The Hindu : Sport / Chess : Kruttika Nadig continues to lead

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Kruttika Nadig continues to lead

Kamesh Srinivasan

NEW DELHI: Kruttika Nadig was in a spot of bother but continued to hold centrestage as she bounced back to record a resounding victory over WGM Nisha Mohota in the seventh round of the Parsvnath 35th National ‘A’ women’s chess championship at the Russian Centre of Science and Culture here on Wednesday.

The 20-year-old Economics student from Pune, Kruttika had her overactive rook trapped early on and was an exchange down as she had to settle for a knight in return. However, as has been her wont, Kruttika mobilised her resources skilfully to tame the former champion.

Kruttika landed the knock-out punch in the 34th turn with a knight move that saw her win the rook back. She gained a piece later by pinning down the bishop and cruised through in 49 moves, retaining the sole lead with 5.5 points.

Tania downs Swati

It was a half-point lead for Kruttika, over the two-time champion Tania Sachdev, as the latter made short work of another former champion Swati Ghate in a crisp 23-move game, with black pieces.

With a match against Tania scheduled for Friday, Kruttika could be getting ready to reach the decisive phase of the tournament that is being played on a round-robin format among 12 players, but she brushed aside any such thought by stressing that she would focus only on one game at a time, and not worry about any player in particular.

“It was a close match today, and I was a piece down at one stage. I am happy with the way I am fighting. I am not thinking too far ahead or about any particular player,” said Kruttika.

Confident display

Bhakti Kulkarni gave a confident display as she deflected the strong attack on her king with an imaginative performance, and realigned her forces to overwhelm Soumya Swaminathan in 53 moves. A former national junior champion, the girl from Goa, Bhakti has taken her tally to 3.5 points, half a point behind Soumya.

The world under-14 champion, Padmini Rout also had the satisfaction of winning her first game, as she downed the Asian junior champion Mary Ann Gomes in 52 moves.

The results (seventh round): Kiran Manisha Mohanty drew with Amrutha Mokal 3.5; Pon N. Krithika 2.5 bt Eesha Karavade 3.5; Bhakti Kulkarni 3.5 b Soumya Swaminathan 4; Swati Ghate 2.5 lost to Tania Sachdev 5; Padmini Rout 3 b Mary Ann Gomes 3; Kruttika Nadig 5.5 b Nisha Mohota 3.

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