WGM Mary Ann Gomes of Airport Authority of India defeated second seed Woman Grandmaster Padmini Rout of Orissa, moving into joint lead with top seed International Master Tania Sachdev (Air India) in the eighth round of the Velammal 38th National Women Premier Chess Championship 2011 being held at Media Centre, Nehru Stadium, Periamet, Chennai here today.
Tania Sachdev (Air India) and Mary Ann Gomes (AAI) share the lead with 6.0 points, followed by Padmini Rout (Orissa), Nisha Mohota (PSPB), Eesha Karavade (Maharashtra) and Chandika Divyasree (AP) at 5.5 points each.
The Queens Gambit Accepted top board game between Nisha Mohota and Tania Sachdev was a relatively quiet affair. Tania’s draw claim based on the occurrence of three photographic positions was awarded by Chief Arbiter R C Chatterjee on move 33. The draw kept Tania on top of the table at 6.0 points, along with Mary Ann Gomes.
In the second board, Mary Ann Gomes inflicted Padmini her first defeat in the Championship. The Sicilian Najdorf game saw both the players on the attacking mood. Just before the time control, Padmini missed a crucial bishop pin on her knight and rook. The resultant piece down position, was too less a compensation for Padmini, as Mary Ann went executing her advantage to precision. Facing checkmate or further loss of material, Padmini gave up on the 60th move.
Maharashtra’s International Master Eesha Karavade came back into contention defeating Woman Grandmaster Meenakshi Subbaraman of Air India. Eesha’s win places her just half a point behind the leaders at 5.5 points.
In the upset of the day, Chandika Divyasree inflicted a defeat on defending Champion Woman Grandmaster Sowmya Swaminathan. A second successive loss, would make a higher finish a very difficult task for Sowmya.
Three more rounds remain, with Norm chances resting on Pratyusha Bodda, A G Nimmy, Chandika Divyasree and J Saranya.
Key ninth round pairings are: Tania – Eesha, Mary Ann – Nisha, Divyasree – Padmini, Michelle – Kiran Manisha, Pratyusha – Sai Meera.
WGM Meenakshi Subbaraman – IM Eesha Karavade
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 b6 3.g3 Bb7 4.Bg2 c5 5.Nc3 e6 6.O-O Be7 7.Re1 d6 8.e4 a6 9.d4 cxd4 10.Nxd4 Qc7 11.Be3 Nbd7 12.f4 O-O 13.g4 g6 14.Rc1 Rfe8 15.f5 Nc5 16.Bf2 Bf8 17.Bh4 Ncd7 18.g5 Nh5 19.Bf3 Ne5 20.Bxh5 gxh5 21.f6 Qxc4 22.Bf2 Rac8 23.Rc2 Ng4 24.h3 Nxf2 25.Kxf2 Qc5 26.Re3 h4 27.Rd2 Qxg5 28.Rf3 Bh6 29.Rdd3 Kh8 30.Nde2 Rg8 31.Qf1 Qc5 32.Ke1 Qb4 33.Qf2 Bg5 34.Nf4 Bxe4 35.Rd4 Qxd4 36.Qxd4 Bxf3 37.Nd3 e5 38.Qxb6 e4 39.Nb4 Rb8 40.Qd4 Rxb4 41.Qxb4 Be3 42.Ne2 d5 43.Qb7 d4 44.Qa7 h6 45.Qc5 a5 46.b3 h5 47.a3 Kh7 48.Qd5 d3 49.Qxf7 Kh8 50.Ng3 d2 0-1
WGM Padmini Rout – WGM Mary Ann Gomes
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 e6 7.f4 Nc6 8.Qd3 h6 9.Bh4 g5 10.Nxc6 bxc6 11.fxg5 Ng4 12.O-O-O Ne5 13.Qd2 Be7 14.Kb1 hxg5 15.Bg3 Qa5 16.Be2 Rb8 17.Rhf1 f6 18.b3 Nf7 19.Qe3 Qb6 20.Qd2 Qb4 21.h3 a5 22.Qe3 Qb6 23.Qxb6 Rxb6 24.Na4 Rb8 25.Nb2 e5 26.Be1 Ra8 27.Rf2 Bd8 28.Bc4 g4 29.Bxf7 Kxf7 30.Nc4 gxh3 31.gxh3 Rxh3 32.Nxd6 Ke6 33.Nf5 Bc7 34.Rg2 Rh7 35.a4 Kf7 36.Ne3 Be6 37.Bc3 Rh3 38.Rdg1 Bb6 39.Rg3 Bxe3 40.Rxh3 Bxg1 41.Rh7 Kg6 42.Rc7 c5 43.Rc6 Kf7 44.Rc7 Kf8 45.Be1 Be3 46.Bh4 Rc8 47.Ra7 Bg5 48.Be1 c4 49.Kb2 cxb3 50.cxb3 Bc1 51.Ka2 Rb8 52.Kb1 Be3 53.Ra6 Bxb3 54.Rxf6 Kg7 55.Rd6 Bxa4 56.Ka2 Bb3 57.Kb2 Bd4 58.Kc1 Rc8 59.Kb1 Bc2 60.Ka2 Rc4 0-1
Results Round 8:
Nisha Mohota (PSPB) 5.5 drew with Tania Sachdev (AI) 6.0, Padmini Rout (Ori) 5.5 lost to Mary Ann Gomes (AAI) 6, Meenakshi Subbaraman (AI) 4.5 lost to Eesha Karavade (Mah) 5.5, Soumya Swaminathan (PSPB) 4 lost to Chandika Divyasree (AP) 5.5, Sai Meera (IB) 5 bt Swathi Ghate (LIC) 4, Kiran Manisha Mohanty (Ori) 5 bt J Saranya (TN) 4, A G Nimmy (Ker) 4 drew with Pratyusha Bodda (AP) 4.5, Bhakti Kulkarni (Goa) 4 drew with M Mahalakshmi (TN) 4, Pon N Krithika (TN) 3.5 lost to P Michelle Catherina (TN) 4.5, R Bharathi (TN) 4 bt Cholleti Sahajasri (AP) 3, P V Nandhidhaa (TN) 3 lost to S Harini (TN) 4, Aarthie Ramaswamy (AI) 3.5 bt Shweta Gole (Mah) 2.5, Swati Mohota (WB) 3.5 bt Madhurima Shekhar (Del) 2, Supriya Joshi (Mah) 2 drew with A Akshaya (TN) 3, P Bala Kannamma (TN) 2.5 – Bye.
R R Vasudevan
Press Officer
Velammal 38th National Women Premier Chess Championship 2011
