Surya Sekhar Ganguly’s impressive run at the National Chess Championship continues. The Kolkata-based player secured his seventh consecutive victory, defeating his fellow citymate Sayantan Das in the seventh round. This win propelled Ganguly to the top of the leaderboard with a one-point lead over the chasing pack, with only four rounds remaining. While Ganguly’s current rating of 2583 is lower than his peak of 2676 in 2016, his current form suggests he’s formidable against his rivals at the RPS International School.
Ganguly’s victory against Das was achieved through a precise execution of a Ruy Lopez opening, ultimately leading to a winning knight-and-pawn endgame. On the second board, Deep Sengupta and Aronyak Ghosh played out a grueling 73-move draw from the English Opening. Meanwhile, defending champion S.P. Sethuraman emerged victorious in a 32-move Queen’s Gambit Declined game against C.R.G. Krishna.
The seventh round saw some other notable results, including a draw between N.R. Vignesh and the 11-year-old Madhvendra Sharma, who put up a valiant fight against a Grandmaster 506 Elo points his senior. Other notable matches included a victory for Diptayan Ghosh over S. Nitin, a win for Karthik Venkataraman against Neelash Saha, and a victory for Himal Gusain over M.R. Venkatesh.
With four rounds remaining, the National Chess Championship remains a tight race. The focus now shifts to the remaining rounds, where Ganguly will need to maintain his current form to secure the title.
