Bhakti fights back to win crucial encounter

In the ninth round of the National Junior
Girls Chess Championship being played
at Nagpur, Bhakti Kulkarni (ELO 2112) fought back from
a dead lost position to win her game against
fancied P. Uthra (ELO 2060) of Tamil Nadu to take a 1.5 point
lead with two rounds to go in the event.

Former National Under 17 Girls Champion
P. Uthra had obviously prepared well for this game as she
gained superiority right from the opening itself
and won a pawn. However, Goa's Commonwealth
Under 18 Girls Champion Bhakti was given a lifeline
through sheer Divine Intervention when her opponent
grabbed another pawn and opened a file for her rook.
Bhakti counterattacked and in the ensuing time scramble
held her nerves to win the crucial encounter.

Bhakti on 8.5 points has the sole lead and is followed
by two time National Junior Champion WIM Elect
Soumya Swaminathan (ELO 2178) and Asian Junior Girls Champion
WIM Mary Ann Gomes (ELO 2274) who are on 7 points each.
Bhakti needs just half a point from her remaining two games to
win the Championship. She next plays reigning Champion
Soumya in the 10th round to try and seal her victory in the event.

Even the worst case scenario sees Bhakti finishing no worse than
third and she has thus ensured her place in both the National Junior
team and the World and Asian Junior events next year. Coach
Raghunandan Gokhale, India's first Dronacharya awardee in chess,
has expressed confidence that Bhakti will get the half point
and emerge victorious in the Championship!