Sport - Chess

Tania Sachdev in sole lead

PUNE: It was a day when the leading ladies needed no reminding that friendly draws were detrimental to their chances of winning the 34th women’s National ‘A’ chess championship. As a result, no quarters were given and none asked for as fierce battles marked the eighth round of the premier competition on Monday.

When the dust settled, defending champion Tania Sachdev led with six points, half-a-point ahead of a five-player pack. Well-rested after two quick draws in as many days, Tania pounced on a weak pawn early in her Ruy Lopez game against P. Priya, a former National under-18 champion from Tamil Nadu.

The third-seeded Tania then captured another pawn and completed an easy victory in 43 moves. Interestingly, soon after winning, Tania learnt that her Asian title in Tehran in September had indeed come with a 20-game International Master norm which in turn meant that she had met all requirements for becoming an International Master. In the women’s Continental Championship, a 20-game norm is awarded to the champion if her rating performance touches 2450 Elo points.

“I don’t believe it,” said an understandably delighted Tania, who holds a Grandmaster norm.

The Delhi girl said she would wait for the World Chess Federation (FIDE) to confirm the news. “If it is true, then it is really a big bonus for me,” said Tania who, at the behest of WGM Nisha Mohota, checked out the FIDE regulations and discovered that she had indeed met the stipulation.

For now, Tania is concentrating for the battles ahead. She plays two-time former National junior girls’ champion and local challenger Soumya Swaminathan on Tuesday. Soumya scored her third successive victory with black pieces by stunning former champion and fifth-seeded Woman Grandmaster Aarthie Ramaswamy in 41 moves.

Soumya now joins top seed D. Harika, former champion Swati Ghate, the reigning National ‘B’ champion Kiran Manisha Mohanty and Asian junior girls’ champion Mary Ann Gomes in the second spot with 5.5 points.

In fact, Swati and Mary could have been among the leaders but failed to convert promising positions into victories. An aggressive Swati saw her chances of an important win evaporate against Harika and forced a draw through perpetual checks on the top board after 43 moves.

On the second board, Mary let a gritty Kiran off the hook in the middle game and finally settled for a frustrating 69-move draw. With 10 out of 13 boards producing decisive verdicts, more keen contests are in the offing.

The results: Eighth round: Swati Ghate (5.5) drew with D. Harika (5.5); Mary Ann Gomes (5.5) drew with Kiran Manisha Mohanty (5.5); P. Priya (4.5) lost to Tania Sachdev (6); Aarthie Ramaswamy (4) lost to Soumya Swaminathan (5.5); Nisha Mohota (5) bt Amruta Mokal (4); Nimmy George (5) bt Pon N. Krithika (4); Eesha Karavade (4.5) bt Anuprita Patil (3.5); Ch. Divyasri (4.5) bt Syed Nabeela Farheen (3.5); Padmini Rout (4) bt Rucha Pujari (3); S. Harini (3) lost to Sai Meera (4); P. Uthra (4) bt Swati Mohota (3); Dhyani Dave (3) drew with R. Preethi (2.5); S. Athirai (2.5) lost to M. R. Sangeetha (3); C. H. Savetha (2.5) (bye).

Ninth round pairings: Tania-Soumya; Mary-Swati Ghate; Harika-Nisha; Kiran-Nimmy; Eesha-Divyasri; Krithika-Padmini; Amruta-Uthra; Nabeela-Aarthie; Anuprita-Preethi; Swati Mohota-Dhyani; Rucha-Harini; Sangeetha-Savetha; Athirai (bye).

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