Safira lets Humpy off the hook

HARI HARA NANDANAN: KOZHIKODE, JUNE 26: Safira Shanaz of TN had a chance to score five out of five and keep a good lead in the 25th Natio...

HARI HARA NANDANAN: KOZHIKODE, JUNE 26: Safira Shanaz of TN had a chance to score five out of five and keep a good lead in the 25th National Women A Chess Championship. Her 12-year-old opponent Koneru Humpy of AP was down in the dumps in Reti Opening in the fifth round game but the little champion walked away with a draw at Asma Tower today.

In fact, Safira had only herself to blame for letting Humpy off the hook. With black pieces she managed to get a sound position and good piece play.

Winning a pawn on move 26, Safira steered the game to a rook and knight versus rook and bishop ending. Then a lapse of concentration saw her exchange the bishop for knight which also led to the loss of the extra pawn she had. The rook and pawn ending was drawn after 52 moves.

Safira kept the lead with 4.5 points, half a point ahead of Swati Ghate of Maharashtra. Defending champion Vijayalakshmi IA was back on track after her rest day and trounced debutant E Sheena of Kerala to log three points from four games. Safirameets Vijayalakshmi in a crucial game in the sixth round tomorrow.

Swati Ghate came out of the Caro-Kann Defence against Swati Mohota of West Bengal with a slight advantage. Capitalising on Mohota8217;s white square weaknesses after the bishop exchange on move 17, Swati reached an ending in which she was about to win two pawns on the Kingside. Before the slow death, Mohota walked into a suicidal mating attack after 38 moves.

Viji was better off in the Queens Gambit Declined against Sheena and won a pawn on move 24. Without any resistance, she created a central passer and won in 43 moves.

Five-time champion Anupama Gokhale of PSCB fell to Pallavi Shah of Maharashtra in French Tarrasch. The game was a study in isolated pawn formation and the practice of using it as target. Pallavi followed the rule of exchanging Queens early and then taking the game into an ending in which Anupama8217;s isolated pawn was a sitting duck. Creating a passed pawn on the Queenside, Pallavi won in 48 moves.

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Bhagyashree Thipsay ofIDBI kept Dolan Champa Bose scoreless inflicting a 38-move defeat on the Bihar girl. Dolan seemed to have done well in the opening phase of Caro-Kann Defence. Then she allowed black some penetrative moves and also allowed her to regroup her pieces on the Kingside.

Bhagyashree was her usual self after this and won the game in 38 moves after promoting her central pawn.

Aarthie Ramaswamy and S Meenakshi played a 49-move draw in Ruy Lopez Marshall Attack. Aarthie won a pawn but could not help leading the game to Queen and pawn ending in which she had to take the draw through perpetual checks.