Adhiban got the better of Hungarian GM Hoang Thanh Trang in a long game to join overnight leaders Aleksej Aleksandrov (Belarus), Andrei Deviatkin, Nikolai Chadaev (both Russia) and John Paul Gomes (Philippines), all of who settled for quick draws at the Chetana College here.
Adhiban adopted the French defence game where the queens were exchanged rather early. Thereafter, it was slow manoeuvring and exchange of pieces the the players and they reached a rook and pawn ending.
Around the 44th turn, the players had a rook and three pawns each and the game appeared to be heading for a draw. Adhiban continued and kept on pressing. Hoang, then, did not play accurately and lost after 74 moves.
Only two more rounds remain to be played in the 335- player Swiss League event after the ninth round.
Interestingly the two top boards featured all the four overnight sole leaders on seven points and within no time and in just a few moves, Chadaev had signed truce with Aleksandrov, the top rated player.
Filipino Gomez also played a very short draw against Russian rival Deviatkin, the no. 2 seed, while the all-Indian encounter between Abijit Kunte and Deepan Chakravarthy was also a short, drawn affair.
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In joint front position were overnight leaders Aleksandrov, Chadaev, Gomez and Deviatkin along with Adhiban, each totaling 7.5 points.
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