Shweta seals World Youth rapid chess berth

NAGPUR: Shweta Gole once again made the city and entire chess fraternity of the region proud when the 18-year-old claimed a silver medal in the rapid round of the Asian Youth chess championship at New Delhi on Friday.
With five wins and a draw, Shweta collected 5.5 points in the seven-round rapid U-18 event to finish second and qualify for the World youth chess meet scheduled next year.
On her way to the silver-medal finish, seventh seed Shweta toppled the applecart of the top three seeds but lost the momentum against seed No. 5 in the fifth round to settle for the second spot.
After opening her account with a fluent win over Sri Lanka’s Rajapakshe Nuwanthi Dileka, Shweta made most of her opening advantage with the whites to surprise second seed Michelle Catherina in the second round.
In the following round, the city girl outclassed Parnali Dharia before she toppled the applecart of top seed WFM Srija Seshadri in the fourth round. Having failed to tackle the tactical moves of seed No. 5, Shweta suffered a heartbreak defeat at the hands of Bala Kannamma in the fifth round.
Despite playing with the black pieces, Shweta bounsed back in the penultimate round with a stunning win over third seed Vietnam’s WFM Tran Le Dan Thuy.
The surprising win allowed Shweta to share the top slot with two others before the 7th and final round. The city girl, however, played safe and signed the peace treaty with Esmaeili Sanaz of Iran to bring home a silver medal in the Asian Youth event.
After qualifying for the world rapid event, Shweta has her eyes set for the gold in the standard event which begins on Saturday.