World Youth Championship 2009- Round 10 report

By D.V.Prasad, International Master

Indian medal tally gained momentum with bright prospects in many categories at the end of the 10th and penultimate round. The Gold and Silver medal is almost confirmed in the U-16 section which will be a repeat performance. The winning spree of IM’s Vidit Gujrathi and S.P.Sethuraman was halted since both had to be content with a draw after tough fights against Debashis Das and N.Galopolous of Greece in the U-16 category. Vidit could not break the solid defences of Debashis Das in the white side of Slav defence though he had saddled Debashis Das with an isolated pawn, while Sethuruman missed winning chances after obtaining an overwhelming position from the white side of Nimzo Indian defence.

Both Vidit and Sethuraman have logged 8.5 points each and are assured of gold and silver medals as they have an unassailable lead of a full point over the others. Depending on the last round results, the winner will be decided between them.

IM B.Adhiban drew with the Spanish GM Ivan Selgado Lopez and is on the third spot with 7.5 points in the U-18 section. In the Slav exchange variation, Selgado Lopez had obtained space advantage but was not in a mood to pursue the game by playing it safe. Adhiban agreed for the draw offer, since the chances of winning was bleak and now requires a win in the final round to boost his prospects.

Delhi youngster Vaibhav Suri shot into the joint lead with three others after garnering 8 points by disposing Pamatmat Javad of USA in the U-12 section. Vaibhav displayed superb strategic sense in wading through the middle game complications to score a well deserved victory. This win has been the perfect launching pad for Vaibhav to go in for the coveted gold medal in the final round.

Young Diptayan Ghosh also improved his medal chances by deftly handling the endgame where he was having queen against rook and bishop to carve out a neat victory against Marco Codenotti of Italy in the same category.
Andhra youngster Bansi Prathima scored a quick win against Livia Managadze catapulting to the third spot with 7.5 points in the U-8 girls and is well poised to win a medal based on her consistent performance.
Ivano Furtado also played the rook ending with clinical efficiency to score against the Russian WFM Anna Vasenina and has jumped to the third spot with excellent chances for a medal.

In the U-10 section Murali Karthkeyan continued his good run by putting up stiff resistance to draw a pawn down major piece ending against the leader Bal Jinshi of China taking his tally to 8 points He is now on the joint second place . Hetul Shah improved his chances by scoring over French FM Rambaldi Francesco and is closely following behind with 7.5 points on the fifth place keeping his hopes alive.

Mahalakshmi scored a crucial win against Turksih player Abdimanagolu and is back in the reckoning at the fourth spot with 7.5 points requiring a win in the final round to win a medal in the U-12 girls section.
Saranya also stepped up her prospects with a well deserved victory against Luiza Tomaszewska of Poland in the U-14 girls and also has a theoretical possibility to win a medal

G.V.Saikrishna missed a golden opportunity after obtaining a fine position in the black side of closed Ruy Lopez and drew the game against Bulgarian IM Kiprian Berbatov in the U-14 section. Though he had the bishop pair and an open position, Sai Krishna missed his way in the middle game and had to be content with a draw. He is on the fourth spot and desperately needs a win to be in the medal bracket.

The above players are the medal prospects from the Indian contingent before going into the final round.
Other players including Aditya Udeshi, Prasanna Rao ,Padmini Rout who had an outside chance for getting back into the tournament lost crucial encounters with inaccurate play . Priyadarshan, Shardul Gagare were also involved in too many drawn encounters, jeopardising their chances.



More News