Magesh Chandran earns maiden IM norm

A brilliant victory by WG Koneru Humpy and maiden IM norm for P Magesh Chandran were the high points for India in the ninth round of the World Juniors Boys and Girls Chess Championship in Athens.

Humpy regained joint lead in the girls section with seven points after slaying overnight sole leader WGM Lilit Mkrtchian of Armenia. Top seed Woman FIDE Master Xu Yuanyuan of China joined Humpy at the top by overcoming the challenge of compatriot Gu Xiaobing with black pieces.

Three players were in the joint second spot with 6.5 points and they are followed by a pack of eight aspirants including Subbaraman Meenakshi with 6 points apiece.

In the boys section, IM Sargissian Gabriel of Armenia caught overnight leader IM Gagunashvili Merab of Georgia in the lead with seven points after a comprehensive victory over erstwhile leader Sergei Azarov of Belarus. Magesh Chandran was the hero of the day here as he made his maiden IM norm by outplaying highly rated IM Postny Evgeny of Israel.

With six points in his bag, Magesh Chandran is lying in joint ninth spot along with three others.

Humpy, a winner in two world age group chess championships, started with black pieces knowing fully well that her chance of winning this tournament will improve a great deal if she could stop Lilit from maintaining lead over her. Remaining glued to her chair for the major part of the game Humpy started with her favourite Caro Kann defence