King Barua too good for young knight

By Rakesh Rao

NEW DELHI, JUNE 15. In an engrossing battle between equals, the `sentimental' favourite came first.

Putting an end to the mounting tension and rising expectations, Dibyendu Barua pipped K. Sasikiran in a photo- finish on Friday. Though their eventual scores in the National `A' chess championship stood at an identical 13.5 points - following draws in the final round - it was Barua's superior tie- break score of 6.5 to Sasikiran's six, that proved decisive.

The women's title was officially retained by S. Vijayalakshmi, just over 48 hours after the Woman Grandmaster from Chennai had ensured it. For the record, Vijayalakshmi won her final round match against Bhagyashree Thipsay to tally 10.5 points. Likewise, sister Meenakshi retained her runner-up slot, ahead of Swati Ghate and R. Aarthie.

However, appalling was fact that not a single official of the All India Chess Federation (AICF) was at the venue this afternoon to congratulate the winners. All were busy attending a luncheon meeting at Hotel Inter-Continental. Not that any player missed their presence at the CDCS Eventspecific hall here.

With this, the AICF added another dubious chapter to its already- blotted book by becoming, perhaps, the only sports federation to give the last-day proceedings of its premier championship a miss !

Coming back to the men's title-race, in the final round, Barua drew with Saptarshi Roy in 25 moves of Petroff Defence before a helpless Sasikiran accepted a similar verdict against Neelotpal Das, following 37 moves of Nimzo-Indian. Before making a draw offer, Barua had studied Sasikiran's inferior position against Das and assumed that the top seed could not win.

As a result, Barua, the only unbeaten player in the championship, collected his third National title. He had won in 1983 at Agartala and in 1998 at Muzaffarpur.

``This one is clearly a special one,'' said a jubilant Barua after accomplishing the task on hand, and added, ``my earlier titles, too, made me feel good. But this time, with Sasikiran having a rating over 2600 and youngsters like Kunte, Hari, and Ganguly around, it feels better. It makes me believe that, even after so many years, I am still among the best in the country.''

Last month, in the Asian Zonal championship in Colombo, it was Barua who had done all the front-running before being overtaken by Sasikiran. Here, he turned it around.

``I would have been happier had I won at Colombo since it gives you a ticket to the World championship. Still, it feels great to win the strongest National championship ever,'' said the champion.

Shattering loss

A thought for Sasikiran. He was the one everyone wanted to beat but he went on to win 11 matches and drew just five matches, including the one today. In hindsight, what proved crucial was his surprise loss to Neeraj Kumar Mishra in the 15th round, though he had earlier lost to Barua, as well.

``It will not be fair to say that I was any less keen (than Barua) to win this title but today, I did not get an opportunity. Das came up with a precise exchange of pieces and thereafter, my position was inferior. So I had to settle for a draw,'' said Sasikiran while agreeing that the `turning point' of the championship was indeed his loss to Mishra.

Abhijit Kunte, the outgoing champion, who had a bye today, finished third with 11.5 points after Mishra (11) and P. Harikrishna (10.5) drew their match to fill the fourth and fifth spots. P. Konguvel and Surya Shekhar Ganguly, the two final-round losers, were joined at 10 points by D. V. Prasad before the tie- break scores placed them in that order.

There was far less excitement in the women's section. Since the 22-year-old Vijayalakshmi had already beaten the field, the result of her last round match was only of academic interest.

With this triumph, Vijayalakshmi also became the first to win four successive titles in the National championship. She bettered the record of Rohini Khadilkar, who had claimed a hat- trick of titles beginning from 1976. The victory also saw Vijayalakshmi join the five-time winners' club of Rohini, Bhagyashree and Anupama Gokhale.

Saheli Dhar-Barua and Pallavi Shah, who had finished in that order behind Meenakshi last year, made way for Swati Ghate and R. Aarthie in the National team. Since five Indian entries are expected to be fielded in the Asian championship this year, Bhagyashree's fifth-place finish can help her cause.

Harika does it again

As on previous days, 11-year-old Harika Dronavalli played another solid game to outwit Saimeera Ravi. Harika, who is expected to make the next rating list, finished a creditable eighth, behind Nisha Mohota and Saheli Dhar but ahead of Anupama Gokhale.

The results:

Men: 19th round: V. Saravanan (2428) drew with Pravin Thipsay (2453); Dibyendu Barua (2494) drew with Saptarshi Roy (2306); Sriram Jha (2390) bt Surya Shekhar Ganguly (2456); G. B. Prakash (2453) lost to Lanka Ravi (2381); D. V. Prasad (2440) bt Nassir Wajih (2371); Neeraj Kumar Mishra (2321) drew with P. Harikrishna (2504); Atanu Lahiri (2391) lost to K. Murugan (2390); P. Konguvel (2383) lost to Sekhar Sahu (2325); K. Sasikiran (2611) drew with Neelotpal Das (2423); Abhijit Kunte (2568) bye.

Women: 13th round: Saimeera Ravi (2162) lost to Harika Dronavalli; M. R. Sangeetha (2009) drew with R. Aarthie (2291); Saheli-Dhar Barua (2224) drew with Swati Ghate (2271); Bhagyashree Thipsay (2241) lost to S. Vijayalakshmi (2424); Nisha Mohota (2257) bt Dolan Champa Bose (2187); S. Meenakshi (2248) bt Y. Pratibha (2069); Pallavi Shah (2164) drew with Anupama Gokhale (2249).

lFinal standings (with tie-break score, wherever necessary): Men: 1. Dibyendu Barua 13.5 points (6.5); K. Sasikiran 13.5 (6); 3. Abhijit Kunte 11.5; 4. Neeraj Kumar Mishra 11; 5. P. Harikrishna 10.5; 6. P. Konguvel 10 (5); 7. Surya Shekhar Ganguly 10 (4); 8. D. V. Prasad 10 (3); 9. Pravin Thipsay 9.5; 10. Lanka Ravi 9; 11. Sekhar Sahu 8.5; 12. K. Murugan 8 (4); 13. Atanu Lahiri 8 (4); 14. Saptarshi Roy 7.5 (4); 15. G. B. Prakash 7.5 (3); 16. Sriram Jha 7; 17. Neelotpal Das 6.5; 18. V. Saravanan 5.5 and 19. Nassir Wajih 4.

Women: 1. S. Vijayalakshmi 10.5; S. Meenakshi 9; 3. Swati Ghate 8.5; 4. R. Aarthie 8; 5. Bhagyashree Thipsay 7.5; 6. Nisha Mohota 7 (3.5); 7. Saheli Dhar-Barua 7 (3); 8. Harika Dronavalli 6.5 (4); 9. Anupama Gokhale 6.5 (3.5); 10. Y. Pratibha (5); 11. Saimeera Ravi 4.5; 12. M. R. Sangeetha 4; 13. Dolan Champa Bose 3.5 (2) and 14. Pallavi G. Shah 3.5 (1).

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