Lu Shanglei crowned World Jr chess champion

Intense, exciting tussles on the top boards yielded just one decisive result. Lu Shanglei of China defeated Aleksander Indjic  of Serbia and was crowned World junior chess champion at Hotel Hyatt, in Pune, on Sunday.

In the 13th and final round’s action, the race for the title was wide open with four players -- Wei Yi of China, Duda Jan-Krzysztof of Poland, Vladimir Fedoseev of Russia and Lu Shangleiu -- in contention for the title, as all were overnight joint-leaders with nine points.

There was a four-way tie from the second to fourth position, where Wei Yi of China secured silver and Vladimir Fedoseev of Russia bronze.

Duda Jan Krzysztof was a trifle unfortunate to return without a medal, finishing fourth after the resolution of the tie-break by the Bucholz system.

All four players had scored 9.5 points. 

Vidit Santosh Gujrathi, with nine points, was the best Indian finisher and placed fifth.

Shardul Gagare was the best performer from Maharashtra and awarded the Pune Mayor’s Cup in the Open section.

In the girls’ section, 16-year-old Alexandra Goryachkina successfully defended her title with a round to spare on Saturday. On Sunday she settled for a short draw against Anna Iwanova to raise her points’ tally to 11.

Ann Chumpitaz of Peru also drew against Sarvinoz Kurbonboeva while Sarasadat  Khademalsharieh  of Iran defeated Srija Seshadri of India to bag the bronze, both tallying 9.5 points each.

After the tie-breaks, Sarasadat secured the silver medal and Chumpitaz the bronze.

Padmini Rout was the best Indian finisher with nine points and placed fourth.

Rucha Pujari won the Pune Mayor’s Trophy for girls as the best performer from Maharashtra..

On Sunday, Padmini scored a quick victory over Marina Brunello of Italy. Srija Seshadri had scored 8/11 but lost the last two rounds and finished tenth.

Both Shanglei and Goryachkina earned a qualification slot for the World Cup 2015 for the Open and women’s categories respectively.

The World Cup is a part of the World Championship Cycle. Both players also received a cash prize of Rs 150,000 each.

The silver medalists were richer by Rs 100,000 each and the bronze got Rs 50,000.

This 13 round gruelling Swiss League event was sponsored by LIC and Government of Maharashtra and Amanora; ONGC, Jain Irrigation and Everstone were the Associate sponsors.  There were 132 players from 51 countries in th fray while the girls’ section had 77 players.

The encounter between Wei and Krzysztof was a hard-fought Italian game, lasting 57 moves, before fizzling into a draw.

Top seed Fedoseev could not also make much headway and had to settle for a draw after 40 moves. Shanglei opted for the Dutch defence against Indjic and appeared heading for trouble in the initial stages, with Indjic playing positively and aggressively. However, White lost way, failed to keep the momentum, did not castle and watched helplessly as Black’s pieces (Knight, queen and rook ) infiltrated decisively to weave a check-mating net.

Final standings:

Open: 1. Lu Shanglei (China) 10 points; 2. Wei Yi (China) 9.5 (106.5 Bucholz), 3. Vladimir Fedoseev (Russia) 9.5 (105.5 Bucholz), 4. Dida Jan-Krzysztof (Poland) 9.5 (99.5 Bucholz), 5. Vidit Gujrathi (India) 9 (94.5 Bucholz), 6. Kamil Dragun (Poland) 9 (92.5 Bucholz), 7. Srinath Narayanan (India) 9 (91.5 Bucholz), 8. Murali Karthikeyan (India) 9 (85.5 Bucholz), 9. Diptayan Ghosh (India) 8.5 (97 Bucholz), 10. Bai Jinshi (China) 8.5 (95.5 Bucholz).

Girls: 1. Aleksandra Goryachkina (Russia) 11 points, 2. Sarasadat Khademalsharieh (Iran) 9.5 (98.5 Bucholz), 3. Ann Chumpitaz (Peru) 9.5 (97 Bucholz), 4. Padmini Rout (India) 9, 5. Zhai Mo (China) 8.5 (95.5 Bucholz), 6. Anna Iwanow (Poland) 8.5 (95 Bucholz), 7. Sabina Ibrahimova (Azerbaijan) 8.5 (92 BUcholz), 8. Meri Arabidze (Georgia) 8.5 (89.5 Bucholz), 9. Sarvinoz Kurbonboeva (Uzbekistan) 8.5 (81 Bucholz), 10. Srija Seshadri (India) 8 (91 Bucholz).

Important Results of Open section (Indians unless specified): Wei Yi (Chn) 9.5 drew Duda Jan-Krzysztof ( Pol) -9.5 ; Kamil Dragun (Pol)-9  drew Vladimir Fedoseev (Rus) -9.5; Aleksander Indjic (Srb)-8 lost to Lu Shanglei (Chn)-10 ; Vidit Santosh Gujrathi (9) bt Quinten Ducarmon (Ned) -8 ; Jorge Cori (Per)-8 lost to Karthikeyan M (9 ); Grigoriy Oparin (Rus)-8 lost to N Srinath-9 ; Bai Jinshi (Chn)-8.5 drew Gosh Diptayan-8.5; Benjamin Bok (8.5) bt AryanTari (8); Robin Van Kampen (Ned)-8.5 bt Aravindh Chitharambaram (7.5); Prasanna Raghuram Rao (8) drew Karen Grigoryan (Arm)-8  

Girls: Aleksandra Goryachkina (Rus)- 11 drew Anna Iwanow (Pol)-8.5; Ann Chumpitaz (Per)-9.5 drew Sarvinoz Kurbonboeva (Uzb)-8.5; Sarasadat Khademalsharieh (Iri)-9.5 bt Srija Seshadri -8 ; Padmini Rout (9) bt Marina Brunello (Ita); Daria Pushtovoitova (Rus)-7.5 lost to Arabidze Meri (Geo); Irina Petrukhina (Rus) 7.5- lost to Zhai Mo (Chn)-8.5 ; Ivana Maria Furtado-7.5 lost to Sabina Ibrahimova-8.5; Ni Shiqun (Chn)-8 bt Mahalakshmi M- 7.5; P V Nandhidhaa-7 lost to Maria Gevorgyan (Arm)-8 ; Monisha G K -7 lost to Joana Gelip (Rou)-8

The Moves

Indjic,Aleksandar (2548) - Lu,Shanglei (2544) [A80]

WJCC U20 Open Pune (13), 19.10.2014

1.d4 f5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Bg5 d5 4.e3 g6 5.h4 Bg7 6.h5 Be6 7.h6 Bf8 8.f4 Bf7 9.Nf3 e6 10.Ne2 Be7 11.Nc1 Ng4 12.Qd2 0–0 13.Bxe7 Qxe7 14.Nd3 Nd7 15.Nf2 Ndf6 16.c3 c5 17.Nxg4 Ne4 18.Qc2 fxg4 19.Ne5 cxd4 20.exd4 Be8 21.Qc1 Ng3 22.Rh2 g5 23.Bd3 Rxf4 24.Qd2 Ba4 25.b3 Raf8 26.Qe3 Nf1 27.Qg1 Nxh2 28.Qxh2 Qc7 29.Kd2 Rf2+ 30.Be2 Rxe2+ 31.Kxe2 Qxc3

0–1

Vidit,Santosh Gujrathi (2621) - Ducarmon,Quinten (2467) [D12]

WJCC U20 Open Pune (13), 19.10.2014

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 Bf5 5.Nc3 e6 6.Nh4 Be4 7.f3 Bg6 8.Qb3 Qc7 9.Bd2 Be7 10.Nxg6 hxg6 11.0–0–0 dxc4 12.Bxc4 a6 13.Ne4 Nxe4 14.fxe4 c5 15.Kb1 Nc6 16.d5 exd5 17.Bxd5 0–0–0 18.Bxf7 Rxh2 19.Rxh2 Qxh2 20.Bd5 Nb4 21.Bxb4 cxb4 22.Qc4+ Kb8 23.Qd4 Bf6 24.Qxb4 Rd7 25.a4 Rc7 26.Ka2 Qxg2 27.e5 Be7 28.Qxb7+ Rxb7 29.Bxg2 Rc7 30.Kb3 a5 31.Bd5 Bb4 32.e4 Re7 33.e6 Rc7 34.Rg1 Kc8 35.Rxg6 Kd8 36.Rg5 Ke8 37.Bc4 Kd8 38.Bb5 Re7 39.Bd7 Kc7 40.Kc4 Kd6 41.Kb5 Kc7 42.Ka6 Be1 43.Rc5+ Kd6 44.Rd5+ Kc7 45.e5 g5 46.Rc5+ Kb8 47.Rc8#

1–0