IM Vikramaditya Kulkarni defeated overnight co-leader Chinmay Kulkarni from the black side of the French Defence in a duel lasting 62 moves in the 5th round of Kotak Mahindra Bank International Open Chess Tournament here today.
With this win, Kulkarni, with 7 points, is well-poised to take the title in this Rs 3 lakh prize-money event.
On board 2, the overnight joint leader Rakesh Kulkarni was defeated by IM Sameer Kathmale in 48 moves from the Reti Opening. Rakesh thus moved out of contention.
On board 3, top-seeded IM Aditya Udeshi came back into the reckoning for top honours by making a short work of Chirag Satkar from the white-side of French Defense in 39 moves.
FIDE Master Akash Thakur, who was leading the tournament at the half-way stage, lost the momentum against Amardeep Bartakke and had to concede a draw. He is now in the third spot.
A major upset was witnessed on board 5 as hitherto unbeaten Deepak Katiyar of Delhi was shocked by 13-year old Harshita Guddanti of Andhra Pradesh.
The tournament is poised for an exciting finish as three players are in the 2nd spot: top-seeded IM Aditya Udeshi, Sameer Kathmale and Harshita Guddanti all have the chance for a podium finish with a score of 6.5.
Udeshi is pitted against Kulkarni whereas Kathmale will be facing Guddanti.
