Tuesday, May 07, 2002
Tuesday, May 07, 2002 |
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Chess
By Rakesh Rao
Tania Sachdev (left) takes a closer look at the board as she waits for Anupama Gokhale to make her move in their second round match of the women's National `A' chess championship at Lucknow on Monday.— Photo: R.V. Moorthy
The point of dispute arose when Harika ran out of her allotted two hours of time after 87 moves. Since the 12-year-old had already claimed `draw' earlier, Chief Arbiter Mr. A. N. Venkatesan asked Vijayalakshmi if she had any winning plan. On the board, Vijayalakshmi had a knight and three pawns to Harika's bishop and four pawns. What followed was a prologued debate involving Vijayalakshmi and Mr. Venkatesan. The Woman Grandmaster, who beat Dolan Champa Bose in the morning, failed to convince the Chief Arbiter. Mr. Venkatesan indicated that Vijayalakshmi, for quite some time, had seemed to playing to win only on time and did not really have a winning plan. The moment he ruled that the match was a draw, Vijayalakshmi opted to protest in writing. Later, the Appeals Committee, comprising Bhagyashree Thipsay, Saheli Dhar-Barua, Dolan Champa Bose and Tania Sachdev (the last named came in the absence of Anupama Gokhale) upheld Mr. Ventakesan's ruling. As a result, Vijayalakshmi not only was poorer by Rs. 500, the amount that accompanies any written protest but also felt the pinch of not being able to beat young Harika, the reigning Asian under-18 and under-14 champion, in three meetings. In the last National `A', Harika missed a certain win in their drawn match and in the National `B', the National junior title-holder had outplayed the five-time National champion. Despite the draw, Vijayalakshmi, like in the four previous editions of the championship, is widely expected to ensure the crown before the final round itself. For Vijayalakshmi, who has an enviable record even against the Grandmasters of the country, dominating the all-ladies field should be much easier. Meanwhile, it was a fine day for Bhagyashree Thipsay and Swati Ghate. Bhagyashree, needing to get going after losing the opener to Vijayalakshmi on Sunday, needed to get the maximum on this double-round day. She opened her account by outpowering Eesha Karavade in a rook and pawn ending after the youngster had mishandled the late middle-game position. In the evening, Bhagyashree took some chances in her Sicilian game against Safira Shanaz. In an equal position heading towards a draw, Bhagyashree allowed Safira some active play. Just as Bhagyashree had anticipated, Safira lost her composure and blundered a knight. Thereafter, Bhagyashree had not trouble in weaving a checkmating net. Swati, in fact, enjoyed her best day of the year after posting two victories. In the afternoon, Aarthie Ramaswamy had attained fairly promising position against Swati but blundered a rook in time-pressure and resigned. In the evening, Sai Meera's surrender doubled Swati's joy. In the afternoon, S. Meenakshi had benefitted from Sai Meera's oversight under time-pressure. In an fairly interesting position, Sai Meera blundered a rook and resigned at once. Meenakshi, however, could not make it two in a row. In the evening, Saheli Dhar-Barua nailed her in 29 moves of Ruy Lopez. Saheli who earlier enjoyed a good score against Meenakshi, had since lost a few matches, including their last encounter at Raipur in March. Dolan Champa Bose, like Sai Meera, failed to enhance her tally on this day. Though Dolan's defeat to Vijayalakshmi came on expected lines, it was her sudden surrender to Eesha in the evening that surprised many. Despite Eesha's higher rating, the experienced Dolan was tipped to do better but her position deteriorated gradually. In a desperate bid, Dolan planted her queen and rook on the seventh rank. Undeterred, Eesha went ahead with a check-mating combination which left Dolan with no option but to resign. Earlier, another debutant Tania Sachdev opened her account with a creditable draw against five-time champion Anupama Gokhale. In the evening, however, Tania mishandled an equal position against Aarthie and lost. The results: Third round: Aarthie Ramaswamy (1.5) bt Tania Sachdev (0.5); Sai Meera (1) lost to Swati Ghate (2.5); Saheli Dhar-Barua (2) bt S. Meenakshi (1.5); Bhagyashree Thipsay (2) bt Safira Shanaz (1); Dolan Champa Bose (0.5) lost to Eesha Karavade (1.5); Harika Dronavalli (1.5) drew with S. Vijayalakshmi (2.5); Anupama Gokhale (1) bye. Second round: Vijayalakshmi bt Dolan; Eesha lost to Bhagyashree; Safira drew with Saheli; Meenakshi bt Sai Meera; Swati bt Aarthie; Tania drew with Anupama; Harika bye. Tuesday's pairings (fourth round): Eesha-Harika; Safira-Dolan; Meenakshi-Bhagyashree; Swati-Saheli; Tania-Sai Meera; Anupama-Aarthie; Vijayalakshmi bye.
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