New Delhi (01 Nov 2022):- Overnight sole leader Grandmaster Harsha Bharathakoti (above left) held top seed Praggnanandhaa R (above right) in the sixth round to maintain his solo lead with five points in the ongoing Asian Continental Chess Championship here on Monday.
The Asian Continental Chess Championship is being organized by the All India Chess Federation under the auspices of the Asian Chess Federation and FIDE at the Leela Ambience Convention Hotel in New Delhi, India. Visit chess-results.com to download games.
Playing white side of Catalan opening, Harsha exchanged the pieces with the top seed at regular intervals to sign the peace treaty after 33 moves. A pack of eleven players including Prgganandhaa are now trailing behind the leader with a drift of half a point.
In other important battles in the sixth round, Grandmaster Leon Luke Mendonca (above left) drew with Sethuraman S P (above right) while Karthikeyan Murali (below left) split the point with compatriot Grandmaster B Adhiban (below right).
Second seed Narayanan S L moved closer with a win over Sandipan Chanda while Aravindh Chithambaram got the better of Ayush Sharma.
In the women’s section, Nandhidhaa P V (above right) grabbed the solo lead after beating fellow team mate Priyanka Nutakki (above left) in the sixth round. Playing with dark pieces in the Alapin Variation of Sicilian Defense, Nandhidhaa capitalized on the positional mistake committed by her opponent in the middle game to garner the full point and take her point tally to five and half points. She now enjoys a solid one point lead over nearest contenders Padmini Rout (photo below) and Priyanka Nutakki with three rounds remaining.
After a sedate start, 2018 edition winner third seed Padmini Rout found her rhythm back to beat sixth seed Nilufur Yakubbaeva of Uzbekistan to follow the leader with four and half points. In the crucial seventh round encounter on Tuesday, Padmini takes on Nandhidhaa while Priyanka paired against Yakubbaeva.
