The Hindu : Sport / Chess : Humpy holds Sorokin

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Aug 20, 2004

Sport

Sport - Chess

Humpy holds Sorokin

By A. Joseph Antony

VIJAYAWADA, AUG. 19. It was Maxim Sorokin's turn to spring a surprise on Koneru Humpy by forcing a draw in the second round of the Hotel Ilapuram Grandmasters eight-match chess series, for the Krishna Industrial and Agricultural Exhibition Society Krishna Pushkar Festival Trophy, here on Thursday.

The Kings Indian defence that Sorokin employed was a desperate measure to avoid losing. That blunted the initial advantage Humpy had, playing white, but a substantial improvement was lacking from the local girl. Humpy embarked on an unorthodox approach, staying clear of the main line.

Following a rook exchange, the middle game found a symmetrical position in the centre. Both probed the rival's weakness, with little luck though. Moves got repetitive and the game drifted to a draw. After 30 moves, the duo called a truce. The Russian Grandmaster found the contest too long, while Humpy seemed optimistic with half a dozen rounds still to go.

Chandrahawsa wins

In the second round of the International round-robin FIDE-rating chess tournament, Natalia Sorokina suffered her second straight setback, this time at the hands of Koneru Chandrahawsa. Natalia, wife of Grandmaster Sorokin, began with e4, against which Chandrahawsa offered the Sicilian Najdorf variation.

Natalia's loss of a knight weakened her cause considerably, while Chandrahawsa converted the piece-up edge into a convincing win. Humpy's sister meets Asian under-10 champion Y. Sandeep in round three.

D. Sai Srinivas seized the initiative, thanks to K.V.K. Karthik's superfluous move early in their game. The latter lost two pawns and Srinivas moved in for the kill, settling the issue in his favour in 38 moves.

The results (second round): S.K. Khasim 0.5 drew with D. Lakshmana Rao 1.5, Natalia Sorokina 0 lost to K. Chandrahawsa 1, Y. Sandeep 1.5 drew with M.R. Lalith Babu 1.5, J. Malleswara Rao 2 bt S. Bhanupriya 0, G. Muralikrishna 0 lost to M.L.A. Reddy 1, K.V.K. Karthik 1 lost to D. Sai Srinivas 2.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Sport