Swati takes crown without a sweat

By Our Sports Reporter

PALAKKAD, FEB. 22. She always looked too good for the rest of the field, and on a blistering Thursday, Swati Ghate proved that in ample measure by winning the 27th Srichakra Cool Mist National women's `B' chess championship with a round to spare at Hotel Srichakra International.

All it took Swati was just a few minutes and nine moves before M.R. Sangeetha of Tamil Nadu offered her a draw after employing Sicilian Defence. The peace offer gave Swati seven points from eight games and assured her the champion status, regardless of what happens in the final round on Friday.

This is the maiden National senior women's title for Swati, arguably the second best player in the country (S. Vijayalakshmi is the best by a mile). ``But I would have rather preferred a National `A','' she said, smiling. ``When you look at the number of rated players (25) and International Woman Masters (six), you have to say that this is a strong tournament, so I am happy that I won it comfortably,'' she added.

For someone who has represented the country at the Chess Olympiad, considered a rare privilege, the National `B' may not of course mean much, but the way she played here should do a world of good to her confidence in the forthcoming National women's `A' championship.

A point behind Swati in joint second place are six players - Sangeetha, fifth seed Bhagyashree Thipsay of IDBI, second seed Nisha Mohota of LIC, third seed Aarthie Ramaswamy of Wipro, Saimeera Ravi of Indian Bank and Y. Prathiba of Chromepet Chess Academy, Chennai. In the ninth round on Friday, Aarthie meets Swati, Saimeera takes on Nisha, Bhagyashree faces Sangeetha and Anupama plays Prathiba.

If the first board today was over in nine moves, the second one lasted just four. Anupama Gokhale offered a draw to her old rival Bhagyashree Thipsay which was accepted. For the record, it was a Dutch Defence, which was hardly a surprise because Bhagyashree had Black and she was answering to the Queen's pawn push.

Nisha in control

On the third board, Nisha was not tempted by the quickly signed peace treaties of her neighbours and pressed hard for a full point to ensure that she finished inside the top 10, the qualifying mark for the National `A'.

Playing on the white side of a semi-Slav Defence from Dolan Champa Bose, Nisha took control of the game right from the beginning. She had her double bishop occupying useful diagonals, and the knights were lording over the centre too. She won an exchange on the 23rd move, two pieces for rook, and on the 36th, she got a centre pawn. Three moves later, Dolan resigned with mate not far away.

The results (eighth round):

Swati Ghate (LIC) 7 drew with M.R. Sangeetha (TN) 6; Anupama Gokhale (PSCB) 5.5 drew with Bhagyashree Thipsay (IDBI) 6; Nisha Mohota (LIC) 6 bt Dolan Champa Bose (Bih) 5; S. Sujatha (Emanuel Chess Centre, Chennai) 5 lost to Aarthie Ramaswamy (Wipro) 6; Y. Prathiba (Chromepet Chess Academy, Chennai) 6 bt P. Priya (TN) 5; Baisakhi Das (Ben) 4.5 lost to Saimeera Ravi (IB) 6; C. Delphin (TN) 5.5 bt Arpi Shah (Guj) 4.5; Kruttika Nadig (Mah) 5 drew with M. Rajadarshini (Emanuel) 5; Anuradha Beniwal (Har) 4.5 drew with D. Harika (AP) 5; Safira Shanaz (TN) 5 bt P. Malar Selvi (T. Nagar Chess Academy, Chennai) 4; Bindu Saritha (LIC) 5 bt Jayashree Sankpal (LIC) 4.

Kiran Agrawal (Chg) 4.5 drew with S. Nabeela Farheen (TN) 4.5; Amruta Mokal (Mah) 5 bt Nimmy A. George (Ker) 4; L. Iswarya Shobana (Capa Chess Academy, Chennai) 4 lost to R. Mahima (Chromepet) 5; Anuprita Patil (Mah) 5 bt Pazha Sivakami (TN) 4; Sreeparna Chakraborty (Ben) 4.5 bt Prasanna Shivasamy (Goa) 3.5; Tania Sachdev (Del) 4 drew with E. Sheena (Ker) 4; N. Sandhya (Ker) 3.5 lost to S.R. Radha (PSCB) 4.5; Mrunalini Kunte Aurangabadkar (IDBI) 3.5 drew with N. Raghavi (Capa) 3.5.

Eesha Karvade (Mah) 3.5 drew with Alka Das (Bih) 3.5; G. Lalitha (Kar) 3 lost to Swati Mohota (Ben) 4; M. Kasthuri (TN) 4 bt Sanjana Raj (MP) 3; P. Sudha (Ker) 3 lost to Krishna Sudhakar Babu (AICF) 4; Anila Shah (Guj) 3.5 drew with Aneegha Tahseen (T. Nagar) 3; Pooja Rathode (Chg) 3.5 bt V. Mrunalini (Kar) 2.5; Manjula V. James (Ker) 3.5 bt Cija Augustus (Ker) 2.5; S. Sushama (Kar) 3 drew with Sasmita Bhoi (Ori) 2.5; Sreedevi Sivadas (Lak) 2 lost to Aswathi Balagopalan (Ker) 3; Vidya Fotto (Goa) 3 bt S. Anushya (Pon) 2; Sofia V. James (Ker) 2 drew with T.K. Reshma (Lak) 1.5; Swatha (AP) 0 lost to Shah Jabeen (MP) 2.5.

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