MPL National Sub-Junior 2022 R6-7: Pranesh and Tanisha eye the championships

Mahendra beats Pranav

12 players in the Open and three in the Girls are at 5.5/7.

Open Round 6: Pranav - Pranesh: 0.5-0.5

The clash between IM Pranav Venkatesh (TN) and IM Pranesh M (TN) was inevitable.

Pranav decided to sacrifice his queen 17.Qxe6. It is not completely a sacrifice, it is more of an exchange because White recovers two rooks for the queen 17...Rxe6 18.Nc6 Qe8 19.Nxb8 Qxb8 20.Bxe6 fxe6 21.fxg7. The position liquidated into a two rooks vs queen and few pawns endgame.

40.Rb6 would have made things quite difficult for Black to survive. However, White decided to repeat moves 40.Rg4+ Kf6 41.Rf4+ Kg6 42.Rg4+ and the game ended in a draw.

Round 7: Pranesh - Harshad: 1-0

IM Pranesh M (TN) beat FM Harshad S (TN) to take sole lead 6.5/7.

White's queenside attack is much stronger than Black's attack on the kingside. The primary reason is the b6-knight combined with the fact that White's pieces are better coordinated and ready to use his bishop pair which cannot be said for his opponent. Although Pranesh missed a quicker win, nevertheless he did not allow his opponent to bounce back.

Pranav - Mahendra: 0-1

IM Pranav V (TN) lost his first game of the event against Mahendra Teja Mekala (AP).

White got a pleasant position out of the opening. 19.Rc1 would have been a better way to complete the development. Instead 19.Bd2 allowed Black to get his king to safety in a hurry 19...Bd6 20.Bxb4 0-0

The one thing White forgot during the game is, h2-pawn is tactically defended. If Black goes Rxh2 then White can immediately play Nxh3. To play Rxh2 safely, Black has to bring his king to g4/h4 which takes three moves, by that time White should have advanced his pawns on the queenside and he would have gotten the desired result. The purpose of bringing the king to b6 would have been fulfilled. Playing for over four hours and the second game of the day built fatigue, thus White started playing erroneously 62.Kc5 and the black king started its journey 62...Kg6 63.Re6+ Kh5 and things have just gone out of hand for White.

Girls Round 6: Vakcheri - Tanisha: 0-1

Vakcheri Mohitha's (AP) erroneous play in the endgame cost her the lead against Tanisha S Boramanikar (MAH).

White misplaced her bishop at a3. 24.Bd2 would have been better to continue the fight. After the rooks got exchanged, White played the opposite color bishop ending inaccurately and lost the game.

Round 7: Tanisha - Kanishka: 1-0

Tanisha Boramanikar (MAH) defeated Kanishka S (TN) to maintain her sole lead.

20...Bg6 allowed White to do a double attack 21.b5. To make sure Black suffers minimum loss, 21...Rxd1 needed to be played. However, Black opted 21...Nd3 22.bxc6 Nxc1 23.bxc6 and White is completely winning.

For more Round 6 and Round 7 photos, please click on the respective links.

A total of 175 players including 2 IMs in the Open and 113 players in the Girls tournament are taking part. It is organized by Delhi Chess Association. Both tournaments are taking place at Indira Gandhi Sports Complex, New Delhi from 4th to 8th March 2022. The nine-round Swiss league tournament has a time control of 90 minutes + 30 seconds increment from move no.1

Replay Open Round 6-7 games

Replay Girls Round 6-7 games

Open Round 7 results

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Round 8 pairings

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Girls Round 7 results

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Round 8 pairings

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