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Akshat

Chess in Novi Sad, Serbia

After the Italian leg, it was time to go to Serbia!  

Serbia, here I come !

Serbia is a special place for Chess.  Everyone appears to know chess.  Even the cab drivers talk about chess.  Serbia is no longer the force it used to be in Chess.  The war, newer job opportunities, and the present slow economy (as I was told) has taken its toll.  I learnt there is much less government support for the chess game now.  But Chess lives in Serbian hearts.  At one time Serbia had the highest ratio of Chess Grandmasters (GM)/Population of any country.  I visited Belgrade, and then headed out to Novi Sad for the "3rd International Chess Championship of Vojvodina 2012."  We stayed near the market square area.  It's a rectangular-shaped area with a beautifully constructed soaring Gothic architecture Church at one end, accompanied with many old-style elegant architecture buildings around the rectangle.  Well, I liked the section of Novi Sad where we stayed.  It's pretty, plenty of restaurants, and attracts a lot of young people in the evenings - it's a popular meeting area.  This part of the city is alive with parties going strong all night till early hours of the morning.  And if a soccer game or a tennis match featuring the popular Serbian tennis ace Novak Djokovic is going on, then the noise gets real loud.  Restaurants put out tables and chairs in the promenade with big television screens, and everyone has a blast.  English is not widely spoken, but you always end up finding someone who could talk sufficient English. 

Nice and Warm - Novi Sad

God, I look like a duck in this :)

The Waving Two!

The chess tournament was held in a medical college on the street, Gagarinova, named after the famous Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, the first human in space.  Days were real hot as Summer was at its peak.  The ratio of higher to lower rated chess players wasn't fantastic from my standpoint, but if you could beat the lower rated you were rewarded with a higher rated opponent the next round (most of the time).  My ELO was 2155 in this tournament.  In the first round, I was paired with a local boy Grcic Vukasin, a young 9 year old player.  His father was also playing, and was on the next board.  During the game, my opponent kept smiling at me and was moving quite fast.  So I inferred that he has some preparation in this Opening and knows what he's doing.  For all I know he may be a local chess legend and has seen it all.  So that thought made me quickly get pinned to the chair, and I focused hard, gaining an advantage and fairly quickly finishing the game with a striking blow.  When we were recording the chess result, Grcic again smiled big and I realized that he was just a friendly guy.  His father told me later, that since I was a fairly high-rated youngster, my opponent was just excited and happy to play with me and wanted me to be his buddy (even though my buddy didn't speak any English).  It was Grcic's first rated chess tournament.  :o)

Chess Tournament Begins.  Round 1 - Akshat Chandra and the merry Grcic Vukasin. I give the cameraman, the "Death Stare"

In R2, I was paired with IM Dejan Leskur and it was an uneventful Draw.  Next was Vladimir Klasan, a 2345 Elo rated player.  This game was absolutely nuts and very long.  I got a superior position out of the Opening.  But then I surrendered the advantage with one weak move that shifted the initiative to Vladimir.  It cost me a Pawn, but I was confident that I can turn the tables on Vladimir as he was getting into time trouble.  I sacrificed another Pawn to proceed into an endgame, where my King was extremely active with chances of a mating net while the opponent's pieces were uncoordinated.  As I had anticipated, Vladimir blundered and I went on to further simplify the game.  I began tightening my grip on the game, and was an exchange up.  It was 2 pawns for Vladimir Vs my Knight and a Pawn.  Right then the blunder came - this time it was mine.  I had to stop Vladimir's Pawn immediately, two squares from Queening, and then move the King.  Instead I reversed the sequence.  Consequently, his Pawn became a square away from Queening and I'd to devote my Knight to guard the Pawn.  The right sequence was to block first and then move my King to defend my white Pawn on 5th rank.  I played on for quite some time trying to hope for a mistake from him, but it was almost impossible to make one.  I had just blown the game!  Not the first time, and it a'int going to be the last.  Had to move on - Chess teaches you that.  I settled for a disappointing Draw :( .   A tiring game!  

Waiting for the opponent! Chess Pieces on the ready

Here he is!  Akshat Chandra and IM Dejan Leskur playing Chess R2.

Waiting and smiling while I can.  Akshat Chandra and Vladimir Klasan
waiting to begin Chess Round 3

Akshat Chandra and Vladimir Klasan.
It was a 5-hour long Chess game!

Akshat Chandra and Vladimir Klasan.  The Final Position!
Chess Chief Arbiter IA Boban Milojevic signed the sheet.

In the 4th round I was paired with GM Goran Kosanovic.  I was better out of the Opening, but I didn't attack.  I kind of just developed and waited for him to create some weaknesses.  We went into a chess endgame where I was completely passive.  It might have been tenable, but after 2 hours I just gave up.  It was disappointing, since I didn't really put up a strong fight.  The next round was with a lower rated, ELO 1975, and I won that without any issues.  In the 6th round, I played with a local chess player Nenad Dimitrijevic, who had an ELO of 2255.  I tried to complicate the game for him by sacrificing a Pawn for open lines on the queenside - kind of like the Volga Gambit chess idea.  But it wasn't enough and after exchanging all the queenside pawns, we simplified into a 4 Vs 4 rook endgame and Drew.  The next round I got paired with a 1795, which was really surprising and disappointing since I was expecting a higher-rated chess player.  There was not much to do that morning in terms of preparation.  So I just walked around with my Dad around the city, and then showed up to play.  It was a fairly comfortable win.  

Akshat Chandra and GM Goran Kosanovic in Chess Round 4 

Akshat Chandra playing Dragan Milisevic in Chess Round 5,
and being observed by friend Magnus ;-)

Akshat Chandra and Nenad Dimitrijevic in Chess Round 6.
You can see Andrew Stone from England next to me.
Andrew is a teacher and a strong chess player who had braved
the Serbian Summer to play here.

Deep Chess Thinking, but couldn't breakout.
Akshat in round 6.

Akshat beating the Novi Sad July heat!

In the penultimate round, I was paired with a Chess FM Milenko Pucarevic.  Milenko showed up in a straw hat and a blue sleevelet, and I nicknamed him "Cowboy."  Milenko started the Chess game with a 1.b4 opening!  Now that was really surprising.  Milenko sacrificed a pawn early on and then couldn't get his compensation.  I had to be very careful, and after some accurate calculations I built my position up and finally lassoed Milenko.  It was a fun win!  The chess tournament was coming to an end, and in the final round I was paired with IM Lazar Nestorovic.  He surprised me in the opening.  I began to play quite weirdly, as I was desperate for some play.  IM Lazar made a mistake in the middlegame, and that put me a bit ahead.  But he had two Bishops, which were not be compromised that day.  Without a compelling advantage, I didn't have much choice but to repeat moves.  My final chess game of this tournament was a Draw.

Akshat Chandra and FM Milenko Pucarevic 'Cowboy' in Chess Round 8

The final game of the Chess tournament -
Akshat Chandra playing IM Lazar Nestorovic

 Not much of a chance to breakout.  This Chess game ended in a Draw
 

I finished the tournament with 6/9, which was good enough to get me a runner-up prize in the U16 section.  I got a chess set, and a FIDE digital timepiece (from a Blitz edition earlier).  Not a bad haul, I would say :-) .  It was time to move on.  The next morning my Dad and I took the bus back to Belgrade, where we met my brother and Mom - after close to 2 months.  It felt really good meeting them.  If you ever happen to be in Belgrade, do take a quick trip to Novi Sad church square.  You'll like it.

Akshat Chandra with Chief Organizer GM Sinisa Drazic (behind me),
receiving the Chess Tournament Prize for U16

Midnight Chess Blitz session with Chief Arbiter IA Boban Milojevic with Nikola watching us.
Boban is a good chess player and a good arbiter :)

My first round chess opponent and now buddy, Grcic

Akshat Chandra with Miriam, chess organizer, who
used to often drop-us off at our hotel after late night games.
Everyone was great.

Akshat sharing smiles with Branislav Popovic and Nikola Blagojevic, 
who were staying in the same hotel

Coming soon to your TV - the Fab 4!
Can you spot me?  :-)

These billboards are filled with cool guys!

Chess in Braunau, Austria

The final chess tournament of my European Summer 2012 trip was in the small city of Branau Am Inn, Austria.  The weather was great during early August.  The great thing about the Braunau Open Chess Tournament was its high concentration of chess Grandmasters (GMs) - most of the higher rated players above me were GMs!  The organizers should be credited with being able to attract 9 GMs and 4 International Masters (IMs), out  of a total of 40 players.  This is what attracted me to this chess tournament - the opportunity to play some highly-experienced and titled players.  I must say the experience was great!  Although I played with only 3 GMs and not more, that was my mistake.  

Here starts the first chess round - 
Akshat Chandra and Dr. Stefan Berger 

The first round was with a local opponent who had a lower ELO, but was quite strong and it definitely wasn't an easy game.  In the next round, I played with Indian GM Neelotpal Das.  I was playing White.  We went into a line which I was fairly comfortable with and after shuffling the pieces around for a while I moved further into a line of attack which looked quite promising.  After all, who doesn't like advancing pawns towards the opponent's King :)  GM Das offered me a Draw and I realized that my line of attack was not going to materialize into anything concrete as he had adequate counterplay.  After a 20-minute think, I accepted the Draw offer.  A self-analysis later in my room confirmed this with a 0.00 evaluation.  

Next round I was up against the Senior World Chess Champion GM Vladimir Okhotnik. Oldest vs Youngest!  There was a lot to play here for.  

Akshat Chandra and GM Vladimir Okhotnik.  The game was
watched by the Deputy Mayor Sonja Loeffler, 
organizer Gerhard Berger, and Addy (white Tees)

GM Okhotnik misplayed the opening and I had a dominating advantage.  Unfortunately, I missed the win and messed up the middle-game.  Oh, how painful it was.  Anyhow, we went into a rook endgame which I misplayed again (not good), but luckily I managed to reach Philidor's position which is like the elementary ABC of rook endgames.  I was relaxed now since I knew this was a Draw, and the Phildor position in Chess is something which a player at my level knows fairly comfortably.  But I didn't realize there is an impulsive child lurking in my head.  I just wanted to get the game over with now, since it was a straight-forward Draw.  The first mistake was when I moved my Rook away from the 6th rank - oh, how impulsive.  That vaporized the chance of a simple Draw.  The easiest way for a Draw was just to leave the Rook on the 6th rank.  When GM Okhotnik placed his rook on the 6th rank, I moved my King up without thinking.  Yes, without thinking!  Really, this was a weak and silly move, as I assumed I would still be able to hold the Phildor position.  I just didn't think.  The GM's King came back to where it was and suddenly it hit me that I had  committed a serious error of judgement.  Psychologically I broke down.  That breakdown was the second mistake, because there was still an opportunity to Draw if I had stayed calm.  Even though things were now a bit complicated, a Draw was still possible.  I just didn't realize the possibility, and unfortunately resigned.  Extremely crushing since it was such a golden opportunity, and I wasn't outplayed by GM Okhotnik.  I went from a potential Win, to a straight-forward Draw, to a devastating Loss.  I wanted to highlight this game because there were lots of lessons I learnt from this one chess game.  The Game A'int Over Till We Give Up.  Perhaps some fellow chess players who read can avoid the composure mistakes that I made.  

Thereafter, everything was a bit of struggle.  Was it fatigue of being out on-the-road for many weeks or just a tired mind after a crushing loss.  Perhaps a combination.  My Chess was not sharp anymore.  Next round I barely managed to beat a lower rated - the win felt good because I could bounce back.  I then played GM Sergey Kasparov.  Unfortunately I couldn't prevail - I wasn't calculating deep enough and missing things which I shouldn't have overlooked.  It was getting hard to even think deep.  In other words, the message was clear - it was time to rest and recharge.

Johann Maierhofer playing with Akshat Chandra.
I missed a clever move by him.  He had been requesting Draws
 and my slip-up gave him a Win.  Well, good for him.

I muddled through the rest of the tournament with some uninspiring games.  The final tournament of my European trip was not the going-out-with-a-bang kind.  Despite my tournament not going well, it was a good experience overall.  

The organizers, Norbert Fruhauf and Gerhard Spiesberger were very helpful and polite, and were always ready to assist us.  It felt like so many people of this small-town got involved, including the families of organizers, in order to make this tournament a great success.  Braunau had never seen such a high-level tournament before, and the organizing team did a wonderful job.  They made the city proud.  I would strongly recommend and hope that they continue this wonderful tournament in future years.  It's not easy to do such a big tournament in a small town, and of course it means a lot of hard work.  But it was an outstanding tournament.

Akshat Chandra and Aditya 'Addy' Chandra with organizers
Norbert Fruhauf and Gerhard Spiesberger.  Well Done Norbert and Gerhard! 

I and my family left for Munich thereafter for sometime, and eventually headed home.  Many of my friends from Europe have been in touch.  A few of them played in the World Olympiad in Turkey in Aug-Sep 2012.  I wish them luck!

As a side note, we had a bad experience at the local Hotel Neussl also called Hotel AM Theater Park.  So if you ever go to Braunau, do not stay at Hotel AM Theater Park or Hotel Neussl - it's a crazy place.

The trophies were beautiful

GM Panchanathan Magesh Chandran - the tournament winner.
His style of play - it ain't over till the last game.

With little Ms. Berger (Caroline, I think that's how you spell it :) 
- isn't she sweet like a strawberry

With the kind and helpful Berger family

It's me, Akshat, with GM Medvegy Zoltan and WFM Emese Balogh.
Emese was so kind and wonderful to us throughout the tournament. 

Brothers - Akshat and Aditya

Aditya 'Addy' playing with Helmut Stohr

Getting ready to play blitz - the genial GM Magesh vs Akshat.

Merrymaking in Munich!  Akshat and Aditya.

Forni Di Sopra...Scenic Chess

Next stop after Ortisei ... Forni Di Sopra!  Forni Di Sopra is a small, lush village, located in the Dolomite region.  It's very scenic with open views, and a beautiful place for a Chess tournament.  The ride to Forni Di Sopra from Ortisei itself was quite scenic and I must say long - we changed 4 trains in different cities.  

Took 4 trains to get to Forni from Ortisei

Captivating scenery during the train rides

Once we settled into our wonderful hotel, my Dad and I would bike up into the hills and soak in the serenity.  I'd collect my thoughts and try to visualize my chess game.  It was very peaceful, and gave me a unique sense of power.  The best part of the biking trip was coming downhill (guess, the worst part :-) ) on the curvy road.  Although, I did have a scary moment when at a blind curve a deer jumped from thick tree cover right in-front of my bike.  I don't know who was more alarmed - the deer or me.  But I bet we were both glad we could go our own ways without getting hurt.  And I didn't fall off my bike, although I did go zig-zaggy for a few yards.  Phew!  

Enjoying the beautiful surroundings

Coming Uphill.  During downhill I had the Deer encounter

Well, after this wild & exciting encounter, things got even more exciting as the Chess tournament got underway.  For me the first game was the only one of real significance in this chess tournament.  The round was to begin at 4pm, and the first round pairings were posted at the venue about 3:45pm, 15 minutes before.  I was to play Black against GM Korneev Oleg (2585).  I took a quick look at his chess games and went over in my head on what I will like to do.  I entered the hall at 4pm, and quickly stole a look again at the Chess pairing list to confirm my table number.  What!  The pairing had been changed and now I was playing as White against GM Pavel Tregubov (2595) from Russia.  My first thought was Wow - I got an almost 2600 rated GM.  The highest rated player I've played so far.  Then I realized that I had the wrong game plan in mind for the pairing and color had been changed at the very last minute.  Kind of shocking.  Well, there was no time to look over any chess games or develop a new plan, and so I tried to keep a cool mind as I walked to table #2.  GM Pavel Tregubov was the second seed in the tournament.  As I sat down, I found myself in good company.  Next to me was the top seed on Table #1, GM Ivan Salgado Lopez from Spain.  So I was in great company with the top seed next to me and the second seed infront of me :-) 

Just learnt my new pairing with GM Pavel

Here we go!  It's a 4pm start for the first round of Chess.
You can see my now famous seat cushions :-)

The Opening Chess Move - Akshat Vs GM Pavel Tregubov

I remembered what my coach and friend had said in the past.  "Try and attack higher rated Chess players; they usually don't feel good when lower rated show they are not scared."  That's good advise for those who find themselves in my kind of pairing situation.  Well, that's exactly what I did!  I was fairly confident after the opening and from the 12th move itself I declared my intentions that I was going all the way, and not trying to hide under the table or build a fortress.  Also I knew the pressure was on him, since I had nothing to lose.  GM Pavel appeared to crack under the pressure and made an inaccurate exchange sacrifice, typical for the Sicilian (not the inaccurate part!) but not really working on the board at that time.  

A lot of chess thinking.  You can see the bearded GM Ivan Lopez,
top seed and eventual winner

I'm not teasing chess GM Pavel :-)  just thinking hard

As the game progressed, we were the only ones left
(Akshat Chandra Vs GM Pavel Tregubov)

Through the entire game, I'd GM Pavel rooted to his chair.  I managed to exchange queens and  trade down further to a winning endgame where I had Rook+Rook Vs Rook+Bishop and few pawns.  I was now so excited that I could not think straight - and I wasn't able to find the elusive win.  We spent 3 hours in that endgame, with me trying to find the Win.  I must say that after earlier slip-ups, GM Pavel did a good job of defending accurately and making it difficult for me.  After we reached 40 moves and gained additional time, I was now replenished with energy.  I was sure I could finish this chess game favorably.  But unfortunately, no matter how hard I calculated, I couldn't find a Win.  After 6 hours I came up short with a Draw.  

At about 10pm, Akshat and GM Pavel were
still going at our chess match

When we signed the notation sheets at the end, I was experiencing mixed feelings.  On one side, I was feeling disappointed for not winning.  It was the biggest chess game of my life so far, and I had a 2600 Russian GM on the ropes with everything in my control.  But it didn't end the way I visualized.  On the other side, I was feeling relieved and happy that I managed to outplay him even though the result was a Draw.  This proved to me that I could take on anyone in Chess, no matter how good s/he was ;-)  

The rest of the chess tournament had its typical ups-and-downs.  Overall, good experience.  The organizers were nice, particularly IM Martha Fierro and Nadia.  In one of the tournament publications I was referred to as the Tournament Tiger.  Grrrr!  :-)

The official picture from the tournament publication of 'Akshat the Tiger' :-)

At the end of the tournament we were talking to GM Ivan Lopez who saw my first game as he was sitting next to me.  He congratulated me on the game and told me next time I need to Win.  He mentioned that he just loves the game and doesn't like to prepare too much before the game.  The best thing is to think at the board, and not clutter your head before the game with different analysis and opening reviews.  Now here is some good advise from an experienced top-class Chess player.  Just go and play Chess.  That's GM Ivan Lopez's style and it works well for him.  Thanks Ivan!

Akshat with the winner of Chess tournament in Forni, GM Ivan Lopez

This tournament concluded my Italian leg of Chess tournaments, and I went on to other countries to play Chess.  I love Italia and I hope I'll be back soon to play Chess.
________________________________
In the pictures, I write my name along with the name of fellow players.  So instead of saying "GM Lopez and me," I say "GM Lopez and Akshat," etc.  Can you guess why?  Well, I do that because search engines will simply pick up the image with the tag "GM Lopez and me."  That "me" is Akshat, which is never mentioned.  Now we know names of all characters in the pictures.  Problem solved!  :-)

Akshat Chandra and Axel Rombaldoni, a brilliant young Italian player.
I remember Axel was 6/6 at the World Junior 2011.  Wow!

Akshat Chandra, with the smart and helpful IM Martha Fierro
- doesn't Martha have the glimpse of The Great One in Chess 'Susan Polgar'

My Quest is a long road...but I'm ready to RUN to the end!

Akshat at the award ceremony with the special guests from Italy

Winter's must be beautiful, with snow-capped peaks

A light moment at the restaurant - what was that, a Rabbit for Lunch!
No Kiddin'!