GUWAHATI, Aug 27 � The 10th and penultimate round of the 37th National Women Challenger Chess Championship 2010 came to an end today. Overnight leader Amrutha Mokal of Pune defeated R Bharthi of Tamil Nadu to jump into a overwhelming 1 point lead, which will almost fetch her the maiden National Women Challenger Championship title.
Amrutha is now on 8.5 points and needs just a draw tomorrow to clinch the title. Today playing with black pieces, Amrutha adopted the Sicilian Defence against R Bharthi. Bharthi who was leading the tournament till the 8th round seemed to have lost her touch in the last few rounds as she played some inaccurate moves.
Amrutha on the other hand displayed yet again solid grit and composure. Bharthi was put under tremendous pressure on the king side which eventually resulted in the lose of two pawns.
The endgame was completely lost for white and Bharthi resigned on the 57th move.
On the second board, Rucha Pujari got the better of Pratushya Bodda. Meanwhile, all other top board games till the 8th board were drawn as everybody was more concerned of securing a place in the top 20 position and thus qualify for the National Women Premier Championship. Amrutha is followed by Rucha Pujari on 8 points, while A Sithalatchumi, S Harini and Sonakshi Rathore are on 7.5 points each. Amrutha Mokal has almost secured the championship as she faces Sonakshi Rathore of Rajasthan in the final round and it is quite likely that Sonakshi will sign the peace treaty quickly.