New Delhi: The Asian Continental Chess Championship heading for a close finish as four players are now sharing the lead with just two rounds remaining.
The seventh round on Tuesday produced some exciting matches and unexpected results. On top board, leader Harsha Bharathakoti signed the peace treaty with second seed S L Narayanan while top-seeded Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa won a marathon 137 move game against compatriot Karthikeyan Murali to move into joint lead with three others on five and half points.
International Master Koustav Chatterjee upset two-time national champion Aravindh Chithambaram to join Praggnanandhaa, Bharathakoti and Shamsiddin Vokhidov of Uzbekistan at the top. Member of Olympiad Gold medal winning Uzbekistan team, Vokhidov joined the leaders pack after defeating former Asian Champion S P Sethuraman.
A bunch of six players have five points and are in joint second spot. They are S L Narayanan, B Adhiban, Leon Luke Mendonca, Karthik Venkataraman and the Turkmenistan duo of Saparmyat Atabeyev and Maksat Atabayev.
In the women’s section, Nandhidhaa P V maintained her sole lead and unbeaten run with six point after seven rounds, after signing the peace treaty with Padmini Rojut in 49 moves while Priyanka Nutakki following the heels of Nandhidhaa with a drift of half point after winning her seventh round against Nilufar Yakubbaeva of Uzbekistan.
Padmini Rout, Soumya Swaminathan and Divya Deshmukh are in joint third spot with five points. Soumya posted a win over Nisha Mohota while Divya put it across Rakshitta Ravi.
Important Results Round-7 (Indians otherwise stated) :- GM Narayanan S L (5) drew with Harsha Bharathakoti (5.5); GM Praggnanandhaa R (5.5) beat GM Karthikeyan Murali (4.5); GM Sethuraman S P (4.5) lost to GM Shamsiddin Vokhidov of Uzbekistan (5.5); GM Aravindh Chithambaram (4.5) lost to Koustav Chatterjee (5.5); GM Adhiban B (5) drew with IM Saparmyrat Atabayev of Turkmenistan (5); GM Maksat Atabayev of Turkmenistan (5) drew with GM Leon Luke Mendonca (5); IM Aditya Mitaal (4.5) drew with GM Abhimanyu Puranik (4.5); GM Raja Rithvik (4.5) drew with IM Pranav V (4.5); IM Sammed Jaykumar Shete (4.5) drew with GM Shyam Sundar M (4.5); IM Urazayev Arystanbek of Kazakhstan (4) lost to Karthik Venkataraman (5); GM Rinat Jumabayev of Kazakhstan (4) drew with IM Pranesh M (4.5); IM Anuj Shrivatri (3.5) lost to Sankalp Gupta (4.5); IM Ortik Nigmatov of Uzbekistan (4) drew with IM Shyaamnikhil P (4); FM Ritviz Parab (3.5) lost to IM Vignesh N R (4.5).
Women’s Round-7 :– WGM Nandhidhaa P V(6) drew with IM Padmini Rout (5); WGM Nilufar Yakubbaeva of Uzbekistan (4) lost to WGM Priyanka Nutakki (5.5); WGM Mary Ann Gomes (4.5) drew with WGM Vantika Agrawal (4.5); WIM Rakshitta Ravi (4) lost to WGM Divya Deshmukh (5); WGM Thi Mai Hung Nguyen of Vietnam (4.5) drew with WGM Vo Thi Kim Phung of Vietnam (4.5); IM Soumya Swaminathan (5) beat IM Nisha Mohota (4); IM Tania Sachdev (4) drew with Liya Kurmangaliyeva of Kazakhstan (4); WIM Cholleti Sahajasri (4.5) beat WIM Saina Salonika (3.5); WGM Srija Seshadri (4) drew with Amina Kairbekova of Kazakhstan (4); WIM Sakshi Chitlange (3.5) lost to WGM Kiran Manisha Mohanty (4.5).
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