Date:21/12/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/12/21/stories/2008122155321700.htm

Sport - Chess

Ganguly remains on top

P. K. Ajith Kumar

MANGALORE: Midway through their game, Surya Shekhar Ganguly offered a draw to J. Deepan Chakravarthy, who declined and then paid the price.

The win helped the top-seeded Ganguly to stay on top at the end of the fourth round of the 46th National ‘A’ chess championship at the Karnataka Bank Auditorium here on Saturday.

The day produced plenty of action, as just one of the six games ended in a draw. Veteran GM Praveen Thipsay decided to play it safe against M. Shyam Sundar and opted to split the point, which helped the senior manager from Union Bank, Mumbai, open his account in the competition.

Kore shocks Neelotpal

The day also saw Akshayraj Kore upsetting third seed Neelotpal Das, who clearly isn’t looking at his best, having lost to Shyam Sundar in the opening round.

There were wins also for the second seed Parimarjan Negi, against an erratic K. Ratnakaran, P. Konguvel, over B. Adhiban, and S. Satyapragyan, against M.S. Thejkumar.

With another nine rounds left, Ganguly has 3.5 points, half-a-point ahead of Satyapragyan.

The defending champion, playing from the white side of a Sicilian Najdorf, didn’t look particularly happy with his position early on against Deepan and therefore proposed a peace treaty.

Deepan, however, pressed hard — maybe a bit too hard — for a victory in a position featuring queens and rooks. He blundered a pawn before resigning on the 49th move.

Kore employed Sicilian Defence and sacrificed an exchange on his way to a 59-move win against Neelotpal. Having drawn with Ganguly on Friday, it is turning out to be a memorable debut at the National ‘A’ for the youngster.

The Scotch Game between Negi and Ratnakaran swung wildly, as both made several mistakes, before the younger man won in 63 moves. Ratnakaran had mishandled the opening and had to sacrifice an exchange to create some chances.

Negi did give him a few chances, but the Kerala player proved even more generous.

Konguvel played Ruy Lopez against Adhiban, who tried to make things happen again with an exchange sacrifice, and won a double-edged game in 41 moves.

Satyapragyan didn’t have to sweat for his 32-move win against Thejkumar, whose few dubious moves helped Black to launch a devastating attack with major pieces.

The results (fourth round): Surya Shekhar Ganguly 3.5 bt J. Deepan Chakravarthy 2; Neelotpal Das 1.5 lost to Akshayraj Kore 2; K. Ratnakaran 2 lost to Parimarjan Negi 2; P. Konguvel 2 bt B. Adhiban 0.5; Praveen Thipsay 0.5 drew with M. Shyam Sundar 2; M.S.Thejkumar 2 lost to S. Satyapragyan 3; Sriram Jha 1 bye.