Ukrainian Grandmaster Solodovnichenko Yuri continues to enjoy the lead after the eighth round of the eighth Chennai Open International Grandmaster chess tournament, here today.
Yuri beat GM Dzhumaev Marat of Uzbekistan in an exciting game, moving into sole lead with seven points with two rounds remaining in the tournament.
Three Grandmasters -- Deepan Chakkravarthy of India, andf Russian duo of Mozharov Mikhail and Belous Vladimir are behind Yuri at 6.5 points.
Indian GM Chakkravarthy (6.5) improved his chances scoring over GM Sivuk Vitaly of Ukraine, while International Master S Vijayalakshmi (6.0) fought hard, snatching a draw against defending champion GM Ivan Popov of Russia. She now shares the fifth spot with eight other players.
One point behind the leader, defending champion Popov Ivan faces an uphill task as the race for the title hots up.
In key penultimate rounds pairings, Russian Mozharov faces Solodovnichenko of Ukraine, while Chakkravarthy will be up against Belous Vladimir of Russia.
Round 8 results (Indians unless specified): Solodovnichenko Yuri (UKR) 7 bt Dzhumaev Marat (UZB) 6, Belous Vladimir (RUS) 6.5 drew with Mozharov Mikhail (RUS) 6.5, Popov Ivan (RUS) 6 drew with Vijayalakshmi Subbaraman (6), Sivuk Vitaly (UKR) 5.5 lost to Deepan Chakkravarthy (6.5), Bernadskiy Vitaliy (UKR) 6 drew with Ernst Sipke (NED) 6, Shyaamnikhil P (5) lost to Grachev Boris (RUS) 6, David Alberto (ITA) 6 bt Kunal M (5), Demchenko Anton (RUS) 6 bt Rakesh Kulkarni (5), Mohammad Nubairshah Shaikh (5.5) drew with Tukhaev Adam (UKR) 5.5, Thakur Akash (5.5) drew with Neverov Valeriy (UKR) 5.5.
