Kolkata shocks Dhaka – Asian Cities chess Championship – 2017

By Gopakumar

Bhubaneswar (27 Aug 17) :- Sixth seed Kolkata shocked Dhaka 2 ½ – 1 ½ to take the joint lead in the ongoing Asian Cities Chess Championship at KIIT University on Sunday.

Sonkalan Bharati and Samrat Ghorai scored emphatic victories over higher rated opponents Syed Mahfuzur Rahman and International Master Minhaz Uddin Mohammad while Ritabroto Ganguly held Md. Taibur Rahman to a creditable draw to register a memorable victory for Kolkata. Aminul Islam registered consolation win for Dhaka over Soumik Datta.

Meanwhile top seed Rasht and host KIIT Bhubaneswar also registered convincing victories over Penang and Dubai, respectively to share the lead with Kolkata with four match points.

In other second round encounters, Alquds defeated Muscat and Chinese Taipei got better off Cuttack. Puri edged out KISS Bhubaneswar with narrowest margin to register their first victory in this championship.

Results Round- 2 :- Penang (2) lost to Rasht (4) 0 -4 ; KIIT Bhubaneswar (4) beat Dubai (2) 4 – 0; Kolkata (4) beat Dhaka (1) 2 ½ – 1 ½ ; Alquds (3) beat Muscat (0) 2 ½ – 1 ½ ; Puri (2) beat KISS Bhubaneswar (0) 2 ½ – 1 ½ ; Cuttack (0) lost to Chinese Taipei (2) ½ – 3 1/2