World Rapid chess: Humpy in joint lead; Gukesh, Erigaisi well-placed as Carlsen suffers rare loss
Doha (PTI): Reigning champion Koneru Humpy displayed her trademark composure and tenacity to remain in joint lead in the women's section while Indian star players D. Gukesh and Arjun Erigaisi also remained in the hunt in the 'Open' category on Day 2 of the FIDE World Rapid Championships here.
With three more rounds to go in the women's section on Sunday, Humpy shared the lead with China's Zhu Jiner on 6.5 points out of a maximum eight. The duo was trailed by as many as 10 players on six points, including India's Dronavalli Harika.
However, it was classical world champion Gukesh's fighting spirit that stood out on Saturday despite the Indian ace claiming before the start that he didn't a have a lot of expectations from the season-ending competition.
Gukesh and Erigaisi were placed comfortably on 6.5 points in a cluster of 13 players after nine rounds with just a point separating the India duo from joint leaders Vladislav Artemiev and Hans Niemann (7.5 poinst each).
Starting with two draws, against Dutch GM Anish Giri and Alexey Sarana, Gukesh prevailed over Spain's David Anton in a topsy-turvy Round 8 game.
In the following round he was decimated by Nodirbek Abdusattorov in the King's Indian attack, the Indian's only defeat so far in the competition.
However, it was 27-year-old Russian GM Artemiev who held centre stage after inflicting a rare defeat on world No.1 and five-time world rapid champion Carlsen, and Erigaisi.
Joint leaders Artemiev and Niemann are chased by four players half a point behind -- Carlsen, Alexey Sarana, Yagiz Erdogmus and Nodirbek Abdusattorov.
Giant-killer Artemiev was in great form as he opened with a victory as black against Erigaisi, coming back from a lost position and playing much of the game on increment.
In Round 7, Artemiev defeated Carlsen in a game where the world's top-rated player made a grave mistake on move 15, which cost him dearly. This win put Artemiev on 6.5 points, a full point ahead of the field.
Artemiev concluded the day with two calm draws with Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Alexey Sarana.
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"I am pleased with my performance, and everything is feeling good," Artemiev told FIDE.
After a 4.5/5 on day one, Carlsen’s performance dipped on day 2 with the Norwegian playing the Sicilian against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in round 6. The world No.1 soon found himself with tripled pawns on the e-file and spent more time looking for the moves. After testing Carlsen for a few moves, Vachier-Lagrave agreed to split a point.
The big defeat came in round seven when after surrendering on move 30, the Norwegian stormed out of the playing hall, visibly unhappy.
Carlsen bounced back in round 8, with a win against Armenian GM Shant Sargsyan and in the final round of the day he was better on time against US GM Ray Robson.
With two straight victories, Carlsen joined the group of four players on seven points.
Humpy joint leader
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The women's event remained closely contested with two-time world rapid champion from India, Humpy defeating Sara Khadem to emerge the sole leader with six points at the end of the Round 7, followed by eight players half-a-point on behind.
A draw in Round 8 against Russia GM Goryachkina Aleksandra took the Indian stalwart's tally to 6.5, while Zu Jiner defeated India's women's World Cup champion Divya Deshmukh in the last round of the day to join Humpy at the top.
Sunday will be the third and final day of the World Rapid with four more rounds in 'Open' and three in Women's section set to be played.
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Constitution amendment bill defeat was BJP’s first embarrassment in Parliament: Margaret Alva
Bengaluru (PTI): Senior Congress leader Margaret Alva on Monday said that the constitution amendment bill's defeat in the Lok Sabha on April 17 was the first embarrassment faced by the BJP-led government in Parliament.
She also alleged that the BJP has no real concern regarding women’s reservation.
The opposition INDIA bloc defeated the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill that sought to facilitate the implementation of women's reservation by expanding the strength of the Lok Sabha, apart from making changes to delimitation.
"This is the first embarrassment and defeat faced by the NDA government in the Lok Sabha," the former Governor of Gujarat and Rajasthan said in a press conference here.
According to her, the women’s reservation has been under discussion since the time of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi.
"During Rajiv Gandhi’s tenure, a 14-member committee was formed, and I was appointed as its chairperson. We prepared a report after studying what needed to be done to enhance the dignity of women across 12 sectors. This was submitted to the government in 1989,” Alva, 84-year-old veteran Congress leader, said.
She said political empowerment for women was emphasised in that report, without which, empowerment in any other sphere is not possible.
“Many people in Parliament used to question me — should we vacate seats for women and stay at home cooking? Why insist on this? Has anyone written these seats in your name? This debate has been ongoing since 1975,” Alva explained.
The Congress leader said Rajiv Gandhi had introduced 33 per cent reservation for women in local bodies.
“At that time, all opposition parties united and defeated the Bill,” she pointed out.
Again, during the tenure of former Prime Minister late P V Narasimha Rao, the 33 per cent reservation Bill in local bodies was passed.
“It was the Congress party that first introduced women’s reservation. Now they are falsely accusing us of being anti-women,” Alva charged.
In 2023, the Women’s Reservation Bill was passed with much fanfare, but it was not immediately implemented.
According to her, a condition was imposed for its implementation that it would be enforced based on census data.
"Once it is in the statute book, what is preventing its implementation? Two years for the census and another two years for delimitation — this means it cannot be implemented by 2029. It was not given in 2024, and there is no possibility even in 2029," Alva charged the BJP-led government at the Centre.
The Congress leader said the BJP is saying that the Bill can be implemented based on the 2011 Census, but when the same suggestion was made in 2023, the BJP rejected it.
On increasing the Lok Sabha seats by 50 per cent, she sought to know the basis for it.
“Where did this (idea) come from? Whose advice was taken? Was it decided by the RSS? Or ordered by a court?” Alva asked.
The former union minister said the Constitution amendment bill, which was defeated on April 17 appears to favour certain North Indian states.
“We pay taxes, but they receive greater benefits and allocations. If seats are increased by 50 per cent based on their calculations, we would get only 14 additional seats, while they would get 40. How is this fair?” she questioned.
While 298 members voted in support of the bill in Lok Sabha, 230 MPs voted against it. Out of 528 members who voted, the bill required 352 votes for a two-third majority.
According to the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, Lok Sabha seats were to be increased to "operationalise" the women's reservation act before the 2029 parliamentary polls, following a delimitation exercise based on the 2011 Census.
Seats were also to be increased in state and Union territory Assemblies to accommodate 33 per cent reservation for women.
