Sethuraman Back in contention

Sethuraman back in contention
By Vishal Sareen, International Master

Grandmaster S P Sethuraman came back in reckoning with a thumping victory over Antonios Pavlidis of Greece in the tenth round of the World Junior Chess Championship now underway here.

Playing the white side of a King’s Indian defense, Sethuraman went for the blood in the Saemisch variation and launched a direct assault with a pawn roller resulting in tremendous pressure. Pavlidis cracked when he ran out of useful moves and called it a day after 30 moves.

Sethuraman took his tally to seven points out of ten games here and given the fact that he has played the tougher opponents, he can now train his sight for a podium finish for which some more victories are needed in the rounds to come. The Indian currently stands joint fifth in standings along with compatriots Debashish Das and Vidit Gujrathi who also have the same score.

Yu Yangyi of China meanwhile joined Alexander Ipatov of Turkey in lead on 8.5 points disposing the challenge of Aleksandar Indjic of Serbia. Ipatov was held to a draw by Peruvian Grandmaster Jorge Cori on the top board.

These two are followed by Cori and Samvel Ter-Sahakkyan of Armenia on 7.5 points and the Indian trio is in joint fifth spot with five others. Sethuraman and Gujrathi have the best tiebreak among these players.

Debashish Das defeated Pouya Idani of Iran in a keenly contested game. Down a pawn in the middlegame, Das never was in serious problems and worked his way for a fine counter play that left the Iranian defenseless.

Gujrathi accounted for N Srinath in a miniature lasting a mere 20 moves. Out of an English opening, some lackluster moves cost Srinath dearly as he fell way behind in development and it was all over in quick time.

Grandmaster Sahaj Grover suffered badly after an oversight in the early part of the opening against Chinese GM Wei Yi. Playing white, the Indian had a lost position early and could not survive the onslaught that followed.

The Indian challenge in the girls’ championship suffered a serious setback as Padmini Rout lost to defending champion Deysi Cori and remained on 6.5 points. The lead here is held by Irina Bulmaga on Romania on eight points.

Important and Indian results round 10 (Indians unless stated): Jorge Cori (Per, 7.5) drew with Alexander Ipatov (Tur, 8.5); Yu Yangyi (Chn, 8.5) beat Aleksandar Indjic (Srb, 6.5); Samvel Ter-Sahakyan (Arm, 7.5) beat Duda Jan-Krzysztof (Pol, 6.5); Sahaj Grover (6.5) lost to Wei Yi (Chn, 7); Vidit Santosh Gujrathi (7) beat N Srinath (6); S P Sethuraman (7) beat Antonios Pavlidis (Gre, 6); Pouya Idani (Iri, 6) lost to Debashis Das (7); Saiyn Zhanat (Kaz, 6) beat S L Narayanan (5); Gabor Nagy (Hun, 5) lost to Rakesh Kulkarni (5); Zhanbai Uulu Zhokhar (Kgz, 5) beat Sameer Kathmale (4)

Girls:
Aleksandra Goryachkina (Rus, 7.5) drew with Irina Bulmaga (Rou, 8); Alina Kashlinskaya (Rus, 7) drew with Meri Arabidze (Geo, 7); Padmini Rout (6.5) lost to Deysi Cori (Per, 7.5); Lanita Stetsko (Blr, 6) lost to Aulia Medina Warda (Ina, 7); Qiu Mengjie (Chn, 6) lost to Zhansaya Abdumalik (Kaz, 7); Rucha Pujari (5.5) drew with Camille De Seroux (Sui, 5.5); Dorsa Derakhshani (Iri, 5) lost to Ivana Maria Furtado (6); Zhanna Karabayeva (Kaz, 4.5) lost to J Saranya (5.5); G K Monnisha (5) beat Lena Armas (Fra, 4); Riya Savant (4.5) drew with Ani Krumova (Bul, 4.5); Zsofia Edes (Svk, 4) drew with Anjana Krishna (4); Kyzy Alymbay (4.5) beat Shristi Shetty (3.5).