Ivana wins gold; Shalmali, Prince bag bronze

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Last updated on: November 29, 2007 19:42 IST

A final round draw was enough for Goa's Ivana Furtado to bag the girls' under-eight category gold, while fellow-Indians Shalmali Gagare and Prince Bajaj won a bronze each at the World Youth Chess Championships in Antalya, Turkey.

Ivana drew her game against Zansaya Abdumalik to finish with nine points from 11 rounds, half-a-point ahead of the silver medallist, Gunay Mammdzada of Azerbaijan.

Shalmali's final round victory over Katarzyna Adamovicz of Poland earned her a bronze medal in the girls' under-14 category, while Prince split the point with Mikhail Antipov to return with a medal in the boys' under-10 category.

Mary Ann Gomes, meanwhile, was in the run for a medal in the under-18 girls' section, but lost to eventual winner Valentina Gunina of Russia in the last round.

India, with three medals, stood joint third, behind Russia (9) and China (5).

Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Georgia matched the Indian tally with three medals each.

Against Zansaya, Ivana employed the Philidor defence and an endgame arose after an early exchange of queens. She reached a winning position when her opponent lost a pawn on the 15th move.

She gave her opponent no chance thereafter and kept increasing her material advantage by exploiting her opponent's tactical mistakes. 

Zansaya resigned on the 36th move in a hopeless position.

The game between Antipov and Bajaj lasted just 12 moves.

With both players being assured of a medal with a draw, neither was in a fighting mood and they quickly agreed to split the point.

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