Tejas Bakre in sole lead in Kavala International open chess

Tue, Aug 03 10 09:18 PM

Kavala (Greece), Aug 3 (PTI) Grandmaster Tejas Bakre shot into sole lead defeating GM Nikolov Momchil of Bulgaria in the fourth round of the Kavala International open chess tournament here today. With his fourth victory from as many games, Bakre is now trailed by four players, a half point behind, while the Indian trio of GM Abhijeet Gupta, GM norm holder Sahaj Grover and Vishnu Prasanna are in the pack of three pointers. Bakre was again the pick of the Indians and the dynamics that he is displaying are exemplary so far. Playing the white side of a Siclian Najdorf, Bakre''s early opening gamble paid off as Momchil was not very well prepared. Getting an advantage after weakening black in the center, Bakre continued to put pressure and scored another impressive victory. "The things that I am doing seem to be working well for now but it is a very strong tournament and there are still five games left," said a cautious Bakre, while answering a question on his expectations after a roaring start. On another good day for the Indians here, former under-10 world champion Sahaj Grover defeated Grandmaster Dmitry Svetushkin of Moldova to keep himself in running for his second GM norm. Gover was a bit lucky in his victory as Svetushkin played for a win and was outplayed from a position wherein he could have forced the draw through perpetual checks. Abhijeet Gupta did well to hold top seed Gabriel Sargissian of Armenia. Up against a Grunfeld defense, Sargissian could not stake his claim for a worthwhile advantage as Abhijeet neutralized white''s initiative in quick time. Following the trade of queens in the middle game the result of the game was never in doubt. Vishnu Prasanna continued with his dream run and held second seed GM Eduardas Rozentalis to a creditable draw. Playing solidly right from the word go with white pieces, Vishnu continued his unbeaten run in the event and is now very close to attaining an International Master norm. Former world junior girls'' champion D Harika came back in reckoning with a thumping victory over N Galopoulos of Greece. Harika did not have to do much with her black pieces after Galopoulos erred in the middle game. International Master Tania Sachdev also secured a victory at the expense of Ioannis Aftsoglou. The Czech Benoni move by the Greek only landed him in problems in the middle game and after trading a few pieces Tania knocked down two pawns to ensure her second victory in the tournament. .

Source: Published>