Thaindian News

Chennai, Aug 7 (IANS) Italian International Master Axel Rombaldoni (6.0) continued to impress as he stylishly put it across Polish Grandmaster Piorun Kacper for his sixth win in a row, in the SDAT-RAMCO 50th World Junior and 29th Junior Girls Chess Championships here Sunday.

A full point behind Rombaldoni, at 5.0 points were Ter-Sahakyan Samvel, Hovhannisyan Robert ( both Armenia), Huschenbeth Niclas (Germany) and Girish A Koushik (India).

In the top board Grunfeld game that lasted 35 moves, Rombaldoni showed superior middle game prowess as he outclasses Piorun Kacper of Poland.

A series of attacks on the queenside netted the Italian an exchange advantage which he converted with precision. With a rest day scheduled Monday, Rombaldoni appears the player to beat in the second half of the tournament.

Russian Olga Girya remained steady on top of the table with 5.5 points, holding the talented Peru girl Cori T Deysi. A draw in the top board, helps players further down in the points position, to catch up as the race for the top place hots up.

The second spot is shared by Cori T Deysi (Peru), Bulmaga Irina (Romania) and Elena Semenova (Russia) with 5.0 points.

Further half a point behind at 4.5 were Woman FIDE Master J.Saranya, Mammadova Gulnar Marfat Qizi, Kazimova Narmin Nizami Qizi (both Azerbaijan) and Kulon Klaudia (Poland) respectively.

Girish Koushik continued to make news for the second day in a row. Today Girish showed that he is a gritty customer, showing dogged defence against Grandmaster S.P. Sethuraman, and finally culling out a crucial full point. In a standard Queens Indian game, after a flurry of early exchanges, Sethuraman held the initiative.

Side stepping repetition of moves, the Chennai based Grandmaster went for a kingside inititative. But, Girish played out the middle game exchanges with accuracy and came out with an extra pawn at the end of the first time control.

The ensuing rook and knight end game was devoid of tactics, but the advantage of black was significant and Girish coasted home in 61 moves. A second straight win over a Grandmaster, gives Girish a good rating platform in the next rounds to come.

Top seed Russian Grandmaster Maxim Matlakov found the going tough, as he was held to his fourth draw against five Indian players. Today, it was Maharashtra lad Vidit Santosh Gujrathi who pulled a precious half point from Matlakov.

The Nimzo Indian game saw Vidit holding fort without much ado, as the Russian preferred to move into a double bishop versus double knight middle game. The resultant pawn down position saw Matlakov facing the music, with Vidit holding the aces.

But closer to the fifth hour of play Vidit missed some promising continuations, and found himself in a pawn down queen and pawn ending. Matlakov still pressing for a win, gave up his rook for knight and pinned his winning hopes on a passed pawn. Vidit returned the material and hung on to draw after 8o patient moves.

In the girls section, ONGC sponsored J.Saranya celebrated her birthday in a grand fashion, defeating favorite Padmini Rout. The Sicilian Moscow variation game saw, black getting into early equality. With the game slightly off balance, Padmini started taking risks and failed to notice the knight trap on the kingside.

The game immediately went in favor of Saranya, who grabbed the knight and the opportunity and wound up the game with good technique. The win puts Saranya on the top points group, where she ought to meet higher rated title players, which in turn would enhance her Woman Grandmaster Norm chances.

Round 6 Results (Open) (Indians unless specified): Piorun Kacper(POL) 4.5 lost to Rombaldoni Axel(ITA) 6, Ter-Sahakyan Samvel(ARM) 5 beat Goganov Aleksey (RUS) 4, Hovhannisyan Robert (ARM) 5 beat Stany G A (4), Swayams Mishra (4.5) drew with Swiercz Dariusz (POL) 4.5, Grover Sahaj (3.5) lost to Sjugirov Sanan (RUS) 4.5, Nitin S (3.5) lost to Robson Ray (USA) 4.5, Grandelius Nils (SWE) 4.5 beat Rajesh V A V (3.5), Artemenko Oleg (UZB) 3 lost to Lalith Babu M R (4), Narayanan Srinath (3) lost to Durarbeyli Vasif (AZE) 4, Anwesh Upadhyaya (4) beat Benitez Lozano Javier (Mex) 3.

Girls: Girya Olga (RUS) 5.5 drew with Cori T Deysi (PER) 5, Kazimova Narmin Nizami Qizi (AZE) 4.5 drew with Bulmaga Irina (ROM) 5, Semenova Elena (RUS) 5 beat Tokhirjanova Hulkar (UZB) 4, Nakhbayeva Guliskhan (KAZ) 4 drew with Paikidze Nazi (GEO) 4, J Saranya 4.5 beat Padmini Rout 3.5, Terao Juliana Sayumi (BRA) 3.5 lost to Mammadova Gulnar Marfat Qizi (AZE) 4.5, Ozturk Kubra (TUR) 4 drew with Dogodkina Julia (RUS) 4, Savina Anastasia (RUS) 4 beat Hema Priya N (3).