The Hindu : Sport / Chess : Saheli joins Eesha in lead

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Sunday, May 16, 2004

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Sport - Chess

Saheli joins Eesha in lead

By Our Sports Reporter

KOZHIKODE, MAY 15. Eesha Karvade needn't feel lonely at the top any longer. Saheli Nath joined her in the lead on Saturday at the end of the sixth round in the 19th National junior girls' chess championship at the Chess India Complex.

The two have five points each, and half-a-point behind them are eight players. Prominent among them is second seed Tania Sachdev, who finally managed to end her string of disappointing draws when she beat Nimmy George. The others in the joint second position are Kruttika Nadig, Amruta Mokal, S. Nabeela Farheen, Kiran Monisha Mohanty, L. Iswarya Shobana, I. Ramya Krishna and P. Sivasankari.

Saheli played Larsen Attack against K. Lakshmi Praneetha and won in 51 moves. She played correctly and made full use of the mistakes made by her rival under time pressure. Lakshmi lost a couple of pawns, went a rook down and was facing mate when she resigned.

Tania was understandably relieved after her 61-move victory against Nimmy. She opened with Guico Piano and worked diligently on her slight advantage. And for a change today, her rival ran into time trouble. She won quite comfortably in the end as she was three pawns up in a queen-pawn ending. ``Yes, it was nice to win after drawing my last three games,'' she said.

Top-seeded Eesha pressed hard for a full point against P. Sivasankari but had to settle for a draw after 37 moves of Grunfeld Defence on the board. A peace treaty was signed on the second board also as third seed Kruttika Nadig and S. Nabeela Farheen called it a day after 63 moves of Pirc Defence.

Important results (sixth round): P. Sivasankari (TN) 4.5 drew with Eesha Karvade (Mah) 5; Kruttika Nadig (Mah) 4.5 drew with S. Nabeela Farheen (TN) 4.5; Saheli Nath (Ben) 5 bt K. Lakshmi Praneetha (AP) 4; Tania Sachdev (Del) 4.5 bt Nimmy George (Ker) 3.5; I. Ramya Krishna (AP) 4.5 bt Soumya Swaminathan 3.5; L. Iswarya Shobana (TN) 4.5 bt P. Uthra (TN) 3.5; J. Rajasurya (TN) 3.5 lost to Amruta Mokal (Mah) 4.5; Kiran Monisha Mohanty (Ori) 4.5 bt Jennitha Anto (TN) 3.5; R. Gomathy (Capa) 3 lost to N. Raghavi (TN) 4; C. Delphin (TN) 3.5 drew with Dhyani Dave (Guj) 3.5; Kajri Choksi (Guj) 4 bt Saba Aziz Mhate (Mah) 3; Mahima Rajmohan (TN) 3 lost to H. Sowmya (TN) 4; Supriya Maji (Ben) 4 bt Sneha Ghatpande (Mah) 3; Mary Ann Gomes (Ben) 3.5 bt Alka Das (Jha) 2.5; P.K. Jayasrhee (TN) 3 drew with Anjana N. Sowjanya (TN) 3; C.P. Athira (Ker) 2.5 lost to R.K. Shruke (TN) 3.5; Baisakhi Das (Jha) 3 drew with D.S. Manasa Priya (TN) 3; Kiruba H. Arasu (TN) 2.5 lost to M. Rajadarshini (TN) 3.5; R. Aparna (Ker) 2.5 lost to V.K. Sindhu (TN) 3; P. Malar Selvi (TN) 3 bt Payal Mohanty (Ori) 2.

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