2074 rated Balkishan checkmates two opponents, moves to 5.0/6 at the Mayor's Cup 2019

by Sagar Shah - 13/06/2019

In a GM event where you have 26 grandmasters and 13 IMs taking part, the chances of a 2074 rated player doing well are quite less. But Balkishan from Karnataka is changing this perception. He has 5.0/6 and is already gaining 53 Elo points. He has beaten Rohith Krishna (2347), Subhayan Kundu (2373) and GM Deepan Chakkravarthy (2557). Against Subhayan and Deepan, he was quite lucky, as in both the games his opponents were better but blundered in direct mates! The tournament is being led by GM Samvel Ter-Sahakyan with 5.5/6, followed by a group of eleven players on 5.0/6. This group includes two Indians - Balkishan and Niranjan Navalgund. An illustrated report from Mumbai with pictures by Amruta Mokal.

Grandmaster Open events in India are usually dominated by International GMs and the Mumbai Mayors Cup 2019 is no exception. Right at the top we have Samvel Ter Sahakyan who has scored 5.5/6. He is followed by eleven players on 5.0/6. In the group of these eleven players we have nine international players and two Indians - Niranjan Navalgund and Balkishan. While Niranjan's achievement is great, one cannot really be surprised, as the Karnataka lad has scored a GM norm in the past and also has a rating of 2326. But Balkishan's performance has been truly astounding. He is rated just 2074 and scoring 5.0/6 in such a tough field is never easy.

Balkishan is playing the chess of his life and is on 5.0/6 | Photo: Amruta Mokal

So what has been Balkishan's journey in this tournament until now? He started with a win over Vishwa Shah (1616) in round one, and then lost to P. Shyaam Nikhil in the second round. In the third round Balkishan scored a win over 1680 rated opponent and was on 2.0/3. Everything was going normally, just like any other tournament. But then things began to pick up speed. First he beat Rohith Krishna (2347). This was already a good achievement as Rohith is just 14 years old and an upcoming talent of Indian chess. However, you can always win one game against a higher rated opponent. This is not uncommon. Balkishan wasn't ready to stop just as yet. He beat Suhbhayan Kundu (2374) in round 5 and now things were getting serious. In the evening round on the same day Balkishan was up against Deepan Chakkravarthy and everyone felt that the dream run would come to an end here. Nothing of that sort happened. Balkishan beat Deepan as well and moved to 5.0/6.

Beating Deepan Chakkravarthy is never easy! | Photo: Amruta Mokal

How have been Balkishan's games? Well, he has definitely shown inspired chess at the event, but without the luck being on his side he would not have been able to come this far.

Subhayan Kundu - Balkishan, Round 5

White is dominating the position. He is a piece up and can simply win the game with Qe4! Instead Subhayan played Qf5?? and simply got checkmated in one move with Qg2.

Balkishan vs Deepan Chakkravarthy, Round 6

Balkishan has just captured the pawn on g5. Black should take it back with his knight and Deepan would be slightly better. But fatigue clearly got better of the Indian GM and he played ...fxe5, a terrible mistake as Qh6+ came in and ended the game.

Here are both the games:

Niranjan Navalgund is the other Indian on 5.0/6. He beat GM Vadim Malakhatko in round six. | Photo: Amruta Mokal

Check out the finish of the game. Was extremely exciting!

Samvel Ter-Sahakyan is in the lead with 5.5/6. He beat GM Aleksej Aleksandrov in round 6. | Photo: Amruta Mokal

Manuel Petrosyan is on 5.0/6 and in second place | Photo: Amruta Mokal

After a second round loss to Raahul VS, Iturrizaga, the top seed of the event, has made a comeback and is on 4.5/6 | Photo: Amruta Mokal

Mumbai's Nubairshah Shaikh played a powerful game to beat GM Deepan Chakkravarthy in round 4. However, it was a bad day for him on 12th of June as he lost both his games. | Photo: Amruta Mokal

Farrukh Amonatov checks the game of his Afghan student Sepehr Sakhawaty | Photo: Amruta Mokal

Laxman behind the bars?! The Indian GM is on 4.5/6 | Photo: Amruta Mokal

Divya Deshmukh has found the going pretty tough in this event. She is on 3.5/6 and has already lost 17 Elo points | Photo: Amruta Mokal

Please no photo! | Photo: Amruta Mokal

IM Sharad Tilak missed round 2 and in third round was not paired. He is on 3.5/6, but effectively 3.5/4. | Photo: Amruta Mokal

Playing a good game is often a fine balancing act! | Photo: Amruta Mokal

Standings after round 6

Rk.	SNo		Name	sex	FED	RtgI	Club/City	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB4	TB5
1	4	GM	Ter-Sahakyan Samvel		ARM	2611	ARM	5,5	0,0	21,5	25,0	22,75	5
2	10	GM	Petrosyan Manuel		ARM	2573	ARM	5,0	0,0	21,5	23,5	18,75	4
3	24	IM	Khusenkhojaev Muhammad		TJK	2446	TJK	5,0	0,0	21,0	23,5	18,75	4
4	3	GM	Pantsulaia Levan		GEO	2614	GEO	5,0	0,0	21,0	23,5	18,50	4
5	6	GM	Aleksandrov Aleksej		BLR	2588	BLR	5,0	0,0	21,0	23,5	18,00	5
6	2	GM	Amonatov Farrukh		TJK	2624	TJK	5,0	0,0	20,5	23,5	19,25	4
7	18	GM	Vasquez Schroeder Rodrigo		CHI	2476	CHI	5,0	0,0	20,5	23,0	18,25	4
8	14	GM	Tukhaev Adam		UKR	2527	UKR	5,0	0,0	20,0	22,5	18,50	4
9	12	GM	Paichadze Luka		GEO	2557	GEO	5,0	0,0	20,0	21,0	16,75	4
10	13	GM	Fier Alexandr		BRA	2543	BRA	5,0	0,0	19,0	21,0	17,00	4
11	46	FM	Navalgund Niranjan		IND	2326	KAR	5,0	0,0	18,5	21,5	17,50	5
12	88		Balkishan A.		IND	2074	KAR	5,0	0,0	18,0	20,5	16,50	5
13	33		Koustav Chatterjee		IND	2404	WB	4,5	0,0	22,0	25,0	17,50	3
14	29	IM	Muthaiah Al		IND	2420	TN	4,5	0,0	21,5	24,0	17,00	3
15	9	GM	Turov Maxim		RUS	2579	RUS	4,5	0,0	21,5	24,0	16,75	3
16	74	WIM	Srija Seshadri	w	IND	2174	DEL	4,5	0,0	21,0	21,5	14,50	4
17	7	GM	Stupak Kirill		BLR	2584	BLR	4,5	0,0	20,0	23,0	16,50	3
18	17	GM	Rahman Ziaur		BAN	2481	BAN	4,5	0,0	19,5	22,0	14,75	4
19	92		Utsab Chatterjee		IND	2067	WB	4,5	0,0	19,5	21,0	14,50	4
20	21	IM	Nguyen Van Huy		VIE	2456	VIE	4,5	0,0	19,0	21,5	14,50	4

Pairings of round 7

Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Club/City	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	Club/City	No.
1	4	GM	Ter-Sahakyan Samvel	2611	ARM	5½		5	GM	Amonatov Farrukh	2624	TJK	2
2	3	GM	Pantsulaia Levan	2614	GEO	5		5	GM	Tukhaev Adam	2527	UKR	14
3	18	GM	Vasquez Schroeder Rodrigo	2476	CHI	5		5	GM	Aleksandrov Aleksej	2588	BLR	6
4	24	IM	Khusenkhojaev Muhammad	2446	TJK	5		5	GM	Petrosyan Manuel	2573	ARM	10
5	46	FM	Navalgund Niranjan	2326	KAR	5		5	GM	Paichadze Luka	2557	GEO	12
6	13	GM	Fier Alexandr	2543	BRA	5		5		Balkishan A.	2074	KAR	88
7	1	GM	Iturrizaga Bonelli Eduardo	2637	VEN	4½		4½	IM	Muthaiah Al	2420	TN	29
8	43	FM	Mitrabha Guha	2341	WB	4½		4½	GM	Stupak Kirill	2584	BLR	7
9	9	GM	Turov Maxim	2579	RUS	4½		4½	GM	Laxman R.R.	2437	TN	25
10	15	GM	Burmakin Vladimir	2526	RUS	4½		4½		Koustav Chatterjee	2404	WB	33

2074 rated Balkishan checkmates two opponents, moves to 5.0/6 at the Mayor's Cup 2019

Standings after round 6

Pairings of round 7

Round 7 begins at 2.30 p.m. IST