Date:30/06/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/06/30/stories/2008063053111800.htm

Sport - Chess

Arun Karthik hangs on to slender lead

Principal Correspondent

KOCHI: Chennai’s R. Arun Karthik hung on to his slender lead as the 20th Cusat Open all-India FIDE-rating chess tournament entered the home stretch at the Cochin University, here on Sunday.

Third seed Arun, who drew his penultimate round game with ICF’s fourth-seeded R. Balasubramaniam, leads the pack with eight points from nine rounds. Balsubramaniam is in the second spot with 7.5 points.

Nine players, including Tamil Nadu’s top-seeded Ram S. Krishnan and second seed C. Praveen Kumar, are in the third rung with seven points.

The results:

Ninth round: R. Balasubramaniam (ICF, 7.5) drew with Arun Karthik (TN, 8); M.B. Muralidharan (Ker, 7) drew with T. Purushothaman (AP, 7); C. Praveen Kumar (TN, 7) drew with Sriram Sarja (Kar, 7); P. Phoobalan (TN, 7) drew with Varugeese Koshy (TN, 7); O.T. Anilkumar (Ker, 6) lost to Ram S. Krishnan (BSNL, 7); Nimmy A. George (Ker, 7) bt D.K. Chopra (Del, 6); Cheni Ram (Asm, 6) lost to G.A. Stany (Kar, 7); N. Aravind Subramanian (TN, 6) drew with R. Premnath (TN, 6); E.P. Nirmal (Ker, 6.5) bt S. Raghuraman (TN, 5.5); M.G. Gahan (Kar, 6) drew with T.J. Suresh Kumar (ICF, 6).

Eighth round: Ram S. Krishnan lost to Arun Karthik; Phoobalan drew with Praveen Kumar; Stany lost to Balasubramaniam; Purushothaman bt Nirmal; Varugeese Koshy bt C.R.G. Krishna, Sriram Sarja bt M.G. Gahan; K. Haridas lost to M.B. Muralidharan; L.V. Shivkumar lost to Nimmy A. George; T.J. Suresh Kumar drew with Raghuram Balaji; Vijay Anand drew with P.V. Gireesh.