By Kirti Patil
Pune: Indian Oil Corporation-A, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited and both teams of Oil & Natural Gas Corporation – A and B qualified for the semi-finals in the team championships of the 32nd Petroleum Sports Promotion Board Inter Unit Chess Tournament on Thursday.
Indian Oil Corporation-A topped Pool 1 with 13 points at the end of the league stage of the team championships being played at the PYC Hindu Gymkhana while Oil Natural Gas Corporation A topped Pool 2 with 14 points.
ONGC-B with 11points secured the second spot in Pool 1, which had a total of seven teams, while BPCL with 12 points, were placed second in Pool 2, which had eight teams in contention.
In a crucial encounter in Pool 1, ONGC-B defeated IOC-B 2.5-1.5. International Master V S Raahul of ONGC-B outplayed International Master Eesha Karavade of IOC-B on the top board while facing the London system of Queen-Pawn opening.
GrandM Lalith Babu of IOC-B levelled the score by defeating GM Neelotpal Das of ONGB-B in a Catalan set-up. While International Master P Konguvel of ONGC-B drew a hard-fought game against International Master Soumya Swaminathan of IOC-B. However, WIM Esha Sharma of ONGC-B scored a crucial victory over IM Padmini Rout of IOC-B which helped ONGC-B team in securing a berth for the semi-final.
