Kunte is king

By Raghunandan Gokhale

MUMBAI, JUNE 6. Grandmaster Abhijit Kunte (13.5) of Petroleum Sports Control Board won the Reliance Industries sponsored 37th National `A' chess championship organised by Maharashtra Chess Association here. Abhijit's teammate and fellow Grandmaster, K. Sasikiran (12.5), won the second prize ahead of GM Dibyendu Barua (11.5) of TISCO.

Seventeen-year-old Suryasekhar Ganguly (11) of Goodricke National Chess Academy, Calcutta will be the youngest face in the Indian team for the World Chess Olympiad, Istanbul (Turkey). IM D.V. Prasad (10) clinched the fifth berth on a better tie break. Harikrishna, the 14-year-old boy wonder from Andhra Pradesh, surprised everybody by standing sixth in his maiden attempt. He will be in the Indian team if Viswanathan Anand decides to skip the Olympiad.

Grandmaster Abhijit Kunte (13.5) was given a special prize of Rs. 5,000 by the Sports Journalist Association of Mumbai apart from his Rs. 24,000 purse from the organisers. Abhijit, the only unbeaten player in the championship had a bye today but was present at the hall from the morning to encourage his PSCB team mates.

``I am thrilled to win this strongest ever National championship and that too in my home State, said the 23-year-old from Pune. Abhijit, who won the National at Bhilai (MP) in 1997, said that his win over Ganguly in this championship was his best effort.

``I will be playing in the Grandmaster tournament at Hyderabad next month,'' Abhijit said about his future plans. ``I have not yet decided about participating in the British championships,'' he added.

Barua defeats Sandipan Chanda

Sandipan Chanda (9) had to win his last round game against GM Dibyendu Barua. The 17-year-old Chanda had beaten his mentor, Barua, recently at the Chalapathy tournament at Guntur (AP). This gave the experienced GM an opportunity to pay back Chanda's dues as well as finish the championship on a winning note.

GM Barua had already assured himself a place in the Indian squad and so could play freely today. On the other hand, Sandipan was desperate for a win. He opened with a rarely played move, 2) b4 in the Reti opening. By avoiding the book, Sandipan played into the hands of Barua, who is not a theoretician himself.

The inexperienced Sandipan made matters worse by keeping his own king in the center and throwing his pieces at Barua in desperation. Barua countered effectively to pocket the point with a king-side attack.

D.V. Prasad (10) was pitted against IM Suryasekhar Ganguly with the disadvantageous black pieces. He decided not to take chances against the National `B' champion and agreed for an early draw.

``I know that if Thipsay or Saravanan win, I will be out of the team, but I have to take the chance,'' said the Arjuna Award winner from Bangalore.

His gamble paid off as both Thipsay and Saravanan failed to win their last round encounters.

Thipsay and Saravanan fumble

GM Pravin Thipsay (10) faltered at the final step after producing back-to-back sparkling wins. It was IM Prasad's PSCB team mate IM Lanka Ravi (6) who stood in Thipsay's way. Ravi surprised Thipsay with his first move 1) e5. Thipsay tried to give counter surprise by opting for four-knights-defence and got an excellent position, according to IM Sharad Tilak. However, Ravi played solidly and forced Thipsay to share the point after 24 moves.

Saravanan found his English Attack in Sicilian Defence countered effectively by veteran IM K. Murugan. The BPCL officer from Chennai glanced at Thipsay's board and decided to follow Prasad's strategy by taking a draw in 16 moves.

He has, however, a consolation that he will be seeded for the next National `A'.

The 14-year-old Harikrishna (10) played aggressively from the white side of exchange variation in queens gambit to beat former Commonwealth champion Atanu Lahiri in 36 moves. Harikrishna's 16) g4 set the tone of the encounter which ended with a mating attack on the black king.

lThe results (final round): Sandipan Chanda (GNCA) 9 lost to Dibyendu Barua (TISCO) 11.5; S.S. Ganguly (GNCA) 11 drew with D.V. Prasad (IOC) 10; P. Harikrishna (WIPRO) 10 bt Atanu Lahiri (LIC) 6; K. Sasikiran (ONGC) 12.5 drew with G.B. Prakash (Ind.Bank) 7; S. Kidambi (TN) 8.5 bt Vishal Sareen (LIC) 7; Shriram Jha (LIC) 8 drew with T.S. Ravi (IOC) 9; V. Saravanan (BPCL) 10 drew with K. Murugan (NLC) 7.5; Pravin Thipsay (UBI) 10 drew with Lanka Ravi (ONGC) 6; Neelotpal Das (GNCA) 7 drew with Ravi Hegde (UBI) 7.5; Abhijit Kunte (IOC) 13.5 Bye.

Final placing: 1) GM Abhijit Kunte 13.5; 2) GM K. Sasikiran 12.5; 3) GM D. Barua 11.5; 4) IM S.S. Ganguly 11; 5) IM D.V. Prasad 10; 6) IM P. Harikrishna 10; 7) GM Pravin Thipsay 10; 8) IM V. Saravanan 10; 9) FM T.S. Ravi 9; 10) IM S. Chanda 9.

The moves: Sandipan Chanda vs Dibyendu Barua: 1. Nf3 d5 2. b4 Nf6 3. Bb2 e6 4. b5 a6 5. a4 axb5 6. axb5 Rxa1 7. Bxa1 c5 8. e3 Bd6 9. c4 O-O 10. Qc2 Nbd7 11. Bd3 b6 12. h4 Bb7 13. Rh3 Qa8 14. Bb2 e5 15. cxd5 Bxd5 16. Nc3 e4 17. Nxd5 Qxd5 18. Bc4 Qf5 19. Ng1 Be5 20. d4 cxd4 21. exd4 Bd6 22. Ne2 Ng4 23. Rf3 Qg6 24. h5 Qxh5 25. Qxe4 Ndf6 26. Qf5 Qh1+ 27. Kd2 Qxg2 28. Kc2 g6 29. Qd3 Nxf2 30. Qb3 N2e4 31. d5 Rc8 32. Rc3 Nxc3 33. Qxc3 Qe4+ 34. Kb3 Be5 35. Nd4 Nxd5 36. Qh3 Rxc4 37. Kxc4 Ne3+ 38. Kb3 Qd5+ Chanda resigns.

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