Women’s National A Chess Championship : Swati, Kiran join Tania at the top.

Maiden WGM norm for Kiran Mohanty, WIM norm for Priya.

Kiran Monisha Mohanty of Orissa made her maiden WGM norm while P Priya of Tamil Nadu made her final WIM norm on a day that witnessed fighting chess on all the boards!

Three and half hours into the game and one would expect half the games to be over. But that wasn’t to happen in the 9^th round of the 34th Women’s National A Chess Championship organized by Symbiosis Spa Chess School at Symbiosis Center for Health Care Campus, Range Hills Road, Kirkee, Pune. Not only were the top boards fighting it out but even on the lower boards no player was ready to give up , thus making this round one of the most interesting ones.

Swati Ghate of LIC beat Mary Ann Gomes while Kiran Mohanty beat Nimmy George to join Tania Sachdev in lead on 6.5 points. Top seed IM Dronavalli Harika and WIM Soumya Swaminathan are on 2^nd place with 6 points.

On the top board Tania playing the White’s side of the King’s Indian Defense chose to play the h3, Bg5 line. But she handled the opening miserably and landed herself in a difficult position. Soumya won a pawn but Tania’s double Bishop gave her some compensation. Next was Soumya’s turn to err and soon Tania got a winning position. But Tania messed it up and finally the game ended in a draw. Soumya who needed to win to make her WGM norm will have to wait for her chances in the next round.

Swati Ghate played the Pirc Defense from Black against Mary but it soon transposed into a Sicilian type position. Swati won a pawn in the middle game and in the endgame she converted her advantage in spite of the mutual time trouble.

Harika playing White side of the Slav Defense got an advantage in the middle game but a small inaccuracy let it slip away. Nisha exchanged the Queens and went into a Rook and opposite colored Bishops endgame. Realizing that no further progress was possible both players decided to share the point.

Kiran Monisha Mohanty continued her fine run with a comprehensive victory over Nimmy George. Nimmy playing Black chose the Sicilian Classical to which Kiran replied with the Rauzer attack. Kiran got an advantage early in the opening and soon won material. She then aimed for the exposed Black King and created deadly mating threats. Finally Nimmy who was about to get mated resigned. WGM Eesha Karavade playing White against unseeded Divyasri got a very slight advantage in a Knight versus Bishop ending but it was never going to be easy to win. Eesha tried every trick in her bag and tested the nerves of her opponent but Divyasri played accurately to hold on to a draw after 96 moves!!

P Priya drew with WFM Sai Meera to make her final Woman International Master norm. With just two rounds to go the fight for the Olympiad berth (top 3) has intensified. The players are also slugging it out for a place in the 6-member Indian team that will represent India in various open tournaments. Who will win the title, is still hard to predict.

The games are being shown live on http://www.symbiosisspa.lci.in/ the official website for the tournament.

Results-: round9

Tania Sachdev 6.5 drew with Soumya Swaminathan 6; Mary Ann Gomes 5.5 lost to Swati Ghate 6.5; Harika Dronavalli 6 drew with Nisha Mohota 5.5; Kiran Manisha Mohanty 6.5 beat Nimmy George 5; Eesha Karavade 5 drew with Divyasri Ch. 5; Sia Meera 4.5 drew with P Priya 5; Pon. Krithika 4 lost to Padmini Rout 5; Amruta Mokal 5 beat P Uthra 4; S Nabeela Farheen 3.5 lost to R Aarthie 5; Anuprita Patil 3.5 lost to R Preethi 4; Swati Mohota 4 beat Dhyani Dave 3; Rucha Pujari 4 beat S Harini 3; M R Sangeetha 3.5 drew with Savetha C H 3; S Athirai had a bye