Tamil Nadu youngster Vaishali R continued her unchallenged dominance at the RamRatna 42nd National Challengers Chess Championship as she overcame Saranya J in a fine attacking game with the White pieces. Vaishali dramatically sacrificed a knight on move 14 with the idea of exposing her opponent’s King in the centre, and after that, there was no looking back. Saranya resigned on the 23rd move. With this win, Vaishali has notched up an exhilarating ‘Caruana-like’ start with 7 points in as many games.
Meanwhile, on the 2nd board, top seed Tania Sachdev won a convincing game with the White pieces in the Main Line of Slav Defence. Tania is now ranked a sole second, one point behind Vaishali.
The top-board game in Round 8 promises to be a crucial one as Vaishali R, playing black, will take on Tania Sachdev. A draw or win for Vaishali will keep her comfortably placed ahead of the rest of the field. However, a victory for Tania will leave the field wide open.
Round 7 Results: Click Here