Day of surprises at Senior National chess championship as IMs subdue GMs

GM Sasikiran Krishnan of PSPB is still at the top with 7.5 points, and new faces GM Iniyan P of Tamil Nadu and IM Goutham Krishna H of Kerala have joined him in the lead

Hyderabad: It was a forgetful outing for the GMs Surya Sekhar Ganguly, Abhijeet Gupta and SP Sethuraman, all from Petroleum Sports Promotion Board (PSPB), in the ninth round as the lesser-known opponents got the better of them in the 62nd Senior National chess championship, organised by Andhra Chess Association, at Vignan University in Guntur.

However, GM Sasikiran Krishnan of PSPB is still at the top with 7.5 points, and new faces GM Iniyan P of Tamil Nadu and IM Goutham Krishna H of Kerala have joined him in the lead. As two more rounds are left, the race has become wide open, interesting and thrilling.

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On the top board, Sasikiran had to be content with a draw against GM-elect Ayush Sharma of Railways. Positioning his queen and bishop on the long diagonal for a checkmate, Sasi had plenty of chances to win the game. But a simple mistake by Sasi made him vulnerable to constant attack by Ayush, forcing Sasi to accept the draw.

In the Giuoco Piano game, Goa international master Ritviz Parab had a memorable victory over the second seed and six-time champion Surya Sekhar Ganguly of PSPB. Ritviz slowly developed his position and picked up Ganguly’s two pawns, and the downfall started for Ganguly when he had to lose his rook for a knight. With a brilliant queen sacrifice, Ritviz had two deadly seventh rank rooks and an anchored bishop at the centre to clinch the victory in forty-seven moves.

In the Kasparov variation of Queen’s Indian Defence, Goutham outwitted Abhijeet in a queen and pawn endgame. When the journey was smooth and safe until move 37, Abhijeet blundered with a pawn move, allowing Goutham to gain an advantage with an extra pawn. Goutham’s king had a confident walk into the enemy’s camp, threatening a checkmate. Abhijeet tried to deviate by giving up a queen, which was calmly accepted by Goutham to snatch the victory.

Former Asian Junior champion J Deepan Chakkravarthy could not bring out his best against the top seed P Iniyan of Tamil Nadu in his Nimzo Indian Defence. But Iniyan’s devastating attacks forced Deepan to lose his two rooks for minor pieces and also the game after thirty-nine moves.

Tamil Nadu IM Manish Anto Cristiano dashed the hopes of PSPB grandmaster SP Sethuraman for a podium finish by beating him convincingly.

Placings at the end of the ninth round: 1. Krishnan Sasikiran 7.5, 2. Ionian Pa 7.5, 3. H. Goutham Krishna 7.5, 4. Aronyak Ghosh 7, 5. Ayush Sharma 7, 6. Abhijeet Gupta, 7. S. Ravi Teja, 8. Aaditya Dhingra, 9. Viani Antono Dcunha and 10. Manoj Jain Kashish 7.