Sasi maintains lead

VUNG TAU CITY, SEPT 17: National `A' champion Krishnan Sasikiran today outwitted Laylo Darwin of The Philippines in the fifth round of th...

VUNG TAU CITY, SEPT 17: National `A’ champion Krishnan Sasikiran today outwitted Laylo Darwin of The Philippines in the fifth round of the Asian Junior Chess Championships, and maintained his stranglehold on the top position. Sasikiran (4.5), who was forced to accept a draw in the fourth round, looked focused and scored an emphatic win over an equally strong opponent.

Defending champion Tejas Bakre (3), and S Vijayalakshmi (3.5) drew their respective games as both fell behind in the title race.

Another Indian in fray, MR Sangeetha (2) blundered in the endgame and lost the point against fourth seeded Dang Dich Ngoc (3).

Kolkata wins

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Kolkata won the 7th National Cities Chess Championship as they beat Chrompet 2.5-1.5 in the last round today.

Prize winning teams: 1. Kolkata, 15 points (Rs 17,000). 2. NCA, 13 points (Rs 11,000). 3. Chennai, 12.5, points (Rs 8,300).

Board prize winners: 1. S S Ganguly (Kolkata, 4.5/5) 2. Pankaj Joshi (Mumbai, 4/4) 3. T S Ravi (Chennai, 4.5/5), 4.Atanu Lahiri (Kolkata, 4.5/5) 5. Prasad Deshmukh (Mumbai, 2.5/3).