::: Star Weekend Magazine :::

Time Out

Our grandmaster neighbour Chess

Indian Grandmaster Dibendiyu Barua is no stranger to us. He played in most of the major tournaments in Dhaka in the eighties and early nineties and also took part in the Metropolis Chess League on a few occasions.

A resident of Kolkata, Barua was born in Chittagong and was the second Indian to become a grandmaster, after Vishwanathan Anand. There was a lot of expectation from him in West Bengal, but the prodigy of the late seventies did not reach world class, though he has always been a strong player.

Barua and Niaz Murshed, the first grandmaster of the subcontinent, were the main contenders for the position of the best player in the region for quite a few years, before Anand appeared on the chess scene. It is really not easy to say who was better at that time, but Niaz certainly had a very good record against the top Indian players. He had to face the likes of IM Raja Ravishekhar, IM TN Parameswaran, GM Pravin Thipsay and IM DV Prasad. These players visited Bangladesh many times. In fact, five Indian players, led by IM Manuel Aaron, participated in the first ever international tournament in Bangladesh, the Silver King, in 1979. As far as I can remember, Parameswaran won the tournament rather comfortably.

Back to Barua. He has always been a difficult opponent, thanks to his rather 'unclear' style. Tactical ending is his strong point. He has outplayed scores of players from apparently lost positions. It is not enough to get a good position against him. You have to succeed in neutralising his tactical counter thrust, mainly in the ending, to get the full point. Not all players could cope with his sharp, counter-punching style.

That said, his opening preparation was perhaps not good enough to succeed at the very top level. But he can still be lethal against lesser mortals!

Barua played very well on the second board of the Indian team in Novi Sad Olympiad, 1990. He outplayed GM Petursson of Iceland on the first day of the event.

White- Dibyendu Barua (2490)
Black- Margeir Petursson(2550) [B06]
Novi Sad Ol (Men), 1990
1.e4 g6 2.d4 d6 3.Nf3 Bg7 4.Nc3 c6 5.a4 Nd7 6.Bc4 e6 7.0–0 Ngf6 8.Re1 0–0 9.Bb3 Qc7 10.h3 a6 11.Bf4 e5 12.Bh2 Nh5 13.Qd2 exd4 14.Nxd4 Re8 15.Rad1 Nc5 16.Ba2 Nf6 17.Qf4 a5 18.Nf3 Be6 19.Bxe6 Nxe6 20.Qxd6 Qb6 21.Qa3 Bf8 22.Bd6 Bxd6 23.Rxd6 Qb4 24.e5 Qxa3 25.bxa3 Nh5 26.Ne4 Re7 27.g3 Kf8 28.Rb1 h6 29.Nfd2 Nhg7 30.Nc4 Nf5 31.Rd3 Ng5 32.Nc5 Nxh3+ 33.Kg2 Ng5 34.Nb6 Rae8 35.Nbd7+ Kg7 36.Rxb7 Nh7 37.Rb6 Rc8 38.f4 g5 39.Kf3 h5 40.Ne4 g4+ 41.Kg2 Re6 42.Ndc5 Re7 43.Nd6 Nxd6 44.Rxd6 Nf8 45.Kf2 Ng6 46.Nd3 Re6 47.Rxe6 fxe6 48.Rb7+ Kh6 49.Nc5 Rd8 50.Nxe6 Rd2+ 51.Ke3 Rg2 52.Nd4 1–0

Position after 20.Qxd6

-PATZER