Laxman, Alberto, Malakhatko among leaders

Italian Grandmaster Alberto David (4.0) shared the lead after the fourth round of the 9th Chennai Open Grandmaster Chess tournament 2017 for the Sakthi Group Dr N Mahalingam Trophy at the New Media Hall, Nehru Stadium, Chennai here today.

Alberto David now shares the lead at 4.0 points with five players viz., Laxman R R and Sekar B (both India), Tukhaev Adam (Ukr), Malakhatko Vadim (Bel) and Czebe Attila (Hungary). Half a point behind at 3.5 points were twenty players including Grandmasters Grover Sahaj (Ind) Horvath Adam (Hun), Stopa Jacek (Pol), Bernadskiy Vitaliy and Sivuk Vitaly (both Ukraine) among others.

Grandmaster Laxman R R (ICF, Chennai) kept up Indian hopes scoring a fine technical win over junior D Gukesh. The rook and minor piece ending victory kept Laxman on top of the table among the leaders.

In a relatively quiet day, the higher seeds kept their seedings intact, lowering their opponents without much ado. The lone upset of the day, saw Candidate Master Urazayev Arystanbek of Kazakhastan going down to Sekar B of India on the lower board. The win enabled the Indian to join the bunch of leaders at 4/4 score.

6 rounds remain to be played in this Rupees Eleven lakhs prize money event that concludes on 25th Jan, 2017.

Results (Round 4) (Indians unless specified) Kunal M (3) lost to David Alberto (Ita) 4, Tukhaev Adam (Ukr) 4 bt Saravana Krishnan P (3), Tokhirjonova Gulrukhbegim (Uzb) 3 lost to Malakhatko Vadim (Bel) 4, Sidhant Mohapatra (3.5) drew with Horvath Adam (Hun) 3.5, Czebe Attila (Hun) 4 bt Chakravarthi Reddy M (3), Shetty Rahul (3.5) drew with Shyaamnikhil P (3.5), Saptarshi Roy 3.5 drew with Mahalakshmi M (3.5), Gukesh D (3) lost to Laxman R R (4), Vignesh N R (3.5) drew with Mithil Ajgaonkar (3.5), Sekar B (4) bt Urazayev Arystanbek (Kaz) 3.