New Delhi (29 Oct) :- Grandmaster Leon Luke Mendonca of India (above right) defeated Mongolian Grandmaster Batchuluun Tsegmed to emerge as the solo leader with a perfect score after the end of the third round of the Asian Continental Chess Championship now underway at the Leela Ambience in New Delhi, India.
The tournament is organized by the All India Chess Federation under the auspices of the Asian Chess Federation and FIDE. Visit chess-results.com.
On what turned out to be a tough day for the Mongolian, Mendonca capitalized on most of the opportunities offered by his rival and took the point home.
In other important encounters, two-time Indian national champion Karthikeyan Murali missed the opportunity to garner full point and satisfied himself with half a point against Koustav Chatterjee on top board while top seed Praggnanandhaa and second seed Narayanan S L got the better of Pranesh M and Urazayev Arystanbek of Kazakhstan, respectively.
In the women’s section, continuing her impressive show Kazakh girl Liya Kurmangaliyeva held International Master Soumya Swaminathan to a creditable draw.
Woman International Master Saina Salonika (above right) shocked second seed Nomin Erdene Davaademberel of Mongolia. It is the second defeat for the second seeded Mongolian in three matches as she suffered a setback in the opening round against Kurmangaliyeva.
Ten players including top seed Tanaia Sachdev (above left), who defeated Kiran Manisha Mohanty, are now sharing the lead with two and a half points.