Safira silences Sujatha, joins Vijayalakshmi

By Raghunandan Gokhale

KALYAN, JUNE 17. Safira Shanaz (6.5) of Tamil Nadu kept her appointment with Vijayalakshmi (6.5) of Indian Airlines with an easy win over teammate S. Sujatha (3.5) in the 10th round of the 26th National women's A chess championship here on Saturday. The eagerly-awaited clash between the two leaders on Sunday will decide the fate of the title.

WFM Saheli Barua (6) of Railways fell behind when she agreed to a friendly draw with IWM Bhagyashree Thipsay (5) of IDBI, Mumbai, after just 13 moves of Spanish Opening. Second- seeded IWM Swati Ghate (5.5) ended her drought of full points with an easy win over tailender Baisakhi Das (1) of West Bengal.

World under-18 girls champion Aarthie's comeback attempt was cut short by IWM Pallavi Shah (5.5) in a game of complexities. And five-time winner Anupama Gokhale (5) of BPCL kept her slender hopes alive when she outwitted Bihar's Neha Singh (2.5) in Tarrasch Defence.

After losing to Bhagyashree in the seventh round, Safira has been playing like a wounded tigress. She outplayed Pratibha and Pallavi, both of whom had earlier tamed top-seeded Vijayalakshmi. Safira had to defeat Sujatha to meet Vijayalakshmi on equal terms in the clash of the championship.

Safira's sudden switch to Torre Attack must have unnerved Sujatha as the lanky debutant from Chennai failed to counter effectively. ``I think Sujatha's h6 was wrong,'' said the winner. Safira did not hesitate to launch an attack on the Black King and soon she was an exchange and two pawns up.

``I had just a few minutes left on my clock but my material advantage was so great that Sujatha resigned before the time control,'' remarked Safira, an Engineering graduate from Chennai. Sujatha surrendered on the 37th move.

Saheli, who has been out of the Indian team for many years, decided to play it safe and agreed to a draw against Bhagyashree who has a good record against her. The draw lasted just 13 moves of Spanish Opening.

Saheli is now half-a-point behind leaders Safira and Vijayalakshmi and faces Pratibha, Pallavi and Sujatha in the forthcoming rounds. Saheli, if she scores two and half points, could finish as the runner-up. A loss to Bhagyashree would have jeopardised her chances and added psychological pressure on her.

Meenakshi (6) joined Saheli in the second spot after toiling for more than five hours against Pratibha (3). In Gruenfeld Defence, Pratibha nearly equalised in the opening but failed to maintain the equilibrium. She lost a pawn to Meenakshi's constant pressure but fought hard till the end. Observers felt that Pratibha could have drawn the game with precise play.

Baisakhi loses her way

Inexperienced Baisakhi Das (1) gave up the advantage of a pair of Bishops to second-seeded Swati Ghate (5.5) who was going through a lean patch till today. ``Baisakhi got the usual edge from the White side in the early d4 system but gave up her valuable Bishop for my knight,'' Swati said. The highly-rated second seed needed only such an opening for a breakthrough. She utilised these cleverly in Baisakhi's time trouble and won two pawns and the game.

After her debacle at the hands of Safira on Friday, Pallavi swept aside the negative thoughts and played her dashing style today. Aarthie launched an English Attack against Pallavi's Scavenengian Sicilian Defence. Pallavi played a rare idea of opening the centre with d5 without moving her Queen from its original square.

After the game, Aarthie said she had not come across this idea. She felt Pallavi's play was premature and tried to punish it. With both Kings out in the open, the game became wild with complications. The out-of-form Chennai girl failed to find precise moves while Pallavi played aggressively. Aarthie, in the time trouble, lost the thread of the game and succumbed on the 38th move.

IWM Anupama Gokhale (5) easily accounted for Neha Singh (2.5) of Bihar in 31 moves of Queens Gambit Tarrasch Defence.

The results (10th round): Safira Shahnaz (TN) 6.5 bt S. Sujatha (TN) 3.5; Aarthie (Wipro) 4 lost to Pallavi Shah (LIC) 5.5; S. Meenakshi (TN) 6 bt Pratibha (TN) 3; Saheli Barua (IR) 6 drew with Bhagyashree Thipsay (IDBI) 5; Baisakhi Das (WB) 1 lost to Swati Ghate (LIC) 5.5; Anupama Gokhale (BPCL) 5 bt Neha Singh (Bih) 2.5 and S. Vijayalakshmi (IA) 6.5 bye.

The moves: Aarthie (white) vs Pallavi Shah (black): 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be3 e6 7. f3 b5 8. Qd2 Nbd7 9. g4 h6 10. O-O-O Bb7 11. h4 b4 12. Nce2 d5 13. exd5 Bxd5 14. Nf4 Bxa2 15. Nc6 Qc7 16. Nxb4 Qa5 17. Nxa2 Qxa2 18. Qc3 Qa1+ 19. Kd2 Qa4 20. Qc4 Qa5+ 21. Ke2 Ne5 22. Qd4 Rc8 23. c3 Nc4 24. b4 Qc7 25. Kf2 Nxe3 26. Qxe3 Qxc3 27. Qxc3 Rxc3 28. Bxa6 Bxb4 29. Bb5+ Ke7 30. g5 Bc5+ 31. Kg2 Rc2+ 32. Be2 Nh5 33. Nxh5 Rxe2+ 34. Kg3 Bf2+ 35. Kg4 hxg5 36. Kxg5 f6+ 37. Kg4 f5+ 38. Kg5 Be3+. Aarthie surrendered.

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