Indians dominate proceedings at Western Asian youth chess

Indians continued to lead or share the lead in all categories of the Western Asian youth chess championship.

In the U-20 category, Rajdeep Sarkar and Sakshi Chitlange are in lead after four rounds.

In keeping with the expectations, Indians continued to lead or share the lead in all categories of the Western Asian youth chess championship here on Saturday.

After four rounds, seventh seed Rajdeep Sarkar was the surprise leader with a 'perfect' score in the under-20 open section. Among the girls, Sakshi Chitlange was jointly ahead with Uzbekistan’s Bakhora Adusattorova at 3.5 points. Five more rounds remain.

In the under-18 open section, clubbed with under-16 for want of participation of minimum five federations, Arjun Gupta and Vatsal Singhania were ahead with 3.5 points.

Among the under-18 girls, Mrudul Dehankar led following four victories while the girls’ under-16 section saw Greeshma Dhumal share the lead with Bangladesh’s Walijah Ahmed at 3.5 points.

In the combined open sections of under-14 and under-12, Ayush Sharma led with four points, much like Bhagyashree Patil in the girls’ under-14 category.

Other leaders:

Under-10 open and under-10 girls: G. Akash (4 points); Open (under-8): Rosh Jain (4); Open (under-6): Madhvendra Sharma (4).

Girls: (under-12): K. Ratnapriya and Kheerti Ganta (3.5 points); (under-8): Anaishaa Nahar (4); (under-6): Diya Sawal (4).