CHESS#1277

R Praggnanandhaa shares third in the World Juniors with two rounds to go. The 12-year-old has completed his first Grandmaster norm. He has until March to become the youngest-ever GM. If he does win the World Juniors, he would get the title direct. A strong finish from him could result in a historic win. Past winners include Boris Spassky, Anatoly Karpov, Garry Kasparov and Viswanathan Anand. 

The 18-year-old Norwegian GM of Iranian origin, Aryan Tari, shares the lead with Kirill Alekseenko of Russia (both 7.5 points from 9 games). Praggnanandhaa shares third with Xu Xiangyu (both 7). Aravindh Chithambaram (6.5) is in the next group. Murali Karthikeyan (6) has fallen back after a loss to Alekseenko. Praggnanandhaa has played three draws against the other three leaders. 

The Grand Prix at Palma Mallorca is headed for a high-stakes finish. Levon Aronian (4.5/7) leads with Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (4) sharing second place with eight others. Teimour Radjabov (3.5) is on 50 per cent. There are two rounds left. If either Vachier-Lagrave or Radjabov, or both, slide into first or second place, they would book a Candidates slot. If they don’t make it, Shakhriyar Mamedaryov and Alexander Grischuk get those slots. 

The real world championship is also being played. The Thoresen Chess Engines Competition superfinal is a 100-game match between Komodo and Houdini. The new version of Houdini 6 leads Komodo by 11.5-7.5 after 19 games with four wins. 

Apart from bragging rights, there are large commercial interests at stake. The winning programs find more buyers. Most top human players pick for “style” as well as calculating power and every top GM will be seeking signs of “creativity” from the engines.

The diagram, WHITE TO PLAY (White: Murali Karthikeyan Vs Black: Shardul Gagare, World JCC U20 Juniors 2017) is from a game between two Indian GMs. Karthikeyan finds a beautiful idea but his follow up is inaccurate. 

White played 19.Rxh7!! Kxh7 20.Rh1+?! [The win is 20.Be5!! since 20...f5 21.exf5 Rxf5 22.Rh1+ Kg8 23.Qh3 gives White gets Qh3. Of course, 20.— dxe5 21. Rh1+ Kg8 22. Qf6 wins].  

Now black defends with 20...Kg8 21.Be5! f5! [ 21.— f6? 22.Qh3!] 22.Rh8+ [ Now if 22.exf5!? dxe5! 23.fxe6 Qe7! 24.Qh3 Qxg5 25. Kb1 Rf1+! 26. Rxf1 Nd2+ defends. This is the reason why the reverse move order is better].

Black played on with 22...Kf7 23.Rh7+ Ke8 24.Rxd7 Nxe5? [ Black can hold with 24...Bxd5!] 25.dxe5 Kxd7 26.Qc3 c5 27.Qa5 Bxd5 28.exd5 dxe5 29.Qxa6 Rfe8 30.Qc6+ Kd8 31.Qd6+ Kc8 32.Qxc5+ Kd8 33.Qd6+ Kc8 34.Qxg6 Kb7 35.Qc6+ Ka7 36.d6 Rec8.

The queen is boss as Bobby Fischer once famously said in a similar Q vs 2 rooks position. (1-0). White won in 45 moves, while continuously threatening the King and the rooks.
 

Devangshu Datta is an internationally rated chess and correspondence chess player