AICF Gujarat WGM: Aakanksha and Mrudul leads

by Satanick Mukhuty - 17/11/2019

Aakanksha Hagawane and Mrudul Dehankar lead the ongoing AICF International Women Grandmaster Round Robin tournament after the completion of its penultimate round today. While Mrudul has suffered defeats in the first and eighth rounds of the event, Aakanksha has actually managed to remain unbeaten with four victories and six draws. Thus, even though both players have bagged 7.0/10 points each so far, it is the latter who stands ahead in terms of tie-break scores. Phuong Hanh Luong of Vietnam follows the leaders closely just half a point behind with 6.5/10 and going into the final round will also be looking to grab one of the top places. On the other hand, the Ukrainian WIM Olga Babiy, who started off the tournament with three consecutive powerful victories, has slipped down the rank-list and now shares the fourth place jointly with Nguyen Thi Mai Hung.

Aakanksha Hagawane has been super solid in the event and has not lost a single game so far. Mrudul Dehankar, on the other hand, has faltered twice but has bounced back every time with impressive wins over higher-rated opposition. All in all, it is the two Indian players who have come out on the top pulling ahead of the rest of the field by half a point. Aakanksha and Mrudul will face-off each other in the eleventh and final round tomorrow and with that the champion of the tournament will be decided.

Mrudul has been quite explosive throughout the event so far, clinching as many as six wins! She would definitely be going for the blood in the final round with the white pieces | Photo: Bhavesh Patel

We had covered the important moments of rounds one to four in an earlier article on our website. In today's write-up we present the glimpses of exciting action from rounds five to ten. Let us begin by looking at Mrudul's solid victory against Ana Gavasheli of Georgia from the latest round of the event. It is worth mentioning here that the Indian player had lost her game against Priyanka K earlier in round eight and therefore really needed to go for the win with black pieces to get back on the top again.

Ana Gavasheli - Mrudul Dehankar, Round 10

The encounter began with the four knights variation of the English Opening and entered uncharted territory as early as move 10 when Ana pushed her a-pawn two squares.

The main alternatives in the above position are 10.Bb2 and 10.h3. The move 10.a4 attempts to dismantle the b6 knight but also incurs dark-square weaknesses on the queenside. So how did the Indian player took advantage of this? The game followed 10...a5 11.Bb2 Qd7 12.Nb5 f6 13.d4 exd4 14.Nfxd4 Nb4 and Black sacrificed her b7 pawn to put her knight on b4 and gain activity in the center.

After 15.Bxb7 Rad8 suddenly Black's pieces looked very well coordinated.

Black was getting back her pawn after 17...Qe6!

Can you see the tactical point of going 22...Bc6 here? Of course, it puts the bishop on a better diagonal and opens the d-file for the rook but there's something more concrete to it.

The game followed 23.Nb5 Bxf3 24.Bxf3 Nd2 and this was the idea. Now Black was winning an exchange; either on f1 or, after Nb3, on a1!

Note that White didn't have any good alternatives here. For instance, 23.Rd1 f5! 24.Rxd8 Rxd8 25.Nb5 Nxb2 26.Qxb2 Bf6 is only worse and also wins material for Black. Clearly, it was Mrudul who had control of the position at this point and after she won an exchange converting the rest was not so difficult for her. The Georgian resigned the game after fighting on for 53 moves.

Aakanksha Hagawane drew four of her last six games but she scored one very enterprising win against the top-seed Pratyusha Bodda in the eighth round of the event | Photo: Bhavesh Patel

Aakanksha Hagawane - Pratyusha Bodda, Round 8

The above position came after the thirteenth move out of a Sicilian Moscow. Black needs to be careful here as his king is still stuck in the middle of the board. What do you think would be a good move for Black?

Well, the best continuation here is also the most solid one with 13...N5b6 14.Bb3 Qf6 where the queen takes care of the dark squares on the kingside so that the f8 bishop can be developed next and Black can proceed with castling. In the game however, Pratyusha played 13...Qa5 14.Kh1 g6 and this was certainly a poor way to treat the position. Aakanksha, from here on, played a commendably active game and kept punishing her opponent on every turn.

When your pieces are not well-developed and your king is stuck in the middle, 14...g6 is simply asking for trouble.

The final nail in the coffin was hit with the move 18.Qb3! Black should have continued here with 18...Qxd2 but 18...Bxa3 only quickened matters. After 19.Bxf7+ Kf8 20.Bc3 Qf4 21.Bd5 Bd6 22.Bxb7 Rb8 23.Be4 White was decisively better. The game was finished off in a mere 37 moves. Check it out in full below.

In the same round eight, Priyanka K actually got the better of the in-form Mrudul Dehankar | Photo: Bhavesh Patel

Mrudul Dehankar - Priyanka K, Round 8

Mrudul started off ambitiously in this game as well, giving up a piece for three pawns and an attack. But unfortunately in the above position she blundered with the move 18.Nc7+

After 18...Qxc7 19.Qxh8, the black queen was just much faster than its white counterpart. The game followed 19...Qc5 20.Qg8 Qe3+ and White was suddenly lost. Funnily, White would have been fine if she went with the simple 18.Qxh8 Qe6 instead!

Photo Gallery

Tanishka Kotia is having a hard time in the event as she is trailing at the bottom of the table with just 1.5 points | Photo: Bhavesh Patel

Harshini A has 3.5/10 points but she pulled off a notable upset in round five against Olga Babiy who was the leader at the moment | Photo: Bhavesh Patel

Harshini A - Olga Babiy, Round 5

Can you see what Black missed when she went 18...Qc5? Check out the full game below.

Pratyusha Bodda started as the top seed but she is having a forgettable event and has just 5.0/10 points. However, her ninth round victory against Phuong Hanh Luong is worth mentioning | Photo: Bhavesh Patel

Results of rounds 5-10

Round 5
Bo.	No.	FED	Rtg		Name	Result		Name	FED	Rtg	No.
1	3	UZB	2266	WGM	Kurbonboeva Sarvinoz	0 - 1	WIM	Gavasheli Ana	GEO	2240	12
2	4	MGL	2237	WGM	Enththuul Altan Ulzii	½ - ½	WIM	Loung Phuong Hanh	VIE	2259	2
3	5	IND	1909	WFM	Tanishka Kotia	0 - 1	WIM	Aakanksha Hagawane	IND	2227	1
4	6	VIE	2270	WGM	Nguyel Thi Mai	½ - ½	WIM	Mrudul Dehankar	IND	2114	11
5	7	IND	2020	WFM	Harshini A	1 - 0	WGM	Babiy Olga	UKR	2249	10
6	8	IND	2285	WIM	Pratyusha Bodda	1 - 0		Priyanka K	IND	2067	9
Round 6
Bo.	No.	FED	Rtg		Name	Result		Name	FED	Rtg	No.
1	12	GEO	2240	WIM	Gavasheli Ana	1 - 0		Priyanka K	IND	2067	9
2	10	UKR	2249	WGM	Babiy Olga	1 - 0	WIM	Pratyusha Bodda	IND	2285	8
3	11	IND	2114	WIM	Mrudul Dehankar	1 - 0	WFM	Harshini A	IND	2020	7
4	1	IND	2227	WIM	Aakanksha Hagawane	½ - ½	WGM	Nguyel Thi Mai	VIE	2270	6
5	2	VIE	2259	WIM	Loung Phuong Hanh	1 - 0	WFM	Tanishka Kotia	IND	1909	5
6	3	UZB	2266	WGM	Kurbonboeva Sarvinoz	1 - 0	WGM	Enththuul Altan Ulzii	MGL	2237	4
Round 7
Bo.	No.	FED	Rtg		Name	Result		Name	FED	Rtg	No.
1	4	MGL	2237	WGM	Enththuul Altan Ulzii	1 - 0	WIM	Gavasheli Ana	GEO	2240	12
2	5	IND	1909	WFM	Tanishka Kotia	0 - 1	WGM	Kurbonboeva Sarvinoz	UZB	2266	3
3	6	VIE	2270	WGM	Nguyel Thi Mai	½ - ½	WIM	Loung Phuong Hanh	VIE	2259	2
4	7	IND	2020	WFM	Harshini A	½ - ½	WIM	Aakanksha Hagawane	IND	2227	1
5	8	IND	2285	WIM	Pratyusha Bodda	0 - 1	WIM	Mrudul Dehankar	IND	2114	11
6	9	IND	2067		Priyanka K	½ - ½	WGM	Babiy Olga	UKR	2249	10
Round 8
Bo.	No.	FED	Rtg		Name	Result		Name	FED	Rtg	No.
1	12	GEO	2240	WIM	Gavasheli Ana	1 - 0	WGM	Babiy Olga	UKR	2249	10
2	11	IND	2114	WIM	Mrudul Dehankar	0 - 1		Priyanka K	IND	2067	9
3	1	IND	2227	WIM	Aakanksha Hagawane	1 - 0	WIM	Pratyusha Bodda	IND	2285	8
4	2	VIE	2259	WIM	Loung Phuong Hanh	1 - 0	WFM	Harshini A	IND	2020	7
5	3	UZB	2266	WGM	Kurbonboeva Sarvinoz	0 - 1	WGM	Nguyel Thi Mai	VIE	2270	6
6	4	MGL	2237	WGM	Enththuul Altan Ulzii	1 - 0	WFM	Tanishka Kotia	IND	1909	5
Round 9
Bo.	No.	FED	Rtg		Name	Result		Name	FED	Rtg	No.
1	5	IND	1909	WFM	Tanishka Kotia	½ - ½	WIM	Gavasheli Ana	GEO	2240	12
2	6	VIE	2270	WGM	Nguyel Thi Mai	½ - ½	WGM	Enththuul Altan Ulzii	MGL	2237	4
3	7	IND	2020	WFM	Harshini A	½ - ½	WGM	Kurbonboeva Sarvinoz	UZB	2266	3
4	8	IND	2285	WIM	Pratyusha Bodda	1 - 0	WIM	Loung Phuong Hanh	VIE	2259	2
5	9	IND	2067		Priyanka K	½ - ½	WIM	Aakanksha Hagawane	IND	2227	1
6	10	UKR	2249	WGM	Babiy Olga	½ - ½	WIM	Mrudul Dehankar	IND	2114	11
Round 10
Bo.	No.	FED	Rtg		Name	Result		Name	FED	Rtg	No.
1	12	GEO	2240	WIM	Gavasheli Ana	0 - 1	WIM	Mrudul Dehankar	IND	2114	11
2	1	IND	2227	WIM	Aakanksha Hagawane	½ - ½	WGM	Babiy Olga	UKR	2249	10
3	2	VIE	2259	WIM	Loung Phuong Hanh	1 - 0		Priyanka K	IND	2067	9
4	3	UZB	2266	WGM	Kurbonboeva Sarvinoz	½ - ½	WIM	Pratyusha Bodda	IND	2285	8
5	4	MGL	2237	WGM	Enththuul Altan Ulzii	1 - 0	WFM	Harshini A	IND	2020	7
6	5	IND	1909	WFM	Tanishka Kotia	½ - ½	WGM	Nguyel Thi Mai	VIE	2270	6

Standings after the penultimate round

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	RtgI	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	K	rtg+/-
1	1	WIM	Aakanksha Hagawane	IND	2227	7,0	0,0	30,25	4	0	0,0
2	11	WIM	Mrudul Dehankar	IND	2114	7,0	0,0	29,00	6	0	0,0
3	2	WIM	Loung Phuong Hanh	VIE	2259	6,5	0,0	30,00	5	0	0,0
4	6	WGM	Nguyel Thi Mai	VIE	2270	6,0	0,5	28,00	3	0	0,0
5	10	WGM	Babiy Olga	UKR	2249	6,0	0,5	26,75	4	0	0,0
6	12	WIM	Gavasheli Ana	GEO	2240	5,0	1,0	23,75	4	0	0,0
7	8	WIM	Pratyusha Bodda	IND	2285	5,0	0,0	23,25	4	0	0,0
8	9		Priyanka K	IND	2067	4,5	0,0	20,75	3	0	0,0
9	3	WGM	Kurbonboeva Sarvinoz	UZB	2266	4,0	1,0	16,25	3	0	0,0
10	4	WGM	Enththuul Altan Ulzii	MGL	2237	4,0	0,0	16,25	3	0	0,0
11	7	WFM	Harshini A	IND	2020	3,5	0,0	18,75	2	0	0,0
12	5	WFM	Tanishka Kotia	IND	1909	1,5	0,0	8,00	0	0	0,0

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