Li Ruofan continues to lead

International Woman Master Li Ruofan of China continues to lead the field, with eight points, after the tenth and penultimate round in the Asian women's chess championship in Madras on Tuesday.

She is half a point ahead of tournament favourite Woman Grandmaster S Vijayalakshmi of India, who outmanoeuvred compatriot Aarthie Ramaswamy in a tenth round match.

he top table match between Li Ruofan and second seed Wang Yu of China ended in a six-move friendly draw, disappointing the spectators. The six moves were from Ruy Lopex opening.

Two other Indians, IWMs Swati Ghate and Nisha Mohota, and Wang Yu were in the third spot with seven points each.

In a prestigious encounter between S Vijayalakshmi and Aarthie Ramaswamy, the former, playing white, made short work of Aarthie's Dutch defence.

Vijayalakshmi's pieces dominated the game by taking control of opened up 'e' file. In a minor combination, Viji won black's queen for her rook and knight in the 27th move, and secured a win after ten more moves.

Swati Ghate was too good for compatriot S Meenakshi and forced a mate in just 27 moves.

Swati opened up the game with king pawn and chose the unpopular bishop opening, thus surprising Meenakshi. Swati's king was safe after Kingside castling while Meenakshi castled on the opposite flank, on queenside. This was enough for Swati to target the black's king by breaking the barricade on the queenside.

Once Swati exposed Meenakshi's king, she brilliantly offered her rook in the base rook to announce a check mate.

With her queen on the seventh rank, Meenakshi gave up the fight in 27 moves.

IWM Nisha Mohota emerged victorious in her game against Yu Ting (China). Employing Sicilian Najdorf system against Yu's king pawn opening, Mohota dominated the game throughout. She gained material advantage in the early middle game and this was enough for her to convert it into a full point in 36 moves.

Nguyen Thi Th (Vietnam) outwitted Huang Quin of China in a king Indian defence game. In the queen pawn opening both players preferred careful moves to keep the position wide open. A minor theoritical error by black was neatly capitalised by the Vietnamese girl to force her opponent's resignation in 36 moves.

As the championship has still not thrown open a clear leader, the final round encounter between Swati Ghate and Li Ruofan, Leukshkina Elena and S Vijayalakshmi is very crucial for deciding the title.

Only Li Ruofan and S Vijayalakshmi have confirmed their berths for the World Women's Championship, slated for this year end. For the remaining five berths, a war of nerves is on the cards among the top contenders in the final round on Wednesday.