Tania Sachdev is champion.

The Bank of Maharashtra sponsored 34th Women’s National A Chess Championship was organized by Symbiosis Spa Chess School at Symbiosis Center for Health Care Campus, Range Hills Road, Kirkee, Pune 411020. The sponsors’ list also includes State Bank of India, Indian Bank, Union Bank, Syndicate Bank and Pravin Masale. The Technical Assistance was provided by Buddhibal Kreeda Trust.

Woman Grandmaster Tania Sachdev of Delhi beat Padmini Rout of Orissa to win the 34th Women’s National A Chess Championship. Tania (tiebreak 66), Kiran Monisha Mohanty (tiebreak 64.5) and Soumya Swaminathan (tiebreak 63.5) scored an identical 8 points out of possible 11 but Tania’s better tiebreak score ensured her the Title. Tania was the only player to remain undefeated throughout the tournament and so her title finish is a very fitting prize. This is her second consecutive National A triumph. Tania, Soumya and Kiran have qualified to the Indian Women’s team that will play the Chess Olympiad. Koneru Humpy is directly seeded into the Women’s Olympiad team. Swati Ghate, Dronavalli Harika and Nisha Mohota took places 4 to 6 and made it to the Indian team for other tournaments.

It was not a surprise to see the Sicilian Najdorf (one of the sharper variations of a sharp opening!) being played on 3 of the top 4 boards as players were out to win at all cost for a place in the Indian team.

The top board game between WIM Soumya Swaminathan of Maharashtra and top seed IM Dronavalli Harika of Andhra Pradesh had a dramatic finish. Harika playing Black side of the Sicilian Najdorf got a comfortable position and soon capitalized on Soumya’s mistakes to win a Rook for Knight and pawn. Faced with a losing position Soumya tried to complicate matters and Harika made a mistake on move 33 and Soumya took advantage by sacrificing her knight in order to give perpetual checks. After that a draw would a logical conclusion but Harika tried to avoid the checks and landed her King in a mating net. Harika and her opponent who hadn’t realized till then were suddenly shocked to find out that Black is getting mated. Harika offered a draw and Soumya actually gave it a 2-minute thought before noticing that she can give checkmate. After Soumya refused the draw offer, Harika resigned. Both had tears in their eyes only for Soumya they were tears of joy!

WGM Tania Sachdev of Delhi played the Angleischek variation of the Spanish Opening from Black against Padmini Rout of Orissa. Tania got an advantage right after the opening and within a few moves won 3 pawns. The rest of the game turned out to be just a formality for her as she did not make any mistakes while converting her advantage into a win.

WIM Kiran Mohanty of Orissa playing the Black side of Sicilian Najdorf against P Priya of Tamil Nadu got an advantage after the Queens were exchanged. She soon won a pawn and the game steered towards a Rook, Bishop and pawns endgame. Kiran positioned her pieces excellently and marched her King into her opponent’s camp to win the opposite colored Bishops endgame.

WGM Eesha Karavade also chose the Sicilian Najdorf against city mate WGM Swati Ghate of LIC. Swati maintained a slight advantage right after the opening and eventually struck the decisive blow in the endgame to win the full point and a clear fourth place. IM Dronavalli Harika of Andhra Pradesh finished a clear 5th with 7 points while WGM Nisha Mohota of PSPB beat Mary Ann Gomes to finish clear 6th on 6.5 points.

The 11 member strong contingent of Tamil Nadu was disappointed as it turned out to be a very rare instance when none could finish in the Indian team. The absence of Vijayalaxmi and Meenakshi was certainly felt. On the other hand the hosts had something to celebrate as two Puneites made it to the Indian team, Soumya finding a place in the Olympiad team , an icing on the cake.

The seeded players disappointed by not catering to expectations. Soumya Swaminathan’s great run continues as it is the same year when she made 5 norms (1IM norm, 1 WGM norm and 3 WIM norms) in Spain in July. She got her 2nd WGM norm here. Kiran Monisha Mohanty also made her maiden WGM norm. Kiran had a dream tournament. Her play was also appreciated by all and mostly free of any dramatic errors.

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

Games


Rout, Padmini vs. Sachdev, Tania


1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Bc5 6. c3 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. d4 Bb6 9. a4 Bg4 10. axb5 axb5 11. Rxa8 Qxa8 12. d5 Ne7 13. Qd3 O-O 14. Bg5 Ng6 15. h3 Bd7 16. Nh4 Nh5 17. Qf3 Nhf4 18. Nf5 Qa1 19. Nd2 Qxb2 20. Rd1 Ba5 21. Bxf4 Nxf4 22. g3 Nxh3 23. Kg2 Bxc3 24. Qd3 Ng5 25. Bc2 Bxf5 26. exf5 Bxd2 27. Qxd2 f6 28. Rb1 Qa3 29. Bd3 e4 30. Be2 Rb8 31. Rc1 Qa7 32. Qb4 Qa2 33. Kf1 Rb7 34. Bxb5 Nh3 35. Kg2 Nxf2 36. Qc4 Qb2 37. Qc6 Nd3 38. Kh3 Qxb5 39. Ra1 Qxc6 40. Ra8 Kf7 41. dxc6 Rb6 0-1


Swaminathan, Soumya vs. Dronavalli, Harika


1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. f3 e5 7. Nb3 Be6 8. Be3 h5 9. Qd2 Nbd7 10. a4 Rc8 11. a5 Be7 12. Be2 g6 13. O-O h4 14. Nd5 Bxd5 15. exd5 Nh5 16. c4 Ng7 17. f4 Nf5 18. Rac1 Nxe3 19. Qxe3 exf4 20. Qxf4 O-O 21. Bg4 Rc7 22. Bxd7 Bg5 23. Qxd6 Rxd7 24. Qb4 Bxc1 25. Rxc1 Re8 26. Qd2 Rde7 27. Nd4 Re4 28. Rf1 Qc7 29. Qf2 R4e7 30. b3 Qxa5 31. Qf6 Qc3 32. Kh1 Qd3 33. Kg1 Rd7 34. Nf5 gxf5 35. Qg5 Kf8 36. Qh6 Ke7 37. Re1 Kd8 38. Qb6 1-0

Results-

Soumya Swaminathan (8) beat Dronavalli Harika (7); Padmini Rout (6) lost to Tania Sachdev 8); P Priya (6) lost to Kiran Monisha Mohanty (8); Swati Ghate (7.5) beat Eesha Karavade (6); Mary Ann Gomes (5.5) lost to Nisha Mohota (6.5); R Aarthire (6) drew with Sai Meera (6); Divya Sri (5.5) lost to Pon. Krithika (6); Amruta Mokal (5) lost to Nimmy George (6); S Nabeela Farheen (4) lost to Swati Mohota (5.5); Dhyani Dave (4) lost to S Athirai (5.5); R Preethi (5.5) beat C H Savetha (3); Rucha Pujari (4) lost to M R Sangeetha (5); S Harini (4.5) drew with P Uthra (4.5); Anuprita Patil had a bye.

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

34th Women’s National A Chess Championship of India

5 Share lead after round 7

7 rounds gone in the Women’s National A and the the tournament is yet to find a sole leader in any of those. This speaks of the strength of this edition of the 34th Women’s National A Chess Championship organised by Symbiosis Spa Chess School at Symbiosis Center for Health Care Campus, Range Hills Road, Kirkee, Pune.

IM Dronavalli Harika played in an attacking mode right from the beginning against WIM Kiran Monisha Mohanty but yet could not win. When she gave up a pawn in the middle game it almost seemed like a ‘déjà vu’ of the first round where both players had castled on opposite sides. It seemed the same would repeat today but Kiran managed to hold a draw.

Leaders: Harika Dronavalli , Kiran Mohanty , Swati Ghate, Tania Sachdev, Mary Ann Gomes

Results-: round 7

Harika Dronavalli 5 drew with Kiran Mohanty 5;

Swati Ghate 5 drew with Tania Sachdev 5;

Ramaswamy Aarthie 4 lost to Mary Ann Gomes 5;

Soumya Swaminathan 4.5 drew with Nisha Mohota 4;

P Priya 4.5 beat Eesha Karavade 3.5;

Amruta Mokal 4 beat Padmini Rout 3;

Sai Meera 3 lost to Pon. Krithika 4;

S Harini 3 lost to Nimmy George;

Anuprita Patil 3.5 drew with S Nabeela Farheen 3.5;

Rucha Pujari 3 drew with Divyasri Ch 3.5;

R Preethi 2.5 drew with S Athirai 2.5;

Swati Mohota 3 beat M R Sangeetha 2;

Baisakhi Das 1 lost to P Uthra 3;

Dhyani Dave 2.5 drew with C H Savetha 1.5

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Rank	SNo.		Name	Rtg	FED	Pts	BH.	RtgØ
1	3	WGM	Tania Sachdev	2413	IND	5	26½	2289
2	6	WGM	Swathi Ghate	2316	IND	5	26	2240
3	1	IM	Harika Dronavalli	2480	IND	5	25	2269
4	7	WIM	Kiran Manisha Mohanty	2263	IND	5	24½	2278
5	8	WIM	Gomes Mary Ann	2262	IND	5	24	2200
6	9	WIM	Soumya Swaminathan	2244	IND	4½	23½	2218
7	15		Priya P	2129	IND	4½	23	2203
8	5	WGM	Ramaswamy Aarthie	2317	IND	4	26	2260
9	2	WGM	Mohota Nisha	2416	IND	4	24½	2221
10	14	WFM	Pon N Krithika	2140	IND	4	24	2174
11	12		Nimmy A G	2196	IND	4	23½	2170
12	13		Amrutha Mokal	2159	IND	4	23½	2151
13	4	WGM	Karavade Eesha	2331	IND	3½	28	2294
14	22		Anuprita Patil	2060	IND	3½	25	2209
15	20		Syed Nabeela Farheen	2093	IND	3½	21	2140
16	25		Divyasri Ch	2050	IND	3½	18½	2103
17	11	WFM	Meera Sai	2205	IND	3	28	2275
18	10		Padmini Rout	2226	IND	3	23	2181
19	23		Harini S	2060	IND	3	22	2145
20	21	WFM	Pujari Rucha	2061	IND	3	21	2114
21	18		Swati Mohota	2112	IND	3	19	2094
22	24		Uthra P	2055	IND	3	15	2066
23	16		Preethi R	2125	IND	2½	19½	2114
24	26	WFM	Dave Dhyani	2002	IND	2½	19	2107
25	27		Athirai S	2000	IND	2½	17½	2088
26	17		Sangeetha M R	2118	IND	2	21	2144
27	28		Savetha C H	1968	IND	1½	18	2067
28	19		Baisakhi Das	2101	IND	1	18	2090