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PSPB makes a hat-trick of National Team wins in Open and Women

by Shahid Ahmed - 13/02/2020

Petroleum Sports Promotion Board dominated 40th National Team Open and 18th National Team Women's championship 2020 as they won both event with a 100% score. Airports Authority of India secured second position in both Open and Women section with a score of 14.0/18 and 10.0/14 respectively. While RSPB B claimed the third position in Open with 13.0/18, Air India was placed third in the Women's section with a score of 10.0/14. Adhiban and Mary finished first on board #1, Sriram and Bala Kannamma on board #2, Karthikeyan and Sarayu on board #3, Lalith and Srija on board #4, Sai Agni and Arpita on board #5 in Open and Women's section respectively. Photo: IA Gopakumar Sudhakaran

PSPB wins both Open and Women's section with a 100% score

Champion - Team PSPB | Photo: Gopakumar Sudhakaran

PSPB defeated Odisha A 3-1 in the final round en route their third consecutive National Teams title. Adhiban Baskaran made a quick work of Sidhant Mohapatra in just 30 moves. Karthikeyan Murali was the other victor for PSPB. Lalith Babu and Deep Sengupta were held to a draw by Rajesh Nayak and Baivab Mishra respectively.

Champion Team PSPB Open 18.0/18 | Photo: Gopakumar Sudhakaran

Adhiban Baskaran (2654) scored a comfortable win over IM Sidhant Mohapatra (2367) in just 30 moves.

Adhiban's average total move per win in this tournament has been 35 | Photo: Gopakumar Sudhakaran

Karthikeyan scored a fantastic win over Utkal.

Utkal - Karthikeyan, Round 9

Find out the best continuation for black after 32.Ba2

Black sacrificed his knight with 32...Nxd4 33.cxd4 now find out the correct continuation.

Karthikeyan scored a fine win in the last round | Photo: Gopakumar Sudhakaran

Rajesh Nayak (2169) defended his position quite well in difficult situation to hold a draw against GM Lalith Babu (2550).

Rajesh Nayak kept his cool to hold Lalith Babu to a draw | Photo: Gopakumar Sudhakaran

Baivab Mishra (2206) made a hard fought draw with GM Deep Sengupta (2534). The game reached to a Queen ending with many pawns after 31 moves. The entire Queen endgame lasted for 38 moves before the game liquidated into a drawn king and pawn endgame. However Baivab had a winning opportunity which he missed.

Baivab - Deep, Round 9

Find out the winning continuation for white after 50...Qb5

Black's last move 50...Qb5 is a mistake, Baivab could not manage to capitalize on the mistake and played 51.f4 which allowed black to get back into the game. The winning continuation was 51.g3 threatening checkmate and sooner than later black would be forced to give up the queen to save checkmate.

Deep survived a scare in the final round | Photo: Gopakumar Sudhakaran

AAI whitewashed Gujarat A 4-0 in the final round to finish at second place with a score of 14.0/18.

Runner-up Airport Authority of India 14.0/18 | Photo: Gopakumar Sudhakaran

AAI dominated Gujarat A | Photo: Gopakumar Sudhakaran

Air India drew with RSPB B 2-2. All games ended up in quick draw where the shortest draw lasted 10 moves and highest was 31 moves. RSPB B managed to secure third position by scoring 13.0/18.

Second Runner-up Railways Sports Promotion Board B 13.0/18 | Photo: Gopakumar Sudhakaran

The match between AI and RSPB B ended up too soon | Photo: Gopakumar Sudhakaran

RSPB A had a well contested draw 2-2 with Telangana. IM Vignesh N R (2436) held GM Arjun Erigaisi (2563) and IM Rahul Srivasthava P (2474) held GM Swapnil Dhopade (2495) to a draw respectively. GM Harsha Bharathakoti and GM Deepan Chakravarthy were the sole victors each for their respective teams Telangana and RSPB A.

RSPB A-Telangana was a well-fought draw for a last round match | Photo: Gopakumar Sudhakaran

Both Vignesh and Arjun tried to one-up each other, while both sides enjoyed advantage in the game for quite some time, neither side was able to extract enough for a full point. The game liquidated into a Rook and opposite color bishop endgame where draw seemed to be the natural result.

GM Harsha Bharathakoti (2495) scored a fine win over IM P Shyamnikhil (2460).

GM Deepan Chakravarthy (2545) also scored a comfortable victory over FM Vinay Kumar Matta (2319)

IM Rahul Srivasthav P (2474) held GM Swapnil Dhopade (2495) to a draw.

PSPB won the Women's championship with a 100% score for third consecutive year

PSPB won the Women's section with a 100% score and a round to spare for three years in-a-row, making a hat-trick with their triumph in 18th National Women's Team championship. In the final round, PSPB whitewashed young team Kerala 4-0.

Champion - Petroleum Sports Promotion Board 14.0/14 | Photo: Gopakumar Sudhakaran

PSPB defeated Kerala 4-0 | Photo: Gopakumar Sudhakaran

Mary Ann Gomes defeated reigning National under-11 girls champion Anupam Sreekumar with ease after the latter made a tactical error.

Padmini Rout won her game against Anjitha Krishnakumar without any difficulty.

Padmini scored her fourth win of the tournament | Photo: Gopakumar Sudhakaran

Rakshitta Ravi scored an easy win against Sheena E

Rakshitta made her debut with PSPB this year | Photo: Gopakumar Sudhakaran

Nisha scored a comfortable win in just 35 moves against Prajeesha K.

AAI whitewashed Gujarat A 4-0 to secure the second position.

Runner-up Airport Authority of India 10.0/14 | Photo: Gopakumar Sudhakaran

AAI beat Gujarat A 4-0 and finished at second position | Photo: Gopakumar Sudhakaran

Although Telangana lost to Tamil Nadu 1.5-2.5, but Kheerthi Ganta (1683) held V Varshini (2242) to a draw and reigning National under-13 girls champion Sarayu Velpula (1867) shocked WGM Vaishali R (2383).

Varshini - Kheerthi, Round 7

Find out the best continuation for white after 39...Ra8

Varshini had decisive advantage but she misplayed and Kheerthi seized the opportunity to salvage a draw.

Reigning National under-13 girls champion Sarayu Velpula completely outplayed WGM Vaishali R in the queen-less middle game and scored a win in just 35 moves after being ahead in material.

Air India whitewashed LIC 4-0 to secure third position.

Second Runner-up Air India 10.0/14 | Photo: Gopakumar Sudhakaran

AI beat LIC 4-0 to secure third position | Photo: Gopakumar Sudhakaran

Swati Ghate became another victim of wearing wrist watch during a game rule as she forgot to take it off before her game. As we reported earlier, her opponent Tania Sachdev did not claim the win and arbiters implemented the rule which was done with Adhiban before. Full details here.

Swati Ghate lost in the final round because of wearing a wrist watch during the game | Photo: Gopakumar Sudhakaran

Prize Distribution Ceremony photos

Board #1 first prize - GM Adhiban Baskaran of PSPB 6.5/8 81.25% | Photo: Gopakumar Sudhakaran

Board #1 first prize - WGM Mary Ann Gomes of PSPB 6.0/7 85.71% | Photo: Gopakumar Sudhakaran

Board #1 second prize - IM C R G Krishna of RSPB B 6.5/8 81.25% | Photo: Gopakumar Sudhakaran

Board #1 second prize - WIM Priyanka Nutakki 4.5/6 75% | Photo: Gopakumar Sudhakaran

Board #1 third prize - WFM Harshini A of Tamil Nadu 3.5/4 75% | Photo: Gopakumar Sudhakaran

Board #2 first prize - GM Sriram Jha of LIC 7.5/8 93.75% | Photo: Gopakumar Sudhkaran

Board #2 first prize - Bala Kannamma P of Tamil Nadu A 6.0/7 85.71% | Photo: Gopakumar Sudhakaran

Board #2 second prize - GM Harsha Bharathakoti of Telangana 7.5/9 83.33% | Photo: Gopakumar Sudhakaran

Board #2 second prize - IM Padmini Rout of PSPB 4.5/6 75% | Photo: Gopakumar Sudhakaran

Board #2 third prize - GM Abhijeet Gupta of PSPB 6.5/8 81.25% | Photo: Gopakumar Sudhakaran

Board #2 third prize - IM Tania Sachdev of Air India 5.0/7 71.42% | Photo: Gopakumar Sudhakaran

Board #3 first prize - GM Karthikeyan Murali of PSPB 6.5/8 81.25% | Photo: Gopakumar Sudhakaran

Board #3 first prize - Sarayu Velpula of Telangana 6.0/7 85.71% | Photo: Gopakumar Sudhakaran

Board #3 second prize - Aradhya Garg of Delhi B 6.5/9 72.22% | Photo: Gopakumar Sudhakaran

Board #3 second prize - IM Soumya Swaminathan of PSPB 3.5/5 70% | Photo: Gopakumar Sudhakaran

Board #3 third prize - GM Swayams Mishra of Air India 6.5/9 72.22% | Photo: Gopakumar Sudhakaran

Board #4 first prize - GM Lalith Babu M R of PSPB 5.5/7 78.57% | Photo: Gopakumar Sudhakaran

Board #4 first prize - WGM Srija Seshadri of AAI 5.0/6 83.33% | Photo: Gopakumar Sudhakaran

Board #4 second prize - IM Rahul Srivasthav P of Telangana 7.0/9 77.77% | Photo: Gopakumar Sudhakaran

Board #4 second prize - WGM Vaishali R of Tamil Nadu B 5.0/6 83.33% | Photo: Gopakumar Sudhakaran

Board #4 third prize - IM D K Sharma of LIC 6.0/8 75% | Photo: Gopakumar Sudhakaran

Board #4 third prize - WGM Meenakshi Subbaraman of Air India 4.5/6 75% | Photo: Gopakumar Sudhakaran

Board #5 first prize - IM Sai Agni Jeevitesh J of AAI 5.0/6 83.33% | Photo: Gopakumar Sudhakaran

Board #5 first prize - WIM Arpita Mukherjee of AAI 4.0/4 100% | Photo: Gopakumar Sudhakaran

Board #5 second prize - GM Swapnil Dhopade of RSPB A 6.0/8 75% | Photo: Gopakumar Sudhakaran

Board #5 second prize - IM Nisha Mohota of PSPB 4.0/5 80% | Photo: Gopakumar Sudhakaran

Board #5 third prize - WIM Mahalakshmi M of Tamil Nadu 5.5/7 78.57% | Photo: Gopakumar Sudhakaran

A special thanks to IA Gopakumar Sudhakaran for sending photos daily and also the entire prize distribution ceremony.

Replay completed games in Open

Replay completed games in Women

Round 9 results in Open

Bo.1  Petroleum SPBRtg-7  Odisha ARtg3 : 1
1.1GM
Adhiban, B.
2654-IM
Sidhant, Mohapatra
23671 - 0
1.2GM
Karthikeyan, Murali
2602-
Sahoo, Utkal Ranjan
23361 - 0
1.3GM
Lalith, Babu M R
2550-
Nayak, Rajesh
2169½ - ½
1.4GM
Sengupta, Deep
2534-
Baivab, Mishra
2206½ - ½
Bo.3  Airports Authority of IndiaRtg-9  Gujarat ARtg4 : 0
2.1IM
Raja, Harshit
2472-
Anadkat, Kartavya
21521 - 0
2.2GM
Puranik, Abhimanyu
2597-
Bhatt, Jalpan
19831 - 0
2.3GM
Visakh, N R
2518-
Trivedi, Karan R
19561 - 0
2.4IM
Sai Agni Jeevitesh, J
2310-
Sinha, Santosh Kumar
19421 - 0
Bo.5  Air India SPBRtg-6  Railways SPB BRtg2 : 2
3.1IM
Satyapragyan, Swayangsu
2403-IM
Krishna, C R G
2443½ - ½
3.2GM
Swayams, Mishra
2485-IM
Das, Sayantan
2426½ - ½
3.3GM
Bakre, Tejas
2425-GM
Thejkumar, M. S.
2438½ - ½
3.4IM
Gokhale, Chandrashekhar
2158-GM
Laxman, R.R.
2432½ - ½
Bo.2  Railways SPB ARtg-4  TelanganaRtg2 : 2
4.1IM
Vignesh, N R
2436-GM
Erigaisi, Arjun
2563½ - ½
4.2IM
Shyaamnikhil, P
2460-GM
Harsha, Bharathakoti
24950 - 1
4.3GM
Deepan, Chakkravarthy J.
2545-FM
Matta, Vinay Kumar
23191 - 0
4.4GM
Swapnil, S. Dhopade
2495-IM
Rahul, Srivatshav P
2474½ - ½
Bo.11  Tamil Nadu ARtg-17  Delhi ARtg1½:2½
5.1
Eshwanth Dev, Kumar J
1850-
Jatinder, Kapoor
15861 - 0
5.2
Sibi, Visal R
2074-
Mayank, Sharma Nandkishore
1711½ - ½
5.3IM
Ramnathan, Balasubramaniam
2200-
Sanchit, Anand
18910 - 1
5.4
Senthil Kumaran, R.P.
1957-
Aansh, Gupta
19000 - 1

Complete results

Final standings in Open

Rk.SNoTeamGames  +   =   -  TB1  TB2  TB3  TB4  TB5 
11Petroleum SPB99001828,50179,5604,3
23Airports Authority of India96211425,00179,5522,0
36Railways SPB B96121324,00175,5484,3
42Railways SPB A95221223,50178,0484,3
54Telangana95221222,00185,5475,8
68Delhi B95221221,50173,0425,3
717Delhi A96031219,00170,5354,5
87Odisha A95131123,00166,0435,3
915Madhya Pradesh95131122,00147,5372,0
105Air India SPB95131121,50181,5439,3

Complete pairings

Round 7 results in Women

Bo.1  Petroleum SPBRtg-8  KeralaRtg4 : 0
1.1WGM
Gomes, Mary Ann
2344-
Anupam, M Sreekumar
17451 - 0
1.2IM
Padmini, Rout
2372-
Anjitha, Krishnakumar
14451 - 0
1.3WIM
Rakshitta, Ravi
2214-
Sheena, E.
17311 - 0
1.4IM
Mohota, Nisha
2191-
Prajeesha, K
14171 - 0
Bo.6  TelanganaRtg-3  Tamil Nadu BRtg1½:2½
2.1
Nanditha, V
1728-WFM
Harshini, A
21940 - 1
2.2
Kheerthi, Ganta
1683-WIM
Varshini, V
2242½ - ½
2.3
Velpula, Sarayu
1867-WGM
Vaishali, R
23831 - 0
2.4
Natura, Bethi
1361-WIM
Mahalakshmi, M
22550 - 1
Bo.2  Air India SCBRtg-7  LICRtg4 : 0
3.1IM
Kulkarni, Bhakti
2404-WGM
Kiran, Manisha Mohanty
21701 - 0
3.2IM
Tania, Sachdev
2397-WGM
Swati, Ghate
21361 - 0
3.3IM
Vijayalakshmi, Subbaraman
2331-
Anagha, Yardi
11541 - 0
3.4WGM
Meenakshi, Subbaraman
2162-WFM
Bindu, Saritha K.
15831 - 0
Bo.4  Airports Authority of IndiaRtg-9  Gujarat ARtg4 : 0
4.1WIM
Priyanka, Nutakki
2212-
Mudaliar, Nandini
15121 - 0
4.2WIM
Aakanksha, Hagawane
2230-
Shah, Kritee
14791 - 0
4.3WIM
Nandhidhaa, P V
2339-WFM
Dhyana, Patel
19611 - 0
4.4WIM
Arpita, Mukherjee
2201-WCM
Patel, Riddhi R
15851 - 0

Complete results

Final standings in Women

Rk.SNoTeamGames  +   =   -  TB1  TB2  TB3  TB4  TB5 
11Petroleum SPB77001421,00104,0346,3
24Airports Authority of India75021021,0098,5272,3
32Air India SCB75021020,00106,5312,0
43Tamil Nadu B75021019,50106,5314,3
55Tamil Nadu A7403816,5094,0223,3
66Telangana7403814,50100,0197,0
711Bihar A6303812,5081,5106,3
89Gujarat A7313715,0098,5201,8
97LIC7313714,0096,5198,8
1013Gujarat D6213713,5078,0108,8

Complete pairings



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