National Women's 2019 Round 7: A day of mistakes and missed chances
The seventh round of the 46th National Women's Championship 2019 was a day of mistakes and missed chances. On board-1 it was the highly anticipated Bhakti Kulkarni versus Soumya Swaminathan matchup but the encounter simply failed to live up to the expectation as the top-seed of the event couldn't quite find her form against the defending champion. Vantika Agrawal and Nandhidhaa P V drew their respective games against Pratyusha Bodda and Michelle Catherina; while Swati Ghate, who had made an impressive recovery after losing her first round game, faltered and lost to Meenakshi Subbaraman in a winning position. However, the biggest shocker came from Vijayalakshmi Subbaraman versus Potluri Saye Srreezza, where the former made a crude mistake on move 71 to lose in a dead drawn queen-pawn ending.
Bhakti has an easy outing against Soumya!
The seventh round of the 46th National Women's Championship 2019 saw the most anticipated encounter of the event as defending champion Bhakti Kulkarni was pitted against the top-seed Soumya Swaminathan. Unfortunately, the match-up didn't live up to its expectation. Soumya adopted the Grunfeld defense with the black pieces and ended up in a worse position as early as move 12 after making a premature pawn push on the flank, and on the 38th move she suffered an inexplicable brain fade and blundered away a whole piece. The game was resigned immediately thereafter.
Bhakti Kulkarni - Soumya Swaminathan, Round 7
White went 12.0-0 in the above position and now a move like 12...Nc6 would have been fine but Black lashed out with 12...b5?! instead which didn't look like the most logical of moves.
The game continued 13.Nb3 Qa4 14.Bd3 Nc6 15.Qe2 and White challenged the b5 pawn straightaway. Well, Black couldn't support it with a6 because that would make the bishop on c8 look ridiculous, that's one more issue with the untimely b5 push.
Next, after 15...Rb8 16.e5 Ne7 17.Rfb1 Black pushed 17...b4, there wasn't a better option, 17...a6 18.Nc5, for instance, would be a positional disaster.
18.Nc5 Qc6 19.a3 a5 20.axb4 axb4 followed and it became apparent that sooner or later the isolated pawn on b4 would fall. Black stood worse and without counterplay.
21.Be4 Qc7 22.Qc4 Bd7 23.Rxb4 happened next and White finally picked up the b4 pawn. Black was simply down a pawn now but still it wasn't all game over until move 38 when the catastrophe struck.
38...Nd5 would have been a logical try but Black lost it completely here and went 38...Ke7 - a poor tactical oversight. Can you guess what happened next?
White simply took 39.Qxf6+ and Black resigned. After 39...Kxf6 40.Nd7+ White wins back the queen and ends up with an extra bishop. A bad day for Soumya!
Swati's missed chance
Meenakshi Subbaraman - Swati Ghate, Round 7
White played 31.Re2 perhaps with the aim of winning the b2 pawn but what she missed was 31...Qc7! after which the pawn on b2 can't be touched because of the possible discovery on d8-a5. Now something like 32.Re3 Qf7 followed by Qa2 is completely winning for Black but Swati simply overlooked these and played 31...e3?
The game went 32. Rbxb2 Rxb2 33. Rxb2 and now came the final and decisive blunder of the encounter 33...Qf4? - instead, simply 33...exf2+ 34.Rxf2 would have left even chances.
Meenakshi was spot on this time and played 34. Qd8+ and after 34...Kh7 came 35. Nd7 threatening Nf8+ followed by fatal discovery. Black simply had to resign after 35...Qc7 36.Nf8+
Another shocking mistake!
Vijayalakshmi Subbaraman - Potluri Saye Srreezza, Round 7
Potluri played 71...Qg6+ and White immediately resigned. The point is as simple as it can be. This forces exchange of queens after which the g3 pawn simply promotes!
Results of Round 7
Bo. | No. | Name | Rtg | Club/City | Pts. | Result | Pts. | Name | Rtg | Club/City | No. | ||
1 | 2 | WGM | Kulkarni Bhakti | 2388 | AI | 5½ | 1 - 0 | 5 | WGM | Soumya Swaminathan | 2402 | PSPB | 1 |
2 | 8 | WIM | Pratyusha Bodda | 2265 | AP | 5 | ½ - ½ | 5½ | WIM | Vantika Agrawal | 2243 | DEL | 10 |
3 | 12 | WIM | Michelle Catherina P | 2226 | TN | 5 | ½ - ½ | 5 | WIM | Nandhidhaa P V | 2259 | TN | 9 |
4 | 18 | WGM | Meenakshi Subbaraman | 2163 | AI | 4½ | 1 - 0 | 5 | WGM | Swati Ghate | 2192 | LIC | 15 |
5 | 23 | WIM | Harshita Guddanti | 2078 | AP | 4½ | ½ - ½ | 4½ | WIM | Srija Seshadri | 2306 | TN | 5 |
6 | 6 | WGM | Gomes Mary Ann | 2303 | PSPB | 4 | 1 - 0 | 4½ | WIM | Priyanka Nutakki | 2293 | AP | 7 |
7 | 25 | WFM | Saranya J | 2067 | TN | 4 | 0 - 1 | 4 | WIM | Divya Deshmukh | 2373 | MAH | 3 |
8 | 4 | IM | Vijayalakshmi Subbaraman | 2357 | AI | 4 | 0 - 1 | 4 | Potluri Saye Srreezza | 1999 | TEL | 30 | |
9 | 26 | WGM | Kiran Manisha Mohanty | 2054 | LIC | 4 | 1 - 0 | 4 | WIM | Mahalakshmi M | 2227 | RSPB | 11 |
10 | 28 | WGM | Ramaswamy Aarthie | 2020 | AI | 4 | ½ - ½ | 4 | IM | Mohota Nisha | 2221 | PSPB | 13 |
11 | 14 | Priyanka K | 2217 | TN | 4 | 1 - 0 | 4 | WFM | Meghna C H | 1903 | RSPB | 38 | |
12 | 16 | WCM | Sharma Isha | 2188 | KAR | 4 | ½ - ½ | 4 | Bakshi Rutuja | 1958 | MAH | 33 | |
13 | 27 | Bala Kannamma P | 2051 | TN | 4 | 1 - 0 | 4 | WIM | Parnali S Dharia | 2145 | MAH | 19 | |
14 | 32 | Saranya Y | 1959 | TN | 4 | 0 - 1 | 4 | WFM | Jain Nityata | 2135 | MP | 20 | |
15 | 53 | Nanditha V | 1687 | TEL | 4 | 0 - 1 | 4 | WIM | Thipsay Bagyashree Sathe | 2093 | MAH | 21 | |
16 | 24 | WCM | Mrudul Dehankar | 2074 | MAH | 4 | 1 - 0 | 4 | Rindhiya V | 1573 | TN | 66 | |
17 | 49 | Shah Vishwa | 1734 | MAH | 3½ | 0 - 1 | 3½ | WIM | Chitlange Sakshi | 2168 | MAH | 17 | |
18 | 22 | WIM | Varshini V | 2087 | TN | 3½ | 1 - 0 | 3½ | Sunyuktha C M N | 1815 | TN | 43 | |
19 | 29 | Meenal Gupta | 2004 | J&K | 3½ | ½ - ½ | 3½ | Pandey Srishti | 1882 | MAH | 40 | ||
20 | 67 | WFM | Bindu Saritha K. | 1538 | LIC | 3½ | 0 - 1 | 3½ | WFM | Sanskriti Goyal | 1948 | UP | 34 |
Standings after round 7
Rk. | SNo | Name | FED | Rtg | Club/City | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | TB4 | TB5 | w-we | |
1 | 2 | WGM | Kulkarni Bhakti | IND | 2388 | AI | 6,5 | 0,0 | 30,0 | 32,5 | 29,50 | 6 | 1,26 |
2 | 10 | WIM | Vantika Agrawal | IND | 2243 | DEL | 6,0 | 0,0 | 30,5 | 33,0 | 27,00 | 5 | 1,85 |
3 | 9 | WIM | Nandhidhaa P V | IND | 2259 | TN | 5,5 | 0,0 | 28,0 | 31,0 | 22,25 | 5 | 0,23 |
4 | 12 | WIM | Michelle Catherina P | IND | 2226 | TN | 5,5 | 0,0 | 27,0 | 30,0 | 23,00 | 4 | 0,09 |
5 | 8 | WIM | Pratyusha Bodda | IND | 2265 | AP | 5,5 | 0,0 | 27,0 | 29,5 | 22,50 | 5 | -0,17 |
6 | 18 | WGM | Meenakshi Subbaraman | IND | 2163 | AI | 5,5 | 0,0 | 27,0 | 29,5 | 22,50 | 4 | 1,06 |
7 | 1 | WGM | Soumya Swaminathan | IND | 2402 | PSPB | 5,0 | 0,0 | 30,0 | 33,0 | 21,50 | 4 | -0,69 |
8 | 3 | WIM | Divya Deshmukh | IND | 2373 | MAH | 5,0 | 0,0 | 29,5 | 32,5 | 20,75 | 4 | -0,66 |
9 | 30 | Potluri Saye Srreezza | IND | 1999 | TEL | 5,0 | 0,0 | 27,0 | 28,5 | 16,50 | 5 | 1,19 | |
10 | 20 | WFM | Jain Nityata | IND | 2135 | MP | 5,0 | 0,0 | 26,5 | 30,0 | 19,50 | 5 | 0,16 |
11 | 21 | WIM | Thipsay Bagyashree Sathe | IND | 2093 | MAH | 5,0 | 0,0 | 26,5 | 29,5 | 17,50 | 5 | 0,13 |
12 | 26 | WGM | Kiran Manisha Mohanty | IND | 2054 | LIC | 5,0 | 0,0 | 26,0 | 29,0 | 19,25 | 4 | 1,42 |
13 | 5 | WIM | Srija Seshadri | IND | 2306 | TN | 5,0 | 0,0 | 25,5 | 28,5 | 19,75 | 4 | -0,95 |
14 | 27 | Bala Kannamma P | IND | 2051 | TN | 5,0 | 0,0 | 25,5 | 27,5 | 17,00 | 4 | 1,22 | |
15 | 23 | WIM | Harshita Guddanti | IND | 2078 | AP | 5,0 | 0,0 | 25,0 | 28,0 | 19,00 | 4 | 1,20 |
16 | 14 | Priyanka K | IND | 2217 | TN | 5,0 | 0,0 | 24,5 | 27,5 | 19,25 | 4 | -1,10 | |
17 | 6 | WGM | Gomes Mary Ann | IND | 2303 | PSPB | 5,0 | 0,0 | 24,5 | 27,0 | 18,75 | 4 | -0,96 |
18 | 24 | WCM | Mrudul Dehankar | IND | 2074 | MAH | 5,0 | 0,0 | 24,5 | 27,0 | 17,50 | 4 | 0,80 |
19 | 15 | WGM | Swati Ghate | IND | 2192 | LIC | 5,0 | 0,0 | 24,0 | 26,0 | 17,00 | 5 | -0,75 |
20 | 28 | WGM | Ramaswamy Aarthie | IND | 2020 | AI | 4,5 | 0,0 | 27,0 | 30,0 | 18,00 | 3 | 1,54 |
The live games of 8th round begin at 10 a.m. on 24th of July. You can follow them LIVE here.