Parimarjan stays ahead
NEW DELHI: Former Asian junior champion S. Arun Prasad played a brilliant endgame for a draw against leader Parimarjan Negi and then defeated M.R. Venkatesh to stay in the second spot after seven rounds of the Philadelphia International chess tournament at Philadelphia on Sunday.
With two rounds to go, Parimarjan (6 points) enjoys a half-point lead. G.N. Gopal (5) drew with top seed Surya Shekhar Ganguly (4.5) to share the third spot.
Other Indians, K. Ratnakaran, Eesha Karavade (4.5 each), Abhijit Kunte, Venkatesh (4 each), R.R. Laxman, Kiran Manisha Mohanty, Aarthie Ramaswamy, Swati Ghate (3.5 each), Nisha Mohota and Sai Meera (2.5 each) followed in that order.
In the second round of the Paris International Open, young Sahaj Grover proved equal to 11th seeded Grandmaster Andrei Shchekachev (France) to reach one point.
Meanwhile, in the Sort Open tournament in Sort, Spain, Abhijeet Gupta defeated fellow Grandmaster Argentina’s Anton Kovakyov to join Bulgaria’s Aleksander Delchev in the lead at six points from seven rounds.