Laxman making waves

Raja Ram Laxman is on a roll at the Chennai Open Chess Tournament. The experienced Grandmaster from ICF, Chennai scored his fourth win in a row on Saturday and shared the lead with a handful of foreign GMs and his teammate B Sekar. 

Though his rating has fallen in recent times, the 34-year-old GM is going through the form of his career as he has had a few creditable results in the last five months. First, he finished fifth in the Premier National at Lucknow and then he finished third in the Malaysian Open last month. 

“I make it a point to play four or five events abroad,” said the Chief Office Superintendent at ICF. “ICF allows me to play for 120 days and generally, I pick and choose my events. Dubai is one and Malaysia Open offers good conditions,” added Laxman. 

Laxman turned a Grandmaster in 2009 soon after joining ICF and played in many open international tournaments. His rating (2416) may not do justice to his form but he is a feared rival in national-level tournaments.

On Saturday, he took on 10-year-old Gukesh D, a talented boy from Chennai and won in 47 moves from the black side of a Scotch Game. “He allowed me a strong attack in the centre and my bishop was better than his knight in the open position,” said Laxman, known for his swift moves. 

Laxman’s rook made inroads into the white defence and finally Gukesh gave up when faced with the loss of material. “His King was placed awkwardly which allowed me attacking forays,” said Laxman. 

Italian GM Aleberto David accounted for Kunal M, a former Tamil Nadu champion on the top board in 31 moves of Queens Gambit Declined and Ukrainian GM Adam Tukhaev defeated Saravana Krishnan on the second board to jump into joint lead along with Laxman and Sekar.

Sekar beat Kazakhstan’s Urazayev Arystanbek in the fourth round and Hungarian GM Czebe Attila overcame M Chakravarthy Reddy for shared lead.

(Round 4): Kunal M (Ind) 3 lost to Alberto David (Ita) 4; Adam Tukhaev (Ukr) 4 bt Saravana Krishnan (Ind) 3; Vadim Malakhato (Bel) 4 bt Gulrukhbegim (Uzbekistan) 3; Sidhant Mohapatra (Ind) 3.5 drew with Adam Horvath (Hun) 3.5; Attila Czebe (Hun)  4 bt Reddy Chakravarthy (Ind) 3; Rahul Shetty (Ind) 3.5 drew with Shyamnikhil (INd) 3.5; Saptarshi Roy (Ind) 3.5 drew with M Mahalaxmi (Ind) 3.5; Gukesh (Ind) 3 lost to Laxman (Ind) 4; Vignesh (Ind) drew with Ajgaonkar (Ind) 3.5; Sekar (Ind) 4 bt Arystanbek (Kaz) 3.