Two Indians Among Six Leaders

Two Indians Among Six Leaders
By Arvind Aaron

Top seed Vladislav Artemiev of Russia was held to a draw by S.L. Narayanan in the fourth round of the KIIT sponsored World Junior Chess Championship that is taking place at Bhubaneswar on August 11, 2016.

After four rounds, Indian champion Karthikeyan Murali, S.L. Narayanan, Masoud Mosadeghpour (Iri), second seed Xiong Jeffery (USA), Svane Rasmus (Ger) and Artemiev (Rus) are leading with 3½ out of four rounds. Nine rounds remain to be played.

Facing a Grunfeld defence from the top seed, Narayanan was impressive earlier on and had an extra pawn in a rooks and bishop ending. The Russian won two pawns but Narayanan drew with ease in 78 moves.

Visakh held Aravindh Chithambaram (3/4) to a draw in 106 fighting moves. Aravindh’s knight and two pawns could not beat the rook of Visakh.

Karthikeyan Murali brought his king early to the centre and that paved his way for a win against China’s Xu Yi in 76 moves. It was a perfect endgame to watch.

Shardul Gagare (3/4) earned a full points using two bishops well against a rook of Mikhail Belous in a 67-move ending. The four Indian Grand Masters scored 3/4; very successful in the hardworking 327 moves they made!

Two Share Lead

WIMs Janelle Mae Frayna (Phi) and Dinara Dordzhieva (Rus) lead with full four points in the World Junior for Girls. Pratyusha and Nandhidhaa share the third-fourth places with 3.5 each and face each other in the fifth round.

Janelle Mae Frayna crushed the second seed Russian Alina Bivol in 39 attacking moves. Higher rated Russian Dordzhieva crushed the defending champion Buksa in 48 moves with the black pieces.

Parnali Dharia’s sacrifices were easily defended by Pratyusha in 34 moves. Nandhidhaa upset Paula Rodriguez (Col) in 44 moves with the black pieces after her queen and two minor pieces had greater access to the white king.

R Vaishali, Michelle Catherina and K Priyanka posted round four wins and are on three points, tied for the fifth place with players from other nations. Michelle and K Priyanka felled higher rated opponents while Vaishali beat Monnisha.