Vidit Gujrathi playing against the leader of the group ÝM Sjugirov Sanan of Russia in the U14 category

Vidit Gujrathi Wrests Slender Lead
By Arvind Aaron

Vidit Gujrathi promoted his king passed pawn and picked up a rook to defeat second seed IM Sanan Sjugirov of Russia and wrest sole lead in the Boys Under-14 section of the World Youth Chess Championship at Antalya, Turkey on Nov 25.

The little boy from Nasik needs atleast two more wins from the remaining three games to win this section. Indians had a poor day at the top otherwise with IM S.P.Sethuraman losing a piece for nothing.

In the other sections, Ivana Furtado (Girls U-8) of Goa is tied for the second place and so is Priyanka Kumari (Girls U-12). India lost ground in Girls U-18 when Mary Ann lost a second game in a row.

Under-18: Sixth seed Gogineni Rohit, one of the highest rated players in the competition with 2491 is going to lose plenty of Elo. He is on five points. Dasari Sai Srinivas is on 4.5 and M.R.Lalith Babu is on 4.

Under-16: Indians are far behind in this section with R.Ashwath 5.5, Adhiban and S.Nitin 4.5 each, V.A.V.Rajesh 4.

Under-14: Eighth seed Vidit Gujrathi of Nasik has obtained a half point lead with 7/8. Three good rounds can see him finish on top. Top seed Sethuraman lost and is tied for the 15th place with 5.5. Prasanna Rao and N.Srinath are on 5.

Under-12: Shiven Khosla of Mumbai is on 6/8 and with a strong finish he can win a medal. G.V.Sai Krishna and Sahaj Grover are on 5.5.

Under-10: Prince Bajaj of Delhi drew and is on 6/8. He shares the sixth place. A strong finish can at best offer him a medal. Shardul Gagare lost and Vaibhav Suri drew and Ch Mohineesh won and all have 5.5. Defending champion Girish Koushik is on 5/8 with a win.

Under-8: Harshal Shahi has a chance to win all games and be in the race for a medal. But he is now on 6/8 and tied for the sixth place. Fifth seed Harshal lost with white to sixth seed Chingiz Qasimov of Azerbaijan.

Girls Section

Under-18: Second defeat in a row has shocked Mary Ann Gomes and the Indians who were expecting a lot from this section. Mary is stuck on 6/8 for the last two rounds and is tied for the fourth place. With three wins she can even win the tournament but before that she has to arrest the slide. R.Preethi is on 5 and Kiran Mohanty is on 4.

Under-16: The defeat of National Junior girls champion Bhakti Kulkarni closed the doors of medal chances for the Indians. Bhakti is on 5/8 and tied for the 18th place along with Pon N.Krithikha who drew. P.Uthra won and reached 4.5 and Mitali Patil lost and stayed on four.

Under-14: National Sub-Junior girls champion Shalmali Gagare scored over Ivona Purgar of Croatia to tie for the fourth place with 6/8. She has medal chances. J.Mohana Priya and N.L.V.Vaishnavi are on 5.5 points.

Under-12: Jharkhand's Priyanka Kumari won with black against Nastassia Ziaziulkina of Belarus to share the second position with 6.5/8. Marsel Efroimski of Israel is racing ahead with a 8/8 with a 1.5-point lead in this section. J.Vaishnavi is on 5.5 points.

Under-10: M.Mahalakshmi is on 5.5/8 and tied for the eleventh place. G.Aishwarya and U.Ashwini are on 4.5 points. Medal chances are bleak for the Indians.

Under-8: Defending champion Ivana Furtado of Goa won round eight to reach 6.5 points and share the second place. C.H.Meghana (5.5/8)of Kerala could not stop leader Nguyen Thanh Thuy Tien who is half a point ahead of others with 7/8.

Photo gallery

Ivana Wins, Keeps Lead

Ivana Furtado Moves Into Lead

Vidit Joins Lead In Boys Under-14

Mary Ann Gomes In Sole Lead 

Four Indians Among Leaders

Indians Share Lead In Seven Sections

Indians Among Leaders In Ten Sections

More news - WYCC

Home                                             Published: 26^th  November, 2007