Saptarshi, Somak share lead

By Raghunandan Gokhale

RAIPUR, NOV. 9. The duo from Goodricke National Chess Academy - Saptarshi Roy (6) and Somak Palit (6) - shared the lead at the end of seventh round of National sub-junior chess championship at Sibbal Palace here today. Amruta Mokal (7) of Maharashtra scored her seventh consecutive win to stay ahead of the field by a full point among the girls.

Former World under-10 Champion Deep Sengupta (Jharkhand) had taken the lead by winning against Rahul Sangma (Bihar) in the sixth round but his lead was shortlived as he went down tamely against a powerful display of Saptarshi Roy in the seventh round. Bombay schoolboy Vaibhav Saxena (5) squandered a golden opportunity to join Saptarshi at the top when he blundered his whole Rook against Somak Palit in an advantageous position.

Amruta's marvellous handling of the Black pieces in the Kings Indian Attack left Aswathy Balgopalan (Kerala) with a minus position in the opening itself. Talented Aswathy made matters worse by blundering a pawn on 21st move. Thereafter Amruta played powerful moves and finished the game with a pleasing combination. Eesha kept her chase on by outplaying fifth seeded Baisakhi Das (Alekhine Chess Academy). ``Baisakhi's 21st move was a blunder,'' commented the tiny winner from Pune. Indeed Baisakhi lost a pawn and soon the game against Eesha's correct technique.

National under-14 Rapid champion Akshayraj Kore (5.5) invited unnecessary complications and drew a winning game G.Rohit (5.5) in English Opening.

Earlier in the sixth round in the morning, Deep Sengupta outwitted Rahul Sangma in 62 moves of French Defence to outdistance the field by half a point. ``Rahul played weakly in the Advance variation but I made some mistakes to give him a chance to come back,'' repented Deep. However Rahul gave up couple of pawns to snatch the initiative only to lose in the endgame.

Saptarshi Roy was lucky to escape with a draw when his teammate Somak Palit mishandled the endgame. S.Arun Prasad refused to take a draw against G.Rohit and lost the game after a marathon struggle. Maharashtra Duo of Vaibhav Saxena (5) and Akshayraj Kore (5) moved to second place with smooth wins.

Asian Junior girls champion M.Kasturi failed to check Amruta Mokal's string of victories. Kasturi mishandled the Black side of Closed Sicilian Defence and came under heavy pressure from the White army. She blundered on 24th move and Amruta sacrificed a Rook to force a checkmate. Fancied Eesha Karvade (5) put her fifth round loss behind to win easily against third seeded S.Nabeela Farheen (4) in Sicilian Defence. Kerala girl Aswathy Balgopal (5) joined Eesha with a shocking win over Soumya Swaminathan (4) from the Black side of Caro Kann Defence.

Important results (seventh round):

Boys: Saptarshi Roy (GNCA) 6 bt Deep Sengupta (Jhar) 5.5; Vaibhav Saxena (Mah) 5 lost to Somak Palit (GNCA) 6; Akshayraj Kore (Mah) 5.5 drew with G.Rohit (TN) 5.5; Abhijit Gupta (Raj) 4.5 lost to J.Deepan Chakravarthy (TN) 5.5; Rahul Sangma (Bih) 5 drew with D.Krishna (TN) 5; Subodh Lakhey (Mah)5 drew with Soham Das (WB) 5; G.S.Maras (Mah) 4.5 drew with K.Nikhilesh Kumar(AP) 4.5; S.Arun Prasad (TN) 4.5 drew with Sriram Sarja (Kar) 4.5; Rohan Shandilya (Jhar) 4.5 drew with Swapnil Hoble (Goa) 4.5; S.Mujumdar (Venus CA) 4 lost to K.P. Sing (MP) 5.

Girls: Aswathy Balgopal (Ker) 5 lost to Amruta Mokal (Mah) 6; Eesha Karvade (Mah) 6 beat Baisakhi Das (AL.CA) 5; M.Kasturi (AICF) 5.5 beat T.Aravinda Lochani( AP) 4.5; Kruttika Nadig (Venus CA) 4.5 lost to M.Rajdarshini (TN) 5.5; Supriya Majhi (GNCA) 5.5 beat S.Soumya (Mah) 4; Swetha Narayanan (TN)4.5 drew with L.Ishwarya Shobana (TN) 4.5; Madhura Deshpande (Mah)4 lost to Mary Ann Gomes (GNCA) 5; K.Jennitha Anto (CAPA) 4.5 drew with R.Mahima (TN) 4.5; Radha Rani Ray (ORI) 5 beat M.Priyadarshini (Em.CA) 4; S.Roshni (Ker) 3.5 lost to N.Vinuthana (AP) 4.5.

Sixth round: Boys: Deep Sengupta (Jhar) 5.5 beat Rahul Sangma (Bih) 4.5; Somak Palit (GNCA) 5 drew with Saptarshi Roy (GNCA) 5; G.Rohit (TN) 5 beat S.Arun Prasad (AP) 4; Vaibhav Saxena (Mah) 5 beat Rohan Shandilya (Jhar) 4; Akshayraj Kore (Mah) 5 beat Ved Prakash Sinha (Bih) 4; Soham Das (GNCA) 4 lost to Abhijit Gupta (Raj) 4.5; Tanmay Pattnayak (AL.CA) 3.5 lost to J.Deepan Chakravarthy (TN) 4.5; K.Nikhilesh Kumar (AP) 4 drew with G.N.Gopal (Ker) 4; T.Purushothaman (AP) 3.5 lost to Subodh Lakhey (Mah) 4.5; Sriram Sarja (Kar) 4 drew with S.Mujumdar (Venus CA) 4; M.K.Narasimhan (TN) 3.5 lost to D.Krishna (TN) 4.5.

Girls: Amruta Mokal (Mah) 6 beat M.Kasturi (AICF) 4.5; S.Nabeela Farheen (Capa) 4 lost to Eesha Karvade (Mah) 5; Soumya Swaminathan (Mah) 4 lost to Aswathy Balgopal(TN) 5; Mary Ann Gomes (GNCA) 4 lost to Kruttika Nadig (Venus CA) 4.5; M.Priyadarshini (TN) 3.5 lost to M.Rajdarshini(TN) 4.5; Baisakhi Das (AL.CA) 4.5 beat J.Megha (Kar) 3.5; T.Aravinda Lochani(AP) 4.5 beat V.K.Sindhu (TN) 3.5; N.Vinuthana (AP) 3.5 lost to Supriya Majhi (GNCA) 4.5; Nimmy George (Ker) 3 lost to Madhura Deshpande (Mah) 4; L.Ishwarya Shobana (TN) 4 beat Dhara Gupta (Del) 3; R.Mahima (TN) 4 beat J.Rajasurya (Em.CA) 3.

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