The Hindu : Sasikiran emerges joint winner

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Jul 14, 2003

Sport

Sport - Chess

Sasikiran emerges joint winner

Esbjerg (Denmark) July 13. Grandmaster Krishnan Sasikiran outsmarted local stalwart Curt Hansen in the final round to share the top spot in the 18th North Sea Cup international chess tournament. Top seed GM Alexey Dreev of Russia and British sensation Luke McShane tied for the top spot along with Sasikiran, all tallying an identical 6.5 points out of a possible 9 in this Category 15 event as per FIDE charts.

The supremacy of these three in the event was beyond any doubt as the nearest contender Hansen could amass just 4.5 points for a fourth place finish.

Hastings champion Peter Heine Nielsen of Denmark, Cuban Lenier Dominiguez and Michal Krasenkow of Poland had to be content with joint fifth place after their mediocre performance netted them 4 points apiece.

Bruzon Lazaro of Cuba and Lars Schandorff of Denmark tied for the eighth spot on 3.5 points while former World junior girls' champion

Koneru Humpy finished at the bottom on 2 points having played the maximum number of seven decisive games, losing six and winning one.

The last round had little excitement other than Sasikiran's game which was the only deciding match of the day.

Sasikiran put up a brave front to put it across Hansen after the two overnight leaders, Dreev and McShane played out a quick 12-move draw amongst themselves to secure the first place.

Riding a little on luck and mostly on his power play, Sasikiran showed steely nerves in the middle game arising out of the Capablanca variation of the Nimzo Indian defence with white pieces.

The opening gave Sasikiran a double bishop advantage but Hansen maintained the balance by keeping his position intact on both wings.

Desperate for a win after his defeat in the previous round saw him slip to third place, Sasikiran went for a dynamic set-up with chances for both sides but blundered on the 28th move.

However, Hansen did not get any clue in extreme complexities and missed out on a simple tactic and instead lost material.

Once on top, Sasikiran commanded the proceedings in copybook fashion and romped home in 40 moves for his first title triumph in a tournament of this stature.

The second highest rated Indian after Viswanathan Anand is expected to gain more than 10 ELO rating points from this tournament which will take him nearer to the magical figure of 2,700.

Koneru Humpy ended her campaign with a draw against Nielsen who played black. Humpy employed the classical set-up with intentions of launching a minority attack on the queenside in a Queen's Gambit declined variation and never let the position slip out of his hands. Nielsen tried to make some headway on the kingside but subsequent exchanges reduced the tension. The game lasted 27 moves.

Krasenkow was looking for a victory but his efforts went in vain as Schandorff played solidly to force a draw in 48 moves while Lazaro and Dominiguez played just 8 moves before splitting the point.

The results: K. Sasikiran bt Curt Hansen (Den); Luke McShane (Eng) drew with Alexey Dreev (Rus); Koneru Humpy drew with Peter Heine Nielsen (Den); Bruzon Lazaro (Cub) drew with Lenier Dominiguez (Cub); Michal Krasenkow (Pol) drew with Lars Schandorff (Den).

Final standings: 1. Dreev, McShane, Sasikiran 6.5 each; 4. Hansen 4.5; 5-7. Nielsen, Dominguez, Krasenkow 4.0 each; 8-9. Lazaro, Schandorff 3.5 each; 10. Humpy 2.0

The moves: K. Sasikiran v/s Curt Hansen: 1. d4 Nf6, 2. c4 e6, 3. Nc3 Bb4, 4. Qc2 O-O, 5. a3 Bxc3+, 6. Qxc3 d6, 7. f3 c5, 8. dxc5 dxc5, 9. Nh3 Nc6, 10. Nf2 h6, 11. e3 a5, 12. Bd2 e5, 13. Bd3 Qe7, 14. Qc2 Be6, 15. O-O a4, 16. Rfe1 Nd7, 17. Ne4 f5, 18. Nc3 Nb6, 19. Rad1 e4, 20. fxe4 fxe4, 21. Bxe4 Bxc4, 22. Nxa4 Rxa4, 23. b3 Rxa3, 24. bxc4 Nb4, 25. Qb1 Kh8, 26. Rc1 Na4, 27. Rf1 Rd8, 28. Rcd1 Nc3, 29. Bxc3 Rxc3, 30. Rxd8+ Qxd8, 31. Qb2 Rxe3, 32. Qd2 Rd3, 33. Bxd3 Qd4+, 34. Qf2 Nxd3, 35. Qxd4 cxd4, 36. Rf8+ Kh7, 37. Rd8 Nf4, 38. g3 Ne6, 39. Rd6 Ng5, 40. Kg2 black resigned.

PTI

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