It has been good going so far for Grandmasters Surya Sekhar Ganguly and Pendyala Harikrishna but they will have to do even better in the remaining rounds to entertain hopes of winning a medal at the ongoing World Juniors chess championship in Nakhchivan, Azerbaijan.
The players got a well-deserved rest day yesterday and they are expected to come out firing on all cylinders in the eighth round later today in the 50-player 13-round competition that has already crossed the half-way stage.
Bronze medallist in the previous edition, Ganguly is half a point behind leader Kadir Guseinov of Azerbaijan, who has 5.5 points from 7 games played so far. Sharing the second position with Ganguly are Azerbaijani duo of top seed Shakhriyaz Mamedyarov and Vugar Gashinov, Ukrainian Alexander Zubov and Georgian Izoria Zviad.
Harikrishna is placed in joint seventh position with 4.5 points in his kitty.
In the girls' event, Nana Dzagnidze of Georgia is looking a cut above the rest and her top billing in the event is probably justified as her opponents, barring Dronavalli Harika in the previous round, have fallen like nine pins.
With five points to her credit after as many rounds, Nana appears a sure bet for the title as she already has a huge 1.5 points lead over nearest competitors.
Three out of four Indian girls in the fray are in joint second spot with three others and clearly the pick of the lot is Harika who seems to be improving her game by the day.
Harika is the only one who made Nana sweat hard for a victory and her chances of a medal look quite bright.
Asian Junior girls' champion Tania Sachdev and Eesha Karvade are the other two the Indian hopes are pinned on here.
Tania started off with a draw in the championship but since then has picked up well to reach 3.5 points though she was lucky to beat Agaeva Shahna of Azerbaijan in the fifth round.
The next round is going to be crucial for the Indian girls as Tania is pitted against Nana. The Delhi-based Tania will have the advantage of white pieces and she is going to give her best shot in stopping Nana's juggernaut. Harika will also have white pieces against Eesha.
Ganguly will get his second successive black in the championship when he takes his seat against Zviad. A solid approach is what Ganguly is expected to take as a draw too would be an acceptable result against a higher rated opponent.
Harikrishna, however, has a much better chance to beat Estonian Meelis Kanep who plays black. Hari had started the tournament in a disastrous way by drawing the first and losing the second game but four points in the next five games have put him back into reckoning.
Asian under-14 champion G Rohit was another slow starter who has now reached 4 points. Rohit already has an International Master nom and a fair finish now onwards will guarantee him the second.
The other Indian boys, P Magesh Chandran, S Arun Prasad and Deepan Chakravarthy have 3.5 points apiece while Abhijit Gupta has garnered 3 points so far.
The rest day was fun-filled as the organisers arranged a football match between the host players, who have done exceptionally well so far in the championship, and the world team. The world team triumphed in the game.
Important pairings for Round 8 Boys (Indians unless specified):
Kadir Guseinov (5.5, Aze) v/s Shakriyaz Mamedyarov (5, Aze); V Gashimov (5, Aze) v/s Alexande; Izoria Zviad (5, Geo) v/s S S Ganguly (5); P Harikrishna (4.5) v/s Meelis Kamel (4.5, Est); Andrie Murariu (3.5, Rom) v/s P Magesh Chandran (3.5); Deepan Chakravarthy (3.5) v/s Kozak Leonid (3.5, Uzb); S Arun Prasad v/s Stevan Geinaert (3.5, Bel); Abhijit Gupta (3) v/s Donatas Latautis (3, Ltu) .
Girls Round 6: Tania Sachdev (3.5) v/s Nana Dzagnidze (5, Geo); Afag Khudaverdieva (3.5, Aze) v/s Zeinab Mamedjarova (3.5, Aze); D Harika (3.5) v/s Eesha Karvade; Cristina Calotescu (3, Rom) v/s Aytaj Ismailova (3, Aze); Elgi Yilmaz (1.5, Tur) v/s Mahima Rajmohan (1.5).
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