Grandmaster Padmini Rout caused a major flutter by defeating tournament leader Irina Bulmaga of Romania in the 11th round of World Junior Girls’ chess championship here on Wednesday.
Playing black, Padmini was at her best in tackling Bulmaga who went hay wire in the middle game and lost a pawn.
With perfect technique, Padmini picked up another pawn and then a rook for a knight, leading to a won position.
The shocker meant changes in the rankings as Aleksandra Goryashkina of Russia emerged as the sole leader here with 8.5 points out of a possible 11. Padmini with this victory jumped to 7.5 points and she now shares the fourth spot with two rounds still to come.
In the open section being organised simultaneously, S.P. Sethurman continued with his fine form and defeated Nasanjargal Urtnasan of Mongolia. Sethuraman took his tally to eight points in all along with compatriot Vidit Gujrathi who too had a good day against Debashish Das.
Yu Yangyi of China regained sole lead defeating Andrey Stukopin of Russia on a day when defending champion Alexander Ipatov of Turkey was held to a draw Samvel Ter-Sahakyan of Armenia. Ipatov again slipped to the second spot on nine points, half point ahead of Jorge Cori of Peru.
The Indian duo of Sethuraman and Gujrathi are now joint fourth on eight points and need to do well in the last two rounds to be in with a chance for a podium finish.
Among other Indians, Grandmaster Sahaj Grover bounced back with a victory over Fang Yan of China, while N. Srinath defeated Mykola Bortnyk of Ukraine.
Sethuraman had an easy day out of a Nimzo Indian defense as black. Winning a pawn in the endgame, Sethuraman was precise in his calculations and his two passed pawns proved much faster than Urtnasan’s. Gujrathi also won with black pieces. Debashish Das had a level position in the middle game but missed the thread as the game progressed. Gujrathi’s technique was perfect to get a full point.
Sahaj Grover sacrificed a piece in the endgame when the position looked absolutely drawn. It was a good comeback for Grover after losing to Chinese Wei Yei in the previous round.
