Divya Deshmukh took a big step towards the title when she upstaged second seed and two-time defending champion Bhakti Kulkarni to lead with 6.5 points after seven rounds of the MPL National women’s chess championship here on Monday.
Divya, 16, took a half-point lead after beating joint overnight leader Sakshi Chitlange in the afternoon and went on to double it following a dominating 34-move victory with black pieces over a vastly-experienced Bhakti.
Six-players — top seed R. Vaishali, Soumya Swaminathan, Padmini Rout, N. Priyanka, Pratyusha Bodda and Arpita Mukherjee — share second spot at 5.5 points.
Important results: Seventh round: Bhakti Kulkarni (5) lost to Divya Deshmkukh (6.5); Pratyusha Bodda (5.5) drew with Soumya Swaminathan (5.5); Parnali Dharia (4.5) lost to R. Vaishali (5.5); Padmini Rout (5.5) bt A. Harshini (4.5); B. Mounika Akshaya (4.5) lost to N. Priyanka (5.5); K. Priyanka (4.5) lost to Arpita Mukherjee (5.5); Sakshi Chitlange (5) drew with Isha Sharma (5); Mary Ann Gomes (5) bt Swati Ghate (4); Rakshitta Ravi (4.5) drew with Nisha Mohota (4.5).
Sixth round: Divya bt Sakshi; Vaishali drew with K. Priyanka; Bhakti bt Srija Seshadri (4); Soumya bt Saina Salonika (4); Isha drew with Padmini; Pratyusha bt V. Sarayu (4); Arpita drew with Mounika.
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