FIDE Master Akar Ali Salih of Iraq (photo above) beat erstwhile co-leader Malek Koniahli of Syria to grab solo lead with 4.5 points out of 5 rounds in the homestretch of the Zone 3.1 Zonal Hybrid Chess Chbampionship on Tornelo. The champion qualifies into the FIDE World Cup next month in Sochi, Russia.
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Salih crushed the Center Counter Defense of Koniahli in a marathon 83 moves of a minor piece endgame.
Sharing second slot with 4 points each are GMs Ehsan Ghaem Maghami and Aryan Gholami of Iran. Maghami turned back the English Opening of IM Sameer Mansour of Jordan in only 31 moves. Idani essayed the Reti Opening to beat FM Ahmed Ali Layth Ahmed of Iraq also in 31 moves.
Three players follow within striking distance at 3.5 points each, namely Koniahli, GM Pouya Idani of Iran and Male Saif of Jordan.
Here are the round 5 results.
| Zone 3.1 Chess Championships 2021 | |||||||||||
| Pairings/Results | |||||||||||
| Round 5 on 2021/06/05 at 3:00pm | |||||||||||
| Bo. | No. | Name | Rtg | Pts. | Result | Pts. | Name | Rtg | No. | ||
| 1 | 7 | FM | SALIH Akar Ali Salih | 2274 | 3½ | 1 – 0 | 3½ | FM | KONIAHLI Malek. | 2255 | 8 |
| 2 | 5 | IM | MANSOUR Sameer | 2308 | 3 | 0 – 1 | 3 | GM | Ghaem Maghami Ehsan | 2547 | 2 |
| 3 | 3 | GM | GHOLAMI Aryan | 2513 | 3 | 1 – 0 | 3 | FM | Ammar Sedrani | 2274 | 6 |
| 4 | 1 | GM | IDANI Pouya | 2614 | 2½ | 1 – 0 | 2½ | FM | AHMED Ali Layth Ahmed | 2253 | 9 |
| 5 | 4 | IM | EITI Bashir | 2340 | 2½ | 0 – 1 | 2½ | CM | SAIF Malek | 2168 | 11 |
| 6 | 14 | IM | Sultan Ibrahim | 2076 | 2 | ½ – ½ | 2 | IM | AL HOSANI Omran | 2197 | 10 |
| 7 | 12 | Chekh Adm Khedr Aram | 2147 | 2 | 1 – 0 | 2 | Seder Mohamad | 1722 | 18 | ||
| 8 | 13 | CM | ISMAEL Namir Mohammed Ismael | 2122 | 2 | 1 – 0 | 2 | DAWOD Mahmoud.W | 1610 | 20 | |
| 9 | 16 | AL MAASHANI Abdullah | 1831 | 1½ | 1 – 0 | 1 | ALHEJAB Meshal | 1681 | 19 | ||
| 10 | 22 | AL-ZAATARI Fares Thamer | 0 | 1 | 1 – 0 | 1 | FM | Salim Mohammed Salim Al Amri | 1926 | 15 | |
| 11 | 23 | Radwan Mahmoud J | 0 | 1 | 0 – 1 | 1 | MOHAMMED Ahmed Said Al Amri | 1772 | 17 | ||
| 12 | 21 | ALOTHMAN Salem | 1558 | ½ | 1 | bye | |||||
See other news of Asian Zone 3.1 Zonal Hybrid Chess Championship
Rd 4: FIDE Master Akar Ali Salih of Iraq Shares Lead in Zone 3.1 Zonal Hybrid Chess Championship
Rd 3: FM Malek Koniahli Grabs Solo Lead in Zone 3.1 Zonal Hybrid Chess Championship
Rd 2: Syrian Upsets Top Seed Iranian GM in Zone 3.1 Zonal Hybrid Chess Championship