National Women’s Chess Championship: Mary Ann Gomes ends Aashna’s winning run, takes lead
Gomes moved to the top with 5.5 points after six rounds, while Divya Deshmukh, Soumya Swaminathan and Bhakti Kulkarni are at five points each.
Published : Dec 31, 2022 20:58 IST , NEW DELHI
Former champion Mary Ann Gomes ended the all-win streak of Aashna Makhija in 45 moves to emerge as the new leader with 5.5 points after six rounds of MPL National women’s chess championship at Kolhapur on Saturday.
Mary ended stronger in an endgame involving the kings and three pawns each.
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Top seed Vantika Agrawal found the going tough against Sakshi Chitlange and drew in 51 moves.
Defending champion Divya Deshmukh along with former champions Soumya Swaminathan and Bhakti Kulkarni joined Aashna at five points after expected victories.
Divya needed 35 moves to stop Srija Seshadri, Soumya defeated C. M. N. Sunyuktha in 39 moves while Bhakti forced Bristy Mukherjee to resign after 42 moves.