Delhi International Open: Murzin takes lead; Aravindh, Saha among six players in second spot

Murzin rode on his extra knight to a 66-move victory over Viani Antonio D’Cunha to become the first sole leader of the 10-round competition.

REPRESENTATIVE IMAGE: Aravindh, Saha, Michal Krasenkow, Marat Dzhumaev, Mukhiddin Madaminov and Luka Paichadze share the second spot. | Photo Credit: Julian Finney

Aravindh Chithambaram and Neelash Saha drew in just 19 moves to slip to the joint second spot after 12-year-old Russian Volodar Murzin emerged as the leader with a perfect score after seven rounds of the Delhi International Open chess tournament here on Monday.

Murzin rode on his extra knight to a 66-move victory over Viani Antonio D’Cunha to become the first sole leader of the 10-round competition.

Aravindh, Saha, Michal Krasenkow (Poland), Marat Dzhumaev, Mukhiddin Madaminov (both Uzbekistan) and Luka Paichadze (Georgia) share the second spot with 6.5 points.

Top seed S. P. Sethuraman scored a much-needed victory, over lowly-rated Manas Gaikwad to reach 5.5 points.

Leading results (Indians unless stated):

Seventh round: Aravindh Chithambaram (6.5) drew with Neelash Saha (6.5); Volodar Murzin (FIDE, 7) bt Viani Antonio D’Cunha (6); Levan Pantsulaia (Geo, 6) drew with Deepan Chakkravarthy (6); Mikhail Kobalia (FIDE, 5.5) lost to Marat Dzhumaev (Uzb, 6.5); Anuj Shrivatri (6) drew with Mikheil Mchedlishvili (Geo, 6); Vitaly Teterev (FIDE, 5.5) lost to Michal Kransenkow (Pol, 6.5); Lalit Babu (6) bt Apoorv Kamble (5).