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Aswin Jayaram, Mary Ann Gomes maintain lead
By
R.R.Vasudevan, FIDE Arbiter
International Master Aswin Jayaram continued his impressive run
defeating FIDE Master Senthilvel Nitin of Salem in the eighth and
penultimate round of the Sai Ram Engineering College Asian Junior
Chess Championship 2008 at Hotel Vijay Park, here today. Aswin leads
the field with 7.0 points, half a point ahead of FIDE Master Vidit
Santosh Gujrathi and National Junior Champion M R Lalith Babu.
Further half a point down at 6.0 points are International Master
Baskar Adhiban, Rahul Sangma and Vishnu Prasanna.
In the girls section, Woman Grandmaster Mary Ann Gomes assured
herself of a share in the title moving to 7.0 points, a clear one
point ahead of Sivasankari, WIM Kruttika Nadig and WFM Bhakthi
Kulkarni. A draw in the final round will give Mary a clear title, as
she is pitted with white pieces against Woman International Master
Padmini Rout of Orissa.
International Master Aswin Jayaram continued his fine form with an
elegant victory over FIDE Master Senthilvel Nitin in just under
three hours. The Sicilian game saw Nitin throw the gauntlet with an
offer of rook for a minor piece. Aswin looked at things differently,
as he refused the offer and went for a foray on the kingside with
his bishop. A misstep by Nitin at this juncture saw Aswin start a
flowing attack on the black king caught in the centre. The game
finished with a sizzling queen sacrifice delivered by Aswin along
with a mate threat. Nitin resigned after the 29th move.
FIDE Master and World Under 14 Champion Vidit Santosh Gujrathi
displayed endgame technique par excellence in his marathon 77 move
defeat of Debashis Das. The Sicilian Najdorf game saw Debashis going
for a kingside attack which Vidit tackled without much ado. After
the exchange of queens, the white king found itself immobilised in
an awkward square. Taking the clue for the final kill, the
Maharashtra lad from Nasik executed his moves to perfection to
garner the full point. Vidit meets Aswin in the top board final
round game, that will have a decisive impact on the title.
Woman Grandmaster Mary Ann Gomes improved her title chances of
defending the Asian Junior title with an industrious victory over
Woman International Master Kruttika Nadig of Maharashtra.
Sacrificing an exchange for better position, Mary increased her
adavantage as the game moved on to the ending. As she forcfully tied
the white rook with her pawn and king, Kruttika gave up.
Final round of this Asian Junior Championships conclude tomorrow,
with the winner being awarded the International Master along with a
Grandmaster Norm. WorldChampion Viswanathan Anand will be
distributing the prizes to winners.
Results and Pairing :
Boys -
Girls
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