The Hindu : Harikrishna, Ganguly close on the heels of Mamedyarov

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jul 01, 2003

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Sport - Chess

Harikrishna, Ganguly close on the heels of Mamedyarov

By Our Chess Correspondent

CHENNAI JUNE 30. Indian Grandmasters, Pentyala Harikrishna and Surya Sekhar Ganguly, scored matching victories with white pieces to stay in close touch with the leader Shakhriyaz Mamedyarov at the end of the ninth round of the World Junior Chess Championship played at Nakhichevan in Azerbaijan on Sunday.

The Indian boys, led by the two Grandmasters, had a great day, winning four games, losing two and making one draw and reversing the trend. Indian girls continued their good display winning two games, drawing two and losing one game.

Harikrishna and Ganguly are on 6.5 points, half a point behind leader and the top seed Mamedyarov of Azerbaijan who has seven points. A tight finish is on the cards as both the Indians are in striking range of the title.

Ganguly outclassed German International Master Leonid Kritz in 36 moves with the white pieces from a Ruy Lopez, Berlin variation. Ganguly was about to queen his king rook pawn when black resigned. Scoring his first win in four days, Ganguly should regain his confidence.

Harikrishna won an elegant miniature game with the white pieces against round seven leader, Kadir Guseinov of Azerbaijan. The Hyderabad-based boy preyed on black's fragmented pawn structure and was threatening to win the black rook or trap the black queen with his 25th move that forced instant resignation.

Gogineni Rohit scored a defensive 50-move victory with the black pieces over Eltadj Safaril of Azerbaijan in an interesting game, which featured three piece sacrifices. Rohit is on five points.

Mahesh Chandran picked up an easy point when his fellow Tamil-speaking opponent, Arun Prasad wrought defeat on himself with a piece sacrifice and poor follow-up play.

Deepan Chakravarthy's woes with the black pieces restarted when Rauf Mamedov of Azerbaijan lined-up his queen and bishop battery to win a miniature battle.

Nana Dzagnidze of Georgia is hammering past her opponents with each passing round in the girls section. She has seven points from as many games and with four rounds left, she looks as good as a winner.

In round seven, however, Dzagnidze was fighting a pawn down rook and bishop ending when Zebra Topel of Turkey blundered in the 41st move and lost.

As such, there is a keen tussle for the second place. Here, Dronavalli Harika, the tall Guntur girl, scored a vital upset victory over Woman Grandmaster Zeinab Mamedjarova of Azerbaijan to move into second place. Harika played the rook and minor piece ending that emerged from a Grunfeld defence flawlessly.

Mamedjarova tried out after the first 40 moves to lose pawns at regular intervals and resigned at move 75. Harika is on 5.5 points, one and a half points behind Dzagnidze.

Tania Sachdev survived the white attack of Aytaj Ismailova by fleeing with her king and at an opportune moment trapped the black queen to win material and the game in 39 moves. Tania and Saheli Nath are on 4.5 points. Saheli had a miraculous escape when she dropped pawns but fought back to hold the third seed and Woman Grandmaster Cristina Calotescu of Romania to a draw.

Important results (Indians unless specified):

Boys (round nine): Shakhriyaz Mamedyarov (Aze) 7 bt Vugar Gashimov (Aze) 5.5; Alexander Zubov (Ukr) 6.5 bt Zviad Izoria (Geo) 5.5; P. Harikrishna 6.5 bt Kadir Guseinov (Aze) 5.5; Surya Sekhar Ganguly 6.5 bt Leonid Kritz (Ger) 5.5; Rauf Mamedov (Aze) 5.5 bt J. Deepan Chakravarthy 4; P. Mahesh Chandran 5 bt S. Arun Prasad (Ind) 4; Eltadj Safaril (Aze) 4 lost to Gogineni Rohit 5; Nidjat Agayev (Aze) 3.5 drew with Abhijeet Gupta 3.5.

Girls (round seven): Nana Dzagnidze (Geo) 7 bt Zehra Topel (Tur) 4; Zeinab Mamedjarova (Aze) 4.5 lost to Dronavalli Harika 5.5; Saheli Nath 4.5 drew with Cristina Calotescu (Rom) 4.5; Eesha Karavade 3.5 lost to Ekaterina Ublennykh (Rus) 4.5; Aytaj Ismailova (Aze) 3.5 lost to Tania Sachdev 4.5; Rajmohan Mahima 3 drew with Martina Valickova (Cze) 3.

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