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| Barua: Overnight leader |
Mumbai: Grandmaster K. Sasikiran joined overnight leaders GM Harikrishna and GM Dibyendu Barua on 4.5 points each to lead the table after the sixth round in the National A chess championship here on Tuesday.
In the women’s section, WIM Nisha Mohota emerged as sole leader with 3.5 points after four rounds. In the fourth round, Nisha accounted for WIM Swati Ghate in 33 moves. Sasikiran outplayed IM Tejas Bakre.
He played King’s Indian attack game with white pieces. During this intense battle, he emerged with better position and finally struck a blow that sealed Bakre’s fate.
In another game, IM Sriram Jha held GM Abhijit Kunte to a draw. The game continued till the 13th move when both players agreed to a draw.
On the other board, the Nimzo-Indian game between IM S. Kidambi and M.R. Venkatesh lasted only 15 moves before they too decided to split the point. G.B. Prakash and Saptarshi Roy Choudhury also ended in a tame draw after 42 moves.
Overnight joint leader GM Harikrishna played the razor sharp Sicilian Pelican against GM Pravin Thipsay. The game turned into a theoretical draw after 44 moves.
GM Barua and IM Neelotpal Das also decided to go for a draw.
In the women’s section also, the day turned out to be a dull one with four boards ending in draws. However, WIM Nisha’s win over WIM Swati and Y. Pratibha’s ousting of Saimera added some colour to the proceedings.
Results:
Men’s (round 6): Lanka Ravi (3.5) bt Prathamesh Mokal (1.5); Dibyendu Barua (4.5) drew with Neelotpal Das (3); G.B. Prakash (2.5) drew with Saptarshi Roy Choudhury (3); R.B. Ramesh (2) bt Suvrajit Saha (2); Sriram Jha (1.5) drew with Abhijit Kunte (4); S. Satyapragyan (2) drew with V. Sarvanan (2); Satchidanand Soman (2.5) bt Arvind Shastry (2.5); S. Kidambi (2.5) drew with M.R. Venkatesh (3.5); Pravin Thipsay drew with Harikrishna (4.5); K. Sasikiran (4.5) bt Tejas Bakre (3.5).
Women’s (round 4): Swati Mohota (1.5) drew with S. Meenakshi (1.5); Tania Sachdev (2.5) drew with J.E. Kavitha (1.5); Eesha Karvade (1.5) drew with R. Aarthie (3); Y. Pratibha (2.5) bt Saimeera (0.5); Nisha Mohota (3.5) bt Swati Ghate (1).
