Pallavi, Aarthie crash out in World Chess

Moscow:

International Women Masters Pallavi Shah and Aarthie Ramaswamy were eliminated from the World Chess Championships after agreeing to draws against Women Grandmasters Antoaneta Stefanova (Bulgaria) and Nino Khurtsidze (Georgia) respectively in the second game of the first round here today. Both Pallavi and Aarthie lost by an identical 0.5-1.5 margin in the two-game mini-match after losing their first games yesterday. Despite playing with the white pieces, both Pallavi and Aarthie failed to put up a challenge and drew their games in just 23 moves. It was a Bishop's opening in Pallavi's game and she did not get any advantage out of the opening as Stefanova easily neutralized white's initiative. A couple of pieces got traded and a similar pawn structure was arrived at in the middlegame. After a rook trade the draw was agreed to. Aarthie could not do any better either in the Sicilian defence and Nino's attack on the queenside appeared to be faster than Aarthie's onslaught on the other flank. Sensing that she could risk losing the game, Aarthie settled for the draw. (PTI)