Sasi sets up exciting title chase

chennai, august 26: Krishnan Sasikiran of India 8.5 points moved closer to winning the Pentamedia Grandmaster Chess Tournament with an a...

chennai, august 26: Krishnan Sasikiran of India 8.5 points moved closer to winning the Pentamedia Grandmaster Chess Tournament with an authoritative victory over second seed Alexander Fominyh of Russia, who was strategically outplayed in the middlegame by his younger opponent in the 12th round. Top seed Evegeny Vladimirov of Kazakhstan, who has looked out of sorts in the last few rounds, found his form and used his favourite weapon ending to outwit India8217;s Dibyendu Barua at Kelambakkam, here on Saturday.

Going into the final round with a one point cushion, Sasikiran requires a draw with Yuldachev to make sure of his title. Vladimirov, who is chasing him, will face Devaki Prasad.

Saidali Yuldachev is getting better and better as the event draws to a close. He capitalised on Abhijit Kunte8217;s 42nd move in a slightly favourable position. His technique was good in the Queen and pawn ending.

Sasikiran had a point to prove when he faced Fominyh, who had beaten him from a losing position in the previous tournament against the Indian. The game went along theoretical lines when Fominyh differed with 13 bd6 in the Slav Defence which looked dubious. Sasikiran exchanged Queens and got a powerful centre with the e8217; and f8217; pawns. Having space advantage, Sasi went a pawn up on the 23rd move and strengthened his position further by pushing his pawn to a6. He finished the game by Queening his a8217; passer.

Having to catch a flight back home, Fominyh played out on Saturday last round game, making a short draw over to Harikrishna. Fominyh ended the event with 5.5 points while Harikrishna finished with six points.

GB Prakash, who will be having a bye on Sunday, ended the tournament with a hard-fought draw against Harikrishna from the Slav Defence. When Vladimirov went long castling with Barua, one expected a lively battle. Barua essayed a Queen swap on the 15th move. The Kazakhstani set up the position admirably and executed a knight sacrifice on the 38th move, winning four pawns and getting connected passers in the a8217; and b8217; files. Results 12th round: Sasikiran Ind 8.5 bt Fominyh Rus 5, Vladimirov Kaz 7.5 bt Barua Ind 6.5, Abhijit Kunte Ind 5.5 lost to Yuldachev Uzb 6, Harikrishna Ind 5.5 drew Prakash Ind 7, Sandipan Chanda Ind 3.5 drew Prasad Ind 3.5, Ghaem Maghami Ehsan Irn 4.5 bt Reefat bin Sattar Ban 5.5, Ganguly Ind 3.5 bye Arvind assured of title CHENNAI: CJ Arvind Chennai extended his lead to one point and is virtually assured of title, after pursuer J Ramakrishna Andhra Pradesh went down to KV Shantharam Indian Bank in the 12th round of the ONGC Fide Rated Chess Tournamentat Kelambakkam, here on Saturday.

Arvind, who drew with K Gunasekaran of ICF, has 10 points. Shantharam and Ramakrishna were placed second at nine points. Just half a point behind them were N Sudhakar Babu IB and Saheli Dhar Barua Railways, who scored over R Balasubramanian ICF and Devendra Kumar Tvl.

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Results 12th round: CJ Arvind Che 10 drew K Gunasekaran ICF 8, KV Shantharam IB 9 bt J Ramakrishna AP 9, N Sudhakar Babu IB 8.5 bt R Balasubramanian ICF 7.5, Saheli Dhar Barua Rlys 8.5 bt Devendra Kumar Tvl 7.5, Ebenezer Joseph P amp; T Audit 7.5 drew M Saimeera IB 8, R Siddharth Che 8 bt Poobesh Anand Mdu 7, G Rohit AP 7 lost to P Rajesh Tvl 8, Ram S Krishnan Che 7.5 bt JE Kavitha Kan 7, S Raghuraman Che 7 drew K Gopalakrishnan IB 7, Shyam S Krishnan Che 7 drew S Bharath Che 7, H Nilavoli Che 6.5 lost to RV Venkatakrishnan Che 7.5, AH Huque Ban 7 bt G Ravindran Che 6, SP Pandiakumar Che 7 bt KN Ranga Kan 6, R Navaneethakrishnan Kan 6 lost to S Sujatha Che 7, George Daniel Che 7 bt R Raghunathan Che 6.