Mary Ann Gomes, Bhakti Lead After Round Three

Mary Ann Gomes, Bhakti Lead After Round Three
By Arvind Aaron

Top seed Mary Ann Gomes of Kolkata and Bhakti Kulkarni of Goa are leading with 2.5 points in the National Women’s Premier Chess Championship that is being played at Sangli in Maharashtra on Oct 27, 2014.

Three time champion Mary Ann Gomes beat the round two sole leader Lakshmi Praneetha with the Larsen attack. Former two time National Junior girls’ champion Bhakti Kulkarni beat Goa state mate Ivana Furtado.

It is a 12-player all-play-all. This event runs from October 25 to November 5, 2014. Mary Ann Gomes is looking for her fourth title in a row. Six time champion S Vijayalakshmi is on two points from three games.

Sangli previously hosted the National Women’s Championship in 1979 when India’s first Woman International Master Jayshree Khadilkar of Mumbai won it. It is organised by the Nutan Buddhibal Mandal in Sangli.
Standings after round three: 1-2. Mary Ann Gomes (WB), Bhakti Kulkarni (Goa) 2.5/3 each; 3-6. Nisha Mohota (WB), Padmini Rout (Odi), S Vijayalakshmi (TN), K Lakshmi Praneetha (AP) 2 each; 7 Nimmy George (Ker) 1.5; 8-10. Ivana Furtado (Goa), Bodda Pratyusha (Tel), V Varshini (TN) 1 each; 11 Swati Ghate (Mah) 0.5; 12 Hinduja Reddy (Tel) 0.