| C. Natarajan (ICF) and R.
Sharanya (Garodia HSS) emerged winners in the Men and Women Section respectively in the
Union Bank of India sponsored selection tournament organized by Kanchipuram District Chess
Association held during 25-27 April 1999 at Chromepet, Chennai. This tournament attracted around 100 entries in all. Players from
remote places in the Kanchipuram District took part in the event. In a rough estimate
there were aroud 50 players who played their maiden tournament outside their places. Among
the players, there were also 3 FIDE rated players with C. Natarajan being the top seeded
player.
Till the 5th round both Natarajan and a young girl Y.
Prathibha were the joint leaders. But in the 6th round, Natarajan defeated Prathibha when
the Champion changed the usual move orders and played irregularly. Surprised on the
defence of Natarajan, Prathibha castled early and released the tension in the center by
capturing the c5 pawn which resulted in a massive attack on her king side by Natarajan.
Eventually, Prathibha could not withstand the pressure, lost her Rook and the game
shortly. Natarajan took the first prize with 7.5 points in eight rounds and the
prize money of Rs. 1000/-.
Another youngster who made an impressive performance was
P. Lakshminarasimhan (PSBB). He played with authority and posted victory against C.V.
Rajalakshmi (St. Marks)
in the last round. When Rajalakshmi exchanged her Queen with some minor pieces with the
intention of seeking a good end game, she made a weak long castle and failed to support
her g7 Bishop with Rook, which was guarding the long diagonal. This mistake was fully
capitalized by Lakshminarasimhan who won in the end.
In the women's section R. Sharanya remained the
undefeated player by scoring cent per cent result in 5 rounds. She subdued D. Vidya
(Christ King) in their encounter in the penultimate round.
Earlier KDCA felicitated IM K. Sashikiran for his triumph
in National 'A' championship held recently in Mumbai. Master Shashikiran, while thanking
the organizer, stated that he would follow the footstep of Grand Master Viswanathan Anand
with blessings from all the Indian Chess lovers. Mr. Kesava Mudaliar and MJF LION
Nagin gave away the prizes to the winners of the Women and Men sections
respectively. |
