Bhakti shares lead in National chess

Woman Fide Master Bhakti Kulkarni crushed Rucha Pujari with black pieces, stopping her winning streak in the 26th Junior(U-19) Girls' Chess and 41st National Junior(U-19) Open Championship 2011, played at Indoor Sports Hall, Fatorda, on Saturday.

Bhakti, who won the duel in 61 moves now shares lead with Rucha with both having six points in their kitty.

Ivana Furtado and WFM Pon Nkrutikha of Tamil Nadu played out a quick draw after 13 moves on second board. She is on 5.5 points along with Nkrutikha of Tamil Nadu, Pratusha Bordda of Andhra Pradesh, A Akshaya of Tamil Nadu, WFM Saranya J of Tamil Nadu and Lasya G of Andhra Pradesh.

In the open sections, IM P Shyam Nikhil of Tamil Nadu, FM Diptyan Ghosh of West Bengal and IM Priyadarshan K of Tamil Nadu share the lead with six points each at the end of the seventh round.