World Junior Chess Round 8: Alexander Ipatov, Yu Yangyi Lead

Kocaeli: Grandmaster Sahaj Grover (left) played out a draw with Iranian Pouya Idani, while Vidit Gujrathi defeated Polish Marcel Kanarek to be joint third after the eighth round of the World Junior Chess Championship here.

On what turned out to be a mixed day for the Indian boys, Gujrathi was at his technical best to squeeze out a victory with black pieces. The middle game arising out of a Taimanov Sicilian was about equal and Gujrathi reached a queen and minor piece endgame where he began perfect deployment of forces to win a pawn.

Kanarek went looking for counter-play but ended up losing his queen in a tactical melee. Grover fell short of time when he needed it the most in another Sicilian Taimanov of the day.

Pouya Idani was quick to spot a tactical stroke after suffering for the major part of the game and Grover could not find the right path to exert pressure with his clock ticking away. The result was a draw after Grover suffered some material deficit.S.P. Sethuraman could not match the guile of defending champion Alexander Ipatov of Turkey and lost from a position of strength.

It was a promising middle game for the Indian out of a Queen’s gambit declined but Ipatov stayed focused to pose problems for white. As it happened, Sethuraman missed the thread of the position and lost a piece and it was soon all over.

Debashish Das was the other Indian who lost from a drawn position against Vladislav Kovalev Belarus.

Yu Yangyi of China shares the lead with Ipatov on seven points and these two are now a point clear of nearest rivals, Grover, Gujrathi, Idani, Kovalev and Jorge Cori of Peru who drew with Yangyi in the eighth round.

In the girls’ championship being held simultaneously, Padmini Rout showcased her attacking skills to outwit erstwhile leader Aulia Warda Media of Indonesia. It was a French Winawer by Padmini as white that led to complexities favouring her.

G.K. Monisha’s prospects of a norm suffered a setback when she lost to Lanita Stetsko of Belarus and the Indian will have to win a few games to come back in contention.

Among other Indians in the fray, Ivana Maria Furtado also suffered a setback while Shristi Shetty and Anjana Krishna also lost their games. Riya Sawant and J. Saranya won while Rucha Pujari was held to a draw.

Irina Bulmaga of Romania and Alina Kashlinskaya of Russia share the lead in this section on 6.5 points each. Padmini Rout shares the third spot with three others on six points. --PTI

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Prakash Nepal Wins Prem Bahadur Thapa Magar Chess in Kathmandu

Kathmandu, Sept 21: Prakash Nepal (left) of Jhapa has won the Prem Bahadur Thapa Magar Memorial Second National Chess Championship held in Hetauda. Nepal totalled seven points in eight rounds to stand clear first.

Nepal beat Balaram Sanjel of Makawanpur in the final round to earn the title and Rs 15,000. He also earned direct qualification for the Nepal chess entry for the Asian Amateur Championship to be held in Saudi Arabia in November and the World Amateur Championship scheduled to be held in Singapore in April, 2014.

Purushottam Chaulagain of Standard Chartered finished second with 6.5 points. He beat Bivek Thing of Times International College in the last round. Suman Shrestha of Dhankuta was third on tie-break ahead of Suraj Pandit of Kathmandu. Shrestha and Pandit received Rs 7,000 and Rs 5,000 respectively. Shrestha beat Herakaji Maharjan of Lalitpur in the last round and Pandit beat Rajan Subedi of Damak, Jhapa.

Subedi, Rahul Chau Pradhan of Kavre and Nabin Kumar Chaudhary of Saptari were 5th-7th with 5.5 points each. Bivek Thing, Balaram Sanjel and Sundar Karki of Makawanpur finished 8th-10th. Each won Rs 2,000 each.

The event organised by Makawanpur District Chess Association was officiated by Gyanendra Khaiju, the first international arbiter from Nepal. -- B&W Chess News Desk

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Tashkent Women's Chess Grand Prix: Koneru Humpy Leads with All Wins

Indian women's chess stars Koneru Humpy and Harika Dronavalli are leading the table at the Tashkent Women's Chess Grand Prix after three rounds. While top seed Humpy is in first place with three wins for a perfect score, Harika is right behind in second place with 2.5 points.

Koneru Humpy

The Tashkent Women's Grand Prix is currently being held in Uzbekistan from September 17th - October 1st. The tournament is part of the Women's World Championship cycle 2013-14 that will determine the next challenger for the world title. The 12-player round robin is based on the time control of 90 minutes for the first 40 moves, with 30 minutes being added at that point and an additional 30 seconds per move through the entire game.

All the girls in Tashkent

Koneru Humpy, a former World Championship Challenger, beat Ju Wenjun, Elina Danielian and Alexandra Kosteniuk in the first three rounds for a perfect score. Harika, on her part, Bela Khotenashvili, drew with Guliskhan Nakhbayeva and beat Olga Girya. 

On Saturday, the Indian chess girls' pairing are:
GM Koneru Humpy 2607 vs GM Lagno Kateryna 2532
WGM Ju Wenjun 2535 vs GM Dronavalli Harika 2475

Harika and Girya

You can watch the games live at the official website every day including boards with analysis and live video feed.

Rank after round 3
1 GM Koneru Humpy 2607 IND 3 

2 GM Dronavalli Harika 2475 IND 2.5 

3 IM Khotenashvili Bela 2514 GEO 2 

4 GM Zhao Xue 2579 CHN 2 

5 GM Lagno Kateryna 2532 UKR 2 

6 WGM Ju Wenjun 2535 CHN 1.5 

7 GM Stefanova Antoaneta 2496 BUL 1.5 

8 WGM Muminova Nafisa 2293 UZB 1 

9 WGM Girya Olga 2439 RUS 1 

10 WGM Nakhbayeva Guliskhan 2307 KAZ 0.5 

11 GM Danielian Elina 2470 ARM 0.5 

12 GM Kosteniuk Alexandra 2495 RUS 0.5 

The opening ceremony of the third leg of FIDE Women Grand Prix Series 2013-2014 took place at the beautiful Gallery of Fine Art on the 17th of September. The event was attended by special guests including FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, the Minister of Culture and Sports of Uzbekistan Minhozhiddin Hozhimatov, the First Deputy Minister of Sports of Uzbekistan Zhasur Akramov, the Head of the Administration of Sports Rashid Talipov, the Head of the Administration of Olympic reserve Kamil Bayazitov, the Head of The State Committee for Communication, Informatization and Telecommunication Technologies of the Republic of Uzbekistan Hurshid Mirzahidov and others. 

The Chairperson of Fund Forum's Board of Trustees Gulnara Karimova couldn't be present at the ceremony but passed her warmest welcome for the participants and expressed the hope to the future of the Fund Forum's cooperation with the World Chess Federation.

GM Viktorija Cmilyte was replaced for the current Grand Prix with WGM Guliskhan Nakhbayeba of Kazakhstan. Two stages of the Women's Chess Grand Prix 2013-2014 Series, out of six, have been played so far. 

GM Anna Muzichuk is currently leading the Chess Grand Prix score with 250 points, GM Nana Dzagnidze is in second place with 220, and third is GM Tatiana Kosintseva, who has replaced her sister Nadezhda for the entire Grand Prix Series, with 190. All could change after the Tashkent Chess Grand Prix!

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