Sometimes you unexpectedly come across low-hanging fruit.  But that doesn’t mean you are still able to pluck and eat it.  This is the story of such a time.

On July 26 I wrapped up the Czech Open, the last tournament on my month-long Europe tour and was all set to return back home! The tournament didn’t go very well for me as I drew several lower rated players, and was unable to get anything going.  After the last round, my Dad and I went through a grueling 4-hour journey in order to get from Pardubice to the airport in Prague. We finally arrived there at around midnight, completely exhausted, and tried to catch some sleep before our early morning flight home after a stopover. We arrived home on the evening of July 28. It felt great to be home and see my mom and brother, after a long fatiguing trip! There wouldn’t be much time for rest however, as I was due to play the North American Junior, for which I had to travel in three days. The winner of the tournament would receive the IM Title, which was of no relevance to me since I already had one, but more importantly a GM norm as well! This tournament was never on our calendar, and we planned to get a week’s rest or so before heading out for The Washington International tournament in Rockville. We learnt about the NA Junior while still on the road in Europe, and felt like this was a splendid opportunity to makeup for the narrow miss in Paracin.

Getting some rest and overcoming the jetlag was the least of my problems; things were about to get a lot worse. The next day I started feeling enervated and on Tue, I felt extremely ill with a sore body, fever and a constant retching sensation. The Doctor told me it was the Flu, and nothing could be done about it as it takes a week to get over. Her advice – take rest, drink fluids, for you can’t hold down food, and manage the intense body pain with medication for a week. The doctor was not in favor of me going so far to play another tournament. The medication wasn’t really helping. In the early morning hours on Wed – 30th before we were to start, I fainted while attempting to stand up.  Fortunately, I didn’t hit my head on the floor directly but fell towards the wall and then tumbled sideways and hit the floor. I’ve always wondered how people can just faint; aren’t they aware of what’s happening? Well I can tell you first hand, No! I felt a black wave of nausea overcome me, and my head became really light just as I passed out.  My Dad repeatedly kept telling me that we didn’t have to go if I wasn’t feeling up to it. After all I could barely even get up from bed, let alone sit-up and play a game of chess 🙂 . It was only sheer will and determination to play the game and try for a Norm, that got me out of bed that day.

The drive to Kitchener, Canada was going to be 10 hours long. That’s plenty of time for some rest and relaxation, right? Unfortunately, wrong 🙁 . I had to deal with retching sensations the entire trip. We also encountered a vicious storm when we entered Canada, accompanied by blinding sheets of rain! When we finally made it to the hotel room, I simply collapsed and my condition was worse. The hotel reception and the tournament organizer told us about some health care centers, in case of an emergency. So here I was on the brink of the tournament, which was to start the next morning, and still as sick as a dog. The next few days I just survived on fluids, pain killers and very little food.

In the morning, I felt a bit better and my fever was coming down to normal. I still felt extremely nauseous however, and just walking to the playing hall made me feel like passing out. Carrying a retching bag , I showed up at my table . The pairings came, but I had no strength to get up and look. I just waited for the opponent to show up.

I started off well and was extremely happy that I was able to win my first 4 games, despite being completely devitalized. The game quality wasn’t the highest from my side in the games that I was Black, but it was good enough to comfortably get the Win, which was all that mattered. After winning my 4th game, I faced Edward Song in Round 5.  It was a quick Draw, something that was frustrating, especially since I was White.  I was determined to play longer and stronger in the next round against Tanraj Sohal, who was having a breakout tournament with Wins over some higher rated players.  I made use of my double-white, and outplayed Tanraj, ending the day with 5.5/6. Things were looking good! After the game, for the first time I stepped out from the Hotel since we came, to walk around a few blocks. I was starting to feel better, and was regaining my strength.

The next morning I faced Andrew Tang as Black. The game went wrong for me right from the start, when I mashed two variations resulting in what I believe is a lost position.

I fought back tooth and nail, surviving a +10 (!) position for Tang, but in the end I missed two fairly straightforward instances where I could easily overcome the advantage I handed out. Tang played accurately enough to hold on to the advantage presented to him, and eventually Win. He was already playing strongly prior to this round, and after this round I felt he deserved to come first.

I was stunned that I lost to a lower rated, something I hadn’t done in a really long time. That one loss was enough to lose control of the tournament.  In the penultimate round, I Drew with Canadian IM Richard Wang. At that point, I no longer had a shot at 1st and the coveted GM norm. To play the final round and achieve 2nd or 3rd would get me Titles/Norms that I already possessed. To me, it just made sense to step aside and let others who could benefit from such title awards duel it out in the last round. My Dad also agreed but more importantly for him from my health perspective was the benefit of not going through the strain of another round.

As I look back and see the Norms & Titles awarded to other players, I feel it was the right decision. Of course, the regret of letting things slip through my hand lingers. In any case, with the Arbiters/Directors ready to post the pairing and leave for the night, we had to make a quick decision.

The ride back was once again a very long one.  We did have time to stop at the majestic Niagara Falls, and that made for a good change after the events of the previous days. I would like to thank the organizers Patrick McDonald and Hal Bond for organizing a highly professional and perfect FIDE tournament, and the Arbiters team for their help and understanding during the tournament.

I want to keep covering my misses as well for other players to realize that ‘Downs’ also come with the ‘Ups,’ and we still got to pick ourselves up and keep moving on!

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Rene Preotu, FIDE Arbiter and Chess Parent

Recently, my attention was drawn to a comment by Rene Preotu on a Canadian chess message board, characterizing me as someone who withdraws from tournaments when Norm chances don’t exist.

J. Wang “But did IM Akshat Chandra withdraw from the tournament?”
R. Preotu “He did the same thing last year at Quebec Open and also from other US tournaments when he had no more chances for norms.”

Well, Mr. Preotu is clearly mistaken and unfortunately highly irresponsible in his comments. As a FIDE Arbiter, he should be more professional and refrain from making controversial remarks about Chess Players on message boards, particularly when he is so wrong.

I withdrew from the Quebec Open because I had a throat infection, perhaps because of the chemical fumes that we had to breathe for days as the first floor gym was being cleaned, while we were staying a few floors above in the dorms; not to mention the intense Summer heat and no air conditioning. Mr. Preotu could have easily verified the reasons with his Arbiter colleagues at the tournament since he was present there. Instead he made his own assumptions. He could have easily searched and found my posting from 2013 on the Quebec Open which also discusses my condition. In addition, being a FIDE Arbiter he of all people should know that my IM norm chances did not exist after ~Round 5.  So by his logic, I should not have played from R6 onwards. Why wait till R9 to withdraw?

Searching for Facts is hard work. It’s easier to shoot off some irresponsible and erroneous comments and washing your hands off it. Mr. Preotu’s mischaracterization was read by several others on the message board. Eventually it became a factoid when others accepted and started building on it, and I’m left now to correct the printed record in the public domain. In addition, since Mr. Preotu seems to be following my tournament record closely, I’d be glad if he can post in the comments section the list of US tournaments that I’ve withdrawn from after my Norm chances were gone.

Separately, Mr. Preotu’s comment also raises another issue. Withdrawing from tournaments is a very personal and difficult decision. Players do it for they feel it’s right for them. It’s their decision. Besides the official Arbiters and Organizers, it’s no one else’s business. You’re not sponsoring or paying for the player’s travel, hotel, and tournament expenses; nor are you aware of their health or state of mind, etc. So with a limited view of the situation, why complain? Perhaps if you sponsor the player, then one can understand the questioning.

Having said that, I generally don’t like withdrawals that occur once pairings are already posted and round is to begin shortly. Of course exceptions are there, but if players wait till last minute to withdraw after pairings are already posted, that is detrimental to the interests of the other players.

People may have different views on this subject, and I’m sure they’ll post them in the Comments section.

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Right before I leave, I want to leave you guys with two puzzles from my R3 game, against the talented Canadian FM Jason Cao. In the first one, White to play and win an exchange!

In the 2nd puzzle, find White’s quickest way to victory!

Until next time!

T7S – The Seventh Samurai

North American Junior 2014, The Walper Hotel, Kitchener, Canada

Checking in from Europe to give a little update.

I tied first with 7.5/9 at the Paracin International Open in Central Serbia! 2700 GM Richard Rapport took first on better tiebreak. I missed my GM norm by a whisker, as my average opponent rating was a few points less then what was required. But nonetheless, it was definitely a memorable tournament! I needed to play an opponent rated 2470/+ in the last round, and a draw would be required for a norm. Unfortunately, I got paired with a 2443, which wrecked the norm chance. Oh well, at least my game’s in the right place, and I had a 2650 performance :D.

Here’s a link to the official report that appeared on Chessdom. Below’s my game with the 2700 GM ,and World Junior #2 Richard Rapport.

Moments before the Final Round

Akshat Chandra – Tied 1st at the Paracin International Open, Serbia

At the 18th century Holy Trinity Church – a famous landmark monument on the banks of River Crnica in Paracin – Akshat Chandra

My last round win over GM Abramovic.

The US Amateur Team East is held every year in Parsippany, NJ.  It’s the most well-attended annual team tournament in the country with ~1200 players showing up in 278 teams this year, and by far dwarfing other similar regional tournaments across the country!  Here’s an excerpt taken from a related USCF article regarding the main rule: “The four-player teams (some come with alternates as well) must average below 2200 and play in board-order.”  USCF coverage of the event can be viewed here and here.

The Cake Came out Early 🙂 .  The Tournament coincided with the 75th anniversary celebration of USCF, and everyone was treated to a sumptuous cake and coffee. Happy B’day USCF!

Our team average was  2197, and I believe we were third seed beginning the tournament. Not bad for four school kids! It was the first time I was playing this tournament.  I was Board 1 for our team called “What does the GM say?  CheckCheckCheckmate!” (I know it’s lame, but it wasn’t my idea 🙂 ).  On the Superbowl weekend, when I decided to play, I was thinking of something like “The Lords of the Kings!” 🙂 (if it hadn’t been used in the past).  There were some pretty cool team names, and the one which was quite topical and voted best was “NSA is Perpetually Checking.”

Our team captain was Grant Xu playing on Board 2.  He was the mastermind behind the compiling of a high average rating.  On Board 3 was Siddharth Arun, and on Board 4 was Jason Tang.  So this was our team of School children from Grades 10, 11, 9 and 6, respectively. I knew Grant, but had never met my other teammates.  All three of them were from MA, while I was a local NJ player.  I was a late addition to the team – a roster change.  Less than two weeks before the tournament Grant approached me through this blog for a fill-in, since the original Board 1 could no longer play.

Akshat Chandra and Grant Xu

In the first round we played the Bad News Bishops, and won 3-1.  I played Ed Kopiecki (2000 FIDE), a regular attendee at New York’s Marshall Chess Club Tournaments.  He had gained my attention the previous weekend when he yelled out to a friend “I beat Bonin!” (one of the more senior players at the Marshall Chess Club) in the middle of a round 🙂 .  I won my game fairly quickly,  but what transpired at the end was hilarious!  After I played Qxc4, which effectively sealed the game since Ed was a Rook down, he just sat there without moving.  About 15 minutes later when Ed’s Board 4 resigned and was walking past him, Ed began an amusing convo with his friend while it was still his Move.  Here is the transcript 🙂

Kopiecki: ” Where are you going?!”

Board 4 Friend: “I’m going out to lunch.”

Kopeicki: Stands up and says “Oh, well wait for me, I wanna come with you! Let me just resign.”

Board 4 Friend: “Did you resign yet ?”

Kopiecki: Begins scouring notation sheet, and then looks up and says, “No.  Let me Resign.” He then looks at me and says, “I resign!”

All the team members stopped playing and were just following this conversation.  I couldn’t help laughing along with the other players, and was half-expecting Ed to say “Rematch at Marshall’s!”

R1 : Ed Kopiecki and Akshat Chandra on Board 1

Here’s the game:

We played Hamilton Chess Club in the next round.  I was playing White against FM Boris Privman (2197 FIDE).  The game was extremely long and enervating, and lasted for 6 hours into the night.  But in the end I prevailed.  It wasn’t the best game from my side at all, as I could have ended the game much earlier.  Our Board 3 and Board 4 Won as well, while our Board 2 Drew.  So we won the match 3.5-0.5.

R2 : Akshat Chandra and Boris Privman

In the 3rd round we played a team from Florida, Kingside Crushers, and I faced their Board 1, Jeffery Haskel (2224 FIDE).  He employed an extremely sharp line with 5.g3, which led to a rich and complex middlegame.  However, a hasty central advance by him in the early middlegame tipped the scale to my side irrevocably.  My c8 Bishop, which was shut-in most of the game, was the hero in the end 🙂

R3 : Akshat Chandra and Jeffrey Haskel

So halfway into the tournament, we were tied for the lead with 3-0.  I liked the way I had played my 3rd round , but still wasn’t satisfied with my overall play.  In the 4th round, we played the team Nobody 🙂 , and I was White against Robert M Perez, a talented junior on Board 1.

R4 : Akshat Chandra and Robert Perez

I made an inaccuracy early on, and was slightly worse after 20 moves.  Being worse as White after 20 moves is hardly ideal.  But Chess is not all about attacking and winning; you have to be good at defending worse positions as well.  I was able to do just that, and was expecting Robert to go for a Drawn rook endgame, when he suddenly took a daring risk trying to Win.  When the smoke cleared and we reached 40 moves, the first time control, I emerged with what was a probably winning Queen Endgame.  Nonetheless, I decided to Draw since that would end the match in our favor 2.5, irrespective of the outcome for the remaining game on Board 2.  Final score was 2.5 to 1.5.

Making such mistakes early on was not acceptable.  I needed to rectify that immediately, considering that I was going to play a stronger player on the final day.  

In Round 5, we were paired against Chess Kings & Queens 1 (GM Magesh’s Chess Academy). They’d the same 2197 team rating average as us.  On Board 1 I was playing  none other than GM Magesh Panchanathan (2557 FIDE).  In an exchange g3 Gruenfeld, GM Magesh decided to sharpen things up by playing 10.e4 !?.  So I was up a Pawn a few moves later, but my pieces weren’t that developed.  Some inaccuracies from Magesh’s side allowed me to consolidate, and I started to play for a Win.  But a really boneheaded 22nd move vaporized all the promising possibilities, and it was I who was now fighting for a Draw.  The critical line was 22.Bxb5, Bxa8, Rxa8, after which I thought my c2 Knight would be trapped; but it manages to wiggle out in all lines.  So in a span of 3 moves, I went from being a Pawn up and playing for a Win, to being a Pawn down and fighting for a Draw – Dang 🙂 .

R5 : GM Magesh Panchanathan and Akshat Chandra

Magesh was down to only 2 minutes however, and we were still 14 moves away from the time control.  He played very accurately despite the time pressure, up until his 40th move.  At that point he played 40.Be2 allowing me to equalize immediately. Things were looking like an easy Draw now, when suddenly I blundered with 53.Ra5 ??. Ke5 kept things in balance, since after g4 I have Ra4 !, which is what I missed.  I was now losing by force, and was getting ready to resign, since I expected Magesh to play 60.Rb8.  But Magesh made the reflex 60.Rh6 ??, and after Rxb5!, I’m able to draw due to a stalemate trick if he takes on h5 !  We played a 2 vs 1 for some moves, which is an easy Draw, but I was down to my final minute.  On move 80, when I was down to only 26 seconds, the classy GM Magesh offered me a Draw, displaying great sportsmanship for what was technically a Drawn game.  That’s a real chess player right there.  You rock Magesh!  Like two gladiators, we fought to the end trying our best to Win, but eventually agreed to a Draw after ~6 1/2 hours.  The final team score was 3 to 1, in our favor.

Now going into the final round, there were only 2 teams at a full 5-0.  It was us, What does the GM Say?…, and last year’s winner Princeton A.  Due to my long game earlier, I had about 10 minutes to eat, relax and get ready for this crucial and decisive round.  I was to face Princeton University’s Board 1 Michael Lee (2388 FIDE), and I had a double-black.  Princeton A had a team average of about 2197, so we were evenly matched.  Michael chose an extremely strange opening line, deviating from his usual 1.c4.  After the center closed up, we began our flank operations with Michael advancing on the Kingside, while I tried opening things up on the Queenside.  An erroneous recapture by him on move 21, gave me an advantage which I didn’t relinquish for the rest of the game.  I missed ways to Win quicker which was disheartening since they weren’t so difficult.  But I still played accurately without giving the Princeton University star any chance to make amends.  I was still pretty happy to have gone 5/6  on Board 1 in the tournament against good opposition, despite making quite a few mistakes.

R6 : Michael Lee and Akshat Chandra

But winning my game was not enough,  On Board 2, Grant Xu beat the other experienced Princeton player Andrew Ng.  Unfortunately for us, winning on top 2 boards didn’t Win us the tournament.  This time our bottom two boards lost to Princeton University A.  So the match score was 2-2, a tie.  Princeton A and us, What does the GM say?, had tied for 1st place at 5.5/6 points each in the US Amateur Championship East – 2014.  We were joined by a veteran team On the Rohde Again, which had won their last round.  So this was a 3-way tie for first place.

On tie break, which added points from all matches, Princeton University A was awarded the title, and we were given the 2nd rank.  That was sad, since I felt that our team had a tougher path to tying for 1st as we beat Princeton’s strong top two Boards while they beat our lower two boards.  I would have preferred a US Championship or US Chess League style tie-break – a Blitz match, possibly starting at Board 1 or Board 4, and moving on to next player, till the final winner is left.  Ah well, such is life 🙂 .  We took comfort that last year Champions Princeton University couldn’t beat us and that we’d almost turned the tables. I congratulate Princeton A on their win, and their historic back-to-back achievement.  Maybe we get to play for the National title, in case Princeton A is unable show up 🙂 .  Perhaps one day I’ll go play alongside these smart players at their historic University since they’re not far from home.

Overall it was a fun experience, and I’m glad that we tied for 1st, and came 2nd on tiebreak, in what was an extremely strong team tournament. On all boards, our team members came through when it counted most.

Great job Grant, Sid and Jason!

I’d like to thank and appreciate the effort of the organizers to flawlessly host a tournament of this magnitude.

Who Dat tied for first?  What does the GM say,  That’s Who! 😉

Flanked by Twin Towers!
Siddharth Arun, Akshat Chandra, Grant Xu, after the final round (Jason Tang had already left)