Vaishali bows out

Loses a close contest to Ushenina

R. Vaishali went down to Anna Ushenina of Ukraine 5.5-4.5 in the semifinals of the first leg of the FIDE Chess.com Women’s Speed Chess on Friday.

The Chennai girl needed a win in the last game in the last segment of the match (one minute plus one second per move), but could only get a draw.

She remains in contention in the tournament though, after her creditable show.

She will be playing in the next two more legs. The second leg will commence on July 1.

In Sunday’s final of the first leg, Ushenina will take on Valentina Gunina, who made short work of Alexandra Kosteniuk 9-3 in an all-Russian semifinal.