Thaindian News

New Delhi, Dec 20 (IANS) Maharashtra’s Amrutha Mokal held overnight leader Soumya Swaminathan to a creditable draw on the top table in the third round of ongoing Parsvnath 35th National Women’s Chess Championship here Saturday.Amrutha played a fine game from the black side of Sicilian Defence. Soumya tried hard to take full point from the outing, but found Amrutha’s defence a tough nut to crack and signed the draw after 37 moves.

Soumya maintains her sole lead with 2.5 points. She is closely followed by Women Grandmaster Swathi Ghate, second seed Kruttika Nadig and N. Krithika with a drift of half a point.

Defending champion and top seed International Master Tania Sachdev, still searching for her second victory in the tournament, had to be content with half a point in the third round match against third seed Eesha Karavade.

Second seed Kruttika beat Goan Bhakti Kulkarni after a marathon match that lasted 73 moves. Playing white side of Sicilian defence, seasoned campaigner Swathi Ghate got the better of Padmini Rout of Orissa.

Continuing her splendid display, Chennai-based Krithika held Women Grandmaster Nisha Mohota in the third round. This half point helped Krithika to maintain her second spot with 2 points.

After a slow start to the proceedings Asian Junior Champion Mary Ann Gomes came back strongly to defeat Kiran Manisha Mohanty in 37 moves.

Results of Round 3: Soumya Swaminathan (2.5) drew with Amrutha Mokal (1.5), Eesha Karavade (1.5) drew with Tania Sachdev (1.5), Kiran Manisha Mohanty (1) lost to Mary Ann Gomes (1.5), Pon N Krithika (2) drew with Nisha Mohota (1), Bhakti Kulkarni (0.5) lost to Kruttika Nadig (2), Swathi Ghate (2) beat Padmini Rout (1)

Pairings for Round 4: Amrutha Mokal v/s Padmini Rout, Kruttika Nadig v/s Swathi Ghate, Nisha Mohota v/s Bhakti Kulkarni, Mary Ann Gomes v/s Pon N Krithika, Tania Sachdev v/s Kiran Manisha Mohanty, Soumya Swaminathan v/s Eesha Karvade.