Goa State Champion Anurag Mhamal (ELO 2126) wrested the sole lead with 5
points in the Boys section after beating Asian Schools Under 11 Gold
medallist Cyrus Perreira (ELO 1873) in the 4th round of the State Subjunior
Boys Championship being played at the Sarvodaya High School, Curchorem.
Anurag encountered a variation of the Queen's Gambit Accepted and displayed
his positional superiority to win the resulting endgame in 56 hard fought
moves. There are 5 players following Anurag on 4 points each - Cyrus, Niraj
Saripalli (ELO 1952), M. Harikrishnan (ELO 1744), Rakshit Rai (ELO 1659) and
unrated State Under 9 Champion Anirudh Bhat. If Niraj, who has white pieces
against Anurag in the 6th round, can pull off an upset, the tournament is
thrown wide open. A victory for Anurag however, clinches his third
successive Subjunior crown.
In the Girls section, Riya Sawant (ELO 1430) beat Sampada Barve (ELO 1651)
to record her second upset of the day and moved into the sole lead with 4
points. Riya won after 59 moves in the Cambridge Springs Variation of the
Queen's Gambit Declined opening. She is followed by unrated Sukanya Chari
who was lucky to draw her fourth round game with Gauri Hadkonkar after
blundering early in the game. The fifth and final round sees Riya pitted
against Sukanya and even a draw will see Riya through as the Champion.
There is a total prize fund of Rs. 25,000 for both the sections and the top
four in each category will represent Goa in the upcoming National Subjunior
Championships to be held later this year in Mangalore.
Tomorrow's crucial games are as follows -
Boys (penultimate round)
Niraj Saripalli (4 pts) vs. Anurag Mhamal (5 pts)
Cyrus Perreira (4 pts) vs. Rakshit Rai (4 pts)
Anirudh Bhat (4 pts) vs. M. Harikrishnan (4 pts)
Umang Kaisary (3.5 pts) vs. Pranav Zantye (3.5 pts)
Girls (final round) -
Sukanya Chari (3.5 pts) vs. Riya Sawant (4 pts)
Celiane Carvalho (3 pts) vs. Urvi Bandodkar (3 pts)
Sampada Barve (3 pts) vs. Nandini Saripalli (3 pts)
Vidula Dempo (2 pts) vs. Gauri Hadkonkar (2.5 pts)
SOURCE: Sameer Salgaocar - Vice President, All-India Chess Federation
