Karthik holds Fenil,defending champion Vidit records second win

New Delhi, Dec 16 (UNI) Fifth seed and Under-9 champion Fenil Shah(Gujarat) was held by lower rated Ramalingam Karthik( Tamilnadu) to a tense draw in the second round of the 21st National Under-13 Chess Championship here today.

The top seeded Vidit Santosh Gujarati(Maharashtra) had to to sweat it out before overpowering Gujarat lad Karma Pandya at the top board.

In an evenly contested match, playing the Sicillian opening, Karma Pandya had to concede a full point to Vidit after running out of time.

Former world u-12 Champion Narayanan Srinath (Tamil Nadu) had an easy day at the office as he beat Ittayara Paul Vadassery (Kerala).

Playing the Sicillian Dragon opening, Srinath overcame Ittayara Paul in just 36 moves.

Local favorite Vaibhav Suri won his second consecutive match of the tournament by defeating Saikat Dutta (Jharkhand).

After being held off to a draw in the first round, World Under-10 Bronze Medalist Prince Bajaj came back strongly to defeat Yashashwat Srivastava (Delhi).

Among the local lads, Ram Gupta held the higher rated Abhilash Reddy (Andhra) keeping after him at bay for 39 moves.

UNI