Top seed Koneru Humpy of Andhra Pradesh maintained her winning streak to remain the sole leader with six points after the sixth round in the 30th National Women's 'A' chess championship in Kozikhode on Wednesday.
Pitted against lowly-placed C V Rajalakshmi (TN), who is yet to open her account in the tournament, the reigning Asian women's champion did not lose focus and won in 39 moves.
"I want to continue in the same fashion but I will have to encounter some formidable opponents later on," Humpy said.
Trailing the leader, with five points each, are second seed S Vijayalakshmi (TN) and WGM Nisha Mohota (LIC).
In a Larson attack, Vijayalakshmi, the six-time champion, got the better of Sai Meera (IB) in 58 moves, while Mohota easily overcame the Grunfeld defence of Anupama Gokhale (BP) to emerge winner in 48 moves.
"I am happy with my performance so far and hope to do better in the later rounds," Mohota said.
In third spot are defending champion and fourth seed Aarthie Ramaswamy (TN) and runner-up in the Asian women's meet, Dronavalli Harika (AP), with 4.5 points apiece.
In the only notable upset of the day, fifth seed Swati Ghate (LIC) was overpowered by Eesha Karvade (MAH), while in a marathon game, stretching to 101 moves, IWM Y Prathiba finally settled for a draw with Saheli Nath (BEN).