Khaire tames Pallavi

Her loss strengthened top seeded Amardeep8217;s hold in the tournament which means vying for the top four slots as he defeated Date on the top board to gain sole leadership with 5.5 points. Pallavi, seeded 11, had a chance to draw her game on the second board in the 25th move by playing perpetual moves. However, she refused the opportunity and instead attacked Ketan seeking a win. Initially, she controlled the game well with an e4 opening advantage.

However going in for the kill, she had to sacrifice a Bishop and then a Knight on the 17th and 18th move.Pallavi, thereafterplaying with two pieces less and a pawn up, went on marking Ketan8217;s King in the next eight moves.Ketan a powerful player in defence finally had to sacrifice his f6 Rook to avert the mate. Pallavi missed a chance of equalising her position, if she had played Kd6 on the 27th. But, the 18-year-old, instead opted for Kg7. Ketan 5 has now jumped to joint-second place with Umesh Pangude of Nagpur and Ketan Baricha of Mumbai. Pallavi is on third spot along with Date, Prasad Deshmukh Mumbai, Raju Sonecha Mumbai, Prathamesh Mokal Pune Ramkrishna Kasholkar Nagpur and G Balaji Mumbai.On the top board, the 23-year-old Amardeep Bartakke gained a slight advantage in the 20th move with better piece positioning as Date, with white had two week pawns on d4 and a3.

RESULTS 6th round: P G Date Mum, 4.5 lost to Amardeep Bartakke Sat, 5.5; Pallavi Shah Kol, 4.5 lost to Ketan Khaire Pn, 5; Umesh Pangude Nag, 5 bt Sashitank Kutwal Pn, 4; Vinod Bhagwat Nsk, 4 lost to Ketan Boricha Mum, 5;Yashraj Aidasani Mum, 4 drew with Prasad Deshmukh Mum, 4.5; Prathamesh Mokal Pn, 4.5 bt Dinesh Bhandarkar Mum, 3.5; Ramkrishna Kasholkar Nag, 4.5 bt Omkar Patwardhan Sgl, 3.5; Raju Sonecha Mum, 4.5 bt Udayan Bapat Pn, 3.5; Rashmin Pulekar Mum, 4 drew with Sourath Khardekar Nag, 4; G Balaji Mum, 4.5 bt Arjun Oberio Kol, 3.