Priya topples top-seeded Sri Lankan girl

Priya topples top-seeded Sri Lankan girl
RIDDHI TRIVEDI

AHMEDABAD, DECEMBER 17: The title hopes of Sri Lanka, Iran and Kazakhstan suffered major setbacks as their No 1 players suffered their second sucessive defeats on the second day of Second Asian Youth Chess Championship here on Friday.

In the girls' under-12 section, India P Priya (10th seed), who had held fourth seed Khallaeba (Turkmenistan) to a draw in the first round, upset top seed Nilupa Karunatilaka (Sri Lanka).

In the boys' under-12, Seyeed Javed Alavi (Iran), a FIDE Master and the No 2 seed, was crushed by 13th seed Huy Nguyen Hinh (Turkmenistan). Alavi lost to Hinh in an unusual opening.

Iskakov Arsen Kaz (Kazakhstan), the boys' under-10 third seed, after his first round defeat at the hands of R Rohit, lost yet again to another Indian -- 11th-seeded Akshat Kamparia.

In the girls' under-14 section, top seed T Dinara (Kazakhstan) followed her first round loss to Giang Nguyen Thu (Vietnam) by losing to eighth seed Waxnoza in a queen's gambit game.

Priya, playing white against Karunatilaka onthe fifth board in the girls' under-12, went for a risky g5 play in the eighth move of her bishop opening game. Her risk paid off as she gained control of the game through a superb tactical game and forced her fancied opponent to resign on the 25th move.

S Viktorya, the under-12 top seed, earned her first point of the tournament defeating fourth seed Khalhaeba in an r4-r5 King pawn opening.

Humy was given a run for her money by S Sriram before she staged a come back to checkmate him in 47 moves. A faulty knight f6 on the 28th move lost Humpy the f7 pawn and weakened her side. However, Humpy managed to regain control and earn a full point.

Anoori Shah shared the lead with top seed Mary Ann Gomes and Haamra Yulduz. All have two points from as many rounds. Anoori scored a comfortable French defence win with black pieces over country mate Dhyani Dave. Haamra defeated Chandrika Koshwatte the seventh seed. Top seed Mary Ann Gomes earned a 55 moves queen's gambit victory over second seed S Swaminathan.

Inthe boys' under-10, Akshat Kamparia earned his first point of the tournament, with a win over Iskakov Kaz in a bishop b5 variation of the Sicilian opening. Thanks to a false pawn play on the 20th move by his opponent, Akshat gained an outside pass pawn on the `a' file. Akshat capitalised on this, forcing a win in 54 moves. Abhijit Gupta, the top seed mated Varun Dattani in an unusual opening in 30 moves. A bishop e8 on the 25th move caused his opponent to lose a piece and sealed the fate of the game.

In the boys' under-14, P Harikrishna playing white, opted for a nf3-nf6 king knight opening against Ismagambetov Anour. The two exchanged bishops which proved advantageous to Harikrishna. This and a d5 on 23rd move clinched the game for the Indian top seed and former world under-10 champion.

MR Venkatesh downed Saptarishi Roy in the dragon variation of the Yugoslav attack.

Under-18 National champion and local hope Valay Parikh, was left in a precarious position against Elshan Moradiabadi (Iran), when hewrongly sacrificed a pawn on the 37th move in a Caro Cann defence. However, Parikh played a very calculated game after that to regain his pawn and control of the game forcing his opponent to resign on the 74th move.

In the girls' under-14, Dinara allowed her opponent Waxnoza an advantage in an equal middle game and lost control of the centre which cost her a point. Tania Sachdev, the second seed, however facing a e4-nc6 unusual opening -- one she has never faced before -- played a fighting game and attacked from her king side. Her opponent, had her king in the centre and not opting to castle, lost three pawn even before the rook pawn ending was reached. She resigned after the 45th move.

In matches of the Iranian and Kazakh players, the aribiters and press had a hard time analysing the moves since those players chose to write moves using symbols of their regional languages rather than the accepted English notations. Their use of notations like `q' and `u' which are otherwise never used, forced arbiters andpress people alike to give up their efforts in frustation.

RESULTS :

Boys' under-14: P Harikrishna (1) bt Ismagambetov Anour (1), Valay Parikh (1) bt Elshan Moradiabadi (1), MR Venkatesh bt Saptarshi Roy (1), Annarberdyev (1) bt S Poobesh Anand (1), Iskakov Aibek (0) bt Himanshu Kumar (0), Kartik Viswanathan (0) bt Ravi Purohit (0), Byomkesh Naik (0) bt AM Kamath (0)

Boys' under-12: Konery Humpy (1) bt S Sriram (1), Sayantan Dutta (1) bt Esenov Annaberdi (1), S Rangarajan (1) bt T Damir (1), Omid Norouzi bt Kampakyanob (1), P Siddarth (0) bt Vinaykumar (1), Huy Nguyen Hinh bt Seyeed Javed Alavi (0), Deepan Chakraborty (0) bt Monil Majmudar (0), Jude Ranga (0) bt Habib Redwankhan (0), Wong Si Chung (0) bt Dhimant Shah (0)

Girls' under-14: Tania Sachdev (1) bt Giang Nguyen Thu (1), Shadi Paridar (1) bt Panaga Magal (1), C Delphin (1) bt Shraddha Samani (0.5), Jaya Arunamathi (0.5) bt Anudama Isani Konara (0), Waxnoza (0) bt T Dinara (0)

Girls' under-12: Eesha Karvade(1) bt Manjari Sowani (1), R Mahima (1) drew with Krutika Nadig (1), Atousa Pour (1) bt B Latha (1), S Viktorya bt Khallaeba (0.5), P Priya bt Nilupa Karunatilaka (0), Azadeh Patel bt Fariya Zaman (0), M Priyadarshini bt Artikova

Girls' under-10: Mary Ann Gomes (1) bt Noor Shazwani (1), Anoori Shah (1) bt P Harikrishna (1) bt Ismagambetov Anour (1), Valay Parikh (1) bt Elshan Moradiabadi (1), MR Venkatesh bt Saptarshi Roy (1), Annarberdyev (1) bt S Poobesh Anand (1), Iskakov Aibek (0) bt Himanshu Kumar (0), Kartik Viswanathan (0) bt Ravi Purohit (0), Byomkesh Naik(0) bt AM Kamath (0).