The Hindu : Sport / Chess : Kruttika outplays Swati, in sole lead

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Dec 22, 2008
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Sport

Sport - Chess

Kruttika outplays Swati, in sole lead

Kamesh Srinivasan

NEW DELHI: Kruttika Nadig sailed past former champion Swati Ghate in the fourth round of the Parsvnath 35th National ‘A’ women’s chess championship at the Russian Centre of Science and Culture here on Sunday.

Kruttika played the closed Sicilian with a rare touch of authority to cruise home in 31 moves, for her third win of the tournament.

Kruttika is the sole leader with three points, while defending champion Tania Sachdev, Amrutha Mokal, Eesha Karavade, Mary Ann Gomes and Soumya Swaminathan were breathing down her neck with 2.5 points each.

On a lively day, when five of the six games were decisive, Kruttika took the cake with her crafty handling of a sharp variation.

“I sacrificed a pawn to gain initiative. Eventually, I not only got the pawn back but also a strong positional advantage. I usually don’t play this, but had prepared it in the morning,” said Kruttika.

Eesha beats Soumya

The fine run of Soumya hit a speed-breaker in the form of Eesha. “I surprised her with the French opening, but she played badly,” said WGM Eesha, after her 34-move demolition of the overnight leader.

Amrutha continued to fight hard despite her constant trouble with time. In fact, the lesser the time on her clock, the better she played, as she check-mated the better-rated Padmini Rout in 32 moves.

Tania back on track

Tania of Air-India revived her fortunes with a clinical performance against last year’s runner-up Kiran Manisha Mohanty.

She galloped on an active knight in the end game, against her opponent’s frozen bishop, to grab a crucial point.

Asian junior champion Mary consolidated her position with a victory over Pon N. Krithika in 49 moves.

The results (fourth round):

Amrutha Mokal 2.5 bt Padmini Rout 1; Kruttika Nadig 3 bt Swati Ghate 2; Nisha Mohota 1.5 drew with Bhakti Kulkarni 1; Mary Ann Gomes 2.5 bt Pon N. Krithika 1.5; Tania Sachdev 2.5 bt Kiran Manisha Mohanty 1; Soumya Swaminathan 2.5 lost to Eesha Karavade 2.5.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Sport