Swapnil maintains lead

Swapnil maintains lead
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

MUMBAI, JUNE 8: Swapnil Shah of Maharashtra, the overnight leader, drew his sixth round Match against state rival Gaurav Gadodia to keep his position as the sole leader in the National 'B' Chess Championship for the Blind at the Andheri Sports Complex here on Thursday.

Six others, Sanjay Karandikar, Gaurav Gadodia, Vijay Gouli, Suryakant Raut (all from Maharashtra), P Balaraman (Kerala) and Pandyarajan (TN) shared the second spot with five out of six points.

The top ten tables now have ten players from Maharashtra. Shobha Lokhande (Mah) took the lead among the 15 women playing in this tournament. She has notched four points from six rounds.

With two more rounds to go and the leader Swapnil having just half a point lead over the others, the next two rounds are likely to witness some fierce battles on the board.

Results (sixth round): Swapnil Shah (Mah, 5 1/2) drew Gaurav Gadodia (Mah, 5), Suryakant Raut (Mah, 5) drew N Siddaiya (AP 4 1/2), Sanjay Karandikar (Mah,5) beat Rajesh Rajput (Guj, 4), S Andyarajan (TN, 5) beat Rakeshkumar Narwal (Har, 4), Rajesh Ojha (Mah, 4 1/2) drew Vasant Patil ( Mah, 4 1/2), Chirantan Mesariya (Guj, 4) lost to P Balraman (Ker, 5), Vijay Gauli (Mah, 5) beat Dinesh Bhura (Guj, 3 1/2), Bhuvan Kapoor (UP, 3 1/2) lost to Mahipal Singh (Har, 4 1/2), Ibrahim Ingar (Guj, 4 1/2) beat Dinesh Kumar (Har, 3 1/2), Kartik Damle (Mah, 4 1/2) beat Darshan Patel (Guj, 3 1/2).