The Hindu : Mamedyarov, Dzagnidze crowned champions

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Friday, Jul 04, 2003

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Sport - Chess

Mamedyarov, Dzagnidze crowned champions

By Our Chess Correspondent

Chennai July 2. Top-seeded Grandmaster Shakhriyaz Mamedyarov of Azerbaijan won the boys' title in the World junior chess championship, after accepting a five-move draw against Vitaly Bachin of Russia, in the thirteenth and final round at Nakhichevan in Azerbaijan on Thursday.

Mamedyarov, with 10 points from 13 games, finished half a point ahead of Sergei Azarov of Belarus who also took a quick 23-move draw.

Both Surya Sekhar Ganguly and Pendyala Harikrishna failed to win in the final round. They made draws to end up at eight points and out of the medal list. Gogineni Rohit tried to win against former leader Kadir Guseinov, but lost two pawns and the game to finish on 7.5 points.

Nana Dzagnidze, who had won the girls event with a round to spare, offered a seven-move draw that Eesha Karavade accepted without a second thought. Dzagnidze finished the event with eight victories and three draws for an undefeated title triumph on 9.5 points from eleven rounds.

Indians finished out of the medals list in this section too. Harika remained subdued against Shukurova in the final round keeping the game in balance before signing a draw in a level rook and pawn ending after 55 moves. She finished the highest among Indians with seven points.

But Cristina Calotescu and Zeinab Mamedyarova scored final round victories to move to 7.5 points and pick the silver and bronze medals. Tania and Eesha finished on 6.5 points.

Tania Sachdev could have won after she brilliantly trapped the queen of Mamedyarova. It was a costly lapse as she could have tied for the silver-bronze medal had she won.

Final placings:

Boys: 1. Shakhriyaz Mamedyarov (Aze) 10/13; 2. Sergei Azarov (Blr) 9.5; 3. Alexander Zubov (Ukr) 8.5; 4-7. Kadir Guseinov (Aze), Vugar Gashimov (Aze), Vitaly Bachin (Rus), Sergey Erenburg (Isr) 8.5 each; 8-10. S.S. Ganguly (Ind), P. Harikrishna (Ind), Levan Pantsulaia (Geo) 8 each; 17. Gogineni Rohit (Ind) 7.5; 18-19. P. Mahesh Chandran (Ind), J. Deepan Chakravarthy (Ind) 7 each; 33. S. Arun Prasad (Ind) 6; 35. Abhijeet Gupta (Ind) 5.5.

Girls: 1. Nana Dzagnidze (Geo) 9.5/11; 2-3. Cristina Calotescu (Rom), Zeinab Mamedyarova (Aze) 7.5 each; 4-5. Dronavalli Harika (Ind), Ekaterina Ubiennykh (Rus) 7 each; 6-10. Tania Sachdev (Ind), Eesha Karavade (Ind), Maria Sergeeva (Kaz), Meihriban Shukurova (Aze), Ioulia Makka (Gre) 6.5 each; 13. Saheli Nath (Ind) 5.5; 24. Rajmohan Mahima (Ind) 4.

Leading results (Indians unless specified):

Boys (round 13): Shakhriyaz Mamedyarov (Aze) 10 drew with Vitaly Bachin (Rus) 8.5; Sergei Azarov (Blr) 9.5 drew with Vugar Gashimov (Aze) 8.5; Sergey Erenburg (Isr) 8.5 drew with Surya Sekhar Ganguly 8; Pendyala Harikrishna 8 drew with Levan Pantsulaia (Geo) 8; Gogineni Rohit 7.5 lost to Kadir Guseinov (Aze) 8.5; P. Mahesh Chandran 7 drew with J. Deepan Chakravarthy 7, Charles Monroy (Fra) 6 drew with S. Arun Prasad 6; Martin Osttveit (Nor) 4 lost to Abhijeet Gupta 5.5.

Boys (round twelve): Erenburg lost to Mamedyarov; Guseinov lost to Azarov; Ganguly lost to Bachin; Gashimov bt Dimitrios Mastrovasilis (Gre) 7; Alexander Zubov (Ukr) 7.5 drew with Harikrishna; Rohit bt Jiri Jirka (Aze) 6.5; Eltaj Safarli (Aze) 6.5 drew with Mahesh Chandran; Chakravarthy bt Marcin Dziuba (Pol) 5.5; S. Arun Prasad 5.5 drew with Marco Pacheco (Per) 5.5; Abhijeet Gupta 4.5 lost to Djakhangir Agaragimov (Aze) 5.5.

Girls (round 11): Nana Dzagnidze (Geo) 9.5 drew with Eesha Karavade 6.5, Cristina Calotescu (Rom) 7.5 bt Ekaterina Ubiennykh (Rus) 7, Zeinab Mamedyarova (Aze) 7.5 bt Tania Sachdev 6.5, Meihriban Shukurova (Aze) 6.5 drew with Dronavalli Harika 7, Saheli Nath 5.5 drew with Afag Khudaverdieva (Aze) 5.5; Dominika Nowak (Pol) 4.5 bt Rajmohan Mahima 4.

Girls (round ten): Maria Sergeeva (Kaz) 5.5 drew with Dzagnidze; Ubiennykh bt Mamedyarova; Harika drew with Calotescu; Tania bt Saheli; Khudaverdieva lost to Karavade; Mahima drew with Melanie Verot (Fra) 4.

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