With three grandmasters and an international master in their team, top seeded Pune A along with defending champions Bangalore recorded easy wins to dominate the opening day of the 12th National Cities Chess Championship which began at the Naivedyam Celebrations Centre on Monday.
The eight-round Swiss League tourney that will conclude on February 5 has been organised by Vidarbha Chess Association in association with the Nagpur District Chess Association.
While Pune A, playing with white pieces, outclassed Nagpur F on the top board, the Nagpur G team on the second board was humbled by the second seeded Bangalore.
On the top board, IM Akshayraj Kore of Pune made light work of Sonal Mandhana in 35 moves while world junior champion and WGM Soumya Swaminathan implementing the regular Kings Pawn opening drubbed Mahika Mor in a 43-move play. The experienced WGM Swati Ghate and Kapil Lohana posted easy wins over Pakhi Mor and Neeti Tatiya respectively to get a fluent start for Pune.
On the second board, Bangalore IM MS Tejkumar outplayed the queen pawn opening of Govind Bhake in a mere 19 moves. Similarly better rated N Sanjay, Arvind Shastry and Sriram Sarja registered facile victories for a rousing start for the southern outfit.
However, the experienced men from Nagpur A on the fourth board edged out their citymates from Nagpur I to collect full four points from the first round. Playing with black bits, Anup Deshmukh, after giving up a piece in the mid game, got the better of the challenge posed by Shailesh Dravid in 55 moves. On the other hand Akash Thakur, Satchidanand Soman and Gurpreet Singh Maras had a smooth sailing for the top city team.
Earlier, the tournament was inaugurated by West Nagpur MLA Sudhakar Deshmukh. VCA president Kundatai Vijaykar presided over the opening ceremony, while president of Asian Chess Federation Ravindra Dongre shared the dais.
On the occasion, Grandmaster Abhijeet Kunte from Pune, who skipped the opening round, made a move to kick start the six-day tourney, the winner of which will directly qualify for the Asian Cities Chess Championship slated to be played at Indonesia in April.
RESULTS (ROUND 1)
Pune A (4) bt Nagpur F (0); Nagpur G (0) lost to Bangalore (4); Hyderabad (4) bt Nagpur H (0); Nagpur I (0) lost to Nagpur A (4); Nagpur B (3) bt Nagpur J (3); Saoner City (1) lost to Pune B (3); Eluru City (3.5) bt Nagpur K (0.5); Nagpur L (1) lost to Nashik City (3); Chandrapur (4) bt Nagpur M (0); Bramhapuri (0.5) lost to Nagpur C (3.5).
The eight-round Swiss League tourney that will conclude on February 5 has been organised by Vidarbha Chess Association in association with the Nagpur District Chess Association.
While Pune A, playing with white pieces, outclassed Nagpur F on the top board, the Nagpur G team on the second board was humbled by the second seeded Bangalore.
On the top board, IM Akshayraj Kore of Pune made light work of Sonal Mandhana in 35 moves while world junior champion and WGM Soumya Swaminathan implementing the regular Kings Pawn opening drubbed Mahika Mor in a 43-move play. The experienced WGM Swati Ghate and Kapil Lohana posted easy wins over Pakhi Mor and Neeti Tatiya respectively to get a fluent start for Pune.
On the second board, Bangalore IM MS Tejkumar outplayed the queen pawn opening of Govind Bhake in a mere 19 moves. Similarly better rated N Sanjay, Arvind Shastry and Sriram Sarja registered facile victories for a rousing start for the southern outfit.
However, the experienced men from Nagpur A on the fourth board edged out their citymates from Nagpur I to collect full four points from the first round. Playing with black bits, Anup Deshmukh, after giving up a piece in the mid game, got the better of the challenge posed by Shailesh Dravid in 55 moves. On the other hand Akash Thakur, Satchidanand Soman and Gurpreet Singh Maras had a smooth sailing for the top city team.
Earlier, the tournament was inaugurated by West Nagpur MLA Sudhakar Deshmukh. VCA president Kundatai Vijaykar presided over the opening ceremony, while president of Asian Chess Federation Ravindra Dongre shared the dais.
On the occasion, Grandmaster Abhijeet Kunte from Pune, who skipped the opening round, made a move to kick start the six-day tourney, the winner of which will directly qualify for the Asian Cities Chess Championship slated to be played at Indonesia in April.
RESULTS (ROUND 1)
Pune A (4) bt Nagpur F (0); Nagpur G (0) lost to Bangalore (4); Hyderabad (4) bt Nagpur H (0); Nagpur I (0) lost to Nagpur A (4); Nagpur B (3) bt Nagpur J (3); Saoner City (1) lost to Pune B (3); Eluru City (3.5) bt Nagpur K (0.5); Nagpur L (1) lost to Nashik City (3); Chandrapur (4) bt Nagpur M (0); Bramhapuri (0.5) lost to Nagpur C (3.5).
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