David Gochelashvili wins 9th Tamil Nadu IM-norm Closed Circuit 2023
IM David Gochelashvili scored an unbeaten 6.5/9 to win 9th Tamil Nadu IM-norm Closed Circuit Chess Tournament 2023. He finished a half point ahead of the field. GM Alexei Fedorov and GM Evgeniy Podolchenko scored 6/9 each. They were placed second and third according to tie-breaks respectively. FM Karthik Rajaa is the highest finisher among Indians. He scored 5.5/9 and increased his Elo rating by 14.4 points. The tenth event of the series begins today, Sunday 17th December in Sivakasi, Tamil Nadu. Photos: IA R Anantharam
Indians face a stiff challenge
Top three winners
The ninth edition had four new faces – Karthik Rajaa (2303) of Chennai, Arjun C Krishnamachari (2265) and H Balasubramaniam (2213), brother of GM Bharath Subramaniyam, all from Chennai and Rosh Jain (2213) of Delhi. All the five foreign players and J Akshit Kumar of AP who played in the 8th tournament at Erode, continued here also.
In the fight between the youngest and oldest players of the tournament, Rosh Jain prevailed over the 65-year-old veteran Grandmaster Raset Ziatdinov of USA. In the Ruy Lopez opening by Rosh, Raset did not handle the knight and pawns ending properly. Rosh sacrificed his knight to keep his connected pawns secured, for the pawn promotion. Raset resigned on the 45th move.
The new entrants H Balasubramnaim and Arjun Krishnamachari clashed in the Caro Kann defence played by Arjun. Bala was able to gain a pawn on the 23rd move, after the queens were exchanged. In the resulting opposite colour bishop ending, Bala even offered his bishop for his pawn promotion. With Bala's two pawns on the sixth rank waiting for promotion, Arjun had to surrender.
The tournament was inaugurated by Mr. J Balakrushnan, President, Salem District Chess Association and N Arun, Secretary of SDCA.
J Akshit Kumar overlooked a simple checkmate combination with bishop and knight by Karthik Rajaa in the second round.
In the only decisive game of the third round, the US veteran grandmaster Raset Ziatdinov. defeated IM Asylbek Abdyzhapar in a topsy turvy game arising from the Queens gambit declined. By move 30, Asylbek was in a total winning position. In another eight moves, the game became neutral because of a blunder by Asylbek. In a state of confusion, he made another blunder, with a false hope of checkmating Raset. But Raset himself sacrificed a rook to checkmate Asylbek.
Twelve-year-old Rosh Jain of Delhi had to lose the exchange against Evgeniy on the 42nd move to safeguard his position in a French Defense game. Evgeniy allowed Rosh to promote the pawn. But, by then the damage was done to Rosh’s king, which was checkmated on the 51st move.
A good tactics of exchange sacrifice by Balasubrmaniam in the endgame against GM Raset Ziatdinov fetched him a point in a Sicilian defence in the fifth round.
In the Semi-Slav Defence of the sixth round, J Akshit Kumar of Andhra allowed Kyrgyzstan IM Asylbek Abdyzhaphar to move his center pawn to the seventh rank, which posed a constant threat to him. Once Akshit forgot to put a vigil on this pawn, Asylbek made use of the opportunity to win the game.
Though Alexei led in his Giuco Piano game for most part of the time in the seventh round, he made a few mistakes to slip behind. He exchanged his queen for IM Asylbek's two rooks and never looked back. His brilliant capture of Asyl's bishop with his rook, sealed the game in his favour.
When the game between GM Raset and IM David was heading for a drawn end game, Raset made a crucial mistake of accepting the exchange sacrifice by David. The very next move, Raset’s king and rook were forked and the Sicilian defence ended in favour of David.
IM David had a clinical victory over Rosh Jain on Delhi in the final round to surge ahead of GM Alexei and GM Evgeniy for the tournament victory.
Mr. J Balakrushnan, President, Salem District Chess Association and Mr. N Arun, Secretary, SDCA distributed the prizes.
Yercaud, A Pleasant Place to Play Chess
The players enjoyed the salubrious weather of Yercaud, about 30 km from Salem. Situated at a height of 1500 meters, it has a cool climate, thick forests even in the town limit. The front and backside of the tournament hall is surrounded by mini forests.
Replay all games
Final standings
| Rk. | SNo | Name | FED | Rtg | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 9 | IM | Gochelashvili, David | RUS | 2291 | 6,5 | 0 | 25,25 | 4 |
| 2 | 6 | GM | Fedorov, Alexei | BLR | 2454 | 6 | 0,5 | 25,25 | 4 |
| 3 | 4 | GM | Podolchenko, Evgeniy | BLR | 2376 | 6 | 0,5 | 25,00 | 4 |
| 4 | 7 | FM | Karthik, Rajaa | IND | 2303 | 5,5 | 0 | 21,75 | 3 |
| 5 | 2 | IM | Abdyzhapar, Asylbek | KGZ | 2340 | 5 | 0 | 21,00 | 3 |
| 6 | 1 | FM | Rosh, Jain | IND | 2236 | 4,5 | 0 | 16,50 | 2 |
| 7 | 3 | Balasubramaniam, H | IND | 2213 | 4 | 0 | 14,25 | 2 | |
| 8 | 8 | Arjun, C Krishnamachari | IND | 2265 | 2,5 | 1,5 | 9,75 | 2 | |
| 9 | 5 | CM | Akshit, Kumar J | IND | 2229 | 2,5 | 1,5 | 8,00 | 1 |
| 10 | 10 | GM | Ziatdinov, Raset | USA | 2106 | 2,5 | 0 | 13,75 | 2 |
About the Author
Prof. Rathinam Anantharam is an A-grade international arbiter. Member of FIDE Arbiters’ Commission, Chairman of Titles Commission in All India Chess Federation, Vice President of Tamil Nadu State Chess Association, Chief Arbiter for six world championships, many Asian, International and National Championships.
The report was edited by Shahid Ahmed
