The Hindu : Sport / Chess : Venkatesh lets Kunte off the hook

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Sunday, Dec 05, 2004

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Sport - Chess

Venkatesh lets Kunte off the hook

By P.K. Ajith Kumar

VISAKHAPATNAM, DEC. 4. Abhijit Kunte hasn't lost a game in the National `A' chess championship since the 11th round of the 39th edition, on January 27, 2002. But he nearly did on Saturday, in the opening round of the 42nd edition of the tournament at the Waltair Club here, but a very generous M.R. Venkatesh ensured that his record remained intact for another day.

The talented Chennai teenager somehow allowed second-seeded Kunte, who was staring at certain defeat, to escape with a draw on a day when just two of the seven boards produced decisive results.

The top seed and defending champion Surya Shekhar Ganguly and fellow-Kolkatan Roktim Bandyopadhyay were the two men beginning on a winning note. Ganguly defeated debutant Dronavalli Harika, one of the two girls in India's premier domestic men's championship, while Roktim beat Rahul Shetty, who is returning to the tournament after eight years.

Ganguly also turned out to be the only Grandmaster to post a win, as his close friend and third seed Sandipan Chanda was held by Saptarshi Roy Choudhury, Suvrajit Saha took half a point off former champion Dibyendu Barua in another all-Kolkatan affair, and P. Konguvel signed the peace treaty with Tejas Bakre. The other GM, Koneru Humpy, had a bye today.

Venkatesh, with black pieces, took the advantage against Kunte early on in the Queen's Indian Defence game. White had to pay the price for a couple of weak moves, and was a pawn down by the 23rd move. It was a tough struggle for him after that.

But Venkatesh blundered on the 52nd move. A simple win suddenly turned into a draw by perpetual checks. He'd overlooked the checkmate of his own king, and was forced to give perpetuals. The game lasted 56 moves. "It was a great escape," admitted Kunte. "I played badly from the opening, and there was no hope for me in the game."

Venkatesh said it was too late when he saw the mate. "I was under time pressure, but there was certainly more than one way I could have won today," he said.

Saptarshi appeared slightly better against Sandipan in the final position, after 34 moves of Sicilian Scheveningen. That game finished long before their city-mate Ganguly overcame Harika, the newly-crowned World under-14 champion, in 71 moves of a Reti Opening.

The results (first round): Abhijit Kunte (PSPB) drew with M.R. Venkatesh (PSPB); Saptarshi Roy Choudhury (Ben) drew with Sandipan Chanda (PSPB); Prathamesh Mokal (Mah) drew with Neelotpal Das (PSPB); Dronavalli Harika (AP) lost to Surya Shekhar Ganguly (PSPB); Roktim Bandyopadhyay (Ben) bt Rahul Shetty (IA); Deepan Chakravarthy (TN) drew with Abhijeet Gupta (Raj); Dibyendu Barua (Tisco) drew with Suvrajit Saha (Ben); P. Konguvel (PSPB) drwe with Tejas Bakre (IA); Sundarrajan Kidambi (PSPB) drew with Sriram Jha (LIC); Koneru Humpy (AP) bye.

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