Orissa boy stuns second seed

MUMBAI, NOV 26: Orissa boy S Satyapragyan upset second seed from Uzbekistan, Khamrakulov Ibrokhim, even as Tejas Bakre maintained his lead ...

MUMBAI, NOV 26: Orissa boy S Satyapragyan upset second seed from Uzbekistan, Khamrakulov Ibrokhim, even as Tejas Bakre maintained his lead after drawing his top board game with teammate P Mahesh Chandran after four rounds in the Sahara Asian sub-junior chess championships at the Avion Hotel today.

In the girls8217;, Aarthie Ramaswamy and Le Kieu Thien Kim of Vietnam continued with their winning run as they logged four points with easy victories.

There were some setbacks for the Indian boys as third seed Surya Shekar Ganguly dropped another half-a-point while Soundarajan Kidambi lost to Ghaek Maghaml Ehasn of Iran. But on the flip side was the performance of 12-year-old Valay Parikh, who scored another victory, this time over Prathamesh Mokal. He joins five others, including Mahesh Chandran and Satyapragyan, in second position with three points.

Bakre missed a winning chance in the end game from the Sicilian Defence with Mahesh opting for the Ritcher Rauzer attack. Mahesh was under some time pressure but Bakre overlooked a chance to queen his pawn and they agreed to split points after 61 moves.

Satyapragyan played the Frence Defence and was not prepared for it. 8220;I came under time pressure as my opponent Ibrokhim was playing fast. Then I sacrificed, a pawn and he lost a knight. I further gained two rooks for my queen and won after surviving time pressure,8221; Satyapragyan said.

Parikh8217;s pawn was queening after he had won Mokal8217;s two pawns earlier and exchanged minor pieces to reach a winning end game. Ganguly played the Grunfeld defence and was two rooks and bishop in advantage to his opponent8217;s, Lim Yee Weng of Malaysia, two rooks and knight.

In the girls8217; section, Aarthie black defeated teammate Shraddha Samani in 36 moves of the Kings Indian Classical Variation. After both players castled on their opposite sides, Shraddha took a long time to develop her pieces and could not break her opponent8217;s King-side. Aarthie, meanwhile, launched an attack on the white with her pieces and won when she was threatening to mate.

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Co-leader Le Kieu Thien Kim is a very attacking player. And today it was the turn of Indian M Kavanna to experience that. Kavanna handled her opening poorly. In trying to invite a sacrifice, she lost a pawn which gave Kim the opportunity to shatter her opponent8217;s casteling. Kim kept winning material as Kavanna was trying to avoid mate. She resigned after 36 moves.

Results

Boys: P Mahesh Chandran India 3 drew Tejas Bakre India 3.5; Khamrakulov Ibrokhim Uzbekistan 2 lost to S Satyapragyan India 3; Lim Yee Weng Malaysia 2.5 drew Surya Shekar Ganguly India 2.5; Valay Parikh India 3 bt Prathemesh Mokal India 2; Ahmed Aziz Iraq 3 bt Yullanto Elwin Indonesia 2; Wong Zi Jing Malaysia 2 drew Anton Paulo Del Mundo Philippines 2; Ghaem Maghami Ehsan Iran 2 bt S Kidambi India 1.5; Subir Garodia India 2 bt Nesterenko Nikita Kazakhstan 1; Gareth Charles Australia 1.5 bt Md Ruhul Islam Bobby Bangladesh 1; Shoven Shah India 0 lost to Batzorig Tuvshintugs Mongolia 1.5;

Girls: M Kavanna India 1 lost to Le Kieu Thien Kim Vietnam 4; Yusubalieva Sevara Uzbekistan 3 bt Leonova Maija Kazakhstan 1; Samantha Lee Heng Jun Malaysia 2 bt Yogita Yelve India 0; Shraddha Samani India 0 lost to Aarthie Ramaswamy India 4