kaumandur Srihari (2451) IND 5 Lost to 5Tahbaz Arash (2420) IRI; 14. FM Mitrabha Guha (2286) 4 Lost to 4Nikitenko Mihail (2399) BLR

Under 16 Girls:
2. WFM Di Benedetto Desiree ( 2183) ITA5 Drew with 5½ Aakanksha Hagawane (2183) IND; 7. Priyanka K (2205) IND 4½ Beat 4½WFMMartynkova Olena (2287) UKR

Under 14 Open:
7. Iniyan P (2368) IND 4½ Beat 4½Golikov Daniil (2114) RUS; 12. Stoleriu George (2247) ROU 4 Beat4Tarun V Kanth (1954) IND; 27. FMEssa Naseem Ahmed (1771) 3 Lost to 3Neelash Saha (2020) IND

Under 14 Girls:
2. Vantika Agrawal (2012) 5 Beat 5WFMSolozhenkina Elizaveta (2320) RUS;3. WCM Salonika Saina(2093) IND 5 Drew with 5 FM Antova Gabriela (2253) BUL; 8. Voskresenskaya Marta (1835) RUS 4½ Lost to 4½ Priyanka Nutakki (2070) IND; 11. WFMMishra Anwesha (1819) 4 Beat 4Dongo Melanie (1981) PERU; 20. Smbatyan Qristine (1506) 3½ Lost to 3½Makhija Aashna (1830) IND

Know your team member:
Today we have tried to include story of two of our team members IM KS Raghunandhan andIniyan Paneerselvam whoare key players of the team. Both Iniyanand Raghuhail from South IndiaTamil Nadu & Karnataka respectively; and are students of Fide Trainer K Visweswaran.

‘I am amazed by his passion by his passion for the game!’ exclaimed his 1st trainer Mr Hanumantha who has currently accompanied the Indian delegation an official coach from AICF. ‘For Raghu, chess is everything…and breaths it every moment ‘ he continued. As I probe for details, he revealed something indeed very interesting… During one of the initial rounds of this championship, Raghu had taken an untimely nap in the evening and Mr Hanumantha was trying to wake him up for dinner… Raghu did wake up but with a surprising broad & bright smile.. When asked for the reason, Raghu explained that he had just made a draw with GM Adhiban Bhaskaran…and before one could react he quickly picked up his laptop, recorded his game and saved the draw position.. and started getting ready to go for dinner, failing to realise that he had split the point with his star GM Adhiban in his dreams!
Our most recent International Master in Indian Chess, Raghunandan KS is a 9th standard student of Vidya Vardhaka Saradar Patel High School; Rajaji Nagar, Bangalore.

Introduced to chess at the age of 8 by his mother Mrs Sasikala, Raghu learnt basics of the game at home. Impressed by his interest for the Black and White pieces, his Mr Srihari enrolled him at CV Raman Chess Academy, Jayanagar with Mr Hanumantha Rajanna within a couple of months.

His initial tournament exposure was the popular monthly tournament conducted by CV Ram Nagar Chess Academy, now known as Chess Shoots – one of the most popular premier chess training clubs in Bangalore.
Still a beginner Raghu played his first National event in the Under 7 category In 2008. By now, winning age category tournaments had become a routine for Raghu. In 2009, he earned his rating of 1431 in a Open rating tournament in Kerala. His training with Mr Hanumantha continued for club 2 years, and in 2009 moved to the guidance of Mr Shivananda from Shivamogha. With time, Raghu’s need for intense training increased and in 2012, Raghu started his intense training bootcamps with FST Aleksander N. Vaysman for 2 years followed by a short stint with GM Tejas Bakre for about 1 year.

Since 2015 Raghu is training under the expert guidance of FT Visweswaran and won his International Master title recently.
Raghu’s recent Key wins include:
2016 Champion- Karnataka State Open championship
2016 Fourth in Asian Youth U-16, Mongolia
2015 Bronze in National Sub- Junior
2013 Silver medalist – World youthChess Championship – AL- AIn, UAE
2013 Champion U-12 Asian Youth Chess Championship IRAN-
2013 Fourth NationalU-13 Championship
2013 Bronze in Karnataka State Open
2012 Champion Asian Schools U-12 Category
2012 Silver National Championship U-11 category
2012 Champion -Karnataka State U-9 & U-11 Championship.

Apart from chess, Raghu enjoys playing Table Tennis for passion & fun.

‘Sweetness’ is not just in the name of the Erode lad Iniyan, but in his personality too. As a child he comes across with a truck load of pleasantness, humility and a please all attitude
A 9th standard student of Indian Public School, Erode; Iniyan was introduced to the game of chess at the tender age of 5. ‘Chess is in the air at home….’ smiled Iniyan. He recalls his initial glimpses of the white & black pieces were when his parents would play chess at home as a hobby. The mystic color contrasts was facinated little Iniyan and he soon found himself busy with them soon.
As his parents were anyway looking for some sport to enroll him, they found chess the most suitable option. His intial lessons were with Mr Thirumuruan in the neighbourhood for about a year. Very soon his need for focussed training increased and he enroled for training in the neighbouring city of Salem with Mr Senthil vel, Father of IM S Nitin. He gradually trasitioned from Mr Thirumurugan to Mr Senthilvel in 2009 & trained under him period of 1 year. Having opted for classes in a neighbouring city; Iniyan would take off 2 weekdays from school and travel to Salem in the morning and would return in the evening.
Efforts started reeping results. Iniyan earned his FIDE rating in 2009 and from then on, there was no looking back. In 2011 he won his 1ststate title.
His increasing hunger for the game needed focused training and he soon started transitioning to FT K Visweswaran and since 2013 has been under his complete guidance since then.
The most interesting part of his training is that, Iniyan has not chosen to move trainers but was transitioned to trainers his earlier coaches. The highlight being hisGuru his father, his 1st guru; still working with him on his games during weekends and holidays….
Iniyan recent key wins include:
2016 Gold at Commonwealth Championship U-14, Srilanka
2016 Gold TN State Under 17Championship
2016 Silver Asian Youth Championship Under 16, Mongolia
2015 Winner RSC Open FIDE Rating
2015 Winner National Sub Junior Chamionship, Jammu
2015 3rd at National Under 13 Championship
2015 Winner State Under 15 Championship
2015 Winner State Under 13 Championship
2013 Winner FIDE rating tournament below 2100 at World Chess Championship, Chennai

Apart from Chess Iniyan enjoys playing badminton for fitness and loves reading Mystry and Mythological fictions. His favourite authors include Rickriordan, Amish &Ashwin Sangi.