Kransenkow stays ahead

The Polish GM maintains lead after drawing his match against Abhijit Kunte

MUMBAI: Overnight leader and top-seeded Polish GM Michael Kransenkow maintained his slender half a point lead over rest of the field as the players on the top boards played safe and agreed for draws to retain their championship chances at the end of round 9 of the LIC — Mumbai Mayor’s International Chess Tournament.

On the top board GM Abhijit Kunte and Kransenkow agreed for a draw just after 11 moves while Al-Rakib drew with his colleague, Ziaur Rahman in 10 moves.

The fight on the third board between GM-norm holder MS Thejkumar and 3rd seeded Macieje proved to be exciting as the Indian player, who is rated much below Macieja, invited complications in the opening by sacrificing a pawn on move 9. The players agreed for a draw after some interesting exchanges.

Second seeded GM Koneru Humpy, renowned for her fighting qualities, tried to quell the challenge of IM Arun Prasad. But eventually, Humpy agreed to a draw after 65 moves.

Meanwhile, Uzbek GM, Anton Fillipov quelled the challenge of IM Venkatesh and Bangladeshi GM Reefat Sattar and Georgian GM Merab Gagunashvili defeated their opponents, Deep Sengupta and B.S. Shivananda respectively. IM Anup Deshmukh of LIC, who defeated GM Elizabar Ubilava, notched up a notable victory.

With two rounds remaining in this 11-round tourney, a group of 6 players, Al-Rakib, Thejkumar, Kunte, Ziaur Rahman and Fillipov are trailing Kransenkow by half-a-point while a big pack of 12-players lead by Humpy are occupying the 3rd spot with 7 points.

Results: GM Kunte Abhijit (7.5) drew GM Kransenkow Michal (8); GM Abdulla Al-Rakib(7.5) drew GM Rahman Zia (7.5); Thejkumar MS (7.5) drew GM Macieja Bartlomiej (7); GM Koneru Humpy (7) drew IM Arun Prasad S (7); GM Filippov Anton (7.5) beat Venkatesh MR (6.5); IM Laxman R R (7) drew Das Arghyadip (7); GM Reefat Bin-Sattar (BAN, 7.5) beat IM Sengupta Deep (6.5); GM Gagunashvili Merab (GEO, 7) beat Shivananda B S(6); FM Priyadharshan K (6) lost to GM Iuldachev Saidali UZB (7); IM Singh D P (6.5) drew GM Safin Shukhrat (UZB, 6.5); FM Vidit Gujrathi (6.5) drew GM Ramesh R B (6.5); GM Bakre Tejas (7) beat Arun Karthik R (6); Ram S Krishnan (7) beat IM Adhiban B (6); WGM Ramaswamy Aarthie (6) lost to IM Satyapragyan S (7); Bartakke Amardeep (6) lost to IM Saptarshi Roy (7); FM Akshat Khamparia (6.5) drew IM Konguvel P (6.5); GM Ubilava Elizbar (ESP, 5.5) lost to IM Deshmukh Anup (7)