WGM Mary Ann Gomes needs draw in last round to win Indian national women's chess championship

Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2011

Hi everyone,

The chess news from Chennai, India, where the Indian national chess championship is in its penultimate - the tenth round - is that Woman Grandmaster Mary Ann Gomes held on to her lead with a draw against International Master Eesha Karavade. This is the 38th edition of the event. Gomes continues to lead with 7.5 points and has a superior tie-break. She needs just a draw in the final round tomorrow against Kiran Manisha Mohanty to clinch the coveted title. The second place is shared by IM Eesha Karavade of Maharashtra and WGM Padmini Rout of Orissa at 7 points each. Gomes actually had a win lined up but she surprised her opponent by going for a draw. 

Gomes has two IM Norms to her credit, the first one coming from Paris Open 2009 at France and the second one from Czech Open 2010 at Pardubice, Czech Republic. She would now need to fulfill the rating requirement of ELO 2400, after which she would be awarded the title of International Master.

The second and third boards saw higher rated players viz, Padmini Rout and Tania Sachdev escape defeat narrowly against Kiran Manisha Mohanty and Chandika Divyasree respectively. The latter got her maiden Woman International Master with the draw. 

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