In the sixth round of the Open section, Indian Grandmaster Harsha Bharathakoti forced top-seeded compatriot and GM R Praggnanandhaa to a draw, maintaining his sole advantage with 5 points in the Asian Continental Chess Championship on Sunday.
Harsha Bharathakoti Keeps his lead in Chess Championship
The Bharathakoti-Praggnanandhaa game came to a draw after 33 moves, according to both players. It ended Bharathakoti’s string of four victories.
Praggnanandhaa, the No. 1 seed, Leon Luke Mendonca, Karthikeyan Murali, Kousatav Chatterjee, S L Narayanan, B Adhiban, S P Sethuraman, and Aravindh Chithambaram (all from India) were among a group of 11 players who trailed the leader by 0.5 points.
Saparmyat Atabeyev, Maksat Atabayev, and Shamsiddhin Vokhidov, all from Turkmenistan, are the other candidates with 4.5 points (Uzbekistan).
Other significant outcomes were a draw between Mendonca and Sethuraman, a tie between Karthikeyan Murali and Adhiban, and a point shared by Vokhidov and Maksat Atabayev.
Narayanan and Chithambaram both defeated Sandipan Chanda and Ayush Sharma, respectively, enabling them to move up to 4.5 points.
Saparmyat Atabayev improved to 4.5 points with a crucial victory over Rinat Jumabayev in round five.
In the women’s competition, Indian WGM P V Nandhidhaa defeated fellow countrywoman Priyan Nuttaki in 61 moves to get 5.5 points and take the lead after six rounds.
With 4.5 points, Nuttaki and Padmini Rout, who defeated Nilufar Yakubbaeva (Uzbekistan), are in second place.
With 4 points, ninth position is shared by nine players. Among them are Rakshitta Ravi, Soumya Swaminathan, Nisha Mohota, Divya Deshmukh, Vantika Agrawal, and Mary Ann Gomes, all of whom are of Indian descent.
Important outcomes from the sixth round included victories for Agrawal over C. Sahajasri, Mohotoa over Xeniya Balabayeva, and Deshmukh being held to a draw by Soumya Swaminathan.
Indian top seed Tania Sachdev felt compelled to communicate the idea since she was unable to get beyond Saina Salonika’s defences as a young WIM. With 3.5 points, Sachdev is ranked 18th.