S L Narayanan, a regular visitor to Pune for the Maharashtra Chess League, has a reputation for shocking seeded players.
On Thursday, in the fourth round of the LIC World Junior Chess championships, at the Hotel Hyatt, the teenager from Kerala played true to his reputation and stunned Polish Grandmaster Kamil Dragun.
In a Queen’s Gambit Declined game, Narayan did well in the opening stages but lost way mid-way against Dragun.
“Then, I desperately had to try and create complications on the board or risk a loss. Fortunately for me, Kamil misplayed. Once my knight broke through in the centre, the road to victory was clear,” said the shy and unassuming lad, who won in 47 moves, later.
In the girls’ section, Padmini Rout defeated Mona Khaled of Egypt and again joined overnight sole leader Daria Pustovoitova at the top of the points’ tally with 3.5.
The top board game between Pustovoitova and her Russian compatriot Aleksandra Goryachkina in a Slav defence ended in a draw after 38 moves.
Maria Ivana Furtado, playing with Black pieces, held higher-rated IM Meri Arabidze to a draw after 35 moves to trail the leaders by half a point.
In the Open section, Cori Jorge of Peru, with four points in as many rounds, shot into sole lead with victory over Idani Pouya of Iran even as the encounter between overnight joint leaders Vladislav Kovalev of Belarus and Wei Yi of China ended in a deadlock.
Narayanan, Wei, Kovalev trai Jorge by half a point.
Ten-year-old Nihal Sarin, who created waves in the first three rounds of the tournament, co-sponsored by Amanora, ONGC, Jain Irrigation and Everstone, was defeated by Rahuri-based Shardul Gagare.
“It was a very complicated game and knowing that Nihal is good at tactics, I tried to play positionally and succeeded,” said Shardul.
Important results of Open section (Indians unless specified): Vladislav Kovalev (Blr)- 3.5 drew Wei Yi (Chn)-3.5; Pouya Idani (Iri)- 3 lost to Cori Jorge (Per)-4 ;Vidit Santosh Gujrathi-3 drew Lu Shanglei (Chn)-3; N Srinath Vladimir Federov (Rus); Karen Grigoryan (Arm)-3.5 bt Aravindh Chithambaram-2.5 ; Kamil Dragun(Pol)- 2.5 lost to S Narayanan-3.5 ; Ufuk Arat (Tur)-2.5 lost to Mikhail Antipov (Rus)-3.5 ; Gabriel Grigoriy (Sui)-3 drew Ankit Rajpara-3 ; Ganesh R -3 drew Sahej Grover-3 ; Duda Jan-Krzysztof (Pol) Aryan Tari ; Robin Van Kampen (Ned)-3 bt Prince Bajaj-2 ; Diptayan Ghosh Irakli Beradze (Geo); Shardul Gagare -3 nt Nihal Sarin-2.
Girls’: Daria Pustovoitova (Rus)-3.5 drew Aleksandra Goryachkina (Rus)-3; Meri Arabidze (Geo)-3 drew Ivana;Maria Furtado-3 ; Maria Gevorgyan (Arm) Sarasadat Khademaisharieh (Iri); Vlada Sviridova (rus) Mo Zhai (Chn) ; Padmini Rout- 3.5 bt Mona Khaled (Egy)-2.5; Nguyen Thi Mai Hung (Vie) Aysa Imeeva ; Irina Petrukhina (Rus) Pratyusha Bodda ; Ann Chunpitaz (Per)-3.5 bt Sakshi Chitalange-2.5; J Saranya-2.5 drew Marina Brunello (Ita)-2.5; Sabina Ibrahimova (Aze)-3 bt Srija Seshadri-2 ; Claudia Munoz (USA)- Pv Nandidhaa ; Aakanksha Hagawane-2 lost to Ioana Gelip (ROU)-3.
Moves
Dragun,Kamil (2546) - Sunilduth Lyna,Narayanan (2420) [D37]
WJCC U20 Open Pune (4), 09.10.2014
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Be7 5.Bf4 0–0 6.Rc1 Nbd7 7.cxd5 exd5 8.e3 c6 9.h3 Re8 10.Bd3 Nf8 11.0–0 Ng6 12.Bh2 Bd6 13.Bxd6 Qxd6 14.Qc2 Qe7 15.Rb1 Ne4 16.Bxe4 dxe4 17.Nd2 Bf5 18.f4 h5 19.b4 Rad8 20.b5 Nh4 21.bxc6 bxc6 22.Kh2 Qe6 23.Nb3 Rb8 24.Qf2 Qf6 25.Nc5 Rb6 26.a4 Qd8 27.Rb2 Bg6 28.Rfb1 Nf5 29.Nb7 Qe7 30.Nc5 Nxd4 31.exd4 e3 32.Qe2 Bxb1 33.Rxb1 Rxb1 34.Nxb1 Qd6 35.Nd3 Qxd4 36.Kg3 c5 37.Na3 h4+ 38.Kg4 c4 39.Ne1 Qd2 40.Kf3 Re4 41.g3 hxg3 42.Ng2 c3 43.Nc2 Rxa4 44.Ncxe3 Qxe2+ 45.Kxe2 Rd4 46.Kf3 Rd2 47.Ne1 g2. 0–1.
