On a day when decisive results proved elusive on the top three boards, Kazakhstan’s Abilmansur Abdilkhair sprang a surprise on the fourth. He defeated fourth seed Daakshin Arun to be among the early leaders of the Tata Steel Asian junior chess championship at the JRD Tata Sports Complex in Jamshedpur on Sunday.
Top seed Aleksey Grebnev from Russia was held to a draw on the first board by S. Aswath. Second-seeded L.R. Srihari and third seed Mayank Chakraborty, who had won the rapid title a couple of days ago, also drew their games.
In the girls’ section, second and third seeds Saina Salonika and Bommini Mounika Akshaya were among the joint leaders. Top seed Nazerke Nurgali of Kazakhstan is lying ninth. Seven rounds remain.
