Six share lead

By Gopakumar

Ahmedabad (15 Aug 17):- Six players including former National champion Abhijit Kunte of PSPB are leading with perfect score after fourth round matches of the ongoing National Challengers Chess Championship at Karnavati Club on Monday.

Kunte have the company of team mate Mary Ann Gomes, Sammed Jaykumar Shete of Maharashtra and Railway men Swapnil Dhopade, Himanshu Sharma and S Nitin at top of point table.

Playing with white pieces Kunte defeated Asian Under-14 champion Arjun Erigaisi of Telangana while Mary registered a resounding victory over Grandmaster Deepan Chakkravarthy in a well-crafted rook and pawn ending. Dhopade and Sharma defeated team mates CRG Krishna and Hemant Sharma, respectively to maintain their clean slate. Nitin joined the leaders after beating Chakkravarthy Reddy while Shete received a walk over from ninth seed MS Thejkumar, who later withdrawn from the championship due to health issues.

In the other important battles, Ankit Gajwa held top seed Aravindh Chithambaram and Ram S Krishnan of BSNL stunned fifth seed Grandmaster N Srinath of Air India. Third round hero, national Under-13 runner up Kushagra Mohan held International Master Aghyadip Das to a creditable draw. Continuing his fine form, host’s Udit Kamdar held National Women Champion Padmini Rout while defending champion Ravi Teja satisfied with half point against young Anand Nadar of Maharashtra.

Important Results (Round-4) :- GM Swapnil S Dhopade of RLYS (4) beat IM CRG Krishna of RLYS (3); Hemant Sharma of RLYS (3) lost to GM Himanshu Sharma of RLYS (4); GM Abhijit Kunte of PSPB (4) beat FM Arjun Erigaisi of TEL (3); IM Thejkumar MS of RLYS (3) W/O Sammed Jaykumar Shete of MAH (4); WGM Mary Ann Gomes of PSPB (4) beat GM Deepan Chakkravarthy of RLYS (3); Fenil Shah of GUJ (3.5) drew with IM Swayams Mishra of AI (3.5); IM Chakkravarthy Reddy of TEL (3) lost to S Nitin of RLYS (4); Arghyadip Das of RLYS (3.5) drew with Kushagra Mohan of TEL (3.5); IM Sameer Kathmale of MAH (3) lost to GM SL Narayanan of KER (4); Ankit Gajwa of MP (3) drew with Aravindh Chithamabram of TN (3); Ram S Krishnan of BSNL (3.5) beat GM N Srinath of AI (2.5); Rajesh Nayak of ODI (2.5) lost to GM Debashis Das of ODI (3.5); GM Tejas Bakre of AI (3.5) beat Dhananjay S of CHAT (2.5); Jayakumaar S of TN (3) drew with IM S Satyapragyan of AI (3); IM Ravi Teja of RLYS (3) drew with Anand Nadar of MAH (3).