Rasht moves closer to clinch the title

By Gopakumar

Bhubaneswar (31 Aug 17) :- Iranian team Rasht on course to secure the Dubai Cup after an easy outing against Muscat in the penultimate round of Asian Cities Team Chess Championship at KiiT University on Thursday.

The top seed Iranian team not faced any resistance from their Omani rivals to register comfortable 4 – 0 victory. Host and second seed KIIT Bhubaneswar maintained their second spot on the point table after beating Cuttack 3½ – ½ . For Bhubaneswar, Rakesh Kumar Jena, Utkal Ranjan Sahoo and Kiran Manisha Mohanty produced decisive result for their team while Swayams Mishra forced to split the point with his lower rated rival Rabindra Kumar Ojha.

Dhaka moved to the third spot after beating Malaysian team Penang in a nail biting match that ended in narrowest victory margin. In other matches, Dubai signed peace with Puri while Kolkata overcome Alquds and KISS Bhuaneswar defeated higher seeded Chinese Taipei. For KISS, Nayak Sanjan Kumar and Manindra Karjee produced resounding victories over their higher rated rivals Wang Ting Hao and Liu Yeh Yang, respectively while Tapan Badamundi held Min Po Yen to seal the match.

Results Round-8 :- Rasht (14) beat Muscat (7) 4 – 0; Cuttack (3) lost to KIIT Bhubaneswar (13) ½ -3½ ; Penang (10) lost to Dhaka (11) 1½ – 2½ ; Dubai (7) drew with Puri (7) 2 – 2; Alquds (5) lost to Kolkata (8) ½ -3½ ; KISS Bhubaneswar (5) beat Chinese Taipei (6) 2½ – 1½ .