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Kocaeli (Turkey): Women's Grandmaster Padmini Rout caused a major flutter by defeating tournament leader Irina Bulmaga of Romania in the 11th round of World Junior Girls' chess championship on Wednesday.
Playing black, Padmini was at her best in tackling Bulmaga who went hay wire in the middle game and lost a pawn. With perfect technique, Padmini picked up another pawn and then a rook for a knight, leading to a won position.
The shocker meant changes in the rankings as Aleksandra Goryashkina of Russia emerged as the sole leader here with 8.5 points out of a possible 11.
Padmini with this victory jumped to 7.5 points and she now shares the fourth spot with two rounds still to come.
In the open section being organised simultaneously, S P Sethurman continued with his fine form and defeated Nasanjargal Urtnasan of Mongolia. Sethuraman took his tally to eight points in all along with compatriot Vidit Gujrathi who too had a good day against Debashish Das.
Yu Yangyi of China regained sole lead defeating Andrey Stukopin of Russia on a day when defending champion Alexander Ipatov of Turkey was held to a draw Samvel Ter-Sahakyan of Armenia. Ipatov again slipped to the second spot on nine points, a half point ahead of Jorge Cori of Peru.
The Indian duo of Sethurman and Gujrathi are now joint fourth on eight points and need to do well in the last two rounds to be in with a chance for a podium finish.
Among other Indians, Grandmaster Sahaj Grover bounced back with a victory over Fang Yan of China, while N Srinath defeated Mykola Bortnyk of Ukraine.
Sethuraman had an easy day out of a Nimzo Indian defense as black. Winning a pawn in the endgame, Sethuraman was precise in his calculations and his two passed pawns proved much faster than Urtnasan's.
Gujrathi also won with black pieces. Debashish Das had a level position in the middle game but missed the thread as the game progressed. Gujrathi's technique was perfect to get a full point.
Sahaj Grover sacrificed a piece in the endgame when the position looked absolutely drawn. It was a good comeback for Grover after losing to Chinese Wei Yei in the previous round. -- PTI
Important and Indian results round 11 open (Indians unless stated): Alexander Ipatov (Tur, 9) drew with Samvel Ter-Sahakyan (Arm, 8); Yu Yangyi (Chn, 9.5) beat Andrey Stukopin (Rus, 7.5); Urii Eliseev (Rus, 7) lost to Jorge Cori (Per, 8.5); Debashis Das (7) lost to Vidit Gujrathi (8); Nasanjargal Urtnasan (Mgl, 7) lost to S P Sethuraman (8); Wei Yi (Chn, 8) beat Marcel Kanarek (Pol, 7); Fang Yan (Chn, 6.5) lost to Sahaj Grover (7.5); N Srinath (7) beat Mykola Bortnyk (Ukr, 6); S L Narayanan (6) beat Barros Rivadeneira Cristhian (Ecu, 5); Rakesh Kulkarni (5) beat Zhanbai Uulu Zhokhar (Kgz, 4); Assad Mamyrbay (5) beat Sameer Kathmale (4).
Girls: Irina Bulmaga (Rou, 8) lost to Padmini Rout (7.5); Deysi Cori (Per, 7.5) lost to Aleksandra Goryachkina (Rus, 8.5); Arabidze Meri (Geo, 7.5) drew with Aulia Medina Warda (Ina, 7.5); Mitra Hejazipour (Iri, 7) drew with Alina Kashlinskaya (Rus, 7.5); Abdumalik Zhansaya (Kaz, 8) beat Sabina Ibrahimova (Aze, 6.5); Ivana Maria Furtado (6) lost to Ekaterini Pavlidou (Gre, 7); J Saranya (5.5) lost to Maria Bezgodova (Rus, 6.5); Ayelen Martinez (Arg, 6) drew with Rucha Pujari (6); Lena Miladinovic (Srb, 5) lost to G K Monnisha (6); Caterina Leonardi (Slo, 4.5) lost to Riya Savant (5.5); Anjana Krishna (5) beat Firat Deniz (Tur, 4).
Kocaeli, Sept 24: Grandmaster S.P. Sethuraman came back into the reckoning with a thumping victory over Antonios Pavlidis of Greece in the 10th round of the World Junior Chess Championship here.
Playing the white side of a King’s Indian defense, Sethuraman went on the attack in the Saemisch variation and launched a direct assault with a pawn roller resulting in tremendous pressure. Pavlidis cracked when he ran out of useful moves and called it a day after 30 moves.
Sethuraman took his tally to seven points out of 10 games and given the fact that he has played the tougher opponents, he can now train his sight for a podium finish for which some more victories are needed in the rounds to come.
The Indian currently stands joint fifth in standings along with compatriots Debashish Das and Vidit Gujrathi (photo) who also have the same score.
Yu Yangyi of China, meanwhile joined Alexander Ipatov of Turkey in lead on 8.5 points disposing the challenge of Aleksandar Indjic of Serbia. Ipatov was held to a draw by Peruvian Grandmaster Jorge Cori on the top board.
These two are followed by Cori and Samvel Ter-Sahakkyan of Armenia on 7.5 points and the Indian trio is in joint fifth spot with five others. Sethuraman and Gujrathi have the best tiebreak among these players.
Debashish Das defeated Pouya Idani of Iran in a keenly contested game. Down a pawn in the middle game, Das never was in serious problems and worked his way for a fine counter play that left the Iranian defenseless.
Gujrathi accounted for N. Srinath in a miniature lasting a mere 20 moves. Out of an English opening, some lacklustre moves cost Srinath dearly as he fell way behind in development and it was all over in quick time. --PTI
Grandmaster Sahaj Grover provided the silver lining on a sluggish day for the Indian boys as he held top seed Yu Yangyi to a draw in the ninth round of the World Junior Chess Championship here in the ninth round.
Kocaeli: With the championship approaching its business end, the Indian boys were in for a rude shock as only Debashish Das could score a full point. Despite a good result, Grover slipped to joint fourth with 6.5 points.
Alexander Ipatov (photo) made the most of his chances against Indian GM Vidit Gujrathi and shot into sole lead on eight points out of a possible nine. For the records, this was Ipatov’s fifth victory against an Indian in the championship in as many matches.
For the first time in the event, Yu Yangyi slumped to second on 7.5 points while Jorge Cori of Peru elevated himself to third position on seven points.
With four rounds to come, Grover shares the fourth spot with Samvel Ter-Sahakyan of Armenia, Duda Jan-Krzysztof of Poland and Aleksander Indjic of Serbia, who all have 6.5 points apiece.
Among Indian boys, S.P. Sethuraman was held to a draw by compatriot N. Srinath in a keenly-contested game wherein the former could not make much use of an extra pawn for a long time as Srinath hung in to force a liquidation into a level queen and pawns endgame.
Das defeated lower-rated Jinshi Bai to move to six points, a position he shares with Srinath, Gujrathi and Sethuraman.
Grover did not get many chances out of a Nimzo Indian against Yangyi, who came with a new idea, forcing the Indian to spend a lot of time in the opening.
Grover found the way to equality without much ado and the players arrived at a rook and opposite colour Bishops endgame that was just level. --PTI
