Swati Ghate Wrests Sole Lead

Swati Ghate Wrests Sole Lead – By Arvind Aaron

After an all-decisive third round, former champion Swati Ghate of Pune wrested sole lead defeating Michelle Catherina of Chennai in an attacking game with the black pieces in 58 moves.

The Union Bank of India sponsored National Women Premier event is taking place at Kolkata from August 26 to September 5 on a 12-player round robin format.

In a crucial game, second highest rated player Mary Ann Gomes defeated former champion and highest rated Tania Sachdev in this round.

Mary Ann’s understanding of the Ragozin defence helped her get a good position with black but Tania’s handling of the white pieces would not want her to play through that 36-move encounter again!

Soumya Swaminathan won big material with a 25-move tactic and cashed the point 12 moves later against Ivana Furtado.

In a lengthy combination initiated on move 34, Monnisha won a rook and two pawns against two minor pieces and used that to defeat the experienced Nisha Mohota in 65 moves.

Overnight leader Pratyusha who sacrificed a knight for three pawns as part of the opening plan in the French defence could not show enough compensation in the middlegame. Kiran Mohanty won the black queen with a discovered check on move 37 to win the game.

Complete results (round three): Michelle Catherina (TN) 0.5 lost to Swati Ghate (LIC) 2.5; Soumya Swaminathan (PSPB) 2 bt Ivana Furtado (Goa) 1; Tania Sachdev (AI) 1.5 lost to Mary Ann Gomes (WB) 2; G.K. Monnisha (TN) 1 bt Nisha Mohota (PSPB) 1; Bhakti Kulkarni (Goa) 1 lost to Padmini Rout (Odi) 2; Kiran Mohanty (LIC) 1.5 bt Bodda Pratyusha (AP) 2.