Sr National Chess: Gukesh beats Abhijeet

Kanpur: Tamil Nadu Grandmaster D Gukesh defeated former national champion Abhijeet Gupta of the PSPB in the penultimate round to catch up with overnight sole leader Arjun Erigaisi of Telangana as the 58th edition of Senior National Chess Championship is headed for a photo finish.

In top board battles in the tenth round, second seed Erigaisi agreed to split the point with Grandmaster P Iniyan of Tamil Nadu after 41 moves, while defending champion Aravindh Chithambaram and Delhi Grandmaster Aryan Chopra signed peace after 63 moves signalling a drawn result.

Playing with dark colour pieces in Nimzo-Indian Samisch variation, Gukesh showed immense discipline and skills in the endgame to beat Abhijeet in 64 moves to be at the top of the points table of this Rs 30 lakh prize money event in which six lakh is reserved for the winner. Gukesh and Erigaisi have a slender half point lead over nearest rivals - defending champion Aravindh Chithambaram, former champion S P Sethuraman, Aryan Chopra, Mitrabha Guha, P Iniyan, N R Visakh and V Pranav with one round to go.

With eight points in the kitty, Gukesh and Arjun are now enjoying a slender half point lead over nearest contenders Aravindh Chithambaram, former champion Sethuraman S P, Aryan Chopra, Mitrabha Guha, Iniyan P, Visakh N R and Pranav V with one round to go.

Meanwhile, Utsab Chatterjee, Anustoop Biswas of West Bengal and Sambit Panda of Odisha completed their requirements to achieve nine game International Master Norms during the event and many players are eyeing to complete their international title norms in the final round.