Padmini shrugs off yesterday's defeat and bounces back with a win

If Mae FraynaJanelle hoped to shock her opponent Padmini Rout with her choice of the 'Alekhine Defence' (which very rarely makes an appearance these days) on the very first move, then it was an effort wasted. " I had done my homework and realized she experiments with different Openings and to a certain extent I was expecting this Opening" smiled Padmini after scoring a victory in the 9th round of the LIC World junior Girls Chess Championship being played at Hotel Hyatt, Pune. Padmini has now tallied 6.5 points and is trailing one point behind Sarasadat Khademalsharieh. The game between other overnight joint leaders Ann Chumpitaz of Peru and Aleksandra Goryaachkina was in progress at the time of going to press.

In the Open section, most of the top board games were in progress at the time of going to press. The encounter between Bai Jinshi and Mikhail Antipov was one of the first ones to end in a draw. Jinshi with this draw has earned a 9 round Swiss League GM norm. N Srinath was defeated by Kamil Dragun while S L Narayanan who needs a draw to earn a GM norm was very much on course against Vidit Santosh Gujrathi as he was better placed enjoying an extra pawn in a rook and knight each ending.

Padmini Rout won a pawn in a tactical skirmish on the 20th turn which also saw the exchange of queens. Thereafter a flurry of exchanges followed and it appeared that despite an extra pawn, Padmini would really have to toil for a victory. Mae however failed to play accurately and ended on the losing side after 45 moves.

In a thrilling encounter between Anna Iwanow and Sarasadat Khademalsharieh in a Spanish Opening, Anna surprisingly sacrificed a bishop for a couple of pawns in the early stages of the Opening. Thereafter she tried to whip up a whirlwind attack even as both Kings stayed on their original squares without castling. Sarasadat's Kingside pawns were totally shattered but her queen, rook and bishop pair then launched a counter-offensive to win the game after 25 moves. " After the Opening inaccuracy, there was nothing much to do to win the game" said Sarasadat.

Four more rounds are remaining in this 13 round gruelling event sponsored by LIC and Government of Maharashtra and Amanora, ONGC, Jain Irrigation and Everstone are the Associate sponsors.