Grandmaster Dmitry Kokarev led the bunch with seven points while eight others were snapping at his heels half a point behind at the end of eighth round of the Mumbai Mayor’s Cup international open chess tournament, in Mumbai on Monday.
Kokarev, with a rating of 2612, drew with Russian compatriot Maletin Pavel (rating 2584) to take the sole lead in the Rs 15 lakh prize money tournament.
In the eighth round, Mumbai’s Rakesh Kulkarni (ELO 2149) and Aditya Udeshi (ELO 2316) continued their impressive performance by beating fancied rivals Simonia Hrair of Armenia and Dzhumaev Marat of Uzbekistan respectively.
Kulkarni, playing against GM Hrair (ELO 2521), opted for Queen’s Pawn opening that was answered by Queen’s Indian Defence.
To free his bishop for better movement, Rakesh sacrificed his pawn followed by an exchange sacrifice to attack his rival’s king. On the 35th move Hrair lost his rook, while trying to defend his king. He tried to continue the game but had to accept his defeat on the 42nd move.
Udeshi, playing with white against GM Marat (ELO 2459), was confronted by the Pirc defense.
{{/usCountry}}Udeshi, playing with white against GM Marat (ELO 2459), was confronted by the Pirc defense.
{{/usCountry}}He created heavy pressure on king side and his rival fumbled on his 35th move and lost a piece. Marat resigned after seven more moves.