Ivana beats Meghna to take the sole lead!

Double World Under 8 Girls Champion Ivana
Furtado defeated archrival and National Under 9
Girls Champion C.H. Meghna of Kerala to
move into the sole lead with 4 points at the
end of the fourth round of the World Schools
Chess Championship being played in
Singapore. There are seven players who are
trailing Ivana with 3 points each and the event
could be still described as wide open.

In the Girls Under 9 section, the much awaited
clash between top seeded Ivana and second
seeded Meghna ended in a decisive victory for
the former. Whereas Ivana has two World Crowns
to her credit, Meghna has won two National
Championships. With this victory, Ivana will
reinforce the psychological edge that she has
over Meghna before they once again clash in
the World Youth Chess Championships to be
played in Vietnam in October. Dempo Goodwill
Ambassador Ivana next plays Dharsha Raja Jawahar
of Singapore in the 5th round.

National Junior Girls Champion Bhakti Kulkarni
was held to a draw by unfancied Zayed Ali Ahmed
of the U.A.E. The Woman FIDE Master and Monginis
Brand Ambassador will have to score heavily in the
remaining rounds for a podium finish in the Girls Under
17 section. Asian Schools Under 11 Gold Medallist Cyrus
Perriera beat Samuel Liu of Singapore to move into
the third spot with 3.5 points. He next faces top
seeded Colombian Candidate Master Joshua Ruiz in
the 5th round and if he wins this encounter he will
surely fancy his chances of winning the event!

In other action in the fourth round featuring Goan
players, Pranav Zantye defeated Aaron Tan of
Singapore to go to 3 points in the Under 13 section.
In the Under 9 section, Anirudh Bhat defeated
Jonathan Tay of Singapore to move into the second
spot with three and a half points.Both these kids
who are playing in an international tournament for
the very first time have a bright chance to finish among
the medals with 5 rounds to go in the event.