Kanpur: With the conclusion of seventh round of the Karmadevi Memorial 23rd National Under-17 Open Chess Championship here on Saturday, the race for title has become hot as Tamil Nadu’s G Akash with six points maintaining his top position by a whisker.

Following him closely were young Rishi Sardana , international master Vaibhav Suri, Shashank DS, CM Prince Bajaj and Patil Pratik all with 5.5 points each.

In the girls section too, Pratyusha Bodda has been leading with six points, whereas Micelle Catherina P, Saranya J, Bala Kannamma P were chasing her with 5.5 points each.

Akash playing with white pieces snatched vital points after playing a draw against Rishi Sardana of Delhi after 32 moves, while IM Suri playing cautiously against Deepthamsh Reddy M of Andhra Pradesh, applied Queen’s Gambit defense and won the four-hour battle in 68 moves.

In the girls category, Andhra Pradesh’s Saranya J begun with Ruylopez opening against state-mate Pratyusha Bodda, but both agreed for a split of points after 46 moves. In another exciting match, P Bala Kannamma playing with white pieces proved her supremacy in style over Rajasthan’s Sonakshi Rathore.
Earlier, in the sixth round too players racked their brains in attacking and defending every sophisticated move of their opponents.

Meanwhile, UP Chess Association chief Dr Sanjay Kapoor along with Sayeed Ahmed kicked-off the seventh round of play this morning.

POINTS POSITION

After 7th round (boys):
G Akash (6 pts), Rishi Sardana , IM VAibhav Suri, ShashaankD S, CM Prince Bajaj, Patil Pratik ( all 5.5 pts) , Padhya Saumil, DhulipalaBala Chandra Prasad, Manan Rai, Krishna Teja , Chandak Shivam , MohmmadNubairshah Shaikh ( all 5 pts)

Girls: Pratyusha Bodda (6 pts), Micelle Catherina P, WFM Saranya J,Bala Kannamma P ( all 5.5 pts), Rathore Sonakshi, Sunyasakta Satpathy, WFMSrija Seshadri, Varshini V ( all 5 pts).