Delhi Chess Association- Official Blog

Jha on sole lead

noreply@blogger.com (Webmaster) — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 01:51:47 PST

Bhiwani (29 Dec 09) :- Top seed Sriram Jha of LIC taken sole lead with seven points after defeating second seed Saptarshi Roy of West Bengal in the eighth round of the ongoing 2^nd Bhiwani Fide Rated Open Chess Tournament here at Preksha Vihar, Kirorimal Park on Tuesday.

Playing with white pieces in Queen's Gambit Chigorin Defence, Jha taken control early in the game and went on to seal the match in just 25 moves. International Master Anup Deshmukh along with Rahul Sangma and Aubhropratim Manna are trailing behind the leader with six and half points. Deshmukh defeated T Gowtham of Andhrapradesh while Sangama and Manna split the points against Souvik Chakraborty and Sumit Grover respectively. Two more rounds remaining in this 2.25 lakh prize money tournament.

Earlier the dream run of Souvik Chakraborty in the tournament come to an halt as he lost his crucial seventh round encounter against state mate and International Master Saptarshi Roy. In another seventh round matches Sriram Jha, Rahul Sangma and Aubhropratim Manna defeated Ritwan Sauntra, Manav Saxena and Anurag Jaiswal respectively.

Important Results (Round-8) (Indians otherwise specified) :- Sriram Jha (7) beat Saptarshi Roy (6) ; Souvik Chakraborty (6) drew with Rahul Sangma (6.5) ; Sumit Grover (6) drew with Aubhropratim Manna (6.5) ; Himal Gusain (6) drew with Atanu Lahiri (6) ; Anup Deshmukh (6.5) beat Gowtham T (5.5); Anurag Jaiswal (5) lost to Manav Saxena (6) ; Prince Bajaj (6) beat Manohar Lal (5) ; Sidhant Mohapatra (5.5) drew with Vikramaditya Sahu (5.5) ; Niraj Niraula of Nepal (5) lost to Divyasri Ch (6) ; Ritwan Sauntra (6) beat P Srikanth (5)

Important Results (Round-7):- Saptarshi Roy beat Souvik Chakraborty ; Sriram Jha beat Ritwan Sauntra ; Rahul Sangma beat Manav Saxena ; Gowtham T drew with Himall Gusain ; Aubhropratim Manna beat Anurag Jaiswal ; Atanu Lahiri beat Nasir Ali Syed ; R Balasubramaniam lost to Sumit Grover ; Anilkumar O T lost to Anup Deshmukh ; Moti Ram lost to Prince Bajaj ; Jain Singhai Niklesh beat Linda Rangarajan.

--
Pradeep Gupta
Hon. Secretary
The Haryana Chess Association
Mobile: +91 9311557001
www.haryanachess.com

Souvik Chakraborty on sole lead; Aubhropratim Manna holds Jha

noreply@blogger.com (Webmaster) — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 02:04:29 PST

Bhiwani (28 Dec 09) :- Dark horse of the tournament Souvik Chakraborty of West Bengal taken the sole lead with five and half points after defeating International Master and third seed Atanu Lahiri in the sixth round of the ongoing 2^ndBhiwani Fide Rated Chess Tournament here at Preksha Vihar, Kirorimal Park today. Playing white side of French Defence Exchange variation, Chakrborty overcame his fancied rival in just 27 moves.

In an another interesting sixth round match, top seed Sriram Jha had to satisfy with half points against young Aubhropratim Manna of West Bengal rated less than five hundred elo points than him. Playing with white pieces in four knight's game, Manna kept the pressure on the king side of Jha throughout the game and secured a well deserved half points after signing the peace treaty in 25 moves.

A pack of nine players, including Sriram Jha and International Master Saptarshi Roy, who settled for half points against Rahul Sangma in the sixth round encounter are trailing behind the leader with a drift of half point.

Important Results (Round-6) (Indians otherwise specified) :- Aubhropratim Manna (5) drew with Sriram Jha (5); Saptarshi Roy (5) drew with Rahul Sangma (5); Souvik Chakraborty (5.5) beat Atanu Lahiri (4.5); Himal Gusain (5) beat Sumit Grover (4.5); Nasir Ali Syed (4.5) drew with R Balasubramaniam (4.5); Anurag Jaiswal (5) beat Divyasri Ch (4); Ritwan Sauntra (5) beat Prince Bajaj (4); Manav Saxena (5) beat Deepak Katiyar (4); Sonakshi Rathore (4) lost to Gowtham T (5); Anup Deshmukh (4.5) beat Manohar Lal (4).

Souvik Chakraborty holds Sriram Jha

noreply@blogger.com (Webmaster) — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 06:32:02 PST

Bhiwani (27 Dec 09) :- Continuing his dream run in the ongoing 2^nd Bhiwani Fide Rated Chess Tournament, Souvik Chakraborty of West Bengal held top seed and India's new Grandmaster Sriram Jha in the fifth round encounter here at Preksha Vihar, Kirorimal Park on Sunday. Coming back to competitive chess after a gap of fourteen months Chakraborty defeated International Master Balasubramaniam and seasoned campaigner O T Anilkumar in the earlier rounds.

Playing black side of Kings Indian Defence, Chakraborty displayed a fine tactical game to get a creditable half points against Jha in a marathon match that lasted 107 moves. A pack of seven players, including Jha and Chakraborty are occupying the pole position in point table with four and half points at the end of fifth round matches.

In the second board, International Masters Saptarshi Roy of West Bengal and state mate Atanu Lahiri shook hands within an hour of the start, signaling a drawn result.

There is no stopping for the upset galore in this edition of the tournament, as experienced International Master Anup Deskhmukh joined the casualty list as he lost his fifth round game against Sumit Grover of J&K while young Aubhropratim Manna of West Bengal got better off highly rated Linda Rangarajan of Puducherry.

Important Results (Round-5) (Indians otherwise specified) :- Sriram Jha (4.5) drew with Souvik Chakraborty (4.5); Atanu Lahiri (4.5) drew with Saptarshi Roy (4.5); Rahul Sangma (4.5) beat Niraj Niraula of Nepal (3.5); Sumit Grover (4.5) beat Anup Deshmukh (3.5); Linda Rangarajan (3.5) lost to Aubhropratim Manna (4.5); Sidhant Mohapatra (3) lost to R Balasubramaniam (4); Srikanth P (3) lost to Himal Gusain (4); Anurag Jaiswal (4) beat Shirdhankar Subhash Bhargav (3); Y P Srivastava (3) lost to Sonakshi Rathore (4); Prince Bajaj (4) beat Sree Lakshmi (3).

Important Results (Round-4) :- Himal Gusain lost to Sriram Jha; Saptarshi Roy beat Anurag Jaiswal; Y P Srivastava lost to Atanu Lahhiri; Anup Deshmukh drew with Linda Rangarajan; Souvik Chakraborty beat O T Anilkumar; Yashpal Arora lost to Rahul Sangma; Sidhant Mohapatra drew with Prince Bajaj; Krishan Soni lost to Sumit Grover; Anil Tiwari drew with Gowtham T; Vikramaditya Sahu lost to Aubhropratim Manna.

--
Pradeep Gupta
Hon. Secretary
The Haryana Chess Association
Mobile: +91 9311557001
www.haryanachess.com

Souvik Chakraborty stuns Balasubramaniam

noreply@blogger.com (Webmaster) — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 04:38:21 PST

Bhiwani (26 Dec 09) :- Souvik Chakraborty of West Bengal made the first major upset in the ongoing 2^ndBhiwani Fide Rated Open Chess Tournament as he stunned fifth seed and International Master R Balasubramaniam in the third round encounter at Preksha Vihar, Kirorimal Park here on Saturday. Playing the black side King’s Indian Defence, Chakraborty overcame his fancied rival in 45 moves.

In another third round matches, top seed Sriram Jha over came veteran player Nasir Ali with out much struggle. International Masters in the fray second seed Saptarshi Roy, third seed Atanu Lahiri and sixth seed Anup Deshmukh are garnered full points in the third round against Divya Sri of Andhrapradesh, Ritwan Sauntra of J&K and Tanwar M C of Haryana respectively.

Earlier in the second round, young Aubhropratim Manna of West Bengal held fourth seed and India’s new International Master Rahul Sangma in a hard fought encounter.

Important Results (Round-3) (Indians otherwise specified) :- Sriram Jha (3) beat Nasir Ali Syed (2); Divyasri Ch (2) lost to Saptarshi Roy (3); Atanu Lahiri (3) beat Ritwan Sauntra (2); R Balasubramaniam (2) lost to Souvik Chakraborty (3); Tanwar MC (2) lost to Anup Deshmukh (3); Manav Saxena (2) lost to Himal Gusain (3); Tamal Chakrabarti (2) lost to Anurag Jaiswal (3); Milind Parle (2) lost to Y P Srivastava (3); Prince Bajaj (2.5) drew with Niraj Niraula of Nepal (2.5); Sanjeev Duggal (2) lost to Linda Rangarajan (3).

Important Results (Round-2) :- Srikanth P lost to Sriram Jha ; Saptarshi Roy beat Singhai Niklesh Jain ; Shirdhankar Subhash Bhargav lost to Atanu Lahiri; Rahul Sangma drew with Aubhropratim Manna; Sonakshi Rathore lost to R Balasubramaniam; Anup Deshmukh beat Arpit Saxena ; Himal Gusain beat Gandhi Vinay Balkrishna; Anurag Jaiswal beat Yogesh Gautam; Y P Srivastava beat Sree Lakshmi; D K Chopra lost to Prince Bajaj.

Jha starts as favourite; Anesh holds Anilkumar

noreply@blogger.com (Webmaster) — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 03:42:46 PST

Bhiwani (25 Dec 09) :- 2^nd Bhiwani Fide Rated Open Chess Tournament organinsed by Bhiwani District Chess Federation got off to a surprising start as seventh seed and seasoned campaigner O T Anilkumar of Kerala held by unrated Anesh R of Andhrpradesh in the first round match here at Preksha Vihar, Kriorimal Park on today. 134 players from different parts of India are participating in this one week long Rs. 2, 25,000/- prize money tournament.

Apart from Anilkumar, almost all top seeded players of the tournament, which include India's new Grandmaster Sriram Jha, posted easy victories to advance to the second round with full points in their kitty. Top seed Jha had an easy outing against Mahika Mor and International Master Saptarshi Roy made short work of Manan Rai in the first round.

Earlier the tournament was inaugurated by Shri. Rao Dan Singh, Chief Parliamentary Secretary in presence of Shri. Lalit Agarwal, Pawan Buwaniwala and Shri. Pradeep Gupta, Secretary Haryana Chess Association.

Important Results (Round-1) :- Sriram Jha (1) beat Mahika Mor (0) ; Manan Rai (0) lost to Saptarshi Roy (1); Atanu Lahiri (1) beat Aashna Khan (0); Aditya Baser (0) lost to Rahul Sangma (1); R Balasubramanian (1) beat Alok Nath Jha (0); Amrit Pal Singh (0) lost to Anup Deshmukh (1); O T Anil Kumar (.5) drew with Anesh R (.5); Bala Chandra Prashad (0) lost to Y P Srivastava (1); Prince Bajaj (1) beat Stuti Bhanot (0); Bheri Chinna Rao (0) lost to Linda Rangarajan (1)

Utkal Ranjan Sahoo and Lasya Champions

noreply@blogger.com (Webmaster) — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 09:53:10 PST

New Delhi (19 Dec 09) :- Better tie break score helped Orissa lad Utkal Ranjan Sahoo to clinch the National Under-13 Open title here at Bapu Samaj Sewa Kendra on today. In a nail biting finish, World Under-10 champion Girish Koushik and top seed Vaibhav Suri of Delhi along with Utkal Ranjan Sahoo tied for the championship with 9 points. But better bucholz tie break score helped Sahoo to secure the title while Girish stood second and local hope Vaibhav satisfied with third spot finish.

In the girls’ championship being held simultaneously, G Lasya of Andhrapradesh with 9 points fetched the title by drawing her last round encounter against team mate and top seed Cholleti Sahajasri. Bala Kannamma of Tamilnadu and Sahajasri were tied for the second spot with 8.5 points but the later have to content with third spot as Bala had better tie break score to finish second.

In the eventful eleventh and final round in the open category, top three boards produced decisive results as all the overnight leaders tried to get results in their favour to notch up the pole position. Top seed Vaibhav defeated Shardul Gagare of Maharashtra on the top board while Girish got better of G Akash of Tamilnadu. Eventual champion Utkal Ranjan overcame Karma Pandya of Gujarat in the final round to secure the first place finish.

During the closing ceremony, Delhi Chess Association facilitated Delhi’s new Grandmaster Sriram Jha and All India Chess Federation Secretary DV Sundar give away the prizes in presence of International Master Tania Sachdev and Bharat Singh, Secretary Delhi Chess Association.

Important Results (Open) Round-11 :- Vaibhav Suri of Delhi (9) beat Shardul Gagare of Maharashtra (8); G Akash of Tamilandu (8) lost to Girish A Koushik of Karnataka (9); Utkal Ranjan Sahoo of Orissa (9) beat Karma Pandya of Gujarat (8); Sayantan Das of West Bengal (8.5) beat Shiven Khosla of Maharashtra (7.5); Varun V of Andhrapradesh (7.5) lost to Prince Bajaj of Delhi (8.5); Akash PC Iyer beat Manush Shah of Gujarat (7.5); Nishvin J of Tamilnadu (8) beat Vaibhav S Bhat of Maharashtra (7); Ayush Jugele of Maharashtra (8) beat Chaithanyaa KG of Tamilnadu (7); Vishnu Gopakumar of Kerala (7) lost to Siddarth M of Tamilnadu (8).

Important Results (Girls) Round-11:- Cholleti Sahajasri of Andhrapradesh (8.5) drew with Lasya G of Andhrapradesh (9); Rutuja Bakshi of Maharashtra (8) lost to Bala Kannamma of Tamilnadu (8.5); Nandhidhaa PV of Tamilnadu (8) drew with Sonakashi Rathore of Rajasthan (8); Shweta Gole of Maharashtra (7.5) drew with Meenu Priya of Tamilnadu (7.5); Ashwini U of Tamilnadu (8) beat Janhavi Soneji of Maharashtra (7); Nisha N Patkar of Karnataka (7) lost to Monnisha GK of Tamilnadu (7.5); Michelle Catherina of Tamilnadu (7.5) beat Arunima Goyal of Chandigarh (6.5); Akshaya N of Tamilnadu (6.5) lost to Madhurima Shekhar of Delhi (7.5); Sradhanjali Jena of Orissa (7.5) beat G Uma Bharathi of Tamilnadu (6.5); Soumya Shrivastava of Maharashtra (7) beat Meghna Upadhyay of Madhyapradesh (6.5)

Final Standings (Open):-

(1) Utkal Ranjan Sahoo of Orissa with 9 points & 84.5 Bucholz tie break score

(2) Girish A Kosuhik of Karnataka with 9 points & 82.5 Bucholz tie break score

(3) Vaibhav Suri of Delhi with 9 points & 78.5 Bucholz tie break score

(4) Sayantan Das of West Bengal with 9 points & 79 Bucholz tie break score

(5) Prince Bajaj of Delhi with 9 points & 75.5 Bucholz tie break score

(6) Shardul Gagare of Maharashtra with 9 points & 82.5 Bucholz tie break score

(7) G Akash of Tamilnadu with 9 points & 80.5 Bucholz tie break score

(8) Ayush Jugele of Maharashtra with 9 points & 79 Bucholz tie break score

(9) Akash PC Iyer of Tamilnadu with 9 points & 78 Bucholz tie break score

(10) Karma Pandya of Gujarat with 9 points & Bucholz 77.5 Bucholztie break score

Final Standings (Girls):-

(1) Lasya G of Andhrapradesh with 9 points & 74 Bucholz tie break score

(2) Bala Kannamma P of Tamilnadu with 8.5 points & 76.5 Bucholz tie break score

(3) Cholleti Sahajasri of Andhrapradesh with 8.5 points & 73.5 Bucholz tie break score

(4) Nandhidhaa PV of Tamilnadu with 8 points & 78.5 Bucholz tie break score

(5) Sonakashi Rathore of Rajasthan with 8 points & 77.5 Bucholz tie break score

(6) Rutuja Bakshi of Maharashtra with 8 points & 77 Bucholz tie break score

(7) Ashwini U of Tamilnadu with 8 points & 66.5 Bucholz tie break score

(8) Meenu Priya of Tamilnadu with 7.5 points & 81 Bucholz tie break score

(9) Michelle Catherina of Tamilnadu with 7.5 points & 77 Bucholz tie break score

(10) Monnisha GK of Tamilnadu with 7.5 points & 76.5 Bucholz tie break score

Girish and Shardul share lead

noreply@blogger.com (Webmaster) — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 08:53:00 PST

New Delhi (16 Dec 09) :- Former World Under-10 Champion Karnataka's Girish A Koushik and Fide Master Shardul Gagare of Maharashtra with 7 points are in joint lead after eighth round matches in the 23^rd National Under-13 Chess Championship here at Bapu Samaj Sewa Kendra on Wednesday. Opting for English Opening, Shardul defeated fifth seed and last year runner up Utkal Ranjan Shaoo of Orissa in 45 moves. Continuing his fine form in the championship, Girish overcame S Kaushik of Tamilnadu in 41 moves. Karma Pandya of Gujarat, Eshwanth Dev Kumar of Tamilnadu along with local lads Vaibhav Suri and Price Bajaj are closely following the leaders with a drift of half points.

Mean while in the girls section, with seven points in the kitty, Andhrapradesh girl G Lasya emerged as sole leader as she defeated N Akshya of Tamilnadu in the eighth round encounter. Over night joint leaders second seed PV Nandhidhaa of Tamilnadu and Nisha N Patkar of Karnataka are agreed to split the points after just 10 moves. Nandhidhaa and Nisha along with Bala Kannamma of Tamilndau are now in the joint second spot with 6.5 points.

Important Results (Open) Round-8 :- Girish A Koushik of Karnataka (7) beat Kaushik S of Tamilnadu (6); Shardul Gagare of Maharashtra (7) beat Utkal Ranjan Shaoo of Orissa (6); Vaibhav Suri (6.5) beat Chandrasish Majumdar of West Bengal (5.5); Sayantan Das of West Bengal (5.5) lost to Eshwanth Dev Kumar of Tamilnadu (6.5); Karma Pandya of Gujarat (6.5) beat Niraj Saripalli of Goa (5.5); Vasantha Ruba Varman of Tamilandu (5.5) lost to Prince Bajaj of Delhi (6.5); G Akash of Tamilnadu (6) drew with Nishvin J of Tamilnadu (6); Akash PC Iyer of Tamilnadu (6) drew with Varun V of Andhrapradesh (6); Shiven Khosla of Maharashtra (6) beat Chaithanyaa KG of Tamilandu (5.5); Abir Sinha of Delhi (5.5) drew with Sumit Kumar of West Bengal (5.5).

Important Results (Girls) Round-8 :- Nisha N Patkar of Karnataka (6.5) drew with Nandhidhaa PV of Tamilnadu (6.5); Lasya G of Andhrapradesh (7) beat Akshaya N of Tamilnadu (5.5); Bala Kannamma of Tamilnadu (6.5) beat Sonakshi Rathore of Rajasthan (5.5); Dharani Sree of Tamilnadu (5) lost to Cholleti Sahajasri of Andhrapradesh (6); Michelle Catherina of Tamilnadu (6) beat Nivedhitha M of Tamilnadu (5); Rutuja Bakshi of Maharshtra (6) beat Soumya Shrivastava of Maharashtra (5); Sohini Ganguly of West Bengal (6) beat Aarthi G of Tamilnadu (5); Monnisha GK of Tamilnadu (5.5) beat Srinidhi Sridharan of Tamilnadu (4.5); Uma Bharathi of Tamilnadu (5.5) beat Tarini Goyal of Chandigarh (4.5)

Rohan holds Vaibhav

noreply@blogger.com (Webmaster) — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 00:26:39 PST

New Delhi (12/12/09) :- Top seed and local favourite Vaibhav Suri got a minor setback to his title hopes as he settled for half points against unheralded Goan lad Rohan Ahuja in the second round of the ongoing 23^rd National Under-13 (Open & Girls) Chess Championships here at Bapu Samaj Seva Kendra , Panchkuian Road on today. A bunch of 42 players including former age group world champions Sayantan Das of West Bengal, Girish A Koushik of Karnataka and local star Harshal Shahi are now leads the table with perfect scores after second round matches. In another setback to local hopes, sixth seed and former World Under-10 bronze medalist Prince Bajaj lost his second round encounter against lowly rated Suresh Krishna of Puducherry.

Meanwhile in the girls section, 18 players including second seed Nandhidhaa P V of Tamilnadu, Sonakashi Rathore of Rajasthan and Delhi state champion Madhurima Shekhar are sharing the lead with 2 points.

Important Results (Round-2) Open :- Rohan Ahuja of Goa (1.5) drew with Vaibhav Suri of Delhi (1.5) ; Subramanian R M of Tamilnadu(1) lost to Sayantan Das of West Bengal (2); Girish A Koushik of Karnataka (2) beat Rakesh Kumar Jena of Orissa (1); Sarang Ponkshe of Maharashtra (0) lost to Utkal Ranjan Sahoo of Orissa (2); Karma Pandya of Gujarat (2) beat Divya Patel of Gujarat (1); Suresh Krishna S of Puducherry (2) beat Prince Bajaj of Delhi (1); G Akash of Tamilnadu (2) beat Om Sabnis of Maharashtra (1); Shardul Gagare of Maharashtra (2) beat Swaraj Koshta of Madhyapradesh (1); Rishubh Naresh Naik of Goa (1) lost to Kaushik S of Tamilnadu (2); Raj Kishor Singh of Haryana (1) lost to Chandrasish Majumdar of West Bengal (2).

Important Results (Round-2) Girls :- Srija PS of Andhrapradesh (1) lost to Nandhidhaa P V of Tamilnadu (2) ; Sonakashi Rathore of Rajasthan (2) beat Gangamma B N of Karnataka (1); Khushi Dharewa of West Bengal (1) lost to Michelle Catherina of Tamilnadu (2); Monnisha G K of Tamilnadu (2) beat Aarthi G of Tamilnadu (1); Madhurima Shekhar of Delhi (2) beat Shweta Gole of Maharashtra (1); Bala Kannamma of Tamilnadu (1.5) drew with Salini R of Andhrapradesh (1.5); Abinaya Sen of Tamilnadu (2) beat Akhankhya Kabi of Orissa (1); Nisha N Patkar of Karnataka (1) lost to Janhavi Soneji of Maharashtra (2); Simranjeet Kaur of Chandigarh (1) lost to Soumya Shrivastava of Maharashtra (2); Lasya G of Andhrapradesh (2) beat Bansi Prathima of Andhrapradesh (1).

Vaibhav Suri starts as hot favourite

noreply@blogger.com (Webmaster) — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 03:50:56 PST

New Delhi (10 Dec 09) :- Local lad Vaibhav Suri, who narrowly missed the Gold medal in the just concluded World Youth Chess Championship, will start as the top seed and hot favorite in the National Under-13 (Open & Girls) championship which starts here at Bapu Samaj Sewa Kendra from Friday. Already 320 players from different part of India are registered for this nine day long event.

Looking for title in the home turf, Vaibhav will however face stiff challenge in the championship from the likes of Asian Under-14 Champion Shiven Khosla of Maharashtra, former World Under-10 champion Girish Koushik of Karnataka and Fide Master Sayantan Das of West Bengal.

Meanwhile in the girl's section, Cholleti Sahajasri of Andhrapradesh start as top seed, but she will miss her first round encounter as she is participating in the ongoing National Premier Women Chess Championship at Chennai. Her absence in the first round will boost the chances of second seed Sonakshi Rathore of Rajasthan and Asian Under-12 gold medalist G K Monnisha of Tamilnadu in this 11 round Swiss system event.

One Gold, Three Silver, Two Bronze For India

noreply@blogger.com (Webmaster) — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 23:22:22 PST

Final round disasters may have taken a toll on our number of medals but India has retained the World Under-16 title this time via S.P. Sethuraman of Chennai in the World Youth Chess Championship that ended at Antalya, Turkey on Nov 23, 2009.

The fight for the 12 titles was fierce with no nation taking more than two overall (open/girls). Among girls and open, no country could win more than one title. Overall, Russia won two, Peru two, China two, Iran two, Australia, Israel, Azerbaijan and India one each.

Scanning the results and placings of nations, China has clearly taken note of the previous placings at Georgia and are working to get better of us. They have fielded more players in all the groups. There are more Chinese in each of the sections than Indians.

Sethuraman's title came after a defeat he suffered to Vidit Gujrathi. He did not hear Vidit's draw offer. He paid that price. Vidit comes from Nasik and took a draw thinking it was progressive score tie-break. Sethuraman's tie-break score was better and Vidit had to take the second place.

Sethuraman comes from a chess family. He father S. Panayappan teaches chess. Sethuraman is a twelfth standard student from Velammal School. He is an International Master and also won four National titles. His latest was the National Junior title. His maiden world title has made his friends and supporters delighted.

"He was waiting for this for the last five years since Belfore 2005," said Panayappan. He is now departing for the National 'A' as this is the tight season for chess playing. His younger brother and mother are also chess players. Chess runs in their family. Since turning to a Ukrainian Grandmaster. his performances started to get better, said Panayappan. Overseas trainers are normal for Indian these days. Vidit uses a Israeli trainer, others like Negi use Ubilava.

Three players who missed medals and titles were Vaibhav Suri of Delhi, Adhiban of Chennai and Bansi Prathima of Hyderabad. All were last round victims. Yet, India won three silver medals. Besides Vidit, Ivana Furtado of Goa, former two time Under-8 champion settled for silver this time in the Under-10 section. Karthikeyan Murali who learns chess from M. Velayudham of Bloom Chess Academy in Chennai finished second in the Under-10 section. He actually tied for the first place.

Among our bronze medal winners were G.V. Sai Krishna of Vijayawada who tied for the second place and finished third on tie-break in the Under-14 section. After a poor start, 0.5/2, many would give up. But Saranya, did not lose heart and finished strongly with a 4/4 score to win the bronze medal in the Girls Under-14 section.

Our six medal winners: S.P. Sethuraman (TN, Under-16, gold), Vidit Gujrathi (Mah, Under-16, silver), Karthikeyan Murali (TN, Under-10, silver), Ivana Furtado (Goa, Girls Under-10, silver), G.V. Sai Krishna (AP, Under-14, bronze), J. Saranya (TN, Girls Under-14, bronze).

India did not do as well as Georgia 2005 or Vietnam 2008 but the six medal haul is no mean achievement. One title, three silver and two bronze medals means we are fairly consistent in picking up medals.

Though no reason is required for a mild reduction in medal count, Grand Master Ramesh of Chennai said many of our players played in higher age group this year and you can expect better results next year.

International Master K. Murugan of Chennai said atleast three medals were lost in the final day due to our players' rivals playing better chess. Our best coaching unit was present, and the players and parents should know that if they fail consistently at the last round, it means they need to have better fitness and nerves.

Final placings:

Open Category:

Under-18: 1 Maxim Matlakov (Rus) 9/11; 2 Ivan Salgado (Esp) 8.5; 3 Kacper Piorun (Pol) 8; 5 B. Adhiban (Ind) 7.5; 29 Shyam Nikhil 6.5; 35 R. Pradeep Kumar (Ind) 6.5; 37 Shreyansh Daklia (Ind) 6...101 players.

Under-16: 1-2. S.P. Sethuraman (Ind), Vidit Gujrathi (Ind) 9/11 each; Maxime Lagarde (Fra) 8; 6 Debashis Das (Ind) 8; 21 Prasanna Rao (Ind) 7; 24 Aditya Udeshi (Ind) 6.5; 27 K. Priyadarshan (Ind) 6.5; 57 Deepthamsh Reddy (Ind) 5.5; 68 Jitendria Vels (Ind) 5.5...119 players.

Under-14: 1 Cori Jorge (Per) 9/11; 2-3. Kamil Dragun (Pol), G.V. Sai Krishna (Ind) 8.5 each; 15 Utkal Ranjan Sahoo (Ind) 7.5; 30 Tejas Ravichandran (Ind) 6.5...138 players.

Under-12: Bobby Cheng (Aus) 9/11; 2-3. Jan-Krzysztof Duda (Pol), Richard Wang (Can) 8.5 each; 6 Vaibhav Suri (Ind) 8; 8-10. Diptayan Ghosh, Shardul Gagare, Girish Koushik (all Ind) 8 each; 51 Sayantan Das (Ind) 6; 60 Bhaskar Arun Gupta (Ind) 6; 69 Cyrus Pereira (Ind) 5.5...142 players.

Under-10: 1-3. Bai Jinshi (Chn), Karthikeyan Murali (Ind), Zhang Han Yu (Chn) 9/11 each; 5 Hetul Shah (Ind) 8.5; 36 Harshal Shahi (Ind) 5.5 ...147 players.

Under-8: 1 Aryan Gholami (Iri) 9/11; 2-3. Tanuj Vasudeva (USA), Mohd Amin Tabatabaei (Iri) 8.5 each; 6 Aryan Chopra (Ind) 8; 20-21. Nitish Belurkar (Ind) 7, Rajaryan Kuvelkar (Ind) 7; 40 Prameya Garge (Ind) 6.5...120 players

Girls Category:

Girls Under-18: 1-2. Olga Girya (Rus), Keti Tsatsalashvili (Geo) 8.5/11 each; 3 Kubra Ozturk (Tur) 8; 7 Pon N. Krithikha (Ind) 7.5; 16 Bhakti Kulkarni (Ind) 6.5...61 players.

Girls Under-16: 1 Cori T Deysi (Per) 10/11; 2 Meri Arabidze (Geo) 8.5; 3 Nazi Paikidze (Geo) 8; 14 Padmini Rout (Ind) 7; 22-23 Rucha Pujari (Ind), Shalmali Gagare (Ind) 6.5 each; 28-29. Shristi Shetty (Ind), R. Bharathi (Ind) 6.5...102 players.

Girls Under-14: 1-2. Marsel Efroimski (Isr), Aleksandra Lach (Pol) 9/11 each; 3 J. Saranya (Ind) 8.5; 15 Pv Nandhidhaa (Ind) 7; 19 S. Anjana Krishna (Ind) 7; 35 B. Pratyusha (Ind) 6...100 players.

Girls Under-12: 1 Sarasadat Khademalsharieh (Iri) 10/11; 2 Anna Styazhkina (Rus) 9.5; 3 Aleksandra Goryachkina (Rus) 8.5; 4 Goly Lasya (Ind) 8; 7 M. Mahalakshmi (Ind) 7.5; 20 Srija Seshadri (Ind) 7; 32 U. Ashwini (Ind) 6.5; 68 Arunima Goyal (Ind) 5...105 players.

Girls Under-10: Gunay Vugar Qizi Mammadzada (Aze) 10.5/11; 2-3. Ivana Maria Furtado (Ind), Aydan Hikmet Qizi Hojjatova (Aze) 8.5 each; 4 C.H. Meghna (Ind) 8; 9 Tejaswini Sagar (Ind) 7.5; 11 Riya Savant (Ind) 7.5; 15 Shiny Das (Ind) 7...83 players.

Girls Under-8: 1 Chu Ruotong (Chn) 9.5/11; 2-3. Samirtha Palakollu (USA), Li Yunshan (Chn) 8.5; 4 Bansi Prathima (Ind) 8; 10 Arpita Mukherjee (Ind) 7.5; 12 Khushi Dharewa (Ind) 7.5; 23 Tarini Goyal (Ind) 6.5...84 players

World Youth Championship 2009- 6th round results

noreply@blogger.com (Webmaster) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 04:51:34 PST

IM Vidit Gujrathi continued his good run by maintaining the sole lead of 5.5 points after drawing with FM Urkedal Frode in the U-16 section. In a slav exchange variation Vidit equalised easily with black to hold the game. Earlier in the day he swung into the lead by outplaying compatriot S.P.Sethuraman in the fifth round with precise technique.

IM S.P.Sethurman bounced back in the 6th round by playing a powerful game with the white pieces by sacrificing a pawn for initiative and scored a facile victory against compatriot Debashis Das in the Semi Slav and is trailing Vidit by half a point .

In the U-8 section Delhi lad Vaibhav Suri employing the Sicilian Taimanov variation carved out a fine victory to stay in the lead with 5.5 points . Diptayan Ghosh with 5 points to his credit is trailing Vaibahv Suri and also very much in the run for medal tally after a hard earned victory against Tigran Harutyunian.

In the U-10 section Hetul Shah jumped to the second place with 5 other players after scoring back to back victories in the 5th and 6th rounds . In an English opening he exhibited great positional maturity to score an elegant win against Boldoo Erdenpurev . In the U-14 section Tejas Ravichandran with 4.5 points frittered away an overwhelming position by losing to Yuan Yi

In the U-8 girls Bansi Prathima was on a roll by accounting for Mourad Fatemmah in a slav exchang variation to take her tally to 5 points and is in the joint second slot though Chinese player Chu Ruotong is on full score with 6 points.

In the U-10 girls C.H.Meghna gave a spirited display to outwit Dmochowska and jumped to the third spot with 5 points. Earlier in the fifth round she put it across Alieda De Bruyn.

Goli Lasya playing consistently well is on the joint second spot with 5 points in the U-12 girls section.

Also in the fray are Saranya and Nandhidhaa in U-14 girls, B.Adhiban and Jain Shreyesh Daklia in U-18 section, Mitrabha Guha in the U-8 section,Murali Karthikeyan in U-10,Shardul Gagare in U-12, Mahalakshmi in U-12 girls, Padmini Rout and Rucha Pujari in U-16 girls, Ivana Furtado in the U-10 girls with 4.5 points each respectively.

By D.V.Prasad

(International Master)

Anand Beats Leko, In Lead at Moscow

noreply@blogger.com (Webmaster) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 05:12:15 PST

World champion Viswanathan Anand scored his second straight win with the white pieces to join Vladimir Kramnik in the lead after five rounds in the Tal Memorial Category 21 Tournament at Moscow on November 10.

Anand had drawn all his black games and won with the white so far. In the Anti-Meran Gambit, Anand outclassed Leko in the queen and rook ending. When he was about to lose his second pawn in a queen ending, Leko resigned with the black pieces.

Anand and Kramnik are leading the 10-player single all play all with 3.5/5 after scoring two victories apiece.

Kramnik impressed and came close to winning his third game. Having perched a pawn on the seventh rank, he failed to convert a better position. He landed in a rook ending with the black pieces. Gelfand was able to draw the three versus four rook and pawn ending with pawns on the same side after 81 moves.

Teenaged prodigy, Carlsen remained quiet with a 31-move draw against Ivanchuk. Neither side tried to win the game. There are still four rounds to go in this average 2764 Elo tournament. Anand still has to face Carlsen, Aronian, Morozevich and Gelfand.

The results (round five): V. Anand (Ind) 3.5 bt P. Leko (Hun) 1.5, L. Aronian (Arm) 3 drew with A. Morozevich (Rus) 2, V. Ivanchuk (Ukr) 2.5 drew with M. Carlsen (Nor) 2.5, B. Gelfand (Isr) 2.5 drew with V. Kramnik (Rus) 3.5, P. Svidler (Rus) 1.5 drew with R. Ponomariov (Ukr) 2.5.

Kramnik Wrests Sole Lead at Moscow

noreply@blogger.com (Webmaster) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 11:58:49 PST

Former world champion Vladimir Kramnik of Russia moved into sole lead in the Tal Memorial at Moscow on Nov 8. Kramnik who lives in Moscow defeated countryman Peter Svidler of St Petersburg with the white pieces to move into sole lead with three points from four rounds.

World champion Viswanathan Anand remained quiet with a draw from his third black game in round four. He shares the second-third place with Levon Aronian on 2.5 points. Anand drew comfortably with the black against Ponomariov. Anand gave up a pawn to enter a dead level opposite colour bishop ending.

Anand is the only player to play the same opening in all his four rounds. He played the Grunfeld defence three times with black and Svidler played it with black against him in the third round. Anand won round three to break the jinx of draws in the event. Soon, Kramnik also won against Morozevich after Aronian put it across Leko. With his win number two in a row, Kramnik has taken an early lead.

Anand played some deft moves on turn 24 and 25 to exploit the black weakness and win against Svidler in round three. Anand has a clean 1/1 score with white and still has three more white games to come.

On the health of the players, Carlsen is reported to be suffering from fever and Kramnik is also not well. Kramnik is playing at 2964! This super category 21 event is a 10-player single all-play-all with an average rating of 2764.

The results (round four): V. Kramnik (Rus) 3 bt P. Svidler (Rus) 1, M. Carlsen (Nor) 2 drew with L. Aronian (Arm) 2.5, R. Ponomariov (Ukr) 2 drew with V. Anand (Ind) 2.5, P. Leko (Hun) 1.5 drew with V. Ivanchuk (Ukr) 2, A. Morozevich (Rus) 1.5 lost to B. Gelfand (Isr) 2.

Results of round three: Anand bt Svidler, Aronian bt Leko, Morozevich lost to Kramnik, Gelfand drew Carlsen, Ivanchuk drew Ponomariov.

Ten Draws In Moscow

noreply@blogger.com (Webmaster) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 07:38:44 PST

World champion Viswanathan Anand played his second draw in a row in the Tal Memorial Tournament and both of them are welcome results as he played black in these two encounters. Round two also produced five draws and there is no sign of victory in Moscow so far. Seven rounds remain to be played in this event which will be played from Nov 4-14.

Two draws from black games, both by using the Grunfeld is a good sign for Anand. Anand had played the Grunfeld before in the June 1994 PCA Candidates match against Oleg Romanishin at New York.

This draw against Kramnik from whom he wrested the world title last year went to an opposite colour bishop ending before draw was agreed. Kramnik sacrificed his queen for rook and bishop to keep his chances but black played well for a draw.

Anand's two draws are better than Carlsen's two draws as the Chennai born Indian played black in both while Carlsen played white pieces in both his games. All ten players are on one point.

The results (round two). M. Carlsen (Nor) drew with A. Morozevich (Rus), V. Kramnik (Rus) drew with V. Anand (Ind), P. Leko (Hun) drew with B. Gelfand (Isr), P. Svidler (Rus) drew with V. Ivanchuk (Ukr), R. Ponomariov (Ukr) drew with L. Aronian (Arm).

Soumya Swaminathan Is World Junior Champion

noreply@blogger.com (Webmaster) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 07:03:20 PST

Soumya Swaminathan achieved what only five other Indians have achieved in world chess. She won the World Junior girls chess championship at Puerto Madryn in Argentina on November 3, 2009.

In the thirteenth and final round, Soumya, defeated Kubra Ozturk of Turkey with the white pieces for a place in world history. She became the third Indian girl after Koneru Humpy (2002) and Dronavalli Harika (2008) to win the World Junior Girls championship. The World Junior had been won by V. Anand (1987), P. Harikrishna (2004) and Abhijeet Gupta (2008) also. India is retaining the girls title.

"Great news Magesh, congratulations to her and to the entire team. Our president Mr N.Srinivasan and myself convey our hearty thanks for having kept the Indian flag flying high," said D.V. Sundar in an official comminique from Vietnam to the Indian coach GM P. Magesh Chandran in Argentina.

Soumya tied for the first place with two others but had the better tie-break score to end a deserving winner. All of them scored 9.5 points from 13 games. In the final round, Soumya started on 8.5 points and Cori Tello (Per) was also on 8.5. But Betul Yildiz of Turkey was better placed on nine points. While leader Yildiz only drew against Orissa's Kiran Mohanty, Soumya and Cori Tello won to tie for the first place on 9.5 points. When the official results were out, Soumya had the higher tie-break score of 27314, higher than Cori Tello's 27250 and Yildiz's 27052.

Soumya was in command in the event but a penultimate round defeat pushed her down from which she rose to win the tournament. She speaks English, Hindi, Marathi and fluent Tamil.

Soumya was born in Palakkad in 1989 and their family moved to Pune. Both her parents worked in a bank. When she was about to represent India in the World Under-10 championship her mother died in a road accident. Soumya recovered from that blow and has achieved plenty in chess.

"In her trip to Europe last year, she made five norms in one and a half months," said Joseph D'Souza, a chess administrator in Pune. Soumya is hard working and is a Commerce Student from the BMCC College he said. She is under the scholarship of a Petroleum company, he said.

Soumya had won several National titles: National U-17 in 2004, National Junior in 2005 and 2008. Her rating is 2297 and she played at 2433 Elo and would be gaining about ten Elo points from this event. Soumya won eight games, lost two to the two players she tied on points and drew three games for the title.The highest rated player she defeated was second seed Xiaowen Zhang of China. She did not face the top seed Mary Ann Gomes of Kolkata.

Medal winners and Indians in tie-break order:

Boys: 1-2 Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (Fra), Sergei Zhigalko (Blr) 10.5/13; 3 GM Michal Olszewski (Pol) 9; 20 IM M.R. Lalith Babu (Ind) 7.5; 22 IM P. Karthikeyan (Ind) 7.5; 24 IM Ashwin Jayaram (Ind) 7.5; 40 IM B. Adhiban (Ind) 6.5; 41 IM M. Shyam Sundar (Ind) 6.5; 44 FM Vishnu Prasanna (Ind) 6.5...82 players.

Girls: 1-3. WGM Soumya Swaminathan (Ind), WIM Deysi Cori Tello (Per), Betul Yildiz (Tur) 9.5/13 each; 8 WIM Padmini Rout (Ind) 8; 10 WIM Kiran Manisha Mohanty (Ind) 8; 19 WGM Mary Ann Gomes (Ind) 7; 34 S. Harini (Ind) 5.5...45 players.

Soumya Swaminathan In Sole Lead at World Junior

noreply@blogger.com (Webmaster) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 01:59:02 PST

Pune's Soumya Swaminathan is the sole leader in the World Junior Girls Chess Championship. She wrested sole lead defeating Iozefina Paulet of Romania in the tenth round to take her tally to eight points, In the eleventh round, she drew fifth seed Zoja Severiukhina of Russia to keep the half points lead with 8.5/11.

The good news for Soumya is that the Turkish girl and Russian girl who share the second-third places with eight points face each other. A win on Monday can also help her establish a bigger lead. Soumya faces Deysi Cori Tello of Peru in the twelfth round at Argentina. Only two rounds remain to be played.

Among the other Indians, Kiran Manisha Mohanty is on 7.5 points and Padmini Rout is on 6.5 points. Kiran has medal chances. Top seed Mary Ann Gomes is still below.

If Soumya goes on to win this event, she will become the third Indian girl after Koneru Humpy (2002) and Dronavalli Harika (2008) to win this prestigious event. Three Indian boys have won this event already: Viswanathan Anand (1987), Pentala Harikrishna (2004) and Abhijeet Gupta (2008).

Indian boys have already lost out on the title race this time. Top seed Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (Elo 2718) of France and Sergei Zhigalko of Belarus are leading with 9/11. P. Karthikeyan of Chennai and M.R. Lalith Babu of Andhra are in the tied 16th place with 6.5 points. B. Adhiban and Shyam Sundar are a half point behind on six points.

This event is happening at Puerto Madryn in Argentina

SAHAJ GROVER BECAME INDIA’S YOUNGEST INTERNATIONAL MASTER

noreply@blogger.com (Webmaster) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 01:27:53 PST

Delhi Chess prodigy and former World Under-10 champion Sahaj Grover became India ’s youngest International Master by winning the final round game against Nicolas Clery to finish a creditable fifth in the Le Touquet International open chess tournament in France. It was a field comprising seven Grandmasters and eight International masters and Sahaj was seeded 19th in the event. Sahahj, made his maiden Grandmaster norm just a month earlier during the Kolkata Open tournament and had 2372 elo rating in the November rating list. He will gain around 35 points from this tournament and which will take his rating beyond 2400 mark, the mandatory requirement for International Master Title. The class IX student started with two wins, including a spectacular effort against Grandmaster Vyacheslav Ikonnikov of Russia and five draws and a couple of more wins later, he assured himself of his sixth International Master norm which was inconsequential.

The financial guarantee letter for the WCC match Topalov - Anand 2010

noreply@blogger.com (Webmaster) — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 11:39:50 PDT

The match Topalov - Anand will take place in Sofia in 2010. It will consist of 12 games with classical time control. In case of tie, additional four rapid games will be played.

The letter from Bulgarian PM Boiko Borisov was decisive factor in favour of Bulgaria. FIDE President Kirsan Ilymzhinov accepted the guarantee and then the proposal passed with unanimous vote.

Chessdom.com presents you exclusively the letter by the Prime Minister of Bulgaria Mr. Boiko Borisov.

Veselin Topalov and Vishwanathan Anand did not comment on the match itself. Topalov will have his first interview during the ETCC in Novi Sad. Anand was invited to discuss the contract options in Novi Sad, but at the same time he has a rapid match with Karpov and chances are he will postpone the meeting.

Silvio Danailov said, "We would have been happy if India had presented a better bid. We would have played there, or even the match could take place in both countries, splitting it 50 / 50. However, India had a lot of time and did not present a bid, it's a pity! India is a large market and Anand is their idol." Danailov also added, "The fact that the Prime Minister is the head of the organizing committee for the WCC match is a guarantee for fair play".

[Report by Chessdom]

Anand vs. Topalov Match In Sofia

noreply@blogger.com (Webmaster) — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 02:49:29 PDT

FIDE, the International Chess Federation has officially given rights to organise the Anand vs. Topalov World Chess Championship title match to Sofia.

The dates are not confirmed, which are likely to be April 5-24, 2010. It will be a 12-game classical match. In case of a 6-6 tie, there will be a 4-game rapid play-off to decide the title.

The venue is Topalov's home country and the capital city. The last time a world title match was played at one players home nation was in 1993 when Garry Kasparov played Nigel Short in London and when Anatoly Karpov played a part of his 1993 match against Jan Timman in the Netherlands.

Russia Wrest Title From India One Gold, Two Silver For India

noreply@blogger.com (Webmaster) — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 01:26:40 PDT

By Arvind Aaron

Top seed Russia pipped defending champions India by winning the gold medal in the World Youth (Under-16) Chess Olympiad that concluded at Turkey on October 2, 2009.

India won the silver medal for the team event. In the board prizes, Debashis Das of Cuttack won the gold medal for best performance in the second board while Deepathamsh Reddy of Hyderabad took the silver for second best performance in the reserve board.

Russia beat South Africa 4-0 to reach 30 points and win the title by a good two point margin. Second seed India finished second beating Turkish Girls 4-0 for the second place. In the third place was Armenia who also blanked Turkey Red 4-0.

Indian score of 28 points came from: (in board order) K. Priyadarshan (Madurai, 6.5/10), Debashis Das (Cuttack, 7.5/9), Aditya Udeshi (Mumbai, 4.5/8), Girish Koushik (Mysore, 5/7), Deepthamsh Reddy (Hyderabad, 4.5/6).

India won against Sri Lanka, England 4-0, beat Georgia 3-1, beat Turkey-T 2.5-1.5, lost to Russia 1-3, beat Uzbekistan 3-1, beat Azerbaijan, Hungary 2.5-1.5, lost to Armenia 1.5-2.5, beat Turkey-G 4-0.

India was in lead for most of the tournament. Russians caught up in round eight and our defeat in round nine made things easier for the Russians who swung into a 2-point lead. India started well, Russia finished well. Our 1-3 defeat to Russia made the difference between the teams in the end.

India had won the 2007 edition at Singapore and 2008 edition at Turkey and were looking for a hat-trick. Russia dashed our hopes by fielding a strong team and also by playing well.

Final placings: 1 Russia 30/40; 2 India 28; 3 Armenia 27; 4 Georgia 25.5; 5 Turkey-T 24; 6-7. Uzbekistan, South Africa-B 23 each; 8-10 Hungary, Azerbaijan, Turkey-G 22.5...22 teams.

5th CHESS OSCAR TO VISWANATHAN ANAND

noreply@blogger.com (Webmaster) — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 01:25:47 PDT

By Arvind Aaron

Doordarshan is to telecast a documentary on world champion Viswanathan Anand on October 5 from 2230 to 2300 hours in the National channel.

This will feature the highlights of the 5th Chess Oscar Anand received at Baku in Azerbaijan earlier this year. The documentary will also contain highlights on the three world titles Anand won at Tehran 2000 and at Mexico City and also at Bonn last year.

Russia Catch Up With India at World Youth U-16

noreply@blogger.com (Webmaster) — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 03:30:08 PDT

Top seed Russia played catch up with second seed India on total points by sweeping Uzbekistan 4-0 in the seventh round of the World Youth Chess Olympiad on September 30. India also won but only by 2.5-1.5 against Azerbaijan.

India and Russia are on top with 20 points out of 28 games. Two rounds remain to be played. India face Hungary and Russia faces Turkey in round eight.

Russia is marginally favourites since they have won six matches and drawn one to have 13 match points while India is on 12 match points. Two rounds remain to be played.

India was let down on the top by Priyadharshan whose king was trapped in a cluster of enemy pieces. Debashis Das and Aditya Udeshi gave us the wins against Uzbekistan in the middle boards. In the bottom board, Girish Koushik fought hard to draw with his rook against two pieces of his opponent.

India are winners of the 2007 and 2008 editions and are seeking a hat-trick this year. The event ends on Oct 2, 2009 after ten rounds.

India Bounces Back, Beats Uzbekistan

noreply@blogger.com (Webmaster) — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 12:25:33 PDT

India overcame Uzbekistan 3-1 in round six to march towards a hat-trick in the World Youth Chess Olympiad in progress at Turkey on September 28. Three rounds remain to be played. India has so far beaten Sri Lanka 4-0, England 4-0, Georgia 3-1, Turkey 2.5-1.5, lost to Russia 1-3 and now won the fifth match.

In the sixth round, Priyadharshan and Debashis Das won on the top two boards while Aditya Udeshi and Deepthamsh Reddy drew in the bottom boards. All our players were impressive. Girish Koushik was rested. India are on 17.5 points from 24 games. Rest of the 21 teams are behind us in team points. On match points we are ten and Russia is on 11. Placings after round six: 1 India 17.5/24; 2-3. Russia, Azerbaijan 16 each; 4-7. Georgia, Turkey, Uzbekistan, Armenia 14.5 points.

Report by: Arvind Aaron

Sethuraman, Bhakti Wins National Junior Chess 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Webmaster) — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 11:44:41 PDT

International Master S.P. Sethuraman of Chennai and Bhakti Kulkarni of Goa won the Stree Seva Mandir Diamond Jubilee National Junior Chess Championship which concluded at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Chennai on Sep 28.

Sethuraman scored an attacking win over Arun Karthik of Chennai with the white pieces in a Pirc defence to reach 8.5 points. Bhakti Kulkarni lost the final round to National Sub-Junior champion R. Bharathi of Chennai. Both players were crowned and presented gold medals, certificates and awarded cash prizes of Rs.17,000.

The two overnight leaders, Swapnil Dhopade and Anwesh Upadhyaya drew in a Caro-Kann defence That left them on 8.5 points. All the players playing on 7.5 had an eye on the title. The best chance was before Shyam Sundar who was also an exchange up and had the highest tie-break score. He did not make use of the opportunity and drew Bitan Banerjee and finished fourth as the only undefeated player of the entire event.

Sethuraman scored and joined Anwesh and Swapnil on the 8.5-point group. When all the games were completed, Buchholz was applied and Sethuraman won his fourth National title. Sethuraman had won the National U-13 in 2004, National Sub-Junior in 2005 and 2007 earlier. It was a tension filled round, said Sethuraman. On lower tie-break score, Swapnil Dhopade of Amravati finished second and Anwesh Upadhyaya of Bhubaneswar finished third. All three of them scored 8.5/11. Both Swapnil and Anwesh have IM norms to their credit and are soon to become IMs.

Bhakti Kulkarni won the girls section with 9.5/11. She is winning this event for the second time. Padmini Rout played well and finished second with 9 points. The loss to Bhakti after an exchange sacrifice proved costly. Pratyusha of Andhra checkmated second seed Pon N Krithikha for the third place.

In a colourful closing ceremony, Lion Leo Muthu, Chairman, Sai Ram Engineering College distributed the prizes. TNSCA President P.R. Venketrama Raja, sponsor Surya Narayana Sao, vice president,

Stree Seva Mandir, J.C.D. Prabhakar, Vice President, TNSCA, Manuel Aaron, Government Observer, Chess, took part. The crowning was done by Surya Narayana Rao on Seethuraman and Mrs D.V. Sundar on Bhakti Kulkarni. The event was organised by Sports Promotion Foundation on behalf of Tamil Nadu State Chess Association.

Grand Master Open In Chennai: Sundar

In his address, D.V. Sundar said there will be a Grand Master Open in Chennai in January 2010. It will happen three days after the Parsvnath Open in Delhi and the idea should make Chennai and Indian players happy. Chennai players have a tournament in their own backyard and Indian players get an additional strike to make IM and GM norms.

India Wins Four Matches at Turkey

noreply@blogger.com (Webmaster) — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 03:40:01 PDT

By Arvind Aaron

Defending champions India maintained the winning spree defeating hosts Turkey 2.5-1.5 in the fourth round of the World Youth Chess Olympiad at Turkey on Sep 27. With this latest win, India moved to 13.5 points from possible 16. Importantly, we have won all four matches and have reached eight points, the maximum possible for a team.

Convincing victories came from the top with both K. Priyadharshan of Madurai and Debashis Das of Cuttack. Howver, in the bottom board, Girish Koushik of Mysore was defeated in a rook ending.

That left the match to be decided on Aditya Udeshi's third board. From a better position the Mumbai National Sub-Junior champion slid to a difficult position and finally made a thrilling draw to help India defeat Turkey 2.5-1.5.

Five rounds remain to be played in this 22-team 9 rouns Swiss contest. India had won this event in Singapore 2007 and Turkey 2008 and this reasons for the big expectations.