The Golden Salamander

王皓 (Wáng Hào) – Sethuraman Panayappan Sethuraman
1st Sharjah Masters International Chess Championship; Sharjah, March 25, 2017
Spanish Game C88

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. 0-0 Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 0-0 8. a4 Bb7 9. d3 d5 10. exd5 Nxd5 11. Nbd2 f6! 12. axb5 axb5 13. Rxa8 Bxa8 14. c4!?? White goes for tricky adventures (which will soon imply a Pawn sacrifice), since otherwise Black seems to have completely equalised (for instance: 14. Ne4 Na5 15. Ba2 c5=). 14. ... bxc4 15. Nxc4 Kh8 16. d4 Bb4 17. Re4. This was 王皓 (Wáng Hào)’s idea, heading for Black’s King. 17. ... Nde7 18. Rh4 Nf5. Clearly not 18. ... exd4?? on account of 19. Ng5! winning immediately. 19. Rh3 Ncxd4 20. Nxd4 exd4. All White’s hopes vanish: 20. ... Nxd4? 21. Nxe5! fxe5?? 22. Rxh7+ Kxh7 23. Qh5 mate. 21. Qg4. Yet believing. After 21. Qh5 Black gives back his extra Pawn by 21. ... Nh6 22. Bxh6 gxh6 23. Qxh6 Qe7 for securing a clear advantage. 21. ... Nh6?? And a miracle happens! Had Black played 21. ... Qd5! it would almost certainly have been another story. 22. Bxh6 gxh6 23. Rg3 Rg8

24. Nd6!! 1 : 0. For after 24. ... Rxg4 25. Nf7+ Kg7 26. Rxg4+ Kf8 27. Nxd8 White remains a Rook ahead.

Shaking hands before tea time. Photo: Maria Alekseevna Emelianova.

Golden Gang

Sethuraman Panayappan Sethuraman – Nguyễn Huỳnh Minh Huy
Asian Nations Chess Cup; Abu Dhabi, April 5, 2016
Sicilian Defence B42

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 a6 5. Bd3 Qc7 6. 0-0 Nf6 7. Qe2 d6 8. c4 g6 9. Nc3 Bg7 10. Rd1 0-0 11. Nf3 Nc6 12. Bc2. Sethuraman varies from one of his previous games: 12. h3 Nd7 13. Bf4 Nde5 14. Rac1 Bd7 15. b3 Rac8 16. Bb1 Qb8 17. Ne1 f5 18. exf5 gxf5 19. c5 d5 20. Na4 Ne7 21. Nb6 Rcd8 22. Bg5 Bf6 23. Bh6 Bb5 24. Bd3 Bxd3 25. Nxd3 Rf7 26. Nf4 Re8 27. Nxe6 N7g6 28. Nf4 Ng4 29. Qd2 Bg7 30. Bg5 Bf6 31. Bh6 Bg7 32. Bxg7 Nxf4 33. hxg4 Ne2+ 34. Kh1 fxg4 35. Ba1 Qd8 36. Qh6 Re6 37. Qh5 Rxf2 38. Rxd5 Ng3+ 39. Kg1 Qf8 40. Rg5+ 1 : 0 Sethuraman – Gholami, 2nd Qatar Masters Open, Doha 2015. 12. ... Nd7 13. Bf4 Nde5 14. Rac1 Nxf3+ 15. Qxf3 Ne5 16. Qg3 b6 17. b4 Bb7 18. Bb3 Rac8 19. Qe3 Ba8 20. Na4 Rb8 21. c5 dxc5 22. bxc5 b5 23. Nb6 Rfd8 24. h3 Qc6? Vietnamese Grandmaster managed so far to keep under control his opponent’s volatile initiative, but the text move – certainly a mistake – allows a spectacular, in fact decisive shot. Both 24. ... Bb7 and 24. ... Bc6 were reasonable answers.

25. Bd5!! White sacrifices his Bishop for only one Pawn, but obtains a formidable couple of passers in the centre. 25. ... exd5 26. exd5 Qe8 27. c6 Bxc6. Desperation. 28. dxc6 Rxd1+ 29. Rxd1 Qxc6 30. Bxe5 Qxb6. 30. ... Bxe5 31. Nd7 is no better. 31. Bxb8 Qxb8 32. Qe7 1 : 0.

Adhiban Baskaran ‏(@adhibanchess)