Gujrathi bounces back, beats Repka

PUNE: Grandmaster Vidit Gujrathi, the highest rated Indian in the fray, kept himself in contention for a top-bracket finish after outclassing Christopher Repka of Slovakia in the 11th round of World Juniors Chess Championships on Friday.
After a few tough games, Gujrathi continued with his comeback attempt and if today's 20-move victory was any indication, the local star is set to give it all in the last two rounds that remain to be played.
Wei Yi of China made a decisive stride forward towards the gold by crushing Karen Grigoryan of Armenia in 11th round game. The Chinese took his tally to an impressive nine points and is now a half point ahead of compatriot Lu Shanglei who had to settle for a draw with Russian Grigoriy Oparin.
The Indian challenge suffered a setback at the top of the table as the trio of Diptayan Ghosh, Ankit Rajpara and Aravindh Chithambaram went down fighting against top seed Vladimir Fedoseev pf Russia, Jorge Cori of Peru and Kamil Dragun of Poland respectively.
While all the three Indians remained on seven points after their defeats, their conquerors made sure of an exciting finish at the top by taking their respective tally to eight points in all.
Vidit Gujarathi is now on 7.5 points and he still needs two more victories in the last two rounds to be in with a chance. It will be an important next round for the Indian when he is likely to play black and a victory will take him closer to the leaders.
Murali Karthikeyan is the other Indian on 7.5 points and also needs to score well in the last two rounds to complete his Grandmaster title for which he is about nine rating points short.
Wei Yi played the game of the day at the expense of Grigoryan who was outdone in the middle game arising out of a Petroff defense. After denting black's pawn structure in the centre, Wei Yi claimed one of the pawns and the technicalities thereafter were quite easy for the Chinese.
In the girls' championship being held simultaneously, defending champion Aleksandra Goryachkina almost assured herself of the gold by winning the 11th round against Zhai Mo of China. The Russian girl is on 9.5 points following another victory and now enjoys a 1.5 points lead over Ann Chumpitaz of Peru and surprise package Srija Sheshadri.
Seshadri accounted for compatriot P V Nandhidhaa to jump to joint second spot on eight points. Woman Grandmaster Padmini Rout played out a draw with Chumpitaz to move to 7.5 points. Rout too has the chance to finish on the podium but for that the Indian will need to come out firing on all cylinders in the last two rounds.
Important Results of Round 11 Open (Indians unless specified): Wei Yi (Chn, 9) beat Karen Grigoryan (Arm, 7); Grigoriy Oparin (Rus, 7.5) drew with Lu Shanglei (Chn, 8.5); Vladimir Fedoseev (Rus, 8) beat Diptayan Ghosh (7); Jorge Cori (Per, 8) beat Ankit Rajpara (7); Irakli Beradze (Geo, 7) lost to Duda Jan-Krzysztof (Pol, 8); Bai Jinshi (Chn, 7.5) drew with Aleksandar Indjic (Srb, 7.5); Kamil Dragun (Pol, (Pol, 8) beat Aravindh Chithambaram (7); Vidit Santosh Gujrathi (7.5) beat Christopher Repka (Svk, 6.5); Aryan Tari (Nor, 6.5) beat Mikhail Antipov (Rus, 6.5); Murali Karthikeyan (7.5) beat Csonka Balazs (Hun 6.5); Ider Borya (Fra, 7) drew with Ulvi Bajarani (Aze, 6.5); Paulo Bersamina (Phi, 6.5) lost to Ducarmon Quinten (Ned, 7.5); Benjamin Bok (7) beat S L Narayanan (6); Prasanna Raghuram Rao (6.5) drew with Bart Von Meijenfeldt (Ned, 6.5); Sayantan Das (6.5) drew with M G Gahan (6.5); Erkin Kozganbay (Kaz, 6) lost to Narayanan Srinath (7); Anurag Mhamal (7) beat Rajdeep Sarkar (6);
Girls: Aleksandra Goryachkina (Rus, 9.5) beat Zhai Mo (Chn, 7); Padmini Rout (7.5) drew with Ann Chumpitaz (Per, 8); Daria Pustovoitova (Rus, 7.5) drew with Sarasadat Khademalsharieh (Iri, 7.5); Srija Seshadri (8) beat P V Nandhidhaa (6.5); Irina Petrukhina (Rus, 6.5) lost to Meri Arabidze (Geo, 7.5); Anna Iwanow (Pol, 7.5) beat Maria Gevorgyan (Arm, 6.5); Mona Khaled (Egy, 6.5) lost to Sabina Ibrahimova (Aze, 7.5); Fronda Jan Jodilyn (Phi, 6.5) drew with Nguyen Thi Mai Hung (Vie, 6.5); Marina Brunello (6) lost to R Vaishali (7); Sarvinoz Kurbonboeva (Uzb, 7) beat Rucha Pujari (6); Ivana Maria Furtado (7) beat Gu Tianlu (Chn, 6); Mae Frayna Janelle (Phi, 6) lost to Ioana Gelip (Rou, 7); Michelle Catherina (6) drew with P Supreetha (6.5); Madhurima Shekhar (5.5) lost to Monpeurt Cyrielle (Fra, 6.5); M Mahalakshmi (6.5) beat V Varshini (5.5); G K Monnisha (6.5) beat Shweta Gole (5.5).