India's Srija stuns fancied Belgian Anna at women chess meet

Mumbai: Indian WIM Srija Seshadri bounced back to winning ways by stunning Belgian IM Anna Zozulia in a ninth round match of the SBI Life-AICF Women Grandmaster Chess Championship today.

The Tamil Nadu player (ELO rating 2207), who had scored three successive wins in the fourth, fifth and sixth rounds before losing the next and drawing the eighth, produced a gallant display to outwit the higher ranked Anna (ELO 2314) on the third board to grab her fourth win.

Srija had earlier defeated compatriots WIM Vantika Agrawal (IND, 2279), WIM Aakanksha Hagawane (ELO 2297) and WFM Divya Deshmukh (IND, 2138).

She now shares the fourth position with Uzbekistan’s WGM Gulrukhbegim Tokhirjonova (ELO 2379).

Meanwhile, on the sixth board, Aakansha Hagawane scored an impressive win against her Indian teammate Divya Deshmukh (IND, 2138) to jump into joint third place with WGM Thi Kim Phung Vo of Vietnam (ELO 2376), both with 5.5 points each.

Top-seeded IM Munguntuul of Mongolia (ELO 2410) sustained her winning run defeating Indias Rakshitta Ravi (ELO 2067) in the Italian Game in 48 moves for her third win on the trot.

The Mongolian is now half a point behind Kazakhstans WGM Guliskhan Nakhbayeva (ELO 2323) who continues to occupy the top position with seven points.

Guliskhan overcame Russian WIM Elena Tomilova (ELO 2334) to also register her second consecutive victory to consolidate her position at the top.

The penultimate round encounter between these two players will decide the likely champion of the event.

Two more rounds remain to be played in this Rs 7.5 lakh prize-money chess tournament is being conducted by the Indian Chess School and South Mumbai Chess Academy at the Acres Club in suburban Chembur.

Results (9th round): WGM Guliskhan Nakhbayeva (KAZ, 2323) 7 beat WIM Elena Tomilova (RUS, 2334) 4 pts; IM Batkhuyag Munguntuul (MGL, ELO 2410) 6.5 pts beat Rakshitta Ravi (IND, 2067) 0 pts; WIM Srija Seshadri (IND, 2207) 5 pts beat IM Anna Zozulia (BEL, 2314) 4.5 pts; WIM Monnisha G K (IND, 2295) 4 pts drew with WGM Thi Kim Phung Vo (VIE, 2376) 5.5 pts; WIM Vantika Agrawal (IND, 2279) 4.5 beat WGM Gulrukhbegim Tokhirjonova (UZB, 2379) 5; WIM Aakanksha Hagawane (IND, 2297) 5.5 pts beat WFM Divya Deshmukh (IND, 2138) 2.5 pts.

Standings after 9th round: 1. WGM Guliskhan Nakhbayeva (KAZ, 2323) 7 pts, 2. IM Batkhuyag Munguntuul (MGL, ELO 2410) 6.5 pts; 3. WIM Aakanksha Hagawane (IND, 2297) 5.5 pts, 4. WGM Thi Kim Phung Vo (VIE, 2376) 5.5 pts, 5. WGM Gulrukhbegim Tokhirjonova (UZB, 2379) 6 pts, 6. WIM Srija Seshadri (IND, 2207) 5 pts; 7. WIM Vantika Agrawal (IND, 2279) 4.5 pts, 8. IM Anna Zozulia (BEL, 2314) 4.5 pts, 9. WIM Elena Tomilova (RUS, 2334) 4 pts, 10. WIM Monnisha G.K. (IND, 2295) 4 pts, 11. WFM Divya Deshmukh (IND, 2138) 2.5 pts, 12. Rakshitta Ravi (IND, 2067) 0 pts.