GUWAHATI, Aug 26 � After the end of the 9th round of the 37th National Women�s Challenger Chess Championship at Shilpgram here today, Amrutha Mokal of Pune lead the championship by scoring 7.5 points and maintaining a narrow yet convincing lead of half a point over her nearest rival Rucha Pujari who is on 7 points. The second spot is shared by four players � R Bharthi of Tamil Nadu, Pratyusha Bodda of Andhra Pradesh, S Harini of Tamil Nadu and Sonakshi Rathore of Rajasthan with 6.5 points each. On the third position are a group of 8 players with 6 points each.
Today on the top board, former national A player Amrutha Mokal outwitted the Rucha Pujari. Rucha Adopted the Sicilian Dragon Variation against Amrutha who opened the game with the King Pawn. The opening choice of Rucha made it clear that she was would go all out for a win. However things didn�t go out as planned as Amrutha put up a solid display of piece manoeuvre and accurate play.
Amrutha will face R Bharthi in the 10th round match. With two more rounds remaining, Amrutha needs just one win and a draw to claim her maiden national title. Meanwhile, Assam Girl Mahashewata Kumar is somewhat keeping the Assam flag flying by scoring a respectable 5.5 points, while Malabika Singh is on 5 points.
