The Hindu : Sport / Chess : Sasikaran downs Ganguly in PSPB chess

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Sasikaran downs Ganguly in PSPB chess

Udhagamandalam: Super GM Krishnan Sasikaran (ONGC), the tournament’s top seed, outplayed GM Surya Shekhar Ganguly (IOCL) to top the table with five points from as many rounds in the 19th Petroleum Sports Promotion Board inter-unit chess tournament at the Hotel Monarch here on Tuesday.

The nine-round event saw all the players, who had figured in the team event, testing their skills in the rapid-fire format. Players were allowed 25 minutes with an increment of five seconds per move.

On the top board, Sasikaran, playing with the white pieces, chose an off-beat line in the d4 opening and went for an early kill. Preferring not to castle, the ONGC star converted his decisive advantage by going into queen, rook versus rook and bishop and knight ending to steal a point with perfect play in the final seconds.

The second board encounter between IM Sundararajan Kidambi and GM Koneru Humpy was played in a similar opening as in the team event. Kidambi, who messed up a winning chance earlier, played cautiously this time around, to draw the game with perpetual checks.

GM Abhijit Kunte is in the second spot with 4.5 points followed by eight others in the third position with four points apiece.

Important results (fifth round): Krishnan Sasikaran (ONGC) 5 bt S.S. Ganguly (IOCL) 4, S. Kidambi (BPCL) 4 drew with K. Humpy (ONGC) 4, A. Kunte (IOCL) 4.5 bt A. Gupta (BPCL) 3, Neelotpal Das (ONGC) lost to V. Saravanan (BPCL) 4, Lanka Ravi (ONGC) 3 lost to Deep Sengupta (IOCL) 4, R.B. Ramesh (IOCL) 3 lost to Laishram Imocha (OIL) 4, Koshy Varugeese (ONGC) 3 lost to S. Arun Prasad (BPCL) 4, Konguvel Ponnuswamy (ONGC) 4 bt Baruah Utpal (OIL) 3, Dharmeswar Pegu (OIL) 3 lost to M.R. Venkatesh (BPCL) 3.5, Sandipan Chanda (ONGC) 3.5 bt Nisha Mohota (OIL) 2.5.

PSG CAS wins again

PSG College of Arts and Science scored a six-run win over SNR Sons College in the Bharathiar University inter-collegiate inter-zone cricket tournament at the varsity grounds on Tuesday.

The scores: SRKV CAS 182 for five in 25 overs (Karthikeyan 61, Arun Kumar 48) bt GAC (Cbe) 111 in 23.3 overs (Karthikeyan four for 14); PSG CAS 129 for eight in 25 overs bt SNR Sons College 123 for seven in 25 overs.

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