Laxman Establishes One Point Lead

By Arvind Aaron

International Master Rajaram Laxman of ICF, Chennai scored two crucial wins on December 19 to highjump into sole lead after six rounds in the St Joseph's College of Engineering National Under-25 Chess Championship at Chennai.

In the morning, Laxman faced the rare Bird's Opening (1.f4) from Deep Sengupta. When Deep gave a rook for attack, Laxman took the material and defended the black side for a victory.

Later, in the evening, Laxman, played former Asian junior champion Karthikeyan with the white pieces. In a Catalan opening, Laxman gave his d4 pawn for the c7 pawn of black to advantage. In the minor pieces ending, Laxman won with perfect timing to reach 6/6.

With three rounds remaining and having a one point lead, Laxman is well placed in this competition. He had defeated two of his key International Master opponents in a single day. Only four IMs are in the fray. Prathamesh Mokal of Pune is the third IM whom Laxman might not play as he is in a poor form.

Three players, Navin Kanna, Ram S Krishnan and V.A.V. Rajesh are in the second spot on five points. Three rounds remain to be played. Most of the well known visiting players are finding the local opposition tough to take on and are likely to suffer Elo losses.