Russians playing under the FIDE flag rallied to take the lead in many age groups after the penultimate round of the Asian Youth Chess Championship at the Al Ain Convention Center in Al Ain, United Arab Emirates.
In the girls under-8 age group, Parihar Kriyana of India leads alone with 7 points followed a half point behind by Angelina Vlad Ambartsumyan of Russia. Tied at 6 points each are erstwhile co-leaders Bijesh Divi and AS. Sharvaanica, both of India.
Russian Kristina Zavivaeva leads alonw with 7 points followed by Indians Ranganath Aadya with 6.5 points. Three players are tied at 6 points each, namely Bordoloi Pratitee and Digamber Sawal Diya of India, and Lu Xiahan (Luna) of New Zealand.
Chinese Gao Muziyan boasts a perfect 8 points in the under girls under-12. Polina Smirnova of Russia follows with 6.5 points. Devindya Oshini Gunawardhana of Sri Lanka and Dominika Ivashentseva of Russia are tited at 6 points apiece.
Leila Tabermakova of Russia leads the girls under 14 with 6.5 points. Uliana Dudkina of Russia and Alserkal Rouda Essa of the UAE are close behind at 6 points each.
FM Ysns Zhapova of Russia leads the girls under-16 with 7 points followed by compatriot WFM Valeria Kleymenova at 6.5 points. Tied at 6 points apiece are WFM Olga Dm. Karmanova of Russia dn WFM Ganta Kheerthi of India.
Laysa Latifah of Indonesia leads the girls under-18 with 7 points followed by G. Tejaswini of India with 6 points. A 3-way tie for third ensued among WFM Elnaz Kalakhmet of Kazakhstan and Vietnamese Lueong Hoang Tu Linh and WIM Nguyen Thien Ngan at 5.5 points each.
Vietnamese Le Phan Hoang Quan leads the boys under-8 with 7 points followed by Kapil Aarit of India and Vietnamese Nguyen Xuan Phuong at 6.5 points each.
In the boys under-10, Ramtin Kakavand of Iran leads alone with 7 ponts followed by Arseny Kleschevnikov of Russia and Talab Rami of Syria at 6.5 points apiece.
Mark Smirnov of Kazakhstan leads the boys under-12 with 7 points followed by a 5-way tie for second slot at 6 points apiece among Chen Zim (Js) and Jiang Haochen of China, Taimaz Temirbekov and Alexey Surikov of Russia and Elsultan Kaliakhmet of Kazakhstan.
Russian Aleksey Prokhorov leads the boys under-14 with 7 points followed by FM Edgar Mamedov of Kazakhstan at 6.5 points. Tied with 6 points each are Russians Vladimir Maslovsky and Marat Gilfanov.
Six players share the lead in the boys under-16 at 6 points each, namely FM Suresh Harsh of India, IM Erdem Khubukshanov and Kiril Otdelnov of Russia, Satria Duta Cahaya of Indonesia, Dang Anh Minh of Vietnam and FM Imangali Akhbiabay of Kazakhstan.
IM L.M.S.T. De Silva of Sri Lanka and Chine Zhang Di are tied for the lead in the boys under-18 with 6.5 points each. There is a 5-way tie for third slot with 5,5 points among FM Banh Gia Huy and FM Tran Dang Minh Quang of Vietnam, FM satbek Akhmedinov of Kazakhstan, Aziz Degenbaev of Kyrgyzstan and Davron Sharipov of Uzbekistan.