World Junior Chess C'ships: Divya Deshmukh continues to dominate

There is no stopping IM Divya Deshmukh as she cruised to victory over her compatriot WFM Sachi Jain in the penultimate round of the World Junior Chess Championships, currently being held in Gandhinagar.

WIM Mariam Mkrtchyan of Armenia closely follows Divya, trailing by just half a point, setting the stage for an exciting photo finish in the final round tomorrow.

Playing with the white pieces, Divya was unstoppable with her tactical maneuvers and threats. The game began with the English Opening, where Divya quickly transitioned into a dynamic pawn structure and piece development.

Divya coordinated well for a kingside attack, which forced Sakshi to expose her king and ultimately become overwhelmed by Divya’s tactical threats. Divya’s constant pressure on the kingside and tactical prowess forced Sakshi’s black pieces into defensive positions.

After her defeat to Divya in the previous round, Rakshitta Ravi recovered well and defeated Narmin Abdinova of Azerbaijan, placing herself in joint third position with Ayan Allahverdiyeva of Azerbaijan.

Following the five-way tussle at the top in the Open section at the end of the previous round, only two players remain at the top with 8 points each. Sixth-seeded Shawn Rodrigue-Lemieux of Canada joins fifteenth-seeded Mamikon Gharibyan by beating Prraneeth Vuppala of India.

Mamikon Gharibyan continues his impressive run, remaining at the top by beating Rudik Makarian of Russia. The fifteenth-seeded Armenian is becoming the center of attention with only one loss in the tournament. The top Indian player and 3rd seed, Pranav Anand, drew with Russia’s Artsiom I Strybuk but is nowhere near the podium finish.

Important Results (Tenth Round):

Open section

Mamikon Gharibyan (Arm) 8 bt Rudik Makarian (FIDE) 7

Prraneeth Vuppala (Ind) 6 lost to Shawn Rodrigue-Lemieux (Can) 8;

Pranav Anand (Ind) 6.5 drew with Artsiom I Strybuk (FIDE) 6.5

Aditya Samant (Ind) 7 bt Ethan Vaz (Ind) 6

Women’s section

Divya Deshmukh (Ind) 9 bt Sachi Jain (Ind) 7

Devindya Oshini Gunawardhana (Sri) 6.5 lost to Mariam Mkrtchyan (Arm) 8.5

Rakshitta Ravi (Ind) 7.5 bt Narmin Abdinova (Azb) 6.5