Indian WIM Srija Seshadri (ELO 2207) maintained her winning run of form as she outwitted compatriot WFM Divya Deshmukh (ELO 2138), scoring her third consecutive win, at the end of the sixth round of the SBI Life-AICF Women Grandmaster Chess Championship, jointly organized by the Indian Chess School & South Mumbai Chess Academy under the auspices of All India Chess Federation (AICF) and played at The Acres Club, Chembur.
Srija Seshadri
Srija, playing with black pieces on the third board came up with some clever maneuvers from a two knight’s opening and defeated Divya in just 27 moves.
Belgium IM Anna Zozulia (ELO 2314) recorded the second win of Round-6 when she tamed bottom placed Rakshitta Ravi (ELO 2067) of India on the sixth board to grab another point.
Matches on the other four boards finished in draws.
The overnight leaders, Kazakhstan’s WGM Guliskhan Nakhbayeva (ELO 2323) and Vietnam’s WGM Thi Kim Phung Vo (ELO 2376) played out a draw on the fifth board and both with 4.5 points each, continue to share the lead at the top. They are followed by followed by the Belgian Anna and Uzbek’s WGM Gulrukhbegim Tokhirjonova, both with the same number of 4 points. Top seed IM Batkhuyag Munguntuul (ELO 2410) of Mongolia and Srija, both with 3.5 points each are in joint third place.
Five more rounds remains to be played in this Rs 7.5 Lakhs prize-money chess tournament, being conducted by the Indian Chess School and South Mumbai Chess Academy.
Results – Round 6: WIM Elena Tomilova (RUS, 2334) 3 pts drew with WIM Vantika Agrawal (IND, 2279) 3 pts;
WIM Aakanksha Hagawane (IND, 2297) 3 pts drew with WIM Monnisha G.K. (IND, 2295) 1.5 pts;
WFM Divya Deshmukh (IND, 2138) 1.5 pts lost to WIM Srija Seshadri (IND, 2207) 3.5 pts;
WGM Gulrukhbegim Tokhirjonova (UZB, 2379) 4 pts drew with IM Batkhuyag Munguntuul (MGL, ELO 2410) 3.5 pts;
WGM Thi Kim Phung Vo (VIE, 2376) 4.5 pts drew with WGM Guliskhan Nakhbayeva (KAZ, 2323) 4.5 pts;
IM Anna Zozulia (BEL, 2314) 4 pts beat Rakshitta Ravi (IND, 2067) 0 pts.
Points after six rounds: WGM Guliskhan Nakhbayeva (KAZ, 2323) and WGM Thi Kim Phung Vo (VIE, 2376) – 4.5 points.
IM Anna Zozulia (BEL, 2314) and WGM Gulrukhbegim Tokhirjonova (UZB, 2379) – 4 points.
IM Batkhuyag Munguntuul (MGL, ELO 2410) and Srija Seshadri (IND, 2207) 3.5 pts – 3.5 points.
WIM Elena Tomilova (RUS, 2334) 3 pts, IM Vantika Agrawal (IND, 2279), WIM Aakanksha Hagawane (IND, 2297) – 3 points.
WIM Monnisha G.K. (IND, 2295) and WFM Divya Deshmukh (IND, 2138) – 1.5 points.
Rakshitta Ravi (IND, 2067) – 0 points.