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The Commonwealth Chess Open in Delhi has sparked off a controversy centred on time controls. Two of India's best women players were involved. The control was 90 minutes plus 30 seconds increment per move starting at move 1, with no additional time at move 40. There was also a 30 minute "grace period" - players could arrive up to half-an-hour after the clock started, without forfeit.
Both provisions are unusual. It is common to have some time add-back on move 41. "Zero tolerance" - where players are forfeited if they are not at the board when clocks start - is also common. The time control was written clearly on the website, and on pairings charts in the tournament hall. But it was apparently announced by the arbiter as "Time control is 90 min+30 seconds from move one and 30 min grace time." which may be mildly confusing.
Chess clocks are often set to run down to 0.00 seconds before time add-back. Hence, at move 40 a player with a little time on his clock may see it run down to zero before add-back. But in this case, run down to 0.00 meant a loss.
In round 1, IM Tania Sachdev flagged out on move 41 after misinterpreting the arbiter's phrasing. In Round 4, GM Koneru Humpy (then on 3/3) reached a winning position against IM Himanshu Sharma (also 3/3). She took a loo break at move 44 and her time ran out.
Humpy complained. She said she did not want her point back but she wanted an apology and clarification of the confusing announcement. She felt unfairly treated at the Appeals Committee meeting and then withdrew, saying she might not play in India again.
At least one witness, Sabrina Chevannes of England (who was an Appeals Committee member) says the world #3 was treated humiliatingly. The backstory is that Humpy has a rocky relationship with the AICF. Incidentally, Abhijeet Gupta won with an impressive 8/9.
Meanwhile Yu Yangyi won the 50th Capablanca Memorial, with 7/10. Dmitry Andreikin and Pavel Eljanov shared 2-3 with 5.5 each. At Dortmund, Vladimir Kramnik and Liviu Dieter Nisipeanu lead with 3 from 4 rounds. Caruana is on 2.5 - he started with a loss to Wesley So, who is on 1.5.
The DIAGRAM, White to play (White: Yu,Yangyi Vs Black: Dominguez Perez, Leinier Havana 2015) was a classic finish. White played 29.Nd5! Qc5 If 29...exd5 30.exd5+ Kd8 31.Qe8+ Kc7 32.Qxf7 with Ne6+ /Qxd7 to come. Play continued 30.Nxe6!! Qxe3 31.Ng7+ Bxg7 32.fxg7 Qxb3+ 33.cxb3 Rg8 34.Ne3! Bxe4+ 35.Ka1 Kd8 36.Nc4 d5 37.Nd6 Rxg7 38.Rxd5? Rxg3? Black could go 38...Bxd5 39.Re8+ Kc7 40.Rxc8+ Kb6 41.Bf2+ Ka5 - about equal. Now white finishes with 39.Nxe4 Rg6 40.Red1 Rc7 41.Nc5 Rxc5 42.Rxc5 (1-0, 49 moves)
Devangshu Datta is an internationally rated chess and correspondence chess player
