Humpy continues winning

KOZHIKODE, AUG. 19. Indian WGM Koneru Humpy continued her good run in the World chess championship in Athens with a third round win against Georgia's Nana Dzagnidze on Saturday. She now has three full points and is in the lead along with four others - Sopiko Khukhashvili of Georgia, Nadezhda Kosintseva of Russia, Gu Xiabing of China, and Tatiana Kosintseva, who beat S. Meenakshi, the other Indian hope in the girls' event.

N. Kasturi, the Madurai girl who surprised many by winning the Asian junior championship in Teheran last month, held Dana Reizniece, the 13th seed WGM from Latvia, as the Indian girls carried on with their impressive show.

Aarthie Ramaswamy, the former World under-18 champion from Chennai, won her game against Katarina Kisonova of Slovakia with black pieces to take her tally to two.

In the boys' championship, India's P. Mahesh Chandran lost to Emanuel Berg of Sweden, seeded 13th, on the top board. K. Ratnakaran, playing only his second international tournament, was also at the recieving end against a higher rated player - 17th seed Jan Markos of Slovakia.

On the lower boards, M.R. Venkatesh and Tejas Bakre brought some cheer to the Indian camp, recording wins against Sujey Subramanian of Hong Kong and Faust Campuano Neto of Brazil. The World's youngest Grandmaster, Bu Xianhzhi of China and Berg are among the four players in the lead with three points each.

Important results (third round):

Boys: Bu Xiangzhi (Chn) 3 bt Mika Karttunen (Fin) 2; Evgeny Sahoshnikov (Rus) 2.5 drew with Nikola Sedlak (Yug) 2.5; Levente Vajda (Rom) 2 lost to Zhao Zong-Yuan (Aus) 3; Emanuel Berg (Swe) 3 bt P. Mahesh Chandran (Ind) 2; Sergei Azarov (Blr) 3 bt David Navara (Cze) 2; Zviad Izoria (Geo) 3 bt John Paul Gomez (Phi) 2; Diego Flores (Arg) 3 bt Kamil Miton (Pol); Spyridon Kapnista (Gre) 1.5 lost to Gabriel Sargissian (Arm) 2.5; Michael Roiz (Isr) 2 drew with Bragi Thorfinnsson (Isl) 2; Du Shan (Chn) 2 drew with Evgeny Postny (Isr) 2; Sebbar Ali (Mar) 2 drew with Amon Simutowe (Zam) 2; Jan Markos (Svk) 2 bt K. Ratnakaran (Ind) 1; Sujey Subramanian (Hkg) 1 lost to M.R. Venkatesh (Ind) 2; Tejas Bakre (Ind) 1.5 bt Faust Campuano Neto (Bra) 0.5.

Girls: Koneru Humpy (Ind) 3 bt Nana Dzagnidze (Geo) 2; Iweta Radziewicz (Pol) 2.5 drew with Olga Zimina (rus) 2.5; Jana Jackova (Cze) 2 lost to Sopiko Khukhashvili (Geo) 3; Gu Xiabing (Chn) 3 bt Maria Sergeeva (Kaz) 2; Nadezhda Kosintseva (Rus) 3 bt Irod Khamrakulova (Uzb); S. Meenkashi (Ind) 2 lost to Tatiana Kosintseva (Rus) 3; Ekaterina Ubeinnykh (Rus) 2.5 bt Elisabeth Paehtz (Ger) 1.5; Natalia Hryhorenko (Ukr) 2 drew with Lilit Mkrtchian (Arm) 2; Inga Charkhalashvili (Geo) 2 drew with Xue Zhao (Chn); Xu Yuanyuan (Chn) 2 bt Judit Papp (Hun) 1; Melaine Buckley (Eng) 1 lost to Ekaterina Korbut (Rus) 2; Dana Reizniece (Lat) 1.5 drew with M. Kasturi (Ind) 1.5; Katarania Kisonova 1 (Svk) lost to Aarthie Ramaswamy (Ind) 2.

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