Blindfold battle between Nisha and Padmini

It has been generally accepted that chess is the most intellectual game ever played by humans. But somehow the classical time control of one and half hour each does not make it a spectator sport. In a bid to make chess more of a spectator sport, people have tried many ideas. Truncating the time control is one idea. Blitz is interesting for the spectators but the quality of the game deteriorates by quite some extent. Simultaneous displays look like a very interesting idea to catch the fancy of the observers.

The little Nigel Short giving a simultaneous display to people who are five times his age!

Then people found a more interesting way! The person giving a simultaneous would not be able to see the chess board. In the above picture you see 13-year-old Parimarjan Negi giving a blind fold simul to four participants. (He scored 3:1)

Then there came a man who did something simply unbelievable. 

Timur Gareev made the world record for playing blindfold against 33 opponents and scored 29 wins and 4 draws! Simply amazing!

Though blindfold simultaneous displays were interesting and showcased the powers of human mind, it did not contain the sporting flavour. The competitive feeling which comes when two equal opponents are seated opposite each other. And that is the reason why one on one blindfold games according to me are the most interesting from a spectator and sporting point of view.

Veselin Topalov takes on Judit Polgar in Bilbao. The funny thing is why have they kept the board in front of the players when their eyes are blindfolded? Either remove the board or remove the blindfold!

Here's the reason: The blindfold was worn just as a representation that the players were going to play without seeing the board. It was removed as soon as the games began.

According to me this is the best method to play blindfold chess with both players sitting next to each other and calling out moves, while the moves are executed by someone else on a chess board.

The reason why I am going into the intricacies of blindfold chess is because, two of India's most prominent women players, IM Nisha Mohota (2278) and WGM Padmini Rout (2388) are going to play a blindfold exhibition match tomorrow i.e the 10 of January 2015. The venue of the match is Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT), Sri City, Andhra Pradesh.

Padmini Rout who is seen here with her mother is the 2014 National Premier (A) champion of India...

...While Nisha Mohota (right) seen here with her sister is the current National Challengers (B) champion! 

The IIIT college faculty have come up with some interesting posters for this event:

Virat is powerless when he is blindfolded...

....And so is Lionel Messi.

But the blindfold doesn't really affect these two champions! They can still play the sport that they expertise in to their fullest potential!

Vision is important. Not sight!

It is so wonderful that the college is using the game of chess in order to promote their college as an "institute with a vision". The two players will be playing in front of an august gathering. Most of the people will be highly educated and distinguished personalities in the field of science and education.

I was able to ask a few questions to the two players before this crucial game:

1. So how have you prepared for this blindfold game?

Nisha :I played four blind games against my mother who is a beginner just knowing the moves. I just wanted to see whether I am able to visualise the position on the board.

Padmini: I solved some positions blindly and also played a blindfold game with my father which was a good way to prepare!

2. What is your strategy for the game tomorrow?

Nisha: This is a completely different experience than a normal game. Here I am not concerned about how my opponent will play but more so it's a battle against myself. I am more concerned about how good I will be able to focus in front of an August gathering of elite people outside the familiar chess circle.

Padmini: Strategy is to play a good game. :)

3. Are you afraid that you will make an illegal move?

Nisha: I hope I won't make illegal moves. ..but you never know

Padmini: I am pretty sure I wont make an illegal move!

4. Do you have any previous experience of playing blindfold chess?

Nisha: I played in the fantastic match of maharashtra vs rest of India conducted by the player who I believe makes the most novelties out of the chess board: Abhijit Kunte.

Padmini: Once played a blindfold match in Maharashtra vs Rest of India.


So who is the favourite in this match? It is said the young players usually can visualize better, so that advantage lies with Padmini. Also in their past encounters, Padmini has scored heavily against Nisha.

Both of them have played each other 11 times and the score is 7.5-4,5 in Padmini's favour with four wins and seven draws. The last two games in 2014 however ended in draws.

So the age and past results are in favour of Padmini but Nisha is approaching this game with a very positive frame of mind. Says Nisha: "This event is for my non chess playing friends - I will be happy if they watch it. My friends always had the curiosity of how we do it blind. I want them to see and fall in love with the game which I have loved for 27 years of my life!"

The time control will be 25 minutes + 10 seconds increment. It is going to be a cracker of a match. And to add to the excitement, the organizers have roped in one of India's best commentators to give his expert opinion on the match!

International Master V Saravanan will be the official commentator of the game.

Saravanan is known for his philosophical approach towards the game and always has wonderful anecdotes and analysis to share with the viewers. What is Saravanan's take on the match?

"It's going to be a match of generations between an ambitious and experienced player and an ambitious up comer. But playing blind will be new territory. So we don't know what to expect and that makes it all the more fun to look forward to it. And thank God the commentator won't be blinfolded! :)"

So, Ladies and Gentlemen, I recommend that you finish all your work by 4pm tomorrow (10th Jan 2015) and tune into the official website: www.iiits.ac.in  to watch the match between WGM Padmini Rout and Nisha Mohota which will be broadcasted live from 4.15 pm onwards.

Whatever be the result of this game, one thing is certain, the game of chess is going to be the ultimate winner!

The Wall of Indian Chess: Sasikiran Krishnan

I take birthdays as a good occasion to acquaint you with the most talented and gifted players of Indian chess. However, the player who was born on 7th January, 1981 needs absolutely no introduction. He is the backbone of Indian chess and maybe the most popular player in India after Viswanathan Anand.

Krishnan Sasikiran (2682)

I call Sasikiran the "Wall" of Indian chess because I see absolutely no weaknesses in his game. His opening preparation is phenomenal. His positional sense is high class. Tactically, he is up there with the best and he is beaten the best in the world with his excellent endgame technique! Some of you may ask, then why isn't he in the top 10 players of the world. And that is exactly my question! I simply don't know why! According to me, Sasikiran has all the qualities for breaking into the top ten. He turned 34 years today and if we take a leaf out of Anand's book then I guess he has still a good number of years left to make this possible, 

Currently Sasikiran is ranked number three in India and 57th in the world. His peak rating was 2720 in May 2012. He was the second Indian after Anand to break into the 2700 club in January 2007 when he was ranked as high as 21st in the world. (subsequently Harikrishna also achieved the feat).

Of course Sasikiran's list of achievements are humongous. He has won the Hastings tournament, Politiken cup, Asian Individual, Corsican Open and so many more strong tournaments. But what I would like to do here is to write about my personal experiences when I met Sasikiran.

I observed Sasikiran very closely in the National Premier Championships 2013 which were held in Jalgaon. I was present there and the thing which impressed me most about him was his ability to concentrate on chess board. Have a look at some of his postures.

Extreme concentration

Immovable!

Totally focussed!

Where's the concentration in this picture? The game hasn't begun yet! :)

The other quality that I loved was the seriousness with which he would answer any question that was posed to him. There are almost no statements that he makes without thinking. And his answers are usually clear, crisp and to the point. Have a look at this interview which I took after he won the National A 2013.

Sasi's dedication towards chess is unparalleled. In Jalgaon while all the players stayed in the same complex where the organizers had provided accommodation, he stayed a few kilometers away just so that he could focus better and add that little extra mile to his preparation. 

While Sasi was totally dedicated and focused during the tournament, on the rest day as well as after the tournament you could see his real, smiling and lively self!

The two gems of Indian chess

Who said chess players do not smile!

Sincere, not serious!

Just as an example of Sasikiran's phenomenal opening preparation I would like to show you his game against Debashis Das:

Post game analysis between Sasikiran and Debashis was serious....

....Soon all the GMs joined in and made it a very enjoyable session.

I have a special book in which I take autograph and ask two questions to the top chess players of the world. In November 2013, Sasikiran had come to Hyderabad in order to give a simultaneous display at the end of the grandmaster open. I was lucky enough to get his answers in my book.

Thinking carefully over the last question!

Here is the page from the book

Sasikiran believes the Analysis of your own games is the best way in which a player can improve. I know that he truly believes in this method and spends a lot of time analyzing his own games. The tricky part for an improving student is what exactly is the process for analyzing one's own games. I was able to ask this question to Sasikiran when he elaborated on his technique of analyzing his own games:

"Usually in the games we play there are 4-5 critical moments. (critical moments are the junctures in the game when you need to make a very important decision) You must identify them and then sit with them at home on a chess board without an engine and try to figure out whats going on. Usually you can sit with one such position for 30 minutes. In this way you can analyse your game in 2-3 hours and then check what you have seen with the help of an engine. This can really help you to improve.

He also mentioned that though computer is usually superior to human mind, sometimes we are able to come up with better solutions than the computer."

When asked about his favourite game, he thinks it is his game against Krasenkow from the Calvia Olympiad in 2004. Truly it is a gem of a game and I recommend each and every chess player to have a look at it. The game had a brilliant combination that made it to one of my favourite chess books called "Perfect your chess" by Andrei Volokitin, Have a look at the position below...

Take some time and have a think. Only then will you be able to understand the depth of Sasikiran's brilliant idea.

Here is the answer. But you can see only the first move! Of course I wanted you to see the entire game and hence I have embedded it below.

Here is the game from the Mega Database with the analysis of Ramirez Alvarez and Michael Roiz. 

After reading this article, I am sure you agree with me that Sasikiran has a special and unmatched chess talent. Let us all wish him a very happy birthday and hope that he soon breaks into not only 2700 Elo range but also into the top ten players of the world!

On this day were born two huge talents!

5th January turns out to be an important day for Indian chess fans! Two of the most talented youngsters of Indian chess were born on this day.

In the year 1993 was born....

GM M R Lalith Babu (2533)

And exactly a year later in 1994 was born....

WGM Padmini Rout (2388)

The list of achievements of these two youngsters is so huge that it would be impossible to mention all of them. But according to me this is their biggest achievements:

Padmini won the individual gold medal at the 2014 Olympiad held in Tromso

Lalith became the commonwealth champion in 2012

Instead of jotting down their list of victories and titles which could be easily found on the internet, I asked the two players as to which was their one game that they were proud of.

Padmini replied, " It has to be my game against Madina Davletbayeva. Not the whole game but the endgame. I am really proud of it!"

Let's have a look at this endgame which has been annotated by Karsten Mueller who thinks this was one of the best endgames of 2014! Karsten Mueller is a huge endgame expert and it is a huge compliment for Padmini when he thinks so highly about this endgame.

With this win Indian's equalized the score against Kazkhstan as we were trailing 2-1. So not only was this game very beautiful but was also important from the competitive point of view.

The same question was asked to Lalith, to tell us his favourite chess game.

For Lalith two games stand out. One is his brilliant attacking game against Deepan Chakravarthy and the other is his positional masterpiece against Vlad Victor Barnaure.

Here is the first one against Deepan. The annotations to this game can run into pages but I have just tried to give you an idea about the flow of play.

A great intuitive sacrifice by Lalith. And now it's time for a positional lesson!

Apart from his wonderful chess skills, Lalith is also famous in the chess world for being the only one to wear yellow coloured spectacles!

Padmini with two great champions of India! (Surya Shekhar Ganguly on her right and Harikrishna on her left!)

These two players are the brightest ones of Indian chess. More than my words, their games speak volumes about their ability! I wish both of them a very happy birthday and hope that 2015 will be another successful year for them!

Most of the pictures by Amruta Mokal.

The shortest Grandmaster win of 2014

As the year 2015 sets in, I wondered which was the shortest game of the year 2014 between two grandmasters. Of course it shouldn't be a draw because grandmasters are often seen splitting the points. A special term called the "grandmaster draw" has been coined for it. What I was looking for was a win for one of the players. I used the Megadatabase 2015 which has games upto November 2014 and updated the games of December with the help of Twic. In the filters I tried to search games of both players with an Elo of 2450 and above.

 I was expecting to find a White win but was extremely surprised when I found a win for the player with the black pieces and that too against a GM who was rated 2621 in just 10 moves!

The game took place between the Israel's latest grandmaster Danny Raznikov who had the black pieces againt Ma Qun from China who played white on the 27th of December, 2014 at the Groningen Open in Netherlands

Danny Raznikov (2494) scored his final GM norm in Groningen and completed his formalities for becoming a GM

The loser of the game was Ma Qun from China who is extremely talented but had a poor day at the office

The players crossed swords against each other in the sixth round of the tournament

Let's have a look at this 10 move miniature.

An amazing game!

I played against Danny Raznikov in June 2013 in Bulgaria. After the game we analyzed for quite some time and I was impressed with his dedication towards the game. I am glad that he became a GM. After the Groningen tournament was over I was able to contact him and ask him about the above game to which he replied:

"It was a strange game... I certainly did not expect this scenario. But during the tournament I tried to remain focused rather than celebrating that win. Maybe now I will let myself to enjoy it."

And how does he feel about becoming Israel's latest GM:

"I am really happy to finally become a GM. I've made two GM norms back in 2012, but it took me a while to get the final one. I will play in a few large events soon - Gibraltar and European Indiv. Championship in Jerusalem, hopefully more success will come :) "

Wishing the 21-year-old Danny, more such miniatures in the future!

No matter how deep we have gone into this game of 64 squares, surprises occur every now and then and even the best in the world cannot avoid it! 

Note: Some might argue that Danny Raznikov was not a GM when he played the above game but he became one immediately three days after the game. So thats as good as a GM I guess! :)

Photos by Beijer and Peng from the Official website

Manuel Aaron: Happy 79th Birthday!

The period was around the 1950s. While the world had great players like Botvinnik, Tal and also the upcoming Fischer, chess in India was absolutely undeveloped. People all over the nation were playing a game that resembled chess but with no fixed rules. In such a situation arose a man from Tamil Nadu, India, who single-handedly popularized the game of chess in the country. 

Friends, I am not talking about the great Viswanathan Anand. He was not even born yet. The man who first brought India to the international chess scene was none other than IM Manuel Aaron.

Manuel Aaron was born on the 30th of December 1935. So today this legend celebrates his 79th birthday.

Manuel Aaron, the first International Master of India and also the author of the recently published Indian chess history (picture taken at the World Juniors, Pune in October 2014)

Today chess is my profession as well as the most beloved thing in my life. I cannot imagine what I would be doing without this game. This would not have been possible without the efforts of the great man called Manuel Aaron. He gave the game of chess an identity in India. He made a lot of forums and groups thereby systematizing this sport.

Father Manuel with his son Arvind. Both of them have successfully managed one of India's top chess magazine called Chess-Mate for years

Aaron was the only active chess player that India had in the sixties. India got its next international master V.Ravi in 1978. That means Aaron was one man army for nearly 17 years in Indian chess. He won the National title nine times.

Manuel Aaron was the first chess player to win the Arjuna Award

He became one of the strongest chess players in Asia and qualified for the Stockholm Interzonal in 1962. It was an amazing tournament with all the top players playing in it. Look at the top players of that tournament.

Bobby Fischer, Geller, Petrosian, Korchnoi, Filip, Gligoric, Benko! Phew! What a list!

Aaron finished last in the tournament but not before he had inflicted defeats on two great players Portisch and Uhlmann.

Here are both the games for you to have a look:

Even against the great Bobby Fischer, Aaron had a pretty decent position but I guess he lost due to some excessive respect for his opponent.

Aaron had even beaten the fifth world champion Max Euwe with a huge pawn storm:

A player who has faced the best!

Today I take this opportunity on behalf of all the chess players of India to wish not only a happy birthday to Manuel Aaron but also to thank him for making chess one of the most popular and lovable sports in the country. 

Without your efforts sir, it would not have been possible.

Pictures by Amruta Mokal

Maurice Ashley's thanksgiving study

The "Thanksgiving" is a festival celebrated in United States of America every year on the fourth Thursday of the month of November. People thank each other for the various things that they are grateful for in their life. GM Maurice Ashley, who is known to think in offbeat and unorthodox fashion decided to thank the chess world by composing a beautiful little study.

A small google search on Maurice shows that he is not only a chess grandmaster but also a commentator, author, app designer, puzzle inventor and motivational speaker! Truly a multi-faceted personality. And wait I almost forgot he is now also an organizer and the highest prize fund open tournament in the world, "Millionaire Chess tournament", was his brainchild.

Let's have a look at the composition!

White to play and draw.

My suggestion would be to take 15 minutes on the clock and write down your answer. After attempting it, have a look at the solution given below.

SOLUTION:

The first thing that we see in the position is that the black pawn is about to queen. But we must always starts our calculations with a check or a capture. Taking the knight is futile as it met with d1=Q. Giving a check to the Black king with 1.Rc3+ is a little more interesting but after 1...Kb6 2. Rb3+ Kc5 3.Rb1 Kc4 4.Rd1 Kc3 The d-pawn is going to cost an entire rook after which the win is trivial. After having convinced ourselves that no checks or captures work we settle down to the only move for White and that is 1.Rd3. The d2 pawn is now attacked. But it is easy to see that black has the very nice retort with 1...Nf3! 

(W)

With this tricky little move, the black knight boxes in the white king. Kg2 looks impossible because of the fork on e1 and if the rook moves to d5 with 2.Rd5 then after Kc6 3.Rd8 Kc5 4.Kg2 Nd4! The view of the rook is blocked and the pawn is promoted.

We now understand that White is in a huge spot of bother. Black king is marching down the board and there is nothing much that he can do about it.

But there is a way out of this mess!

Theoretical knowledge

Before we move ahead I would like to discuss two theoretical endgames with you.

King vs knight + pawn on seventh rank

It is well known that a knight and a rook pawn win against the opponent's lone king. (Unlike the bishops there is nothing like a wrong coloured knight!) But there is one drawn position which you have to be aware of and that is the following one:

Place the black king anywhere on the board, it doesn't really matter. All that white has to do is shuffle his king between a1 and b2 to make a draw. If black king comes too near on squares like a3, c3, c2 or c1 then it would be a stalemate.

Thus, we come to the conclusion that the knight that supports a rook pawn on seventh rank is a drawn position if the opposite king can stop the pawn from queening. A rook pawn on any other rank supported by knight from behind it will be a win. Hence, this is a unique draw.

Let's see the second theoretically drawn position.

This position is also drawn irrespective of who is to move.

The white king keeps moving between b1 and a1 and there is no way to win. Once again, if the black king tries to come closer, it will end in a stalemate.

Knowledge of these two theoretically drawn positions is crucial for solving the Ashley study. If you do not know them you will be like Mr. Houdini who thinks that Black is winning. Don't believe me? Here is the proof:

As you can see on the lower right screen of the corner, Houdini 4 thinks that this position is won for black. It's time to prove it wrong! :)

(W)

We can see the contours of the two theoretical drawn positions over here. All that we have to do is to eliminate the d2 pawn. How would you continue?

There are two different ways to get rid of the little guy on d2. One is playing Kg2 and the other is taking the pawn directly with Rxd2.

Which variation shall we begin with? I always prefer to start with captures and forcing variations and hence 2.Rxd2 is the move that I would analyze first. After Rxd2 Nxd2 3.Kg2 we reach the following position.

(B)

We already know that if the white king were to settle down on the b1 square it would be a draw. He is still quite a few moves away but we need to be accurate as Black. How should black play?

I personally find such positions extremely difficult to calculate, mainly because there are so many plans and possibilities available for both sides. Let us start with the most natural plan of capturing the a2 pawn. After 3...Nb1 4.Kf3 Nc3 5.Ke3 Nxa2 6.Kd3 Nb4 7.Kc3 a2 8. Kb2, the white king arrives in the nick of time to stop the pawn.

We already know that this is a theoretically drawn position.

(B)

So is this position a draw?

No, it is not. There is a win in there which is not so easy to find but strong technical players like Karpov and Kramnik would solve this position very easily. And how exactly do they do it?

They think of the positions that their opponent would want to reach and try to stop their idea. Long term prophylaxis you can say!

In the above position, white would like to get his king to b1 to reach a theoretically drawn position. Now is the difficult part. We have to put all our energy as black here and try to stop the idea in the best possible way. I am sure if you give your 100% you will be able to find the winning setup of putting our knight on c3 to prevent the king from coming to b1 and the black king on b4 to protect the knight.

Putting these ideas into moves we find 3...Kb6 4.Kf2 Kb5 5.Ke2 Nb1 6.Kd3 Kb4 7.Kc2 Nc3! -+ 

And there you have it! The white king has been prevented from going to b1 and next black takes the pawn on a2 and doesn't make the mistake of pushing his own pawn to a2. He will first bring his king to b3 and then play a3-a2 to earn a well deserved full point.

We now understand that 2. Rxd2 doesn't quite work. What is now left is the second option with 2.Kg2!

(B)

Black goes 2...Ne1+ 3.Kf2 Nxd3 4.Ke2

(B)

White wins the d2 pawn and in much more favourable conditions than in the last variation. His king is much closer to the queenside, especially the b1 square.

The only option left for Black now is to win the a2 pawn as bringing his king would be too slow. So after 4...Nb4 5.Kxd2 Nxa2 6.Kc2 Nb4 7.Kb3 a2 8.Kb2=

It's a draw! I have shown you this position so many times that you are not going to forget it for the rest of your life.

As you could see that in order to solve the study successfully you not only needed the theoretical knowledge of two positions that we saw but also hardcore calculating and execution skills in order to decide between 2. Rxd2 and 2.Kg2. As it turned out the latter was the right way to start.

Congratulations if you were able to solve this position correctly. We must definitely thank Maurice Ashley for composing this beautiful study.

By solving this position I came to a very important conclusion which I would like to share with all of you:

There are two very important things that a chess player must possess in order to improve.

1. Sound theoretical knowledge (opening, middlegame and endgame)

2. Strong execution (calculating) skills.

Lack of theoretical knowledge with good calculating skills is like going in a car without headlights on a dark road. You will keep moving but you don't know whether you are going in the right direction. Not to mention, a huge accident might just be waiting to happen!

At the same time good knowledge without execution skills (calculating ability) is like going in a car that has run out of fuel. You can see where you want to go but just don't have the resources to reach there! :)

Improve both the above mentioned skills and you will zoom ahead on the road of chess improvement!