IMPHAL, June 7: With only two rounds left, the defending champion Sanjoy( 4 pt) suffered a defeat in the fifth round match of 22nd Kh Anou Singh Memorial State Level Open Chess Tournament 2012 today.
Playing the Sicilian Defence Sanjoy gave his best effort to gain full point from former Anou Chess Champion Premjit (5 pt) but time pressure and countering of pieces made him to resign in the 41 st move.
Right from the beginning Premjit has positional advantage and he has now a better chance of regaining the title which he won in 2004.
At the next table, Bhogen and Jacky settled for a draw after 56 moves. The young and a promising
player Herojit tried his best to at least save half point but his more experienced opponent Dhanabir forced him to resign in 40 moves.
In another game, the international player Gobin Luwang earned full point by defeating his well-experienced rival Bit Irom.
So at the end of 5th round matches played today, Premjit is the sole leader with 5 points and he LA trailed behind very closely by Jacky with 4.5 points.
In the meanwhile, as a means of grooming chess players in the state of Manipur, the Manipur
Chess Association is organising a Chess Coaching Class for those who are below the age of 1 0 years.
Those who are interested to join the coaching camp may contact organizing secretary Y Arun or Instructor Kh. Saratchandra.