I was a National Women Premier 02: Meenakshi surprises Bhakti

Report by I.A Vijayaraghavan V.

Five decisive results in the National Premier was the highlight of the 2nd day in the IWASA 44th National Women Premier Chess Championship 2017, here at The Surat Tennis Club, Surat.

Defending champion IM Padmini Rout took the sole lead with 2 points after beating veteran WGM Swati Ghate of LIC in 61 moves.

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Former World Junior Champion Soumya Swaminathan of PSPB outplayed WGM Kiran Manisha Mohanty of LIC in a Sicilian Rauzer attack in 49 moves. A pawn sacrifice on the 25th by Kiran was not enough to pose enough threat and the extra material proved decisive.

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Former National Women Champion WGM Mary Ann Gomes made a quick work against Srishti Pandey of Maharashtra. Playing the Blumenfeld gambit from the black side, Mary’s central pawn thrust & knights outpost in the middle game got her a win in 23 moves.

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WGM Bhakti Kulkarni’s pawn sacrifice on the 17th move against Air India’s WGM Meenakshi turned out to be a tactical mistake. Meenakshi won another pawn when her opponent rejected the exchange offer and scored a crucial point in 31 moves.

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WIM Sakshi Chitlange messed up her game against WIM Pv Nandhidhaa after building some Kingside attack, only to lose in the bishop and pawn endgame in 65 moves.

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The newcomer to Premier, Samriddhaa Ghosh of WB split the point with Bala kannamma of TN in 26 moves. The Sicilian Kan, opted by Bala petered out into Rooks plus opposite colored bishops where neither can make headway.

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Pairings and Results

Follow Round 3 Live Games here