Ritviz scalps Deodar; Saripalli held

TEAM HERALD

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PANJIM: Viraj Tahmankar of Maharashtra (1965) shot into sole lead with 7 points as he trounced D Ashraf Subhani (1958) AP at All-India FIDE rating (below2000) tournament at CADA hall organised by Curchorem Chess Club.

Dilshad Mohammed (1828) playing white pieces against Halsagar Chincolimath settled for a 42nd move draw.

Goa’s Anirudh Bhat had a mixed day. After having won the 6th round, Anirudh lost momentum and went down fighting in a Sicilian Dragon variation to Abhijeet Joshi (1955) of Mah.

Another Goan Ritviz Parab (6 points) turned the heat on by walloping Maharashtra’s Deodar Vrushali Umesh (1653). Mohammed Dilsad (1828), Chincolimath (1979), Abhijeet Joshi (1955), K R Madhusoodan (1949), Nikam Ravindra (1922), Ritviz Parab (1832), P Venkataramana (1829) share the 2nd spot with 6 points each.

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Ajeesh Antony (1903), Sri Lankan De Moraes Shamine (1876), Sunil Vaidya(1845), B R Aravinda (1811), Shane Braganza (1550), Kapil Pawse (1719) and Ameya Audi are on 5.5points each.

Earlier, Viraj stopped Ritviz Parab in a French defence Winawer variation.

Third seed Chincolimath Halsagar won against K.R Madhusoodan 1949 in a long drawn battle lasting 60 moves.

D Ashraf (1958) employed the Alapin Variation Sicilian defence and won against D. Durgesh (1790).

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Goa’s Anirudh Bhat turned up to be the shining star in the Goan camp as he used his four knights opening to good effect against higher rated Sunil Vaidhya (1845) in 45 moves.

Goa’s Shane Braganza (1550) and Anant Prabhudesai (1534) played excellently and won against their higher rated opponents Deepak M (1761) and Chavada Rajendrasinh (1759) respectively.

Snehil Shetty (1536) drew against higher rated Nandhini Saripalli (1794).

The ninth and final round will take place tomorrow at 9.30 a.m. followed by the prize distribution at 3 p.m.