Dinesh set to wrap up title

VIJAYAWADA, MARCH 12: International Master-elect Dinesh Kumar Sharma (LIC) is all set to wrap up the title as he continues to lead with se...

VIJAYAWADA, MARCH 12: International Master-elect Dinesh Kumar Sharma (LIC) is all set to wrap up the title as he continues to lead with seven points at the end of the penultimate round at the Andhra Gymkhana National Youth (under-25) chess championship, here on Sunday.

Manish Joshi of Madhya Pradesh with 6.5 points is trailing the leader.

In a game which went in Scotch-Game Max Lange Variation, both Dinesh and Manish Joshi (MP) agreed for a draw after eight moves.

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On the second board, Syed Anwar Shazuli (TN) and K Gunasekharan (TN) settled for a draw in 31 moves. Shazuli, playing whites, started with queen pawn and the game converted into Trompowsky Opening after some irregular opening moves. At move 12, Shazuli missed a winning move (Qb1) and instead he played Nd7. After exchanges of two minor pieces at the 31st move both players agreed for draw.

C Natarajan (TN) outplayed RS Prasanna (TNCA) in 49 moves of Torre Attack game. Prasanna mishandled the opening and his 15th move (Ne5) brought trouble, forcing his king into a vulnerable position. Natarajan began to attack with his queen and bishop. Prasanna was forced for surrender his queen for rook and bishop. At the 37th move, Prassana lost two minor pieces for his rival’s rook later his king was mated in 49 moves.

Asian Under-10 boys’ runner-up G Rohit, who defeated two FIDE-rated players in his previous rounds, faced defeat in the hands of J Ramakrishna of AP. Ramakrishna opened with King Pawn Opening for which Rohit replied with Sicilian Defence. Ramakrishna opted for Closed Variation and sacrificed a pawn at 16th to create complications. Rohit’s 18th moves proved costly and consequently lost exchange. Later due to material loss Rohit agreed to surrender.

Results (Round VIII): Dinesh Kumar Sharma (LIC) 7 drew Manish Joshi (MP) 6.5; Syed Anwar (TN) 6 drew Gunasekharan (TN) 6; Natarajan (TN) 6 bt Prasanna (TNCA) 5.5; Pankaj Joshi (Venus) 6 bt Malleswara Rao (AP) 5; J Ramakrishna (AP) 6 bt G Rohit (AP) 5; Banik Somanth (WB) 6 bt Ganesh Bahht (Ker) 4.5; Pradeep Pathak (UP) 4.5 loss to Raju N (AP) 5.5; P Srikanth (EMA) 4 loss to M Srinivasaa Rao (AP) 5; S Raghavendra (Ker) 4 loss to Ch Krishna (Rlys) 5; Pranjal Das (WB) 5 bt Rahul Agarwal (Bihar) 4; SR Misra (Ori) 5 bt P L Shaji (Ker) 4; Rajesh (TNCA) 5 bt D Sai Srinivas (AP) 4; Amarnath (AP) 4 loss to Sk Kasim (AP) 5; Dinesh Kumar (TN) 4.5 bt Basanth Singh (Mani) 4; M Abhinav (AP) 4 drew Keerthi Rana (AP) 4; Smeeru Thakar (HP) 4.5 bt GN Gopal (Ker) 3.5; Ajay Pande (UP) 3.5 loss to K Girija Kumar (AP) 4.5; Satyakam (Ori) 4 bt LD Rao (IAF) 3; T Vennala (AP) 3 lost to Ch Kavitha (AP) 4; RS Krishna (Capa) 3.5 drew K Vedadri (AP) 3.5; Vinuthna (AP) 4 bt K N Kumar (EMA) 3; J Karthik (Capa) 4 bt Atul Pareek (Raj)3; Mukesh Mandoli (Raj) 4 bt Dev Karan Bhatti (Mah) 2.5; Gaurav Nangia (Mah) 3 drew D Harika (AP) 3; Mukesh Jain (Raj) 3.5 bt Inao Sharma (Mani) 2.5; Gururajan (IAF) 2.5 drew Kranthi Kiran (Chrome) 2.5; Jagan Mohan Reddy (Kar) 3 bt K B Choudary (AP) 2; S Sanjay Kumar (Chrome) 2 loss to P Satyanarayana (AP) 2, Neeraj Sharma (Raj) 1.5 bt Praneeth (AP) 1.5.