With just two rounds remaining, the 19th edition of Delhi International Open Grandmasters Chess tournament is heading for an exciting finish as top seed National Champion Arjun Erigaisi along with compatriots Harsha Bharathakoti and D Gukesh are now leading the point table with seven points.
The eighth round of the tournament witnessed fierce battles which produced decisive results on top six boards as Arjun Erigaisi annihilated former national champion Lalith Babu M R in 28 moves arrived out of Scotch game while Harsha shocked second seed Grandmaster Pavel Ponkratov of Russia with light colour pieces in a Semi-Slav game after 58 moves.
Meanwhile, the youngest Indian in history to secure the Grandmaster title D Gukesh joined the Telangana duo of Arjun and Harsha at leader board after beating Karthik Venkataraman with dark colour pieces in a Queen's Gambit Declined game that lasted just 29 moves.
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Defending champion Abhijeet Gupta along with fifth seed Sethuraman S P, International Master Neelash Saha and Iranian FIDE Master Kian Seyed Poormosavi are occupying the joint fourth spot with a drift of half point from the leaders. Abhijeet defeated CRG Krishna while Sethu got the better of Ortik Nigmatov of Uzbekistan. Neelash stunned fourth seed Neuris Delgado Ramirez of Paraguay and Poormosavi beat Deepan Chakkaravarthy in the eighth-round encounter.
In the all-important penultimate round tomorrow, Arjun pitted against Gukesh on top board while Harsha will fight it out with Neelash Saha.
