Sachdev is India's best hope

A lot of hard work remains for the Indians players if they are to make a mark in the ongoing World Junior chess championships in Istanbul.

After six rounds, Woman Grandmaster Tania Sachdev looks the best Indian hope for a medal in the girls' section as she has four points from six games.

Women Grandmasters Dronavalli Harika and Eesha Karavade, and Woman International Master Kruttika Nadig, all have 3.5 points and need to score heavily in the remaining rounds to be in with a chance.

Tuesday was a rest day and round seven will commence late Wednesday.

The boys' championship is tougher and, expectedly, the six Indians in the fray haven't done anything great to shout about.

The only silver lining is from IM Poobesh Anand, who has 3.5 points, and young Parimarjan Negi, who has 3 out of a possible 6 and is in contention for his IM title.

Meanwhile, in the boys' section, GM and 2003 champion Shakhriyar Mamedyarov of Azerbaijan looks set to regain the title with 5.5 points in his kitty.

It is not often that a former champion competes in the World juniors again, but what prompted

Mamedyarov to do so was the seat to the next World Cup, in Russia later this month, for the winner of the championship.

However, Mamedyarov has already qualified for the event as some top players opted out. His automatic qualification hasn't deterred the Azerbaijani one bit in his quest as he started off with excellent victories and maintained his demolition act.

In the girls' section Gu Xiaobing of China also has 5.5 points and looks a surefire bet for the title.

However, it might just be a close contest towards the end, with top seed Nana Dzagnidze and Elisabeth Paehtz only one point behind the leader.

Amongst the Indians, Tania will really have to maintain her poise in the remaining games. The Delhi player started of quite well but a loss in the previous round proved costly for her.

Last year's bronze medallist Eesha Karavade is struggling along with Harika and it will really take a great effort for both of them in the remaining rounds if they are to be anywhere near medal contention.

Negi needs a victory over Vasily Papin of Russia in the next round to become the next International Master from India.

Indian pairings, round 7:

Boys: S Poobesh Anand (3.5) v/s Farid Zeynalov  (Aze, 3.5); Parimarjan Negi  (3) v/s Vasily Papin (Rus, 3); Deep Sengupta (3) v/s G N Gopal (3); G Rohit (2.5) v/s Emre Can (Tur, 2.5); Akshat Khamparia (2) v/s Yagiz Yasin Emrah (Tur, 2).

Girls: Evgenia Meshcheriakova (Rus, 4) v/s Tania Sachdev (4); Bela Khotenashvili (Geo, 4) Eeeesha Karavade (3.5); Karina Szczepkowska (Pol, 3.5) v/s D Harika (3.5); Kruttika Nadig (3.5) v/s Vera Nebolsina (Rus, 3.5); N Raghavi (3) v/s Elitsa Raeva (Bul, 3).