GM Iniyan Pa continues his dominant performance at the Global Chess Festival, securing a crucial lead while top seeds like Abhijeet Gupta face unexpected defeats in the intense tournament.
Photograph: Stanley Cheah/Reuters
Key Points
- GM Iniyan Pa extended his winning streak and took a one-point lead at the Global Chess Festival.
- Third seed GM Abhijeet Gupta faced an upset, losing to IM Sammed Jaykumar Shete.
- Sri Lanka’s Oshini Gunawardhana Devindya defeated seventh seed GM Mihail Niketenko, marking a strong comeback.
- Iniyan Pa’s victory over Ayush Sharma involved a strategic game where Iniyan capitalised on an early advantage, forcing a resignation on the 53rd move.
GM Iniyan Pa continued with his winning spree in the Global Chess Festival but the third seeded GM Abhijeet Gupta lost his contest in the fifth round here on Monday.
Global Chess Festival: Key Developments
Iniyan got the better of Ayush Sharma to take one-point lead over Akash Sharadchandra Dalvi and Soham Kamotra. Iniyan and Kamotra will face off in the sixth round. As many as 11 players are clubbed below these three at 3.5 points each.
Gupta, who has not been in his best form, lost to IM Sammed Jaykumar Shete, while the second seed Sankalp Gupta was defeated by IM Srihari.
In the Challengers section, Viresh Sharnarthi and Vedant Nagarkatte have a joint lead with five points each, whereas Madhvendra Pratap Sharma has the sole lead with five points in the Junior Masters Category.
Sri Lanka’s Oshini Gunawardhana Devindya got the better of the seventh seed GM Mihail Niketenko of Belarus. The Sri Lankan player has bounced back remarkably after defeats in the first two rounds.
While Dalvi defeated Akshay Borgaonkar, IMs Nitish Belurkar and Kamotra played out a draw.
Iniyan remained in control of his game against Ayush who had opted for the Nimzo Indian Opening and faced challenges right from the beginning, especially after his opponent grabbed a rook for his bishop. Iniyan maintained his position in the game and kept on building the advantage, eventually forcing Ayush to resign on the 53rd move.
Disclaimer: News content is sourced from the stated source. Headlines, summaries, section headers, and images are automatically generated or selected using AI/algorithms and may not always be fully accurate. Readers are advised to refer to the full article for complete context.
