Delhi International Open Grandmasters: Aleksandrov maintains overnight lead

While Aleksandrov Aleksej leads with seven points, two-time champion Abhijeet Gupta defeated Himal Gusain to move to the joint second spot.

Abhijeet Gupta (R) defeated Himal Gusain to move joint-second. [File image]

A 13-move draw with compatriot Alexie Fedorov saw Belarus’ leader Aleksandrov Aleksej maintain his overnight half-point lead after seven rounds of 18th Delhi International Open Grandmasters chess tournament here on Tuesday.

The expected outcome following repetition of moves, a plot that helped the players sidestep the stipulation that forbids the players from agreeing to a draw before black’s 30th move.

Aleksandrov leads with seven points. Two-time champion Abhijeet Gupta defeated Himal Gusain to move to the joint second spot.

M. Pranesh (6.5) continued his dream run by nailing Ukrainian GM Adam Tukhaev. Diptayan Ghosh also matched Pranesh’s tally by beating N. Lokesh.

Eighth-round results Aleksandrov Aleksej (Blr, 7) drew with Alexei Fedorov (Blr, 6.5); Abhijeet Gupta (6.5) bt Himal Gusain (6); Vishnu Prasanna (5.5) lost to Jose Martinez Martinez Alantara (Per, 6.5); Ivan Rozum (Rus, 6) drew with Neelesh Saha (6); N. Lokesh (5.5) lost to Diptayan Ghosh (6.5); Adam Tukhaev (5.5) lost to M. Pranesh (6.5); Kirill Stupak (Blr, 6.5) bt Karthik Venkataraman (5.5); Farrukh Amonatov (Tjk, 5.5) drew with Hesham Abdelrahman (5.5); M. Karthikeyan (6) bt Marat Dzhumaev (Uzb, 5).