MUMBAI : Top seed Kishan Ganolli got the better of defending champion Soundarya Kumar Pradhan to maintain his sole lead after the 8th round of the AICFB National Chess Championship for the Visually Impaired here on Friday.
At the end of the eighth round, Kishan Gangolli is in the top position with 7 points with Somender BL and Aryan Joshi following in second position with 6 points each.
On the top board, Somender BL of Delhi played the English Opening's Mikenas Carls Flohar Variation with white pieces against Soundarya Kumar Pradhan of Orissa.
Pradhan was surprised by this opening, and he'doesn't wish to take the risk, so he offered the draw on the 14th move when the game was transforming into the middle game. Somender agreed to it.
On the second board, Hariharan Gandhi of Tamil Nadu playe' a King's Pawn opening with white pieces against Kishan Gangolli of Karnataka, who opted for a French defense. Hariharan moved his bishop passive square on the 14th move. Kishan played very aggressively in a combination he took his opponent's queen and forced the opponent to resign the game with this victory he maintained the sole lead.
At the end of the 8th round, Gangolli has 7 points out of a possible 8 and had a full one-point lead over his nearest rivals Aryan B Joshi of Maharastra Somender BL of Delhi, and Ashvin Makawana of Gujarat. He needs to avoid defeat in the final round on Saturday to maintain his chances of regaining the title. has to claim one step to regain the title.
Earlier in the seventh round, Gangolli drew in 35 moves against Milind Samant of Maharashtra. Pradhan play'd the queen's opening with white pieces against Aryan B Joshi of Maharashtra, who opted for Nimzo Indian Defense. The position was equal till the 16th move when Soundarya advanced his pawn to f6 square which created a weakness in his territory. Aryan took the advantage of this and crushed his opponent in the beautiful Queen endgame.