Organized by the Capablanca Chess Club, the 7th Parsvnath International Rating Chess Tournament took place from Jan. 11 to 19 in the Modern School, Barakhamba Road, New Delhi. The event, which drew 425 participants, was a 10-round Swiss with total cash prizes of $23,400. Anand’s second at the world championship in Bonn, Indian GM Surya Shekhar Ganguly, won the tournament by edging Russian GM Mikhail Ulibin on tie-break points. Ganguly bagged the $4,500 grand prize.
Shah, in any case, has been described as fiercely competitive. He loves challenges. “What sets this nine-year-old apart from the rest of the young players doing the rounds of chess tournaments in the country is his confidence and disregard for reputation,” an Indian reporter said.
At Parsvnath, organizers said Shah broke Parimarjan Negi’s record of being the youngest Indian to beat a GM. Grandmaster Negi, who will be 16 next month, was 11 when he beat Ivan Nemet in the Biel Open in 2004.
“I have never beaten a GM before, so it’s a momentous occasion for me,” Shah said in an interview. “All that I did was believed in my game. I was a pawn up in the opening itself and by the middlegame I had two-pawn advantage. All that I needed to do was play safe and I managed to win.”
Shah said he got “hooked on to the sport after seeing his sister Charmi play.” “I play with her most of the time,” he said.
He wants to join the U-10 World Championships in Greece next year, but he needs sponsors. Like other Indian players, Shah is a fan of world champion Viswanathan Anand.
Game of the week. ChessBase annotates.
White: GM Nurlan Ibrayev (2407)
Black: Hetul Shah (1817)
Ruy Lopez
New Delhi 2009
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 0-0 9.h3 Na5 10.Bc2 c5 11.d4 Qc7 12.Nbd2 cxd4 13.cxd4 Bd7 14.Nf1 Rfc8 15.Ne3 Nc6 16.a3 Bf8 17.b3?! This leaves a hole on c3, which the lad immediately spots: 17…Nxd4 18.Nxd4 Qc3. All this has been played before, specifically in Szily-Bisguier 1952 (i.e. 25 years before Ibrayev was born, and 47 years before Hetul Shah saw the light of the world). 19.Ne2?!N The GM simply lets the rook hang. What the deeper idea behind this novelty was is beyond our ken. 19…Qxa1 20.Qd2. A deadly trap, would you say? The black queen has no way out of the box. On the other hand White has difficulty attacking her. In the meantime Black launches a rescue action: 20…d5 21.b4. Getting into even deeper trouble. 21…d4 22.Nd1 Rxc2 23.Qxc2 Rc8 24.Qd2 Nxe4 25.Qd3 Nd6 26.Bb2 Qa2 27.f4 Qc4 28.Qb1 Black is two pawns up and calling all the shots. But can a nine-year-old actually win it against an experienced, 31-year-old GM? As the new U.S. president would say: “Yes he can!” 28…d3 29.Ne3 Qe4 30.Nc3 Qxf4 31.Ncd5 Qg3 32.Nf1 Qg6 33.Bxe5 Nc4 34.Nf4. With almost every move the GM has been harassing the opponent’s queen with his knights. But the boy remained unfazed and now launches a full-scale attack: 34…Qb6+ 35.Kh1 Nxe5 36.Rxe5 Bd6 37.Re4 Bc6 38.Qc1. Trying to trick the kid with a pin and backrank mate? No way Hetul Shah is going to let this one slip away. 38…Qb7 39.Re1Bxg2+ 40.Nxg2 Rxc1 41.Rxc1 Bf4 42.Rc3 d2 43.Rd3 h6 44.Kg1 Qb6+ It’s all over, and what must certainly be the world’s most embarrassed grandmaster stretches out his hand in resignation. 0-1.
Puzzler. Saipan’s veteran chessnut Ruel Bince cracked last week’s puzzle: 1.Bc4+ Kxc4 2. Nfe4 xcd4 3. Na5++ Way to go pareng Ruel!
For this week, try this:
White — Bd7, Nd5, Kf4, Bg7, pawns on h6 and h4
Black — pawn on f5, Bh5, Kh7, Rh8
White to play and mate in five moves.
Send your answers to “64” c/o Marianas Variety, P.O. Box 500231, Saipan MP 96950. Our fax no. is 670-234-9271. You can also e-mail idlasts @lycos.com or [email protected].
