Fighting Draws Mark Round Five
By Arvind Aaron
Round five saw all the games ending in fighting draws. This is the first such an occurance this time in the South Indian Bank – CMS National Premier Chess Championship that is taking place at Kottayam on December 9, 2014.
It was not agreed quick draws. It was long fighting encounters. The shortest game was 38 and the longest was 101 moves. In the longest game, Sethuraman had a king and knight against lone king of Swayams Mishra. Eight rounds remain to be played in this 13-player all-play-all.
Three Petroleum players, Lalith Babu of Vijayawada, Deep Sengupta of Kolkata and Sethuraman of Chennai share the lead with 3.5 points. The top finishers will represent India in events for a period of one year. The National Premier is also a FIDE Zone 3.7 event as India is now a separate zone. Players will advance to the World Cup from this competition.
The results (round five): J Deepan Chakkravarthy (Rly) 3 drew with Vidit Gujrathi (PSPB) 2.5; P Shyam Nikil (TN) 1.5 drew with Abhijit Kunte (PSPB) 2; P Karthikeyan (Rly) 3 drew with M.R. Lalith Babu (PSPB) 3.5; Sahaj Grover (Rly) 2 drew with P.D.S. Girinath (Rly) 1.5; R.R. Laxman (Rly) 1.5 drew with Deep Sengupta (PSPB) 3.5; Swayams Mishra (Odi) 1 drew with S.P. Sethuraman (PSPB) 3.5; V.A.V. Rajesh (TN) 1.5 – bye.