Amruta, Somak poised to win

By Raghunandan Gokhale

RAIPUR, NOV. 10. Amruta Mokal (7.5) of Maharashtra and Somak Palit (7) of Goodricke National Chess Academy are poised to win their maiden National sub-junior championships in the girls and boys sections after the end of the eighth and penultimate round at Sibbal Palace here on Saturday.

Amruta, a 10th standard student from Pune, however missed a clear win against Supriya Majhi (6) of West Bengal and has to wait till the final round for her coronation. Her citymate and fancied Eesha Karvade is breathing down her neck with just half a point separating them. ``I am going to play for a win on Sunday,'' said Eesha who will take on Aswathy Balgopalan from Kerala.

Amruta employed a solid Scotch Opening against Supriya and soon got into a commanding position. Supriya, in her quest for an illusive counterplay, blundered an exchange by her 20th move. But Amruta played weakly in time trouble and allowed Supriya to escape with a draw.

Former winner Saptarshi Roy (GNCA) squandered a golden chance to maintain his lead when he allowed defending champion J. Deepan Chakravarthy (TN) to escape with a draw after dominating throughout the game. Saptarshi won Deepan's h pawn from the black side of a Scandenevian Defence.

Somak Palit (GNCA) shot into the lead with a one-sided victory over G. Rohit (AP) in a Closed Sicilian Defence. Rohit lacked the knowledge in handling the tricky line and allowed the white pieces to dominate his own Queenside. Somak, who had allowed Saptarshi to escape in an earlier round was, decisive in his offensive. He needs a draw in the final round for the championship.

lImportant results: eighth round:

1 J. Deepan Chakkravarty (TN) 6 drew with Saptarshi Roy (GNCA) 6.5, 2. Somak Palit (GNCA) 6 bt G. Rohit (AP) 5.5, 3. Deep Sengupta (Jhar) 5.5 lost to Akshayraj Kore (Mah) 6.5, 4. Subodh Lakhey (Mah) 5.5 drew with Rahul Sangma (Bih) 5.5, 5. Kulman Preet Singh (MP) 6 bt Vaibhav Saxena (Mah) 5, 6. Krishna D. (TN) 5 lost to Gopal G.N. (Ker) 6, 7. Sriram Sarja (Kar) 4 lost to R. Siddharth (TN) 5.5, 8. Tanmay Pattanayak (GNCA) 4.5 lost to Abhijit Gupta (Raj) 5.5, 9. K. Nikhilesh Kumar (AP) 5 drew with Ved Prakash Sinha (Bih) 5, 10. Jagadish H.D. (AP) 5.5 bt S. Arun Prasad (4.5).

Girls: 1. Amruta Mokal (Mah) 7.5 drew with Supriya Majhi (WB) 6, 2. M. Rajdarshini (TN) 5.5 lost to Eesha Karavade (Mah) 7, 3. Mary Ann Gomes (GNCA) 6 bt M. Kasturi (AICF) 5.5, 4. Aswathy Balagopalan (Ker) 6 bt Radha Rani Ray (Ori) 5, 5. L. Iswarya Shobana (TN) 5 drew with Kiran Mohanty (Ori) 5.5, 6. Baisakhi Das (ALCA) 5 drew with K. Jennitha Anto (TN) 5, 7. N. Vinuthana (AP) 4.5 lost to Kruttika Nadig (Venus CA) 5.5, 8. R. Mahima (TN) 5.5 bt V.K. Sindhu (TN) 4.5.

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