NEWS
OTHER SPORTS
DIARY
PEOPLE
MATCH REPORTS
SLIDE SHOW
ARCHIVES

Ramesh finishes on winning note

International Master R B Ramesh ended his campaign on a winning note while compatriot V Saravanan had to settle for a draw in the final round of the Andorra International chess tournament.

Ramesh, who lost in the previous round to see his GM norm hopes being dashed, crushed Romanian IM Loan Cosma yesterday to finish on sixth position with 6.5 points. Another half point would have given him a GM norm.

Saravanan drew his game with Karsten Larsen of Denmark but his 5.5 points from nine rounds were not enough to ensure him a place in the top 10.

Grandmaster Lev Psakhis of Israel beat Argentinian IM Alfredo Giaccio to come out clear winner with 7.5 points while Mihail Marin of Romania and Hichem Hamdouchi of Morocco drew among themselves to finish joint second with 7 points each.

Ramesh made an easy beginning with white pieces and got a slightly better position out of the opening against Cosma. In a tactical middlegame, Cosma took the risky decision of castling on the queenside, thus paving the way for a direct attack against the black king.

Ramesh conducted the attack in an aggressive manner by pushing all his pawns on the Queenside. He finally finished the game off with a bishop sacrifice and bringing his opponent's king into the mating net.

Saravanan, also playing with white pieces, adopted Ruy Lopez opening against Larsen and gained an initial advantage.

Larsen sacrificed a pawn in the middlegame to create counter play and was rewarded with an attack on the white king due to the dark square weaknesses.

Saravanan was forced on the defensive despite being a pawn up. He avoided any further risks and forced his opponent to repeat moves to settle for a draw through the three-time repititon rule after 45 moves.

The third Indian in the fray, Vendant Goswamy fought well against local hero IM Fernando Braga before signing the peace treaty on second offer from his more experienced opponent, to finish with 5 points.

The top board game between two of the joint leaders from the penultimate round, Hamdouchi and Marin ended in a draw in just under a hour to leave the burly Psakhis requiring only a draw to win the title on tiebreak.

However, Psakhis had a better position on board, and confidently went on to a win in a tactical middlegame.

The Indians now move on to the little town of Benasque, Spain, for the next tournament in their circuit, which starts from 6th of July.

Important Results: Ramesh (6.5) bt Cosma (5.5), Saravanan (5.5) drew Larsen (5.5), Braga (5) drew Goswamy (5), Hamdouchi (7) drew Marin (7), Psakhis (7.5) bt Giaccio (6), Kuzmin (6.5) drew Georgiev (6.5), Campora (6.5) drew Lalic (6) Pogerelov (6) drew Mellado (6), Westerinen (5.5) lost Dublan (6.5). Final Placings: 1. Psakhis; 2-3. Marin and Hamdouchi; 4-10. Kuzmin, Georgiev, Ramesh, Campora, Dublan, Velicka and Perez.