Category Archives: Chess Tournaments

Tying for First at The US Amateur Team East 2014

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.

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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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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)

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

Chess in Michigan – October 2013

The final tournament in my 3-tournament October Series was the Annual Fall Chess Festival in Dearborn, Michigan.  After a sub-par performance in my previous two tournaments , I was hoping to salvage something from the third tournament.  After two days of rest between tournaments, I was back on the road again, this time with my Mom.  We landed in Detroit at 3 pm EST.  We were picked up by the organizers, and had the honor of sharing the car with the top seed of the event – GM Timur Gareev (2676 Fide, 2768 USCF!).  Timur was a very lively and amiable person to converse with.  Known for his exemplary blindfold chess skills, Timur is planning to break the blind chess simul world record of 64 boards.  For all I know, he’s probably done it already 🙂

About 20 minutes later we pulled-up at the venue, Adoba Hotel.   There were 61 players competing in the Norm Section, with 15 GM’s, and 10 IM’s ( including me :).   In the first round, I was paired with an unrated local boy Ricky Reid.  I won pretty smoothly, although Ricky did defend tenaciously when he got into a worse position.  In the next round, I was paired with GM Aleksandr Lenderman (2539 FIDE).  He had got the better of me at the Continental Class tournament a few weeks ago.  So I was determined to make amends.  My only problem was that I was unfit.  When I woke up that morning I felt really enervated and physically battered.  Don’t know why.  Perhaps the below freezing temperatures got to me.  There was really nothing to do other then take medicines and tough it out.  I was playing the White pieces.  Lenderman played a Carokann, and it was more or less equal until I got overoptimistic and fell into an inferior position.  A pretty silly thing to do, considering I wasn’t in peak physical state.  I was now playing for a Draw, and made some waiting moves to get closer to the time control.  When GM Lenderman played a5, I spent 5 of my remaining 6 minutes to play a4!  The move seriously compromises the dark squares for me, but Black still has no clear way to breakthrough.  The GM continued to try and improve his position, while I just waited and played accurately.  Right before the timecontrol, he erred with Kf8 ?  I was able to win the exchange, but I had to be careful of his Queen-Bishop tandem posing threats to my King.  With less than 30 seconds on the clock, I played Qd3?!  I had a better option which would’ve given me decent chances to win.  GM Lenderman then found the correct Drawing maneuver Qb2-Qf2 , after which I couldn’t avoid a Perpetual from him.  In a way, I was both relieved and satisfied to Draw considering I was in a worse position at one point, as well as not in peak condition.

After returning to the hotel, I slept to revive myself and gain back some energy.  Not a bad idea 🙂 When I awoke, I found out I was paired with GM Ben Finegold (2483 FIDE) for the evening round. While scanning through his games, I noticed he has a tendency to play wild and crazy positions.  So I spent most of my prep on some irregular stuff he plays.  When the round started, and the clock was pressed, GM Finegold opened with d4, nf6, c4!?!?!?!.  I was shocked that he was going for main-line theory.  I went for a Nimzo, and GM Finegold played 4.Qc2, followed by 5.Nf3.  I didn’t really know too much about the line, so I just played natural moves, and equalized pretty easily.  That’s where … the boredom set in 🙂  The position was unbelievably dull and monotonous.  I was hopefully expecting a Draw offer after every move he played … which unfortunately didn’t happen :(.  Just my darn luck, GM Finegold decided to open things up with e5 later, and I made possibly the worst positional move of all time with d5 ???.  I was passive and stuck with a terrible Bishop afterwards, and it didn’t take long for Ben to win.  Instead after e5, dxe5 ! would maintain equality.  It sucked losing in such an even position.  Maybe it wasn’t my fault though, since Ben said he snuck a piece of mine off the board 🙂  After the long walk back to the hotel, about 3/4 mile away from venue, I immediately fell asleep since I was physically and mentally exhausted.

Next morning, I woke up feeling much better and ready to play.  I wanted to get back into action.  You know that feeling.  I was finally feeling 100%, and was ready to bring out my lightning bolt :).  I was paired with FM Kostya Kavutskiy (2272 FIDE), to whom I’d lost to in the Spice Cup a few days prior to this tournament.  I was definitely hoping for a better result this time.  He played the Archangelsky variation of the Ruy Lopez, and I chose a rather quiet line, which probably isn’t the best, but people don’t seem to know it and fall into trouble quickly.  But just my darn luck again!  FM Kavutskiy seemed to know it like the back of his hand, and blitzed out his next 4-5 moves.  Now I had to replan.  After a few maneuvers and exchanges, I managed to fix his Pawn on a6. That was really the only hope for me to Win in the position.  And I really wanted to Win!  Draws are second rate results anyhow, but I must admit many a times still better than a stick in the eye :-).  The only thing I had to worry about was the safety of my King.  FM Kavutskiy played Rb2, a good move, taking advantage of my weak second rank.  I offered an exchange of Rooks, which he accepted.  Thereafter, the FM placed his other Rook on b2.  I followed up with Kg1, after which he played Re2, Qc1, Rxe3 ??.  I simply played Kf2, after which FM Kavutskiy was forced to give up the exchange, allowing me to Win smoothly.  Boy, that felt like a warm breeze on a freezing Michigan morning!

So at this stage, I was 2.5/4, and in the thick of a group of strong titled players.  In Round 5, I was paired with IM Leonid Gerzhoy (2478 FIDE).  I had lost to IM Gerzhoy at the Continental Class tourney about 10 days prior, clearly missing a chance to take the upper hand, and had Drawn with him at the NY International, where I blew a +% advantage.  I had been outplaying IM Gerzhoy, but not getting the result I wanted.  This time I was determined not to give any more gifts to him.  It was a mainline Bc4 Gruenfeld, in which I deviated from the Karpov-Kasparov games where Black would go Bg4 f3,Na5.  He wasn’t familiar with the variation, and misplayed his subsequent moves.  I felt really comfortable my position, after Leonid decided to sac a pawn for Kingside counterplay. Unfortunately … another gift came his way.  After messing up the move order, I simply collapsed.  I went from -0.24 to +8 for him in a span of 8 moves. No win this time too, after gaining a slightly upper hand.  This game was a real blow, considering my position. The walk back to hotel didn’t help either, as the weather was 32F, with a windchill of 25F.  Cabs had a 30-minute wait, and I just wanted to get back to my room.  My hands and mouth numbed fast, and the frosty howling wind was bitter on the face. Toss that in with a Loss from an even position, and you’ve got yourself in a pathetic predicament :).

I was anxious that night, hoping that I would get a good player next morning, preferably higher rated. Well I got what I wanted, as I was paired with  FM Steven Winer (2403 FIDE).  It was a Siclian Najdorf, and we castled opposite.  This basically guaranteed that someone’s gonna get their king blown off the board, and I had to make sure it wasn’t mine:).  Good thing for me that my King was the one left standing at the end, as I turned in a complete game, winning crisply on the Kingside.  This game set the tone for the rest of the tournament, and allowed me to finish strong.  In the sprint to the end, I Drew with IM Keaton Kiewra (2404 Fide), although once again I was winning before going full crazy mode;  beat IM Kannappan Priyadharshan (2425 Fide), and Drew with GM Bartlomiej Macieja (2586 FIDE) in the final round.  So 3/4 points in the final rounds got me to a total score of 6/9, which was good enough for the 2nd spot in the U2400 category, worth $250.  I gained over +28 valuable FIDE rating points.  For me this was a good tournament , and finally the pumpkin smiled late in October, as I finished the 3 almost back-to-back tourneys.

World Chess Championship 2013 – A New Era Begins

As most of you know, the World Chess Championship match between Viswanathan ‘Vishy’ Anand and Magnus Carlsen came to an end 3 days ago.  Anand, the defending champ, ultimately proved to be no match for  Carlsen, the Norweigian phenom, who won 6.5-3.5, a staggering margin of 3 points. I guess the suprising part is not the fact that Magnus won, but how he won.

The first 2 games were quick Draws, with both players getting a feel for the opponent’s preparation.  The next two game’s were much more exciting, with Vishy coming close to a win in the 3rd one and Magnus coming close to a Win in the 4th. The 5th game was an unsual Semi-Slav, and pretty soon an endgame was reached, which was slightly better for Carlsen.  Magnus pressed hard, trying to squeeze something out,  but Vishy defended accurately and a Draw seemed inevitable.  Suddenly on the 45th move, the World Champion blundered with Rc1+??.  Magnus was then able to simplify into a winning rook endgame, and Vishy resigned 8 moves later.  Blood had been spilled!

All eyes were now on Anand and how he would respond in Game 6 with the White pieces.  Vishy opened with 1.e4, and countered Magnus’s Berlin with 4.d3.  Carlsen’s play wasn’t accurate, but Vishy missed his chance to seize a decent advantage.  Soon, the World Champ began to go astray and Magnus was able to win a pawn, just as they reached the 40th move.  Anand defended well, and once again, things seemed headed towards a Draw.  But on the 60th move, the second time control, Vishy inexplicably played Ra4 ??, which sealed his fate.  Magnus created a passer pawn and won a few moves later.  I was astounded when I replayed the game and saw the move Ra4.  The move had no purpose and basically gives a free move to Black.  Vishy was never able to recover from these two devastating losses, and Magnus went on to secure the match in convincing fashion, winning one more game in the process.

Thus, a new era started with Magnus Carlsen becoming the 16th World Champion, at 22 years, 11 months, and 358 days.   Carlsen’s reign as a world champion has now begun …

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Here’s my earlier posted Game 5 recap in a bit more detail.

As most of you chess aficionados know, the World Chess Champion is currently underway in Chennai, India. The current World Champion Vishy Anand, looks to defend his title against Norwegian challenger Magnus Carlsen. The first two games were quick lifeless draws, finishing  about an hour. The last 3 Games however were a treat for the specatators, and provided some entertainment. In Game 3, Vishy came very close to achieving a winning advantage, however a premature simplification on his side steered the game to a draw. In Game 4, Magnus employed the solid Berlin Wall against Vishy’s Ruy Lopez. This time it was the World Champ who went astray, and Magnus managed to win a pawn shortly after. A magnificent battle followed  with Carlsen arduously pressing for the win, and Vishy valiantly defending for a draw. After a grueling 6 hours, the game ended in a draw. Game 5, which finished 4 hours ago, saw Carlsen with the White pieces. After Vishy’s 3.c6, Carlsen went for 4.e4 !? which channeled the game into calmer, but uncharted waters. Inaccurate play by Anand allowed Carlsen to simplify into a slightly better endgame. These are the types of positions Carlsen thrives in – a small but nagging advantage in which he can torture and press the opponent as long as he wants with no risks for himself whatsoever. But Vishy defended precisely and so things appeared headed for another draw. However 6 moves after reaching the timecontrol, Vishy played 45.Rc1+, a fatal error- 45.Ra1 was the drawing move. Magnus swiftly capitalized on the error, and traded down to a winning Rook Endgame. He cashed in on the full point 7 moves later. A rejuvenating result for Carlsen, but a demoralizing one for Anand. Tomorrow Anand takes on the White pieces and it will be interesting to see how he rebounds.

On a side note, it was refreshing to see Indian chess fans acknowledge the presence of Garry Kasparov, a true chess legend and former World Champion who visited Chennai , while the officials unfortunately failed to do so.

Spice Cup 2013

Have you ever met a chess legend?  How about playing in a chess legend’s tournament? Well, that’s exactly what I was able to do, by playing in this year’s Spice Cup in St. Louis, organized and hosted by none other then the fabled Susan Polgar.  As most of you would know, Susan was the first woman to achieve the title of GrandMaster, in the year 1991.  She went on to become the reigning World Champion, from the years 1996-1999.  So it truly was an honor to be able to meet her , and participate in her tournament. The Spice Cup was to be the second tournament  of my October series, after the Continental Chess tournament in Crystal City, Virginia.  

Akshat Chandra with Susan Polgar - receiving the co-winner U2400 prize at The Spice Cup - Oct 2013

Akshat Chandra with Susan Polgar – receiving the co-winner U2400 prize at
The Spice Cup – Oct 2013

Sorry for the brief writeup, but the lengthy writeup I’d done got deleted. It’s a pain to try and recreate everything 🙂

Losing & Winning the North American Youth Chess Championship

The North American Youth Chess Championship 2013

The North American Youth Chess Championship 2013

After coming home from the the Washington International Chess tournament, I was headed out again a couple of days later.  This time it was to Toronto for the North American Youth Chess Championship from Aug 14 to 18.  Normally I wouldn’t play these type of “Continental Youths,” for there is a significant rating risk as most players are lower-rated.  Consequently there is a higher level of stress round-after-round, all for not that much a significant enough Chess title or prize.  But this time, Canadian organizer Francis Rodriguez and his team were able to convince FIDE to award an International Master (IM) Chess title to the winner of the top age group U18 section – a grand prize.  That’s a highly coveted Chess title, and it got my attention 🙂  There were many other Chess norm prizes and other titles sprinkled too for various categories.  But the IM title was the biggest.  So this North American Youth changed from being just another event to something special.  And I wasn’t the only one who thought so.  You should’ve seen the entry list balloon, within a matter of a few days of this announcement.  Kudos to the organizers to get FIDE to approve the Chess titles and norms, and with over 350 players in various sections, this was I believe the largest North American Youth Chess Championship ever.

My support team and I (Dad and brother this time, since my mother had to leave in the midst of the Washington International for a family emergency to travel to India) took the noon flight from Newark on Porter Airlines, which arrived at around 2 pm in Toronto.  The round was at 7pm, later that Wednesday.  A slight digression here – I’d just like to say, that Porter may as well be the best airlines I’ve ever traveled on!  They have a lounge at each of their terminals with free WiFi, complimentary refreshments, and a  meal onboard 🙂   How great is that!  As the plane approached it’s landing, I marveled at a beautiful island and the azure waters surrounding the Billy Bishop Airport.

Toronto

Toronto – a short ferry ride from city airport to mainland

Once we landed at the Toronto city airport on a clear, bright day, we took the ferry to reach the mainland and then made our way to downtown Toronto to finally reach our destination – the playing venue and hotel, “Chestnut Residence.”  When I arrived at the Hotel, I figured I can rest for a couple of hours for the evening round.  But that was not to be.  After standing in line for about 30 minutes at the busy front-desk, we got a room which was not even cleaned after the last occupants.  We trooped back downstairs, and were given another room 15 minutes later.  We gingerly entered the room, and it all looked fine.  A few minutes later, the bathroom started overflowing .  We also realized that one of the main lights in the bedroom wasn’t working, and so in the evening the room will be half-dark.  This was upsetting.  We called up front-desk, and they offered to send a maintenance person right away instead of exchanging rooms.  Well, 30 minutes later the person showed up.  He fixed the bathroom, but fixing the light fixture was a different story.  It required all kinds of wire changes and nearly an hour to fix.  It was almost 6:30 pm now.  Dismissing thoughts of a rest, I headed downstairs for the tournament.

The Tournament Hall with various age group sections

The Tournament Hall with various age group sections

The place reminded me of the SuperNational’s playing hall, which brought back pleasant memories.  In the first round, I was Black, playing David Itkin (2021 FIDE) from Canada.  Emerging from the opening with a time advantage, I aimed to build on that with some board advantage as well :).  David decided to sacrifice a pawn, but it wasn’t very effective.  All I had to do was consolidate and be careful of any Kingside tricks.  I played Qxa2 and as I wrote down my move it hit me that I had blundered.  I tried to put on a poker face, but the winning move was too obvious.  Surely enough he played Bc5, the decisive blow.  Panic overtook me.  I had set out with high hopes to win something special, and here I was struggling with someone rated 300 points below me.  I played on, but the final result was inevitable from that point on.  1-0 for him.  I had started off with  0/1.  It was shocking.

There was no room for error now.  I figured a winning score for the Title would be 7.5/9.  Well, I’d just made my job a lot harder.  I’d now have to score at least 7.5 out of the last 8 rounds if I wanted to have a shot at the title.

As we got back to our room after dinner, we began to notice a tremor in the room and a whooshing sound.  It was perplexing.  Then we figured it out.  Our room was right behind the entire bank of elevators.  There were three elevators whooshing up and down the shaft right behind our room wall.   This was so annoying and distracting.  But we had no choice.  We spent the night in discomfort, and I can tell you that Chestnut Residence is a busy place; for those elevators were going about their business all night.  Whoosh!

Next morning on Thursday, Day 2,  I won my second round with Aquino Inigo (2030 FIDE).   Whew!  It felt reassuring to know that I can win.  I headed back to the room.  My family had already switched rooms and this one was to the side of the elevator bank.  So still some noise, but not the ruckus from the night before.

In the afternoon round I was paired with Olivier Kenta (2127 FIDE).  There was a point in the game where I avoided trades as I felt it would decrease my winning chances.  I opted for something inferior instead, but was unable to come up with a constructive plan afterwards.  Olivier’s h-pawn attack was powerful, and after some nonsensical moves from my side, I was forced to resign.  I was shocked and devastated.  I’d been completely swept off the board.  The hope of winning the U-18 title and becoming an IM was dashed and I was now struggling to stay above 2300 FIDE rating, having lost a sizable 24 points after three rounds.   The online broadcast by Monroi got the board and result wrong, and showed me winning.  It was quite a shock to my family when they learnt that the outcome was painfully different than what was being shown on Monroi.

Time stood still.  I was completely torn apart, and in mental anguish.  The constant thought of my failure swirled through my head and was an agonizing dose of reality.  I couldn’t turn away from it.  I was living the misery.  I couldn’t believe I was bowing out so tamely from the quest for the Title.  Without a whimper!  The typical instinctive thoughts of Fight or Flee flooded through my mind.  Since there was not much to play for now, my father started making backup plans in case we choose to withdraw.  The airlines, the hotel, the tournament organizers, all had to be coordinated and approved.  It was possible to withdraw without breaking the bank.

The decision was now mine.  This was a hard one.  My uninspired performance so far only suggested that I will end up losing more FIDE rating points.  At the same time, I had come to play for the Title and it was hard to pull away even if the hopes of winning it had experienced an untimely end.  If I left, the door would be closed.  If I continued, I could try to earn back some of the FIDE points.  But most important, I had to learn to play through a tournament even in psychologically the most adverse circumstances.  An inner voice told me I should finish the tournament.   Hope continued to linger in the darkest moments.  For me, I had to salvage some pride, and if possible  rating points.  But most important I’d to try till the end.  I had to learn to hold my ground and make the best of the worst situation.

Once I decided to see this through, there wasn’t much to do in the room.  Although our room had troubles with the elevators, it had a great view of downtown Toronto.  From our room, we would watch the fountain square with its own concert stage and pretty buildings all around.  We decided to go for a walk to the lively centro.  The experience was enjoyable and at least I forgot about my troubles for some time.  My brother was out to have some fun, and he kept me entertained.

Day 2 evening - My brother was enjoying the time out, and I was beginning to relax

Day 2 evening – My brother was enjoying the time out, and I was beginning to relax.  Akshat and Aditya Chandra.

Day 2 - As the evening wore on, the smile begin to appear

Day 2 – As the evening wore on, the smile begin to appear.  Aditya ‘Addy’ and Akshat ‘Aksh’

Upon returning back to the room, doubts crept back into my mind if I’d made the right decision.  But it was too late for that.  It had all become fairly straight forward for me.  I now had to go into each round knowing that I had to Win.  There was no Draw option for me anymore.  The tournament outcome was no longer in my control.  I’d dug myself into a nice hole.

After a restless night, it was on to Friday, Day 3 of the tournament.  I managed to notch up 2 wins against Canadians, Guangyu Song (unrated) and Mike Ivanov (2080 FIDE) on Day 3.  This was my first day without a loss.  The wins put me at 3/5, a full 1.5 points behind the leaders.  After rounds in the afternoon and evening, we went out for a long walk to the fountain square.  It became a ritual and we looked forward to the exercise.  It was easier today walking around and not thinking about Chess.

Day 3 - The world felt a little better1

Day 3 – The world felt a little better!

On to the penultimate day, Saturday, Day 4.  The Round 6 was at 10am in the morning.  I was playing White and paired with Nikita Kraiouchkine (2234 FIDE).  It was more or less equal until he made a tactical blunder, allowing me to win two minor pieces for a rook.  The win however was far from easy.  After a  few imprecise moves from my side, all the winning chances evaporated.  I was forced to trade into a drawn endgame.  There’s no way I can win now I thought.  But luck was on my side and Nikita erred.  I managed to capitalize on his small mistake and finished the game with a Win!

With three more rounds to go, Justus Williams was leading at this stage with 5.5/6, followed by Jarod Pamatmat (5), and Awonder Liang (5).  Following them was a cluster of players on 4 points, including me.  In the afternoon 7th round at 3pm, I got a double-white and was playing Joshua Colas (2206 FIDE) who had just come off a tough loss to Justus from a superior and most likely winning position.  I found myself forced to go for simplifications and a Draw was inevitable.  We reached the following Rook endgame: White: b5,Rf4,Kd3. Black: b7,d4,Kg7.  Joshua’s King was cut off, so I had some hope.  If Joshua had played the simple Rf7!, it would be impossible to win.  But he played Rc7 ?!, Kxd4, Kg6 ??.  I was able then to win his b7 pawn and create the neccessary “Lucena.”  This was unbelievable!  Two dead drawn games, and I’d managed to win to keep myself in the mix!  Howsoever feeble the hopes were for a Title, I couldn’t have done anything more.  Hope was being faintly rekindled.  The tournament outcome was still not in my control.  I just had to focus on my game, and find Wins.

Day 4 - The evening walk!  The lights were green, but could I go all the way on the Final Day!

Day 4 – The evening walk before the last day.  The lights were green, but could I go all the way on the Final Day!  

The final day had approached.  It was Day 5.  The Sunday morning round was starting earlier at 8:30am.  Justus Williams was storming ahead with 6.5/7, a full 1.5 points ahead of  Jarod Pamatmat, Razvan Preotu, Awonder Liang and me.  I’d moved into the second ranked group, but still 1 1/2 points separated this group from the leader.  There were 2 rounds on the final day, and so 2 full points on the table to work for.  All Justus needed was 1 more point on the last day, to seal the victory.

I was playing Black against Jarod Pamatmat in R8.  Our previous encounter was at the US Junior Open qualifier, where I bungled a completely winning positon (+10) and ended up losing.  It was time to not repeat careless mistakes and to even things up!   Jarod sacrificed a pawn, which sharpened up the game.  Good, I thought. The more complications, the better for me. The last thing I wanted was simplifications. I managed to fend off the attack and transition to a winning endgame.  Despite having only a minute on my clock while Jarod had 3 minutes, I converted the position to a Win without any problems.  No late mess up against Jarod this time.  In the U18 section, ours was the last game of Round 8, and it carried on long till close to 1pm, when the final round was to start.  Meanwhile on Board 1, Justus had earlier Drawn with Canadian Razvan.  So Jusus had collected 1/2 point and still needed another 1/2 point for the Title.   I was now in sole second, a point behind Justus, and the only one in a position to play the leader in the final round.

The final game acquired new meaning for me.  For the first time since the tournament began, things were in my hands too.  Lucky for me, the first tiebreak was a Direct or “head-to-head ” encounter.  This meant if I beat Justus, I would win the tournament due to having a better direct encounter score!  For all other outcomes, Justus would win.  A Win would get me the Title.  If Justus Won or Drew, he would win the title.  It reminded me of the SuperNationals final game, although there I was in Justus’ position, and needed just a Draw to win the title.

Going into that final afternoon game I was facing a lot of emotions, I was anxious, but hopeful and excited at the same time!  But there was a sense of calmness in all this too.  For I reminded myself that this is what I had yearned for – a chance to play the leader.  And after an absolutely disheartening start to the tournament,  I’d won 5 straight games to earn the right to play for Title in the final round.   Can I make it 6 games in a row?

There was a lot of interest in our game, since it was one of us who would win the Title.  For all the buildup, it was a fairly undramatic game.  The game was more or less equal until Justus played Nb4 ?.  I saw the winning series of moves and felt a rush of adrenaline.  Justus had missed that after he plays Nd3, I have Bc1! which wins on the spot.  Shortly, he was forced to resign.  It was a quick game.  I felt sorry for Justus for he had played well and steady in the tournament.  I was happy he still got his IM norm and an FM title.  Well, as for me,  I was in a trance!  I’d just stormed back from 1 out of 3, to win the tournament with 7 out of 9!  I had walked in a Fide Master (FM).  And I was going to walk out an International Master (IM).  The chief organizer, Francis Rodriguez, immediately congratulated me and let me know that I was an IM now 🙂  That was sheer joy!  I couldn’t wait to share the news with my father and brother.  Francis walked me out and told my father that I’m an IM now and the North American Youth Champion in U18 section.  Thanks Francis, for your compliments and a wonderfully conducted tournament!  For me, this tournament was a miracle.  I didn’t throw in the towel after R3.  I persisted even though hope had flickered away, and fought for whatever little there was left to fight for.  So my fellow players, “It ain’t over, till the fat lady sings. ” 🙂

I don’t know what worked for me from Day 3 onwards.  I don’t even know if I can replicate it.  All I know was that I didn’t wish to Abort and Return.  I wanted to Play on.  You can call it grit or determination or even fool’s luck.  At that time, it was just doing what I love to do – play chess and get through the day without hurting myself.  Maybe that’s how champions are made.  But whatever the decision in such hard situations, it has to be yours.  Often times you’ve to just follow your heart, even when the mind calculates it’s a risky proposition with no rewards.  It’s just the love of the game that keeps us coming back to the board, for there doesn’t appear to be much else there.  If I was logical on Day 2, I would have been heading home.

After the round, we went to the top of the hotel building to the viewing gallery.  With a beautiful backdrop of Toronto, for the first time in many days I smiled without a care and took a swig of Coca Cola.  Boy, did it taste real sweet 🙂

Finally, I could breathe easy!  Mission Accomplished!

Finally, I could breathe easy!  Mission Accomplished!

Enjoy the pictures of the tournament, and the beautiful city of Toronto!  There are no pictures of the actual chess rounds, but pictures of the numbing Day 2 and subsequent days.  My face on different days, tells the entire story.  On Wednesday, October 02, 2013, FIDE changed my title on their official site to International Master.  It’s now IM Akshat Chandra.  But you can still call me Akshat 🙂

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Being handed the trophy by the Canadian Chess Federation executive.

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With organizer Francis Rodriguez, kudos to him for a great event !

On the subway ride back to the airport

On the subway ride back to the airport

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The view of the centro from the hotel room

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The centro at night time.

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The refs in a huddle 🙂  (from official site)

Goodbye Toronto!

Goodbye Toronto!

Quebec Chess Championship 2013
A Beautiful Setting

Quebec Championship 2013

Quebec Chess Championship 2013 – A Beautiful Setting

I feel compelled to write about my experience at the Quebec Chess Championship, as I wish to share with other Chess Players that things aren’t always “up and up” in our chess journey.  There are inevitable “Downs” too that accompany the “Ups,” and this chess tournament was certainly one of those.  It happens to everyone, and one has to just keep going.

The Quebec Championship was held July 21 to July 28, 2013 in the city of Montreal.   The round schedule was very easy paced with 7 of 9 rounds over single days.  This definitely increases the quality of the game, and is easier on the mind.  However, the tournament can take much longer to finish, particularly if things are not going your way.  The venue was the beautiful old Brebeuf’s Chapel at the Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf in Montréal.  The tournament pace, setting, and the organization were excellent, and my compliments to the organizers for creating a great environment to compete for Title Norms and Rating Points.  I would definitely recommend this tournament to players from US.

Arriving at Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf in Montréal - Akshat Chandra

Arriving at Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf in Montréal after a 8 hour train ride – Akshat Chandra. Some of you may have noticed I had gotten a haircut 🙂

Playing Hall - Chapel

A Classic Playing Hall –  Brebeuf’s Chapel on campus

This was the first time I played in Canada.  We were staying at the College itself.  It was a good idea due to the proximity of the playing hall.  But unfortunately, there was this atypical heat wave and the dorm rooms weren’t air-conditioned.  Worst still, there were no fans since Montreal is fairly temperate.  After two restless nights of bearing these hot conditions, we requested organizers Felix and Richard to help.  The next day Felix got us two fans from his home.  That helped tremendously.  I wish we would have asked earlier 🙂

The round information was all listed on Chess-results.com, which was very helpful.  This is standard practice in Europe and Asia as well, and I wish more US tournaments are listed on Chess-results.  I started off with a victory over Canadian player Kevin Wan (2006 FIDE).  But things were just a struggle after that.   My next game with GM Thomas Roussel Roozman was a bad one from my side.  I failed to play energetically and got into a hopeless, passive endgame.

Round 1 - Akshat Chandra Vs Kevin Wan

Round 1 – Akshat Chandra Vs Kevin Wan

The next round with FM Masse Hughes (2193 FIDE) was unspectacular from my standpoint, as I Drew.  But it was the longest game of my 4-year Chess career and it lasted 6 hours and 40 minutes.  The last half hour was just me pushing in a Rook + Knight vs Rook endgame, refusing to Draw.  At times frustration makes you stubborn.

My Longest Game - 6 pm to 12:40am - Akshat Chandra, and a patient Arbiter Danny Goldenberg

My Longest Chess Game – 6 hours and 40 minutes from 6 pm to 12:40am – Akshat Chandra, Masse Hughes and our patient Arbiter Danny Goldenberg (pictures were not allowed from any closer in order to avoid disturbing us)

In round 4 against Mackenzie Molner (2493Fide) , I hallucinated in an equal position and lost.  Yes, I hallucinated! I thought there wasn’t a pawn on this square , but turns out there was.  It totally disrupted my whole plan 😀

Mackenzie Molinar Vs Akshat Chandra - Duelling it out.  Hic! Some hallucinations too :)

Mackenzie Molner Vs Akshat Chandra – Start of the Game.

Things weren’t so great from there onwards.  I started nursing a throat infection from Round 5.   The zinc lozenges and typical medicines were not helping.  I’d feel enervated after about 2 hours of play.  There was nothing to go on after 2 hours.

In Round 5, I played Villavieja Butch (2211 FIDE) from Phillipines.  I was lucky to do the damage in about 2 hours and won the game fairly quickly 🙂  In Round 6, I played a young Canadian talent, FM Preotu Razvan (2277 FIDE).  My play was weak from the beginning and at one point I thought I found an equalizing idea.  But I realized he had a refutation, and I sunk into deep thought.  I figured there was no other choice but to hope he didn’t see it.  Luckily he decided to go for material, after which I found a series of aesthetically pleasing defense moves :D.  Razvan didn’t want the Draw however, and embarked on a speculative exchange sac.  I now had some winning chances, but my 40th move was not the best. The position simplified and we Drew in the end.  Next two games were miserable and I lost to IM Arthur Calugar and Michael Song, missing a Draw in the former game and blowing a completely equal position in the latter one.  I had managed to score only 1 1/2 points from the last 4 rounds, and my energy level was ebbing.  Fortunately, the organizers had seen me taking medication and approved a medical exemption from playing the final round.  We left for New York on Saturday night itself, instead of Monday morning.

Akshat Chandra Vs Butch in Round 5 of Quebec Chess tournament

Akshat Chandra Vs Butch Villavieja in Round 5 of Quebec Chess tournament

The tournament was won by Cuban GM Bruzon Lazaro Batista (2698 FIDE).  Good for him!  I wish I could have done a lot better in a beautiful chess setting.  Well, I’ll have to wait for next time.

Since I wasn’t enjoying the tournament , I tried to enjoy the city.  Montreal has some nice architecture.  I found the people very polite and friendly.  So if you do have the time to attend this tournament next year, do give it a serious thought.  Well done, organizers!

Akshat at the College , Montreal, which was the Chess venue

Akshat at the Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf in Montreal, which was the Chess venue

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R2 GM Roussel-Roozmon Thomas vs FM Akshat Chandra in Chess Round 2

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 R6 Razvan Preotu Vs Akshat Chandra in Chess. I came armed with a banana, but unfortunately it wasn’t enough 🙂 A draw.

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Found these Chess Boards used in Canadian Chess tournaments really neat. These are high quality paper-printed disposable chess boards. Great for large tournaments in non-Open sections.  Don’t want to be slighting the GMs with these 🙂

The World Open 2013
A Bid to Sponsor My Quest Comes Short

The World Open is the richest prize money tournament in the US.  My focus has to be to climb the rating and norm charts and play the Open section, particularly since I had momentum coming off a strong performance at the New York International days earlier where I earned an IM Norm.  Playing a U2400 FIDE tournament held only rating risk for me since I would most likely be the highest FIDE rated player – which was eventually true.  But I got tempted at the opportunity of a guaranteed grand prize money of $9,000 or potentially higher for first place.  That would contribute a long way to funding my trip to perhaps Europe and/or World Youth in UAE or additional coaching. Finding sponsorship is very hard, as per my experience thus far.  So here was a chance now to do something on my own.  Norms will have to wait.  I had to raise some money, and I decided to play the U2400 section.

To make a long story short, I failed 🙁 .

I still wanted to write about this tournament because often it’s easy to write about Successes, but not about our Failures or times when we come up empty-handed.  So I decided to write about two such recent tournaments – World Open and Quebec Open.  The road to success is paved with many failures.  I’m learning that failures are unavoidable.  They are very painful when they happen.  But they are making me stronger for the next time. Each failure brings me closer to success. When I look back, I find this quite true from my limited Chess experience over 4 1/2 years.  It’s okay to fail, but what’s important is to Learn and Move On!

As the great Michael Jordan once said , “Failure always made me try harder next time.  I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games.  26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed.  I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed. ”

Now to make a short story long, here’s how it went 🙂 .

We headed out to DC on July 7, the day of the tournament.  The tournament was being held at the Hyatt Regency, over a span of 5 days. Time Control for U2400 section was 115 min (5 sec delay) and an addition of 1 hour after 40 moves.  The first round was at 6pm, so there was plenty of time to relax.  I decided to use the time to sleep, since the round was late and I would need the energy to keep me going :).  I was playing Black, and paired with Denis Strenzwilk (1951 FIDE), an experienced veteran player.  I slowly but surely outplayed him, but then erred with a nonsensical Rook transfer.  Denis was able to exchange Rooks, after which winning seemed virtually impossible. I managed to get my King and Knight into their ideal positions, whereafter White blundered, allowing me to penetrate with my King.  Denis resigned shortly after.  The 2nd round had me paired with Chris Mabe (2250 FIDE) from North Carolina. He played a line which I was unfamiliar with, so I just played some common moves.  I misplayed the middlegame however, and his position became slightly better.  I was getting ready to offer a Draw, when suddenly Chris blundered !  I won a couple moves later.  I was 2/2 , but my play wasn’t convincing.  I played with IM Angelo Young (2315 FIDE) in the third round.  We were both out of theory from move 2 (!) and were spending a lot of time.  By move 25, I was down to 6 minutes, while he had 3.  It was more or less even, until he blundered with Ra1??, which I refuted with the tactical c4 !  I reached the time control an exchange up.  However Angelo still had a pretty obvious Draw.  He sunk into thought for 40 minutes, before playing b3 ??  From there on my technique was excellent and I managed to win the game.

3/3, so far so good I told myself.  Unfortunately , things were about to become far from good 🙁

Akshat Chandra and

R1 Denis Strenzwilk and Akshat Chandra

Akshat Chandra playing

R2 Akshat Chandra playing Chris Mabe

Akshat Chandra playing

R4 Akshat Chandra playing Iryna Zenyuk

I lost the next round to Iryna Zenyuk (2250 FIDE), won the next game with Osmekhian Innocent Omoifo (2180 FIDE), but then again suffered a setback by losing to Grant Xu (2125 FIDE).  Grant had even offered a Draw, but I thought I could tinker around with no real risks for a while,even though I had no real winning chances. I feel that as I mature as a chess player, I’ll be able to make better decisions in the future, such as  knowing when to Draw. I finished the tournament at 6.5/9, with an extremely lucky win in the last round against Andrew Tang (2150 FIDE).

I just wasn’t able to find my rhythm in this tournament. Perhaps it was the subconscious pressure of trying to win the first prize for my Quest.  Or it could be that I just couldn’t accept strategic Draws, for winning it all was important to me.   A mind is a funny thing.  The tapestry of the mind changes with each tournament.   I was really disappointed with the fact that I’d squandered a great opportunity to fund my dream.  But i’m not giving up on my Quest.  I will continue to look out for opportunities for chess funds and sponsorship.  After winning the K-9 US SuperNational Championship, I sent out sponsorship requests to a few places.  But there was no response. It’s not easy.  No wonder becoming a Champion is super hard and requires patience, focus, adaptability, grit and unrelenting hard work.  It’s true in Chess and in Life.

Catching an Apple at The New York International 2013 – my 1st IM Norm

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Coming to the Tournament 🙂  “Riding along in my automobile, …”

I was looking forward to the New York International, which was being held at the St. John’s University in downtown Manhattan and organized by the venerable Marshalls Club.  After a subpar performance at the US Junior Open a few days earlier, I was hoping to make amends and turn in a better performance.  The tournament location was rather convenient, as New York is right next door to New Jersey (where I live).  My Dad and I were commuting by train, and at least the first night it turned out to be a much more hectic endeavor then we had anticipated.  The playing hall at the University was nice and quiet.  There were about 65 players in the tournament, and I had a starting rank of 34.

New York International

New York International – Playing Venue

Akshat Chandra playing GM Sam Shankland at New York International

R1 – Akshat Chandra playing GM Sam Shankland at New York International

In the first round I got paired with a strong American Grandmaster Samuel Shankland, who had a FIDE rating of 2601!  I was playing White.  Sam played the Paulsen, but chose a dubious line.  I just played logical and simple moves, and pretty soon I was developing a serious advantage.  The Grandmaster was going to lose his d4 pawn, so he decided to sacrifice his g pawn instead.  I began carefully consolidating my advantage, trying not to blunder in the process.  I did miss a Win however during this phase, which was frustrating as it was pretty simple.  But as it turned out , this was just the beginning of a night filled with “Missed Wins” for me in this game. We traded down into a Rook endgame which was easily won for me.  After being unable to find a win on the Queenside, despite the fact there were several, I decided to just trade all the Pawns in the center and on the Queenside, and win on the Kingside with my two Pawn advantage.  A slight drawback was that my Pawns were doubled, but it was still winning. Just as I was about to finish off the game, I blundered horrendously with Ke5 ??.  That allowed Sam to play g5 and trade down to a drawn Philidor’s endgame.  I was bitterly disappointed as I had played a fantastic game and let it all go away with one move towards the end.

Akshat Chandra Vs GM Sam Shankland

Akshat Chandra Vs GM Sam Shankland

The game was ~ 5 hours long and finished just before midnight.  I was looking forward to some rest, but that was a long way off.  We missed the midnight train, and consequently some connections.  We took the Metro to Newark Penn station.  Unfortunately, since it was after midnight there were not many trains operating.  I found a bench and snuggled up on it, as we waited for the 1:40am train – the last train of the night.  By the time I got home, the clock needles were closing in on 3 am.  It was only 8 hours before the next round at 11am.

When I showed up to play in the second round against IM Leonid Gerzhoy (2469 Fide), I was half asleep and my eyes must’ve appeared bloodshot. I probably looked like I’d emerged from a horror movie 🙂 .  I played a rare line in the opening, which surprised Leonid.  He didn’t find the best continuation, and I easily equalized.  Leonid then erred with g4?!, after which I missed the strong f5 !  I played Qg6 instead, which still allowed me to trade down into a better game.  Soon, I became a Pawn up and was playing for the win. He sacrificed another pawn, but that didn’t work out and I was just rolling my Pawns down the board on the Queen side.  However on the 36th move, 4 moves before the time control, I blundered with c3 ??  Leonid played Rxe8, Kxe8, Bxc3 ! and suddenly my winning advantage vaporized.  I was in complete shock.  I might have still had some winning chances, but I was in total disbelief.  The energy level ebbed away.  We Drew 10 moves later.  I was furious with the atrocious blunder I’d made.

I’d just blown two strong games which were both winning with much higher rated players – just when I was on the cusp of victory I was blundering.  I was outplaying the opponents, but not winning.  But It didn’t matter if I was playing strong 99% of the game.  A Win is achieved only if we play a complete and strong game till the end.  Disappointed, I went for a walk around the block to clear my head. I liked the way I was playing. I just had to maintain the game till the end.

In the third round I got paired with a lower-rated player with a FIDE rating of 1975.  That was really disappointing since it brought down the rating average of my opponents.  But there was nothing I could do, and I just focused on playing a good strong game and securing my first win.  My opponent, Manuel Nieto, was from Columbia and had come along with his brother and dad, who was one of the Arbiters as well.  All three of the Nieto  family would show up in elegant attire, with a tie and a cap.  It reminded me of the pictures hanging on the walls of The Marshall Club of games and players from the past era.  Manuel played the exact same line I’d played with Leonid (Reverse Psychology?!) in the previous round. After a few normal developing moves, I found a nice attacking idea, which in my opinion, practically wins on the spot.  Thereafter, the moves just flowed naturally and I won 10-15 moves later.

The Nieto brothers, xx and xx, from Columbia, with Akshat Chandra

The Nieto brothers, Guillermo and Manuel, from Columbia, with Akshat Chandra

In R4, I was paired with IM Farai Mandhiza (2396 Fide).  I’d a bit of annoying history with him.  In a blitz game IM Mandhiza had been dishonest, and placed an off-the-board Queen piece back on the board (he just had a King and a pawn, while I had a Rook, a Bishop and some pawns) and said I never claimed in-time.  That was nasty!  When I paused the clock to look for the Arbiter, Mandizha slyly turns the clock back on to run my time down, while I’m up from my seat.  I was aghasted at such cheap tricks by Mandizha.  This is not Chess!  We wrote to FIDE and they said Cheating has absolutely no ‘claim protection.’  Never expected such patzer-style cheating from a senior player like Mandizha, and someone who coaches.  So here we were.  I shook hands with IM Mandizha for that’s how the game’s played, and we settled down for our second-meeting.  I was playing Black.  Farai played the London System, which I countered with c5 and b6, a solid system.  Farai followed up with aimless moves and no clear plan.  I began to outplay him, but after positioning my pieces on their best squares, I was unable to find the breakthrough.  One of the few advantages of “bunker chess” is that one’s position is quite solid, and the opponent has to become a bit reckless if he/she wants to win.  We were both running low on time (Farai had 7 min, I had 4) with 5 moves to go before the time control.  Mandhiza sharpened the game up with g4 !?.  I responded with the double-edged Bg5 !?.  White missed the optimal continuation, and I managed to win a pawn just as we reached 40 moves.  Another mistake from his side sealed the deal, and Farai Mandizha resigned.

I was 3 of 4 points, after playing 3 higher rated. Not  too shabby at all 🙂 .  Over the next three rounds I scored 1.5/3, losing to GM Jaan Ehlvest (2621 FIDE), drawing with FM Adarsh Jayakumar (2340 FIDE), and beating FM Rawle Allicock (2324 FIDE).  With 4.5/7 and a 2500+ performance, I was on track for an IM Norm, and maybe a GM Norm.  I was paired with GM Mikheil Keikilidze (2503 Fide) in R8.  A Win would guarantee an IM norm, and a Draw meant the norm was more or less in the bag.  I played atrociously and got a very unpleasant position.  Despite how gloomy things were looking, I wasn’t going down so easily.  I was playing for a Norm, baby!  Black missed a few wins, and that was a huge relief 🙂 .  I managed to salvage something and obtained the upper hand once we reached 40 moves.  Mikheil had a complete meltdown thereafter, and failed to find a tenacious defense.  After losing his Knight, he resigned.  I’d earned my first IM Norm ! .  My postgame analysis revealed that my technique wasn’t up to the mark, as I gave an opportunity to GM Mikheil who even missed an incredible study-like Draw.  To see this Draw, and a more in-depth analysis of the game, click here  and scroll towards the bottom.  At times, luck helps one out and let me tell you, there’s nothing like beating a GM by luck 🙂

Final round - Aleksandr Ostrovskiy  and Akshat Chandra

Final round – Aleksandr Ostrovskiy and Akshat Chandra

The last round for me was uneventful.  I accepted Alexander Ostrovskiy’s (2397 Fide) Draw offer in a more or less even position.  I finished the tournament with 6/9, an opponent rating average of 2402, a rating performance of 2500+, an IM Norm, and 375$ 🙂 . Overall it was a great and thrilling tournament, which I thoroughly enjoyed.  Additionally, I was also able to meet up with my online friend, Alexander Ross Katz, best known for his signature and famous NY Giants Cap .   I’d play blitz with him between rounds, constantly falling prey to his swindles 🙂 .   Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for the World Open Update !

Akshat Chandra and Alexander Katz - I finally got to meet Alex

Akshat Chandra and Alexander Katz – I finally got to meet Alex

Alex Katz and Akshat - A bit of hat exchange.  I was thrilled to meet Alex.

Alex Katz and Akshat – A bit of hat exchange. I was thrilled to meet Alex 🙂

Akshat Chandra - It was great to be in New York

Akshat Chandra – Standing at the bottom of the towering World Trade Center

SuperNationals V – Winning the K-9 National Chess Championship

The Cavernous Hall for Playing Blitz - how much time did it take to set up a 1000 boards with pieces :-)

The Cavernous Hall for Playing Blitz
Wonder how much time it took to set up a 1000 boards with pieces 🙂

Nashville! Nashville! Nashville!

That was the one word buzzing amongst the chess kids during March and April.  The SuperNationals was here and Nashville was the destination for many of us chess players!
To give you an idea, the SuperNationals brings together all age groups at once by combining the three National Scholastic championships for K-6, K-9 and K-12.  Like the Olympics, this is once in four-year event, and the 2013 edition was considered the largest chess tournament in the world, with 5335 participants. Definitely a special event!
A l'il Basketball never hurts!  Playing at Atlanta Airport enroute to Nashville.

Akshat Playing some basketball at Atlanta airport, enroute to Nashville

After arriving in Nashville, on Thursday afternoon, and settling down in our off-campus hotel, my Dad and I headed out to the venue for the Blitz tournament.  The venue was The Gaylord Opryland.  And what a venue – lush, broad and massive!  To me, it was as if I was walking in a tropical jungle.  I could feel the more primitive side of me roaring 🙂
Akshat at the Gaylord Opryland.  It was as big as a theme park.

Akshat at the Gaylord Opryland. It was as big as a theme park.
(Camera Dates on pictures are ahead by one day )

This was my first official USCF tournament.  The venue size and the buzz were a bit overwhelming at first.  But I adjusted quickly.  I registered for the K-12 blitz, as that would be most competitive, although I was playing the main tournament in the K-9 section.  The blitz format was 2 matches against the same opponent.  One with White pieces, the other with Black.
Akshat Chandra - waiting for the Blitz Chess rounds to begin

Akshat waiting for the Blitz Chess rounds to begin

An incredible thing one experiences at massive blitz tournament is the clicking sound of hundreds of clocks being punched in unison when the Arbiter says “Start your Game.”  As usual, the games started off easy but began to get tougher as I progressed.  By the time we reached the final round, I was 4/4.  For the final blitz round, I found myself on Board 1 against Michael Brown.  We both had full points, along with 4 others.  The first game was a Ruy Lopez, where I quickly got a winning position in the middlegame.  But Michael defended tenaciously and with the time ticking I found myself unable to find the decisive breakthrough.  It became a race for time then and we were bashing out the moves as fast as we could.  I stole a quick glance at our time.  I had ~10 sec and he had ~9.  Michael moved his Rook forward, (he didn’t let go) and then decided to move it one square to the side instead.  Unfortunately, I had already assumed that he was going to move his rook forward and played the automatic Kg3.  This meant I moved my King into a Check, an illegal move.  Michael captured my King, ending the game.  In Blitz, one illegal move results in an immediate loss.  I was hit hard by this new experience, since I was used to online blitz chess, where you only see the final move and not any last-moment revisions or hesitations. I was jolted and it was very hard for me to play anymore.  In the next game, I was lost right out of the opening and after a middlegame replete with mutual mistakes, we reached a drawn endgame.  But I lost on time.  It was a crushing way to end a well-played tournament.  Michael played well, and I congratulated him.

Akshat at the SuperNational Blitz Chess tournament

Akshat at the SuperNational Blitz Chess tournament.

 As I left the hall, I reminded myself that this Blitz tournament was a ‘warm-up,’ and for me the ‘real’ tournament was tomorrow. I tossed and turned in bed that night, restless and excited and unable to sleep.  After all, who can on the night before a huge event?   The rows of glittering trophies, and the sharpest scholastic chess minds vying for them, declared the importance of the occasion.  The scope and impact of this event had dawned on me.

 

I’d just returned to US two weeks earlier after a hiatus of ~four years during which I was mostly living in India, but also traveling across Asia and Europe to play FIDE Chess tournaments.  To hurriedly get used to playing Chess again and that too with an interesting time control, I’d played a short tournament at Marshalls Club in New York, where my performance was subpar.  Figuring out the novel Delay time control was amusing.  Nowhere had I seen this outside US.  Some of these thoughts were going through my head as I dozed off.

 

When I awoke the next day, I was pumped and ready to get this party started!  The venue was  a 15-minute walk from our hotel, so we had to pace ourselves accordingly.   But it was another 15 minutes just walking within the unending Opryland campus to arrive at the playing hall.  The first day, when we rushed-in, everyone was already seated and the Chief Tournament Director Enrique Huerta was announcing the rules.  I was amazed at the impeccable organization.  I’ve played tournaments which couldn’t start on time with 20 players, and here they were managing thousands of players, while still maintaining punctuality!  As per my converted USCF rating I was the sixth seed, but by FIDE rating I was the highest rated.

 

The first round had me playing Christian Muraira (USCF 1700), a boy from Texas.  He played the Alekhine’s defense, which is rare nowadays.  Christian dubiously captured a pawn with his Queen, after which I got a winning position and won soon thereafter.  My first USCF tournament win!  The next round was later at 7pm, and I was playing Pranav Srihari from California, (USCF 1914).  The game was a Sicilian Grand Prix and became a slow maneuvering position.  I gradually outplayed him over time and finished the game off with a decisive tactical blow.  After the two rounds on the first day, Rest was very important, since the next day there’d be a strenuous three rounds.Next day, in the third round I was paired with Jeffrey Chang (USCF ~2050).  I played a rare line against the Najdorf, hoping to surprise him.  Apparently, the line doesn’t seem to be rare anymore since everyone seems to know how to play against it 🙂 After Jeff played an interesting pawn sacrifice at the center, a dynamic middlegame arose, and man-oh-man the mistakes never stopped.  I was overreacting to each of his moves, and at one point he missed a move to even things out.  The only positive from my side was that I was way ahead on time. Eventually, I was able to get my king out of the center (big relief).  He had about 10 minutes left with a 5-second delay, so I decided to play a provocative move which would force him to calculate and use more time.  As I expected, he went into a pawn endgame which is winning for me, but only if I was precise.  Unfortunately, I erred by moving my king out first.  It still wins, but complicates matters.  Inversing the move order by playing g4 first was simpler.  But I didn’t know then that I’d erred.  Completely oblivious that I had jeopardized the win, I sunk into deep thought. It was then it dawned on me that I’d missed the move sequence, and now I’d have to rely on a blunder from Jeff if I wanted to win.  I started advancing on the Queenside, and after b4 I expected axb4, trading down into a drawn position.  Instead, Jeff played a4??, after which I was able to win as his king can’t advance since I always have the threat of b5.  Winning a game like this was hardly satisfying, but I’ll take it.

Between the Rounds, Enjoying the Delightful Venue!

Between the Rounds, Enjoying the Venue!

Next round I was playing Samarth Chakrasali (USCF ~2100), and this was a much better game from my side.  I beat him in classic fashion, outplaying move by move and then transitioning to a won endgame.  In the meantime, on the top board Cameron Wheeler had drawn with Craig Hilby. This meant things were in my hands now and I had a chance to breakout.  I was on the stage now playing against Vignesh Panchanatham (USCF 2200) on board 1, who was also 4/4.  At first, I misplayed the middlegame and turned worse.  But Vignesh also misplayed and I leveled up.  I decided to trade down into a pleasant endgame where I thought I’d be able to grind him down.  But in the endgame Vignesh defended tenaciously and was able to thwart all my threats. After I’d exhausted nearly all my time, I forced a repetition and we Drew late in the night.
Akshat Chandra waiting to begin the 4th Chess round with Vignesh, who came armed with a bag of fruits :-)

Akshat  waiting to begin the 4th Chess round with Vignesh, who came armed with a bag of berries and a giant Batman-style bottle 🙂

 I was highly disappointed with my Draw as things were no longer in my hands.  Meanwhile in other board action that night, Safal Bora had emerged as the sole leader with 5/5 and was set to play Cameron Wheeler next morning in the 6th round.  There were a bunch of us at 4 ½ points.

 

As I walked back to the hotel that night, I realized that the winner of this tournament would be the player who won both rounds on the final day.  That was something still under my control, and I decided to focus on that.  Also, the tournament this close doesn’t end till the last round is played.  It was midnight by the time I got back to my room, after a tiring 45-minute wait for dinner at McDonalds (so much for FAST food).

 

Sunday morning I arrived at the venue to play Daniel Ng (USCF 2074).  I was Black against a Rossolimo, and I must say I was very pleased with my play.  I outplayed him and won fairly easily.  It was a good start to the final day, and the win put me on 5.5/6.  I didn’t know what had happened on the first board game between Cameron and Safal.  My father suspected it may have been a Draw, and so I set myself up to play with White against Safal, since we were opposite colors.  Earlier I had observed that Vignesh overcame Kapil Chandran in the 6th round.  So this was getting crowded.

 

A little after 1:45pm, the pairings came out and I learnt that Cameron had defeated Safal on the first board earlier, and now I was playing Black against Cameron.   This was a surprise pairing and a double-black, about 10-minutes before the round time.  I also learnt that I was tied for first place with Cameron and Vignesh – all of us at 5½ points.  However I had the best tiebreak, which was a full two points over Cameron and Vignesh, and also well-above the entire field.  This meant that I had got myself into a position where I controlled the outcome of the tournament.  If I won my game, the Title was mine.  If I Drew, then Vignesh had to Draw as well in order for me to win the Title.  It had come down to the final round.  One of us three would emerge as the Champion.
Final Chess Round -  Cameron Wheeler and Akshat Chandra at the SuperNationals V

Final Chess Round at the SuperNationals V
Cameron Wheeler and Akshat Chandra

I was playing on Board 1 on the stage.  The game was a Neo-Catalan accepted.  On Move 9, Cameron played a4, a move which I wasn’t familiar with.  I fell behind on time, trying to decide which structure to opt for.  I decided to weaken my light squares by playing b4.  My idea was to eventually maneuver my Knight to d4.  By move 16, I had put this plan into action, which would slowly improve my position.  In my opinion, I feel Cameron may have overestimated his position and didn’t sense the danger when he played 17.e4.  This created a gaping hole on d4, which I exploited by maneuvering my other Knight to b5, to control the d4 outpost.  Cameron then made the fatal error of advancing on the kingside.  I played Bxc4! followed by e5!  I now had decisive control over the dark squares.  Shortly thereafter, I penetrated on the c-file and when he was going to get mated or lose a substantial amount of material, Cameron resigned.  I couldn’t believe it !  I’d won the K-9 SuperNational Championship.  I was America’s K-9 Champion.  As it turned out, Vignesh lost his game.  I was the sole winner with 6.5/7.

 

After the game Robert Wheeler, Cameron’s father, came over to congratulate me.  That was a great gesture from Mr.Wheeler.  I appreciated that greatly.  As a memento, Tournament Director Enrique Huerta graciously gave me a SuperNational V pin he was wearing on his lapel.

 

Going up on stage to receive the trophy was the best part.  By winning my section, I received a full scholarship to the University of Dallas (UTD) and a humongous trophy!  Lifting the trophy on the stage in front of hundreds of people was thrilling and very satisfying.  It was my first and last Supernationals, which made the Win all the more sweet and special.
2013 Super Nationals K-9 Chess Champion Akshat Chandra with Dr. Root representing University of Texas, and Mr. Bill Hall, Executive Director, US Chess Federation

2013 SuperNationals K-9 US Chess Champion Akshat Chandra
with Dr. Root representing University of Texas, and
Mr. Bill Hall, Executive Director, US Chess Federation

Akshat Chandra with Dr. RootIt felt great lifting the  Trophy

Akshat Chandra with Dr. Root.
It felt great lifting the Trophy!

After the prize distribution, I went over to congratulate some of the other high-rankers.  There was disappointment on faces of a few, and they appeared surprised at my gesture.  Thereafter, I quickly left the K-9 Championship ceremony, and headed to my room.  Then till midnight I was catching up on my homework, which had to be sent out.  I did quite a lot of it and then caught up with more at the Atlanta airport on our way home to New Jersey, where my Mom and brother eagerly awaited my arrival.  This time I was bringing home a trophy – a big one too.

 

To close out this post, I’d like to thank a source of inspiration, my friend whom I shall call  “SeaB”; my Coach who has worked very hard to get me to where I am; and finally my family for always being there for me 🙂  I’d also like to thank the organizing team for their exceptional organization of the event, and hope they bid for world FIDE events like the World Youth.

 

Enjoy some more pictures and thanks for reading.
At the Go-Kart track on our way to the Venue

At the Go-Kart track on our way to the Venue

IMG_6430 IMG_6429 IMG_6423

Waiting for the Prize Ceremony to begin

Waiting for the Prize Ceremony to Begin

IMG_6485

The Gigantic Trophy had to be carried in 2 sections on the plane.
Waiting at Atlanta, GA airport or was it Nashville, TN – don’t remember now…:)

IMG_6487

Playing the Czech Open 2012

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Vy0mADKcGg]

Video Courtesy : Juray Pechac & Michal Novotny, Pardubice Tourism Department, Czech Republic


(I’m finally catching up on a great tournament I played last year – The Czech Open)

Pardubice!  That was our next destination.  After bidding farewell to Belgrade, we boarded the bus to Prague, Czech Republic.  The bus started at noon, and was supposed to reach Prague at 5:00 the next morning, after traveling through Hungary, Slovakia, and the Austrian  border.  That’s 17 hours of quality bus-time!   But this bus, driven by a zippy Serbian reached Prague at 1:30 in the morning, 3 1/2 hours earlier.  So there we were, standing in the middle of some road, half-awake, and no idea where we were.  Fortunately we were able to ask a person who knew English, and they gave us directions to the train station “Hlvani Nadrazi.”   With no cabs in sight, we trudged on the cobble-stone pavements of Prague towards a station that seemed to keep feeling farther away.  Fortunately, the streets of Praha, as Prague is called locally, are safe.  We finally arrived at the station around 3 am, our last few steps a little bit zippier at the thought of entering the cozy station on a nippy early morning.  As we reached the doors and pulled, we discovered that they were locked.  Hastily, we moved to the next set of doors, but with the same disappointing outcome.  We turned around in disappointment, and it started to become clear.  We saw the benches infront of the  station were occupied by travelers like us.  The station is closed around midnight and reopens at 3:30 am.  

So after finding a bench outside the station, we waited for the doors to open.   Extremely tired and disoriented, our long journey was not ending anytime soon.  After our arrival at  Pardubice train station from Praha around 7:30am, we didn’t have the local currency to purchase a bus ticket or hire a cab to the stadium.  The money changer opened at 8:30 am or 9am.  This was too much.  I was EXTREMELY tired and disoriented, and I don’t know how but I just gave up and went to sleep on a small bench.  Pictures later showed, it was quite a feat to sleep on a cramped bench.  After another 2 hours of waiting at the stadium to get directions to our hotel booked by the organizers, and another 1 mile walk or drag I should say, we finally reached the hotel at 11am.  The beds were a sight for sore eyes.  Off we went to sleep.  We woke up later in the afternoon at 4pm.  

This is the time we entered the Prague station.  And it’s AM!

When I woke up, I felt rejuvenated and we checked out the area and visited the tournament stadium.  This was like an Olympics of indoor games – many different kinds of championships around the Chess Tournament.   The best thing happened to me when I opened the door to enter the main arena.  I bumped straight into Super GM David Navara – the polite GM.  He had finished his closed-invitational tournament, and was running out as he informed us to catch a train to another tournament in Europe.  He was polite enough to allow me to have a picture taken with him, and then he was gone.  When we turned around, he was in a distance running away to make his train.  What an impressive, kind person!  He could have said NO and didn’t have to run.  But he said Yes, and then had to run to makeup!  Thanks, David – Truly a Champion!

Refreshed, we set off to explore the City & Venue
The Town Square, near our Hotel; our daily transit point
Czech Open Venue


The Open chess tournament was a 9 round, 2200 and above one, with  259 players.  I was 211th seed!  I was so far down below on the starting list, that you would have to click “Show Complete List” on chess-results.com to see my name 🙂  The games were played on yellow and brown boards, the first time I’d seen those kind.  In the first round I was paired with fellow American IM Alexander Battey rated 2398. I’d met Alex a few days earlier at my last tournament in Europe, but had never played him.  Alex was wearing dark sunglasses, and he kept wearing them throughout the game.  It wasn’t because of any hurt; so perhaps to diminish the glare from the stadium lights.  I thought he may just break into a song any moment 🙂  I was playing White.  It was a Caro-Kann, and my move Qc4 !? sharpened up the game.  I had sacrificed a pawn, but had good compensation.  Alexander misplayed it and then fell into time trouble.  I managed to win a piece, and soon after the entire game.  It felt great to start of the strongest tournament I’ve ever played till then with a victory!  And that too against an IM!  

The second round, I played a Hungarian IM who was 2480.  It was a complex Schliemann Ruy Lopez, and I was feeling rather happy about my position, before I made some peculiar moves.  I missed a way to equalize and lost.  I didn’t spend too much time brooding about  it and decided to clear my head for the next round opponent – IM Tomas Kulhanek.  IM Tomas surprised me during the opening.  I messed up after that and was in huge problems on the board and with time.  Once he opened up a second front, it was curtains for me.  The game was decisively shifting more-and-more towards the IM.  But, then he blundered and I saw a tactical shot!  Hope crept up into my heart as I played Ng3; he moved his King back and I captured his Rook.  He swung his Queen over to f4 and I desperately searched for the win, under intense time pressure.  10 seconds, 9, 8 … I quickly played a random move and lost.  I was heartbroken…crushed.  Here was a chance to make amends, and I let it slip away.  When I analysed the game I realized that I had seen the Win, but missed the sequence of moves.  It stung bad – real bad, knowing that I had missed a Win. But I couldn’t let this ruin my tournament.  I followed the rules which I had written down in my post ‘How to Recover from Tough Losses.’

Getting Ready for the Second Round.
The distinctive yellow & brown chess board.
Top-seed Romanian Chess GM Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu.
Akshat Chandra playing with Hungarian IM Istvan Sipos in Chess R2
Akshat Chandra with IM Tomas Kulhanek in Chess R3
Akshat Chandra playing Filip Umanec in Chess R4
Akshat Chandra with WIM Havlikova Kristyna in Chess R5
Akshat Chandra with Tokmachev Mikhail in Chess R6
Akshat playing with Martin Lokander –
Top Swedish U16 player; in Chess R7

My tournament went fairly well after that.  I had some nice fighting games, but in two games I missed a Draw and a Win.  I reached the last round with 3.5/8.  For the final round, I was paired with a local favorite FM Michal Novotny!  He worked in the town’s Tourism Department, and at the office he had given us some suggestions on touring the city.  What a coincidence!  Well now, it was time for Michal and I to tour the board 🙂  He played a dubious line, and I found myself with an overwhelming advantage.  I started to Pawn-storm him on the Queen-side, and just as I was about to breakthrough, I erred wtih b6.  Aaargh!  There are many a slip between the cup and the lip!  It was an intuitive move, to open the b file and attack his King.  But things weren’t so easy as I found out.  Michal defended precisely, and soon I found myself a pawn down, and no attack going.  The time on the clock read 2 minutes for me and 18 for Michal.  My time was ticking down, and I was mentally kicking myself for blowing a great position.  I finally erred on move 39, just a move before additional time control, and Michal won an exchange.  My heart sank, and I clasped my head.  But after that Michal started to play quickly, perhaps realizing a Win was coming up soon.  His fast moves gave me hope, and I tested him with a  complicated and tricky move a6.  Michal again moved quickly, and captured the Pawn with Qxa6.  He was doing what would work for me.  But just as I was about to play Ra1, I realized that his Rd6 saves the game for him, and I have nothing thereafter.  The door of hope shut again.  I really wanted to win after missing out on many better outcomes.  I sat there for 10 minutes, wishing I could make it all work.  Then it hit me.  I simply had to inverse the move order, and victory was mine !!  I played Qd8 and my heart leapt in excitement.  I was surging with confidence again.  It was like someone had recharged me.

Akshat Chandra playing WIM Maya Porat, in chess R8
Akshat Chandra playing with FM Michal Novotny
at the Czech Chess Open 2012 ; R9


Michal, realizing his blunder, smiled and resigned.  I felt his resignation was a bit premature, but I’ll take it 🙂  Michal was a very good sport about it and congratulated me.  A big smile broke out at the board, and it sunk in that I had just won a game from a hopeless position.  As Siegbert Tarrasch said, “Nobody ever won a game by resigning.”  I’d to keep trying.  The win pulled me up to 4.5/9, and I finished with +28 ELO rating points.  It was definitely a memorable finish to this strong tournament, and a game I’ll always remember.  Michal from Pardibice Tourism was kind enough to post a video of the game online.  I’ve linked that video at the top of this post.

Thereafter, we spent a few days in Praha.  It’s called a city of Towers and Bridges for a reason.  It’s one of the most beautiful cities we saw on our trip – rich in architecture and culture – a legacy of so many rulers from different empires over the centuries.  If you get a chance, do Play Czech Open in Pardubice and do Visit Praha!

Outside the Stadium Venue. Trying our Luck
with Giant Chess Pieces.  Aditya and Akshat Chandra
Checking out Pardubice 
Near our hotel.  Hey, pretty peacock!
Careful with my fingers; I need’em for my Chess pieces  🙂
At close quarters.  Becoming more friendly 🙂

>>>>>> STAY TUNED FOR THE SUPERNATIONALS POST !! >>>>>>