MPL 48th National Women R6: Mary moves ahead
WGM Mary Ann Gomes halted WIM Aashna Makhija's unbeaten run at MPL 48th National Women Chess Championship 2022. Mary defeated Aashna comfortably as the former showed her endgame knowledge in earning the full point. WGM Divya Deshmukh won a sharp battle against WGM Srija Seshadri who found it quite difficult to defend the complex situation she got herself in. IM Soumya Swaminathan and IM Bhakti Kulkarni scored comfortable victories to join Aashna and Divya at 5/7 each. Mary will face Soumya on the top board in the seventh round clash which starts today at 10:30 a.m. Photo: Maharashtra Chess Association
Eight out of top ten games end decisively
Things are certainly heating up as the tournament draws closer to an end. Eight out of top ten boards had a decisive result, only two games ended in draws. The three-time National Women's champion, WGM Mary Ann Gomes (PSPB) has taken sole lead. Can she repeat what she did a decade ago at Jalgaon in the same state? We will know in the next few rounds.
Aashna - Mary: 0-1
WIM Aashna Makhija (MAH, 2123) opted for the Alapin variation against WGM Mary Ann Gomes (PSPB, 2320) in the Sicilian Defence. The game arrived into a rook and same color bishop endgame in 30 moves.
Since White cannot defend both b2 and a2 and White doesn't need to either, 31.Ra4 Bc5+ 32.Kf1 b5 33.Ra5 Rxb2 34.a4 would have been a better continuation. 31.b4 Rxa2 32.Bf2 Ra1+ 33.Kh2 Bd6 34.Rd4 Ke6 35.Kg3 g5 36.Be3 Rf1 37.c4 gxf4+ the resultant pawn ending is lost for White.
Srija - Divya: 0-1
WGM Divya Deshmukh (MAH, 2347) seized her opportunity to take advantage of WGM Srija Seshadri's (TN, 2204) weak kingside.
White needed to get rid of the deadly d6-bishop first before taking the e4-pawn. 22.Nxd6 Qxd6 23.Nxe4 Qf4 24.Qe2 keeps White out of the woods. However, 22.Nxe4 invites trouble Bh2+ 23.Kh1 Rf3 24.Re3 Raf8 25.Ba3 g3. Black may not have attacked precisely, the position itself was quite complex to defend for a human. Naturally, White went wrong and lost the game soon.
Soumya - Sunyuktha: 1-0
IM Soumya Swaminathan (PSPB, 2322) made an incorrect temporary sacrifice which went unpunished by her opponent Sunyuktha C M N (TN, 1820).
24.Bxd4 actually does not work because Black does not need to keep the sacrificed piece exd4 25.Rxd4 Nb5 26.Rxd7 Qa5 going after the precious a2-pawn is more important than holding on to the d7-knight. 24...exd4 25.Rxd4 Rd6? 26.Rxd6 Bxd6 27.Rd1 Bxg3 28.hxg3 Qxg5 29.Qxc7 gave White the upper hand.
A total of 102 players including 3 IMs, 7 WGMs and 12 WIMs are taking part in this tournament organized by Chess Association Kolhapur. The event is taking place at Sanjay Ghodawat University, Kolhapur, Maharasahtra from 26th December 2022 to 5th January 2023. The 11-round Swiss league tournament has a time control of 90 minutes for 40 moves followed by 30 minutes with an increment of 30 seconds from move no.1
Replay Round 6 games
Round 6 results
| Bo. | No. | Name | Club/City | Pts. | Result | Pts. | Name | Club/City | No. | PGN | ||
| 1 | 20 | WIM | Makhija Aashna | Maharashtra | 5 | 0 - 1 | 4½ | WGM | Gomes Mary Ann | PSPB | 4 | PGN |
| 2 | 1 | WGM | Vantika Agrawal | Delhi | 4 | ½ - ½ | 4 | WIM | Chitlange Sakshi | Maharashtra | 8 | PGN |
| 3 | 11 | WGM | Srija Seshadri | Tamil Nadu | 4 | 0 - 1 | 4 | WGM | Divya Deshmukh | Maharashtra | 2 | PGN |
| 4 | 3 | IM | Soumya Swaminathan | PSPB | 4 | 1 - 0 | 4 | Sunyuktha C M N | Tamil Nadu | 40 | PGN | |
| 5 | 5 | IM | Kulkarni Bhakti | Goa | 4 | 1 - 0 | 4 | WCM | Bristy Mukherjee | West Bengal | 41 | PGN |
| 6 | 43 | Rindhiya V | Tamil Nadu | 4 | 0 - 1 | 3½ | WIM | Mahalakshmi M | RSPB | 6 | PGN | |
| 7 | 9 | WIM | Sharma Isha | Karnataka | 3½ | 1 - 0 | 3½ | Dakshita Kumawat | Rajasthan | 55 | PGN | |
| 8 | 17 | WFM | Shah Vishwa | Maharashtra | 3½ | 0 - 1 | 3½ | WIM | Arpita Mukherjee | West Bengal | 10 | PGN |
| 9 | 19 | WIM | Mrudul Dehankar | Maharashtra | 3½ | ½ - ½ | 3½ | WIM | Aakanksha Hagawane | Maharashtra | 12 | PGN |
| 10 | 13 | WIM | Pandey Srishti | Maharashtra | 3½ | 0 - 1 | 3½ | WGM | Swati Ghate | LIC | 25 | PGN |
Round 7 pairings
| Bo. | No. | Name | Club/City | Pts. | Result | Pts. | Name | Club/City | No. | ||
| 1 | 4 | WGM | Gomes Mary Ann | PSPB | 5½ | 5 | IM | Soumya Swaminathan | PSPB | 3 | |
| 2 | 2 | WGM | Divya Deshmukh | Maharashtra | 5 | 5 | WIM | Makhija Aashna | Maharashtra | 20 | |
| 3 | 8 | WIM | Chitlange Sakshi | Maharashtra | 4½ | 5 | IM | Kulkarni Bhakti | Goa | 5 | |
| 4 | 10 | WIM | Arpita Mukherjee | West Bengal | 4½ | 4½ | WGM | Vantika Agrawal | Delhi | 1 | |
| 5 | 6 | WIM | Mahalakshmi M | RSPB | 4½ | 4½ | WIM | Sharma Isha | Karnataka | 9 | |
| 6 | 25 | WGM | Swati Ghate | LIC | 4½ | 4 | WIM | Pujari Rucha | Maharashtra | 7 | |
| 7 | 29 | Potluri Saye Srreezza | Telangana | 4 | 4 | WGM | Srija Seshadri | Tamil Nadu | 11 | ||
| 8 | 12 | WIM | Aakanksha Hagawane | Maharashtra | 4 | 4 | WFM | Potluri Supreetha | Andhra Pradesh | 39 | |
| 9 | 14 | IM | Mohota Nisha | PSPB | 4 | 4 | Rindhiya V | Tamil Nadu | 43 | ||
| 10 | 30 | WFM | Lakshmi C | Tamil Nadu | 4 | 4 | WGM | Varshini V | Tamil Nadu | 15 |
Links
Chess Association Kolhapur: Official site, and facebook
