Woman International Master Divya Deshmukh snatched the sole lead with 4.5 points after the sixth round of the Velammal-AICF Woman Grandmaster round robin chess tournament held at Hotel Abu Sarovar Portico, Chennai on Thursday.
Two wins on a double-round day against V. Varshini and Franco Valencia Angela propelled the Nagpur girl to sole lead. Following Divya behind at four points were Osmak Iulija and Babiy Olga (both from Ukraine) and Michelle Catherina (India).
Former World U-12 champion Divya Deshmukh consolidated her WGM Norm prospects with a fine win over Woman International Master Franco Valencia Angela of Columbia. Giving up her queen for two rooks, Divya swung her pieces with elan, catching the back-rank with a vice-like grip. Facing mate and multiple piece loss, Angela resigned on the 37th move.
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In another interesting game, overnight leader P. Michelle Catherina went down to Kazakh girl Nakhbayeva Guliskhan.
| Round 4 on 2019/01/30 at 10.00 am | |||||||||||
| Bo. | No. | FED | Rtg | Name | Result | Name | FED | Rtg | No. | ||
| 1 | 12 | UKR | 2394 | IM | Osmak Iulija | 1 – 0 | WIM | Sapale Saloni | IND | 2198 | 8 |
| 2 | 9 | MGL | 2428 | IM | Munguntuul Batkhuyag | 1 – 0 | WIM | Divya Deshmukh | IND | 2168 | 7 |
| 3 | 10 | IND | 2171 | WIM | Varshini V | 0 – 1 | WIM | Michelle Catherina P | IND | 2175 | 6 |
| 4 | 11 | COL | 2107 | WIM | Franco Valencia Angela | 0 – 1 | WIM | Chandreyee Hajra | IND | 1925 | 5 |
| 5 | 1 | KAZ | 2336 | IM | Nakhbayeva Guliskhan | 0 – 1 | WIM | Aakanksha Hagawane | IND | 2259 | 4 |
| 6 | 2 | MGL | 2314 | WGM | Uuriintuya Uurtsaikh | 1 – 0 | WGM | Babiy Olga | UKR | 2275 | 3 |
| Round 5 on 2019/01/31 at 09.30 am | |||||||||||
| Bo. | No. | FED | Rtg | Name | Result | Name | FED | Rtg | No. | ||
| 1 | 3 | UKR | 2275 | WGM | Babiy Olga | ½ – ½ | IM | Osmak Iulija | UKR | 2394 | 12 |
| 2 | 4 | IND | 2259 | WIM | Aakanksha Hagawane | ½ – ½ | WGM | Uuriintuya Uurtsaikh | MGL | 2314 | 2 |
| 3 | 5 | IND | 1925 | WIM | Chandreyee Hajra | 0 – 1 | IM | Nakhbayeva Guliskhan | KAZ | 2336 | 1 |
| 4 | 6 | IND | 2175 | WIM | Michelle Catherina P | 1 – 0 | WIM | Franco Valencia Angela | COL | 2107 | 11 |
| 5 | 7 | IND | 2168 | WIM | Divya Deshmukh | 1 – 0 | WIM | Varshini V | IND | 2171 | 10 |
| 6 | 8 | IND | 2198 | WIM | Sapale Saloni | ½ – ½ | IM | Munguntuul Batkhuyag | MGL | 2428 | 9 |
| Round 6 on 2019/01/31 at 04.00 pm | |||||||||||
| Bo. | No. | FED | Rtg | Name | Result | Name | FED | Rtg | No. | ||
| 1 | 12 | UKR | 2394 | IM | Osmak Iulija | 1 – 0 | IM | Munguntuul Batkhuyag | MGL | 2428 | 9 |
| 2 | 10 | IND | 2171 | WIM | Varshini V | ½ – ½ | WIM | Sapale Saloni | IND | 2198 | 8 |
| 3 | 11 | COL | 2107 | WIM | Franco Valencia Angela | 0 – 1 | WIM | Divya Deshmukh | IND | 2168 | 7 |
| 4 | 1 | KAZ | 2336 | IM | Nakhbayeva Guliskhan | 1 – 0 | WIM | Michelle Catherina P | IND | 2175 | 6 |
| 5 | 2 | MGL | 2314 | WGM | Uuriintuya Uurtsaikh | 1 – 0 | WIM | Chandreyee Hajra | IND | 1925 | 5 |
| 6 | 3 | UKR | 2275 | WGM | Babiy Olga | ½ – ½ | WIM | Aakanksha Hagawane | IND | 2259 | 4 |
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