Australia defeated a tough and strong India national squad in the finals to win the Open Division of the Asian Nations Online Cup which concluded on Oct. 25, at the chess.com playing server. India, however, prevailed convincingly over Indonesia to take the gold in the Women’s Division.
The Australia-India fight in the Open was close, with the Aussies winning the first match by the skin of their teeth, 2½-1½, and then holding the draw, 2-2, in the second and final match.
The Indian ladies, in contrast, crushed Indonesia in their two finals matches with identical 3-1 tallies.
The Australia Open team is made up of GMs Anton Smirnov, Temur Kuybokarov, Max Illingworth, Moulthun Ly and IM James Morris. The India Women team is composed of IMs Rout Padmini and Bhakti Kulkarni, and WGMs R Vaishali, PV Nandhidhaa and Mary Ann Gomes.
Smirnov, A (2367)-Adhiban, B (2624) [A00]
chess.com (5.1) 2020
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 e5 7.Nde2 Be6 8.g3 d5 9.exd5 Nxd5 10.Bg2 Nxe3 11.Qxd8+ Kxd8 12.fxe3 Nc6 13.0-0-0+ Ke8 14.Nd5 Rc8 15.Nec3 h5 16.Nb6 Rd8 17.Rxd8+ Nxd8 18.Nbd5 Bc5 19.b4 Ba7 20.Rd1 Bb8 21.Ne4 h4 22.Nc5 hxg3 23.hxg3 Rh2 24.Rd2 e4 25.Bxe4 Rxd2 26.Kxd2 Bxg3 27.Nxe6 fxe6 28.Nc3 Bd6 29.a3 Ke7 30.Ne2 a5 31.c3 axb4 32.axb4 Nc6 33.Bxc6 bxc6 34.Nd4 Kd7 35.Nf3 Ke7 36.Nd4 Kd7 37.Nf3 Ke7 38.Ng5 Kf6 39.Ne4+ Ke5 40.Nxd6 Kxd6 41.c4 Ke5 42.Ke2 Ke4 43.Kf2 Ke5 44.Kg3 Kf5 45.Kf3 e5 46.e4+ Kg5 47.b5 cxb5 48.cxb5 Kf6 49.b6 1-0
Illingworth, M (2498)-Sethuraman, SP (2588) [A00]
chess.com (5.3) 2020
1.d4 d5 2.Bf4 c5 3.e3 Nc6 4.Nf3 Nf6 5.Nbd2 Nh5 6.dxc5 Nxf4 7.exf4 Qa5 8.c4 e6 9.a3 Qxc5 10.Bd3 Be7 11.0-0 Qd6 12.g3 0-0 13.Rc1 Bd7 14.c5 Qc7 15.b4 Bf6 16.Qc2 g6 17.Rfe1 b5 18.Bxb5 Nxb4 19.axb4 Bxb5 20.Nb3 Rab8 21.Qd2 Bc4 22.Na5 Rfd8 23.Ne5 Bb5 24.Qd4 Bg7 25.h4 f6 26.Nf3 Re8 27.Re3 Qf7 28.Rce1 a6 29.Qd2 Bd7 30.Nb3 Bf8 31.Ra1 Bb5 32.Nbd4 Bc4 33.Qe1 Qb7 34.Rxe6 Qf7 35.Rxe8 Rxe8 36.Qd2 Qb7 37.f5 Re4 38.Qc3 Qe7 39.Kg2 gxf5 40.Nxf5 Qe6 41.Ne3 Bb5 42.Nd4 Qe5 43.Nxb5 d4 44.Nxd4 Rxd4 45.Rxa6 Qe4+ 46.Kh2 1-0
Kuybokarov, T (2134)-Nihal, S (2418) [A00]
chess.com (6.2) 2020
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.Nf3 Nc6 5.c4 cxd4 6.Nxd4 dxc4 7.Nxc6 Qxd1+ 8.Kxd1 bxc6 9.Bxc4 Bf5 10.Nc3 e6 11.Be3 Bb4 12.Rc1 Ne7 13.Ke2 0-0 14.a3 Bxc3 15.Rxc3 Nd5 16.Bxd5 cxd5 17.b4 d4 18.Bxd4 Rfd8 19.Ke3 h6 20.Rhc1 a6 21.Rc6 Kh7 22.R1c5 Rd7 23.Rd6 Rb7 24.Ra5 Rc8 25.Bc5 f6 26.exf6 gxf6 27.Raxa6 Kg6 28.a4 h5 29.h4 Rf7 30.a5 e5 31.Rac6 Ra8 32.a6 Bd7 33.Rc7 Bb5 34.Rxf7 Kxf7 35.a7 Bf1 36.g3 Kg6 37.Rd7 Kf5 38.Rb7 Ke6 39.Rb8 Bg2 40.b5 Kd7 41.b6 1-0
Aulia, MW (2344)-Padmini, R (2355) [A00]
chess.com (5.2) 2020
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.c3 d6 6.h3 a6 7.Ba4 b5 8.Bb3 Bb6 9.0-0 0-0 10.Re1 Ne7 11.Nbd2 Ng6 12.Nf1 Nh5 13.d4 Nhf4 14.Ne3 c6 15.Nf5 Qf6 16.Bc2 Rb8 17.Be3 h6 18.Kh2 Bc7 19.g3 Ne6 20.Kg2 Bb7 21.Nh2 Qd8 22.Ng4 d5 23.h4 exd4 24.cxd4 c5 25.dxc5 dxe4 26.Ngxh6+ gxh6 27.Nxh6+ Kg7 28.Nf5+ Kf6 29.Bg5+ Nxg5 30.hxg5+ Kxf5 31.Qf3+ Kxg5 32.Bxe4 Bxe4 33.Rxe4 Kh6 34.Qc3 Nf4+ 35.gxf4 Rg8+ 36.Kf3 Qh4 37.f5 Qh5+ 38.Ke3 Rbe8 39.Qf6+ Kh7 40.Rh1 Rxe4+ 41.Kxe4 Qxh1+ 42.Kd3 Rd8+ 43.Kc3 Qc1+ 44.Kb3 Qc4+ 0-1
Sukandar, IK (2381)-Vaishali, R (2149) [A00]
chess.com (6.1) 2020
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 g6 4.0-0 Bg7 5.Bxc6 bxc6 6.Re1 Nh6 7.c3 0-0 8.h3 d5 9.d3 f6 10.Be3 Qd6 11.Qa4 c4 12.exd5 cxd3 13.dxc6 Nf7 14.Nbd2 Nd8 15.Qc4+ Be6 16.Bf4 Bxc4 17.Bxd6 exd6 18.Nxc4 Nxc6 19.Rad1 d5 20.Ne3 Rab8 21.b3 Ne7 22.Rxd3 Rbc8 23.Nxd5 Nxd5 24.Rxd5 Rxc3 25.Re7 Bh6 26.Rxa7 Bf4 27.Rd1 Bc7 28.Rb7 Rf7 29.Kf1 h5 30.h4 Kg7 31.Nd4 Kh6 32.Nb5 Rc2 33.Rxc7 Rfxc7 34.Nxc7 Rxc7 35.Ke2 g5 36.Rd6 Kg6 37.hxg5 Kxg5 38.a4 Rc2+ 39.Ke3 Rb2 40.Rb6 Ra2 41.Rb5+ Kg4 42.a5 f5 43.Rb4+ Kg5 44.Ra4 f4+ 45.Kf3 Rb2 46.Ra3 1-0
*******
PUZZLERS
WHITE TO MOVE,
MATE IN TWO.
The key to our last problem is 1.Qg4!, and Black’s futile options are: 1…Be7, Rf8/g8/h8 2.Qxe6#; 1…Bf6, Kd5 2.Qe4#; 1…Bg5+/c7/b6/a5, Re7 2.Q(x)g5#; 1…Kf6 2.Qg7#./PN
