New Delhi, Mar 25 (Sports News) Grandmaster and former Commonwealth champion M R Lalith Babu nosed ahead of the field after defeating young International Master Shahil Dey in the fifth round of the 19th Delhi International open chess tournament here on Friday.
With his fifth victory on the trot, Lalith, fresh from winning as many as four international events in different countries, maintained a clean slate at the halfway stage of the Rs 25 lakh prize money tournament.
Arjun Erigaisi's winning run was halted by fellow P Iniyan, who played out a draw. Arjun now shares the second spot with Iniyan and seven others with 4.5 points apiece. Five rounds are still left in the tournament.
Lalith capitalised on a massive oversight by Dey. Starting out with the Larsen opening, Dey got an even middle game as Lalith meticulously developed his forces.
On the 24th move, disaster struck Dey as he thought he was playing the winning move through a Knight sacrifice but overlooked a deft reply that turned the tables immediately.
Lalith, who has been in exemplary form, did not give a second chance and wrapped up the issue in 39 moves.
Iniyan employed a topical variation to counter Arjun's Sicilian Sveshnikov. The middle game was interestingly poised when Iniyan parted with his queen for two rooks but his earlier sacrifice had meant that Arjun also had an extra pawn.
However, with a handful of extra pawns, Iniyan made another sacrifice to create a brilliant fortress where Arjun's Queen was helpless against a lone rook. The game was drawn after 41 moves.
Important Results of Round 5 (Indians otherwise stated): GM Iniyan P (4.5) drew with GM Arjun Erigaisi (4.5); IM Shahil Dey (4) lost to GM Lalith Babu M R (5); GM Visakh N R (4.5) drew with GM Mirzoev Azer of Azerbaijan (4.5); FM Seyed Kiran Poormosavi of Iran (4) lost to GM Arjun Kalyan (4.5); GM Pavel Ponkratov of Russia (4.5) beat IM Neelash Saha (3.5); GM Neuris Delgado Ramirez of Paraguay (4.5) beat IM Harshvardhan GB (3.5); Gholami Orimi Mahadi of Iran (4) drew with GM Sethuraman S P (4); GM Mitrabha Guha (4) drew with IM Srihari L R (4); GM Harsha Bharathakoti (4.5) beat IM Anuj Shrivatri (3.5); GM Karthik Venkataraman (4.5) beat Yashita Rout (3.5); IM Shyaamnikhil P (4) drew with IM Sayantan Das (4); IM Krishna CRG (4) beat FM Liyanage Ranindu Dilshan of Sri Lanka (3.5); GM Gukesh D (4) beat CM Ojasva Singh (3); Manigandan SS (3) lost to Deepan Chakkravarthy J (4); Santu Mondal (3) lost to GM Masoud Mosadeghpour of Iran (4); IM Romesh Weerawardane (3) lost to GM Adham Fawzy of Egypt (4); Shaik Sumer Arsh (3) lost to IM Tahbaz Arash of Iran (4); IM Ortik Nigmatov of Uzbekistan (4) beat Ilamparathi AR (3); Sahib Singh (3) lost to Vignesh N R (4); Ritvik Krishnan (3) lost to IM Abdisalimov Abdimalik (4); Ambesh Pratap Singh (3.5) drew with Himal Gusain (3.5); Sidhant Mohapatra (3.5) drew with Sathvik Adiga (3.5).
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News Source : PTI
