Double-round days in any premier competition contributes noticeably to bringing down the quality of games played. It suits younger, energetic players but makes it unfairly challenging to the older campaigners. Its impact usually reflects in the large number of short draws involving serious contenders.
The fact stood reinforced on the second day of the 11th Parsvnath Grandmasters International chess tournament with a number of quick draws sorely standing out in the third round at the Ludlow Castle indoor hall here on Friday.
On a day when seven players, including four Indians, managed to stay in the leaders’ group with three points, fourth seeded Russian Grandmaster Alexander Evdokimov tested Ankit Rajpara for just 11 moves before splitting the point.
On the top board, an indisposed Deepan Chakkravarthy did not press too hard against top seeded Ukrainian Martyn Kravtsiv and drew in 19 moves of their Queen’s Gambit Declines game.
N. Vignesh showed no mercy to veteran GM Marat Dzhumaev and punished the Uzbek in 46 moves. In the Taimanov variation of Sicilian Defence, Dzhumaev looked better off but underestimated his younger rival’s defensive skills. He pressed too hard for victory but Vignesh had the last laugh.
Abhijeet Gupta, Lalith Babu and M.R. Venkatesh scored over their compatriots to stay among the leaders.
Important results: Third round: Deepan Chakkravarthy (2.5) drew with Martyn Kravtsiv (Ukr, 2.5); Levan Pantsulaia (Geo, 2) lost to Eldar Gasanov (Ukr, 3); N. Srinath (2) lost to Abhijeet Gupta (3); V. A. V. Rajesh (2) lost to Lalith Babu (3); Alexander Evdokimov (Rus, 2.5) drew with Ankit Rajpara (2.5); K. Ratnakaran (2) lost to Merab Gagunashvili (Geo, 3); Tornike Sanikidze (Geo, 2.5) drew with P. Shyamnikhil (2.5); M.R. Venkatesh (3) bt S. Kidambi (2); N. Vignesh (3) bt Marat Dzhumaev (Uzb, 2); Sahaj Grover (2) lost to Raset Ziatdinov (USA, 3); Oliver Barbosa (Phi, 1.5) drew with Sameer Kathmale (2.5).
Second round: Martyn Kravtis (Ukr, 2) bt Himanshu Sharma (1); P. Karthikeyan (1) lost to Levan Pantsulaia (Geo, 2); Abhijeet Gupta (2) bt Prince Bajaj (1); V. Saravanan (1.5) drew with Oliver Barbosa (1.5); Lalith Babu (2) bt S. Nitin (1); Vikramaditya Kulkarni lost to Alexander Evdokimov (Rus, 2); Merab Gagunashvili (Geo, 2) bt N. Vikash (1); John Paul Gomez (1.5) drew with Akmal Faizulaev (Uzb, 1.5); Pradeep Kumar (1) lost to Tornike Sanikidze (Geo, 2); Akash Iyer (1) lost to M. R. Venkatesh (2); Marat Dzhumaev (Uzb, 2) bt B. T. Murali Krishnan (1); Arjun Tiwari (1.5) drew with Valeriy Neverov (Uzb, 1.5); Abhimanyu Puranik (1) lost to Sahaj Grover (2); Deepan Chakkravarthy (2) bt P. Saravana Krishnan (1); Hemant Sharma (1.5) drew with M. Karthikeyan (1.5).
