Three Indians in joint lead

LONDON, AUG. 21. Top seed Grandmaster Abhijit Kunte won a tactical battle against Colin Crouch of England to share the lead with four others, including two Indians, after the third round of the Commonwealth chess championship here.

International Master P. Harikrishna also moved to the top spot with 2.5 points after a finely crafted victory over Janez Barle of Slovenia. The third Indian at the top of the table was International Master P. Konguvel, who drew his third round game with R. Gormally.

Grandmasters Colin McNab of Scotland and Neil McDonald of England won their respective matches to join the three Indians in the lead.

Abhijit played a positional game against IM Crouch and a superior understanding in the middlegame gave him an advantage. He held a vice-like grip on the board after that and slowly exerted pressure to romp home.

Harikrishna, who is vying for his final Grand Master norm here, won a hard-fought victory over Barle. Playing with his usual speed, Harikrishna caught his opponent off-guard in the intricacies of the middlegame and came out the winner capitalising on Barle's inaccuracy.

Following the leaders in the second spot were a pack of 14 players including GMs Dibyendu Barua and Pravin Thipsay and IMs Lanka Ravi and Neeraj Kumar Mishra.

Y. Pratibha played an imaginative game to beat Monodip Dhar with white pieces. The victory enabled Pratibha to move to two points while Monodip remained on one point from three games.

After a fine start that gave her a draw against GM McNab in the first round, Saheli Dhar Barua slipped a little in the second round but came back in the reckoning for top honours with an effortless victory over Ryo Shiomi of Japan.

IWM Bhagyashree Thipsay put her losses behind her to score a comprehensive victory over John Bass of England. Bhagyashree who is a former Commonwealth champion will however have to work very hard in the remaining rounds to repeat that performance.

Important results (third round): Abhijit Kunte 2.5 bt Colin Crouch 1.5; P. Harikrishna 2.5 bt J. Barle 1.5; D. Barua 2 drew with with Lanka Ravi 2; P. Konguvel 2 drew with R. Gormally; Dimitri Agros 2 drew with Oleg KirsaNov 2; Robert Eames 2 drew with P.M. Thipsay 2; C. McNab 2.5 bt J. Houska 1.5; Chiedu Maduekwe 1.5 lost to N. McDonald 2.5; Anthony Fox 1.5 lLost to Annaberdieu 2; David Barrron 1.5 lost to N.K. Mishra 2; Andrew Webster 2 bt Phillip Gardner 1; Batyrov 2 bt Alexandra Wilson 1; Odion Aikhoje 1 lost to Graeme Buckley; Y. Pratibha 2 bt Saheli Barua 1; Andrew Bigg 1.5 drew Patrick Coffey 1.5; Christopher Kreuzer 1 lost to Ihab Salem 2; Alain Dekker 1 lost to Jon Friedland 2; Peter Szabo 1.5 drew with Omowale Nelson 1.5; Simon Warman 1.5 drew Tristan Cox 1.5; C. Njotea 1.5 drew with Sarah Hegarty 1.5; M. Franklin 1 drew with R. Harman 1; R. Shiomi 0.5 lost to Saheli Barua 1.5; B.P. Thipsay 1 bt John Bass 0.

- PTI

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