National Chess Championship | Divya Deshmukh and Mrudul Dehankar impress in Tamil Nadu

On Tuesday, the Nagpur-based duo of Divya Deshmukh and Mrudul Dehankar have managed to pull off a win while making a comeback in their respective matches at the ongoing 46th National Women Chess Championship at the Chettinad Public School in Tamil Nadu. Third-seeded Women International Master (WIM) Deshmukh, who played on the seventh board, defeated Saranya J of Tamil Nadu in a complicated game of 38 moves. 

“I chose the Sicilian Najdorf defense which usually is a complicated opening. We both then got into a tense middle game where any mistake would have cost us the game. Fortunately for me, she was the one who made a mistake. I won her rook which finally made her resign in the very next move,” Deshmukh told TOI.

On the 16th board, Dehankar fought back hard against local girl Rindhiya V in a marathon contest of 77 moves. On Mrudul’s King Pawn opening, Rindhiya went for the Ruy Lopez defence but the former eventually fought back to a deserved win.