Mohan Priya lets off top seed Padmini; maintains sole lead

Mumbai, Jan 14 (UNI) J Mohan Priya (5.5 points) of Tamil Nadu missed some winning opportunities due to time trouble and let off defending champion Padmini Rout (5) of Orissa in the sixth round of National u-13 girls chess championship being played at Andheri Sports Complex, here today.

J Mohan Priya maintained her slender lead over Padmini, Sahari (TN), Sonakshi Rathod (AP) and Andhra Trio of Prathyusha Boda, K Sai Nirupama and NLV Anusha.

Mohan Priya surprised Padmini with the rarely played Trompovsky attack and soon got into a commanding position. Padmini kept her cool and defended precisely. Mohan Priya, short of time, played passively and let Padmini slip out of the bind with a draw.

On the second table, higher rated NLV Anusha (AP) outwitted her Andhra team mate Sriharika (4) using Grunfeld Defence.

Shrushti Shetty (4) of Karnataka succumbed to Sonakshi Rathod with yet another blunder of a piece in Alapin Variation of Sicilian defence. Shanti Muzumdar (4.5) of WB and Shikha Shah (4.5) of Gujarat agreed to sign peace after 35 moves of fierce battle.

National sub junior girls champion Shalmali Gagare (4.5) of Maharashtra came back into reckoning with an easy victory over B Taraswini (4) of Pondicherry in Caro Kann Defence.

UNI GS SR AB KP1758