Abu Dhabi: It was a bad day for Odisha players at the Abu Dhabi Masters chess tournament here Wednesday as both Siddhant Mohapatra and Padmini Rout lost their first round matches. However, FIDE Master VS Rathanvel scored a sensational victory over top rated Grandmaster Le Quang Liem of Vietnam to restore India’s pride.
The opening day saw many upsets but Rathanvel was a class act in demolishing the Vietnamese GM rated 2,727. The close to 400 rating difference did not deter the Indian to go for the kill when it mattered the most and his bravery was duly rewarded.
For the records, it was a Caro Kann advance where the Vietnamese played black and the tense middle game saw Rathanvel sacrificing his rook for a minor piece for central dominance.
Liem faced a predicament in the middle game when there was an unconditional repetition of moves on offer and he chose to play what looked like an inferior endgame. Rathanvel shattered the King’s position with a timely blow and his Queen and Bishop combined to net him his biggest victory thus far. The game lasted 59 moves.
Siddhant was beaten by Wang Hao of China in game that lasted 42 moves while Padmini was outplayed by Vladimir Fedoseev of Russia. A poor endgame saw Padmini losing her match.
Young Sankalp Gupta also came out with a good effort to hold local star AR Salem Saleh to a creditable draw. Saleh probably missed a win with his clock ticking away but Sankalp found his defense when he needed it.
Highest-rated Indian Abhijeet Gupta, meanwhile, scored a regulation victory over compatriot Shailesh Dravid out of a King’s Indian defence game.
The other Indian Grandmasters in fray had a decent start otherwise as Aravindh Chithambaram, SL Narayanan, MR Lalith Babu and Aryan Chopra coasted to expected victories.
In other big upsets caused by Indians, VS Raahul and Dinesh Kumar Sharma came up with splendid results winning against the Iranian Grandmaster duo of Idani Pouya and Amin Tabatabaei respectively.