By Praful Zaveri in Mumbai
Day Nine
The day nine of the Sixth Bournvita Inter School Chess tournament being held here at rabhodhankar Thackeray Sports Complex saw the lead change batons from the overnight leaders in the all the four sections. Gayatri Velu of St. Louis Convent in the Girls Under-10 section, Priyanka Vora of J.B.Vachha High School in the Girls Open section and Snehal Bhosale of Guru Nanak High School in the Boys Under-10 section established themselves as clear leaders at the end of the day. The overnight leaders, Abigail Fernandes (Girls-10), Trichi Chawla (Girls Open) and Meghan Gupte (Boys-10) were pushed back in the 2 rounds that were held to-day.
In the Girls Under-10 section, Gayatri Velu did not have any difficulty in accounting for Abigail Fernandes of Father Agnel, Vashi. This win has helped Gayatri to take the lead over the rest of the field and now has 6.5/7 points. Macrina Lobo is occupying the 2nd spot with 6/7. 4 players, Saba Mhate, Ruchita Lalmanlani, Sayali Phadke and Monica Maskeri are sharing the 3rd spot with 5.5/7. With 2 rounds remaining and, a slender leader for the leader, the fight for the championship is expected to go right down to the wire.
The Girls Open section saw a clear favorite emerging as Priyanka Vora of J.B. Vachha established a lead of half a point. In the morning session she defeated top-seeded Tanvi Thakur of St.Annes, who is having a bad run and in the afternoon, Priyanka took measure of Trichi Chawla. Leeann Almedia of Mary Immaculate, with her win over Mridula Nambiar, is on the 2nd spot behind Priyanka with 6 points. Saloni Balgi, Natasha Mokale, Aditi Vira, Trichi Chawla and Pooja Kothari trail the leaders with 5.5 points.
In the Boys Under-10 group, Snehal Bhosale of Guru Nanak is having a dream run in the tournament with 7.5/8. In the last round of the day, Snehal increased his margin by defeating K.P. Nimidev. Akshay Bhor and Kashi Sah are in the 2nd spot and six other players; K.P. Nimidev, Meghan Gupte, Nitesh Bhat, Utkarsh Gupta, Karan Ajinkya and Nadeem Abdullah are on the joint 3rd position. The youngest participant, 3 yearss 11 month old, Tanuj Dayal is on two points.
The star-studded Boys Open section saw the leads change hands as the overnight leader Anand Sundar suffer two defeats. The field is now led by Sagar Sadavarte of Navi Mumbai High School and Aniruddh Unni & Vaibhav Saxena (2158) of Father Agnel with 7/8 points A big group of 7 players, including top seeded Amar Kamat (2167) are breathing down the neck of the leaders with 6.5/8 points. The struggle of the rated players continued as the 3rd seeded Kartkik Vishwanathan (2050) suffered yet another defeat at the hands of Sarwesh Karambelkar.
The 11-day festival is heading for an exciting finish on the 10th and penultimate day tomorrow. The 2nd rounds to be played, will determine the champion in the Girls category. The final rounds for the Boys section is scheduled on 9/11/2K.
Former Commonwealth Silver medallist & 2 IM norm holder, Sriram Jha, IM-Elect, Vishal Sareen will be the special guest to give simul to the prize-winners on the last day.
Schedule for 08/11/2K
10:00 am to 4:00 pm : Open Boys : Round
Nos. 9 & 10.
10:00 am to 4:00 pm : Under 10 Boys : Round
Nos. 9 & 10
10:00 am to 4.00 pm : Under 10 Girls :
Round Nos. 8 & 9
10:00 am to 4:00 pm : Open Girls : Round
Nos.8 & 9
Venue: Prabhodhankar Thackeray Sports Complex,
Shahaji Raje Road,
Vile-Parle (East),
Mumbai – 400 057.