Harikrishna shocks Crouch

LONDON, AUG. 24. Teenaged Pentyala Harikrishna gave another excellent exhibition of his growing prowess over this complex game with a fourth win in the last five games at the Commonwealth chess championships.

The win gives him the lead after six rounds in the championships being held as a part of the Ron Banwell Mind Sports Masters events here in the South Bank University in London.

While Harikrishna beat Colin Crouch of England and took sole lead with five points from six rounds, two other Indians Pravin Thipsay and Abhijit Kunte, were among the four in tie for the second place with 4.5 points. Lanka Ravi with four points was in a tie for sixth to 13th places. Dibyendu Barua, Ponnuswamy Konguvel and Neeraj Mishra were in the tie for 14th to 23rd places with 3.5 points each.

It was a mixed day for Indian men, as only two of them, Hari and Pravin Thipsay, scored full points while three others Kunte, Lanka Ravi and Neeraj Mishra drew their games. Dibyendu Barua and Ponnuswamy Konguvel lost their games, of which Konguvel's loss came at the hands of Thipsay. Among the three Indian women only Y. Pratibha registered a win beating Bill Stirling (2219), while Saheli Dhar- Barua drew with Anthony Fox of Ireland, but Bhagyashree Thipsay, the most experienced of the three, lost to English GM Neil McDonald (2406).

The results brought all three Indian women to the same score of three out of six and a share in the tie for the 24th to 37th places. The 15-year old Harikrishna, who requires one more Grandmaster to become India's youngest-ever Grandmaster, gave English IM Crouch a lesson in his 47th-move to win over him in the queen's Indian defence.

Abhijit Kunte, who shared the lead after five rounds with Harikrishna, was held to a draw in the sixth round by Daniel Gormally, whose only aberration thus far has been a loss to Ponnuswamy Konguvel earlier in the tournament. With the draw Kunte now shares the second spot with three others, including fellow Indian Pravin Thipsay, a former Commonwealth champion.

For Barua, this was a bad reverse, more so, because he had drawn two of his earlier games against Graeme Buckley and fellow Indian, Lanka Ravi. Besides Thipsay and Houska, Buckley was the other play to move up in the sixth round.

Positions and points1. Harikrishna (Ind) (5); 2-5. Graeme Buckley (Eng), Thipsay (Ind), Kunte (Ind), Jovanka Houska (Eng) 4.5 each; 6-13. Gormally (Eng), Lanka Ravi (Ind), Dmitiri Anagnostopoulos (Gre), Robert Eames (Eng), Oleg Kirsanov (Rus), Neil McDonald (Eng), Sapar Batyrov (Tkm), Odion Aikhoje (Ngr) 4.0 each; Other Indians: Konguvel, Barua, Mishra 3.5 each; Y. Pratibha, Saheli Dhar-Barua and Bhagyashree Thipsay (3 each)

The results (sixth round): Gormally drew with Kunte; Crouch lost to Harikrishna; Houska bt Barua; Thipsay bt Konguvel; Buckley bt McNab; Lanka Ravi drew with Batyrov; Annaberdiev lost to Anagnostopoulos; McDonald bt Bhagyashree Sathe; Salem lost to KirsaNov; Barron lost to Eames; Dekker lost to Aikhoje; Mishra drew with Bigg; Shiomi lost to Barle; Sowray bt Warman; Wilson drew with Franklin; Dhar-Barua drew with Fox; Bass lost to Thiruchelvam; Gardner lost to Maduekwe; Richards lost to Webster; Hegarty lost to Lyell; Stirling lost to Pratibha; Friedland bt Scott; Nelson lost to Spink; Rendle bt Kreuzer; Coffey bt Njotea; Manodip Dhar bt Szabo; Cox lost to Harman; Cork bt Young; Macleod lost to Arunmathi.

- UNI

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