Akshayakalpa Karnataka State 2023 R7-8: Viani eyes victory
IM Viani Antonio Dcunha seems to be completely unstoppable. He is playing at a different level than others. So far he is yet to show a chink in his armor at Akshayakalpa Organic Karnataka State Open Rating 2023. He defeated Augustin A and then FM Sharan Rao. Sharan and his seventh round opponent had a 4.5 hours long grueling draw. It drained them both and they went on to lose their penultimate round. FM Yashas D defeated Parthasarathy to move to 7.5/8, a half point behind the leader. Viani just needs to score in the final round to become champion, while his opponent Yashas must win to secure first place. One thing is for sure, a clear champion will emerge and no tie-breaks will be required to determine him. Final Round 9 starts today at 9 a.m. IST. All photos in this article are by Shahid Ahmed.
Yashas can spoil things for Viani
The organizers BUDCA held their third side event - 30-player Simultaneous Exhibition. Archit Saigal became the sole player among them to beat GM Thej Kumar, FM Sharan Rao and FM Arvind Shastry. Sharan must be applauded for playing the simul after having a 4.5 hour long grueling draw and then suffering defeat against IM Viani Antonio Dcunha.
Round 7: Viani gains sole lead 7/7
IM Viani Antonio Dcunha (2417) scored the sole victory among the four leaders. He defeated Augustin A (1953) after he made positional mistakes.
Augustin - Viani
White needed to go for an unnatural defense 22.g3 give up the long diagonal and ensure Black does not get a breakthrough via the g-file as 22...f6 is met by 23.Bd6. It was certainly not a way for humans to defend. 25.fxe5 Bg5 26.Qe1 Be3 27.Rf3 Bxf3 28.Bxf3 Qxf3+ 29.gxf3 Rg1+ 30.Ke2 Rc2+ 31.Kd1 Rxe1+ 32.Bxe1 Rxb2 and there wasn't much left for White to do.
Karnataka's first WIM Isha Sharma made the ceremonial first move of Akshayakalpa Organic Karnataka State Open Rating 2023 along with Vidya Gururaja, Treasurer of BUDCA
Round 8: V8 for Viani
IM Viani Antonio Dcunha (2417) scored his eighth victory of the event, against one of his pursuers, FM Sharan Rao (2248). Sharan was drained after a 4.5 hour-long grueling draw against Parthsarathy R (1938).
Viani - Parthasarathy
Black chose a line which involved sacrificing his knight for two pawns. He never got enough compensation and went on to lose the game. The fatigue definitely played a role.
Nalini Kumar, Vice President of BUDCA and Sujatha Arjun, Joint-Secretary of BUDCA, made the ceremonial first move of Akshayakalpa Organic Karnataka State Open Rating 2023 Round 8
Simul with GM Thej, FM Sharan and FM Aravind
India's 50th and Karnataka's first GM Thej Kumar, Karnataka State Chess Association Secretary FM Arvind Shastry and Karnataka's future IM, FM Sharan Rao played a tandem simul against 30 players. For those who are unaware, tandem simul means the simul players make their move on each board on their turn. It means the amateurs got to play against three masters. 19-year-old Archit Saigal scored the sole victory among 30 players.
Practical positions
Let's see some interesting positions which occurred in a practical game. Try to find out the best continuation in each of them
For more Round 7 and Round 8 photos, please click at the respective links.
More videos will be published soon, stay tuned.
Round 8 results
Standings after Round 8
| Rk. | SNo | Name | Typ | sex | Rtg | Club/City | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | TB4 | TB5 | |
| 1 | 1 | IM | Viani, Antonio Dcunha | 2417 | DK | 8 | 41 | 45 | 45,50 | 0 | 8 | ||
| 2 | 3 | FM | Yashas, D. | 2315 | Bengaluru Urban | 7,5 | 40 | 44 | 41,75 | 0 | 7 | ||
| 3 | 19 | Balkishan, A. | 1817 | Mysore | 7 | 40 | 44,5 | 38,50 | 0 | 7 | |||
| 4 | 7 | Shet, Prajwal P | 2096 | Mysore | 7 | 40 | 44 | 38,75 | 0 | 6 | |||
| 5 | 12 | Augustin, A | 1953 | Kodagu | 7 | 40 | 42,5 | 35,00 | 0 | 7 | |||
| 6 | 2 | GM | Thejkumar, M. S. | 2384 | Mysore | 7 | 39 | 40 | 34,00 | 0 | 6 | ||
| 7 | 33 | Chinmay, Kowshik | U13 | 1604 | BUB | 7 | 35 | 37,5 | 33,50 | 0 | 7 | ||
| 8 | 10 | Apoorv, Kamble | U15 | 1981 | BUB | 6,5 | 42 | 44 | 34,25 | 0 | 6 | ||
| 9 | 5 | FM | Sharan, Rao | 2248 | DK | 6,5 | 42 | 42,5 | 32,25 | 0 | 6 | ||
| 10 | 13 | Parthasarathy, R | 1938 | Bengaluru Urban | 6,5 | 40 | 42,5 | 32,25 | 0 | 6 | |||
| 11 | 11 | Likhit, Chilukuri | 1976 | Bengaluru Urban | 6,5 | 38,5 | 43 | 34,25 | 0 | 6 | |||
| 12 | 34 | Dhanush, Ram M | 1601 | DK | 6,5 | 38,5 | 42 | 31,75 | 0 | 6 | |||
| 13 | 16 | Sathvik, Adiga | U13 | 1906 | Bengaluru Rural | 6,5 | 38 | 41,5 | 31,75 | 0 | 6 | ||
| 45 | Dhrikshu, K Vasant | 1515 | Mangalore | 6,5 | 38 | 41,5 | 31,75 | 0 | 6 | ||||
| 15 | 6 | FM | Navalgund, Niranjan | 2200 | Belgaum | 6,5 | 37,5 | 41,5 | 33,25 | 0 | 6 | ||
| 16 | 36 | Pranav, A J | 1588 | Bengaluru Urban | 6,5 | 36 | 39 | 30,50 | 0 | 6 | |||
| 17 | 103 | Abhimaan, S Nair | U15 | 1300 | BUB | 6,5 | 35 | 38 | 30,25 | 0 | 6 | ||
| 18 | 21 | Gavi, Siddayya | 1764 | Bengaluru Urban | 6 | 41,5 | 45 | 30,50 | 0 | 6 | |||
| 19 | 26 | Siddhanth, Poonja | U11 | 1648 | BUB | 6 | 40,5 | 44 | 30,00 | 0 | 5 | ||
| 20 | 9 | Sudarshan, Bhat | 2020 | Bengaluru Urban | 6 | 39,5 | 43 | 28,25 | 0 | 5 |
Round 9 pairings
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