Mageshchandran brings cheer

KOZHIKODE, AUG. 21. On a day when Koneru Humpy was held to a draw and S. Meenakshi lost, P. Mageshchandran brought some cheer to the Indian camp scoring another win against a higher rated rival in the fifth round of the World chess championship in Athens on Monday.

Magesh, following his win against Nikola Sedlak, seeded 20 places above, now has the best score among all the Indians, with four points.

The fifth-seeded Humpy, who drew with Sopiko Khukhashvili of Georgia, the 16th seed, is in the joint third place, with 3.5 points, among others, including former World under-18 champion Aarthie Ramaswamy, who held ninth seed Jana Jackova of the Czech Republic to a draw. Meenakshi remains on three points after her loss to Lilit Mkrtchian of Armenia.

Russia's Tatiana Kosintseva is the sole leader in the girls' event after her victory against Gu Xiaobing of China. The third seed has now an impressive score of five points from as many games, and is a full point ahead of her closest rivals, the top seed and defending champion Xu Yuanyuan of China, Gu Xiaobing, another also of China, Elisabeth Paehtz of Germany, Nana Dzagnidze of Georgia and Mkrtchian.

M.R. Venkatesh, a talented teenager from Chennai, outwitted Sam Collins of Ireland, while K. Ratnakaran lost to Dimit Mastrovasilis. Sergei Azarov of Belarus, seeded 23rd, emerged as the sole leader with five full points, surprising Sweden's Emanuel Berg, the 13th seed.

Important results (fifth round):

Boys: Emanuel Berg (Swe) 4 lost to Sergei Azarov (Blr) 5; Bu Xiannghzhi (Chn) 4 drew with Merab Gagunashvili (Geo) 4; Ni Hua (Chn) bt Marek Stryjecki (Pol) 3; Artur Neiksans (Lat) 3.5 drew with Kamil Miton (Pol) 3.5; Michael Roiz (Isr) 3.5 drew with Spyridon Kapnisia (Gre) 3.5; Andreas Schenk (Ger) 3 lost to David Navara (Cze) 4; Zhao Zong-Yuan (Aus) 3 lost to Evgeny Postny (Isr) 4; Anton Korobov (Ukr) 4 bt John Paul Gomez (Phi) 3; P. Mageshchandran (Ind) 4 bt Nikola Sedlak (Yug) 3; Stefan Kristjansson (Isl) 2.5 lost to Levon Aronian (Arm) 3.5; Evgeny Shaposhnikov (Rus) 3 drew with Mika Karttunen (Fin) 3; Peter Acs (Hun) 3 drew with Bragi Thorfinnson (Isl) 3; Tejas Bakre (Ind) 2.5 drew with Kalin Karakehajov (Bul) 2.5; Dimit Mastrovasilis (Gre) 3 bt K. Ratnakaran (Ind) 2; Sam Collins (Irl) 2 lost to M.R. Venkatesh (Ind) 3.

Girls: Nadezhda Kosintseva (Rus) bt Gu Xiaobing (Chn) 4; Xu Yuanyuan (Chn) 4 bt Cristina Calotescu (Rom) 3; Inga Charkhashvili (Geo) 3.5 drew with Tatiana Kosintseva (Rus) 3.5; Iweta Radzeiwicz (Pol) 3 lost to Elisathen Paehtz (Ger) 4; Koneru Humpy (Ind) 3.5 drew with Sopiko Khukhashvili (Geo) 3.5; S. Meenkashi (Ind) 3 lost to Lilit Mkrtchian (Arm) 4; Natalia Hryhorenko (Ukr) 3 lost to Nana Dzagnidze (Geo) 4; Jana Jackova (Cze) 3 drew with Aarthie Ramaswamy (Ind) 3.5; Dana Reizniece (Lat) 3.5 bt Olga Zimina (Rus) 2.5; Darja Kaps (Slo) 3.5 bt Iroda Khamrakulova 2.5 (Uzb); Marisa Zuriel (Arg) 3.5 bt Ekaterina Korbut (Rus) 2; Saira Sanchez Castillo (Ven) 3 bt Xue Zhao (Chn) 2; Tatjana Plachkinova (Bul) 2 lost to M. Kasturi (Ind) 3.

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