Sudhakar Babu shocks Hussain

PUNE, May 27: International master Sudhakar Babu (8) of Indian Bank continued to hold pole position carrying forward his overnight lead of h...

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PUNE, May 27: International master Sudhakar Babu (8) of Indian Bank continued to hold pole position carrying forward his overnight lead of half-a-point, with a sensational win over Bangladesh champion Enamul Hussain (6.5) in the ninth round of S K Vaidya Memorial International Rating chess tournament being played at Arwade High School here.

In joint second position are three players which include — International Master Ravi Hegde (Union Bank), Sriram Jha (LIC) and S K Rathod (MP) who have an identical 7.5.

Babu began with a Queenside attack from the black side of Spanish opening to which Enamul tried to counter in the centre.

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However, Babu’s pawn on the Queenside proved to be decisive. Enamul fought till 46 moves before surrendering in a hopeless position.

Atanu Lahiri (6.5) of LIC was unlucky to squander an advantageous position against International Master Ravi Hegde’s (7.5) king’s Indian defence. Atanu blundered a pawn on 29th move and subsequently lost the game after 43 moves.Commonwealth runners-up Chandrashekhar Gokhale (7) of Indian Airlines, Pune scored a short seventeen move win over S K Sinha (6) of Bihar in King’s Indian defence. Sinha fell into Gokhale’s trap and lost a piece.

Top-seeded G B Prakash (6) of Indian Bank suffered his third defeat today. S K Rathod (7.5) of MP employed Dutch defence and shocked Prakash in just 27 moves.

Former winner Jayant Gokhale (5.5) was surprised by tennager Prathamesh Mokal (6.5) of Maharashtra Union Bank in 42 moves of Spanish opening.RESULTS
Enamul Hussain (6.5; Bangladesh) lost to N S Babu (8; Indian Bank); Atanu Lahiri (6.5; LIC) lost to Ravi Hegde (7.5; UBI); R Bandopadhyay (6.5; WB) lost to Sriram Jha (7.5; LIC); G B Prakash (6; IB) lost to S K Rathod (7.5; MP); C S Gokhale (7; Indian Airlines) b S K Sinha (6; Bih); T V Kartikeyan (6.5; Tamil Nadu) draw V Koshy (7; ONGC); P Mitrakanth (7; NIC) beat I Choudhary (6; Bihar); Nassir Wajih (6; Rlys) lost to S C Sahu (7; UBI); S Nasir Ali (6; Uttar Pradesh) drew P D S Girinath (6; Rlys); A Bartakke (6; Mah) drew N Sanjay (6; Kar); Prathamesh Mokal (6.5; Mah) b J S Gokhale (5.5; BPCL); V S Negi (5.5; IA) lost to Vivek Shukla (6.5; Rajasthan); R K Mishra (6.5; MP) b Avk Venkat (5.5; TN); Ali Amjad (6.5; B’Desh b Arun Vaidya (5.5; Mah); A Karnataki (6.5; Mah) b R C Gupta (5.5; UP); V Sthalekal (6.5; RBI) b B R Babu (5.5; AP); Y Kalyankumar (5.5; Andhra Pradesh) lost to S Kidambi (6.5; Tamil Nadu).