Dinesh set to wrap up title

In a game which went in Scotch-Game Max Lange Variation, both Dinesh and Manish Joshi MP agreed for a draw after eight moves.

On the second board, Syed Anwar Shazuli TN and K Gunasekharan TN settled for a draw in 31 moves. Shazuli, playing whites, started with queen pawn and the game converted into Trompowsky Opening after some irregular opening moves. At move 12, Shazuli missed a winning move Qb1 and instead he played Nd7. After exchanges of two minor pieces at the 31st move both players agreed for draw.

C Natarajan TN outplayed RS Prasanna TNCA in 49 moves of Torre Attack game. Prasanna mishandled the opening and his 15th move Ne5 brought trouble, forcing his king into a vulnerable position. Natarajan began to attack with his queen and bishop. Prasanna was forced for surrender his queen for rook and bishop. At the 37th move, Prassana lost two minor pieces for his rival8217;s rook later his king was mated in 49 moves.

Asian Under-10 boys8217; runner-up G Rohit, who defeated two FIDE-rated players in his previous rounds, faced defeat in the hands of J Ramakrishna of AP. Ramakrishna opened with King Pawn Opening for which Rohit replied with Sicilian Defence. Ramakrishna opted for Closed Variation and sacrificed a pawn at 16th to create complications. Rohit8217;s 18th moves proved costly and consequently lost exchange. Later due to material loss Rohit agreed to surrender.

Results Round VIII: Dinesh Kumar Sharma LIC 7 drew Manish Joshi MP 6.5; Syed Anwar TN 6 drew Gunasekharan TN 6; Natarajan TN 6 bt Prasanna TNCA 5.5; Pankaj Joshi Venus 6 bt Malleswara Rao AP 5; J Ramakrishna AP 6 bt G Rohit AP 5; Banik Somanth WB 6 bt Ganesh Bahht Ker 4.5; Pradeep Pathak UP 4.5 loss to Raju N AP 5.5; P Srikanth EMA 4 loss to M Srinivasaa Rao AP 5; S Raghavendra Ker 4 loss to Ch Krishna Rlys 5; Pranjal Das WB 5 bt Rahul Agarwal Bihar 4; SR Misra Ori 5 bt P L Shaji Ker 4; Rajesh TNCA 5 bt D Sai Srinivas AP 4; Amarnath AP 4 loss to Sk Kasim AP 5; Dinesh Kumar TN 4.5 bt Basanth Singh Mani 4; M Abhinav AP 4 drew Keerthi Rana AP 4; Smeeru Thakar HP 4.5 bt GN Gopal Ker 3.5; Ajay Pande UP 3.5 loss to K Girija Kumar AP 4.5; Satyakam Ori 4 bt LD Rao IAF 3; T Vennala AP 3 lost to Ch Kavitha AP 4; RS Krishna Capa 3.5 drew K Vedadri AP 3.5; Vinuthna AP 4 bt K N Kumar EMA 3; J Karthik Capa 4 bt Atul Pareek Raj3; Mukesh Mandoli Raj 4 bt Dev Karan Bhatti Mah 2.5; Gaurav Nangia Mah 3 drew D Harika AP 3; Mukesh Jain Raj 3.5 bt Inao Sharma Mani 2.5; Gururajan IAF 2.5 drew Kranthi Kiran Chrome 2.5; Jagan Mohan Reddy Kar 3 bt K B Choudary AP 2; S Sanjay Kumar Chrome 2 loss to P Satyanarayana AP 2, Neeraj Sharma Raj 1.5 bt Praneeth AP 1.5.