Indian GM Diptayan plays second successive draw
Mumbai, June 8: Top seed Grandmaster Farrukh Amonatov of Tajikistan scored a timely win to join the lead bunch of 14 players, all with five points each, at the end of the sixth round of the Rs 29 lakh prize money 10th Mumbai Mayor's Cup International Open Chess Tournament 2017, sponsored by LIC of India, co-sponsored by Ankit Gems and played at the Mount Litera School International, Bandra.
The Tajikistan GM Amonatov (ELO 2635), who had a dismal last round as he was held to a draw by India’s Saravana Krishnan P. (2353), played at a completely different level to register a comfortable win against Indian IM Raghunandan Kaumandur Srihari (2410) to snatch the full point. This was the fourth win for Amonatov and he will have to maintain the tempo in the remaining four rounds to clinch the top honours.
India’s second-seeded GM Diptayan Ghosh (2569), who had a fantastic start recording four straight wins in the opening rounds, slipped a bit as he has failed to score a win in the last two rounds. After drawing with Bangladesh GM Murshed Niaz (2423) in the earlier round, he was held to another draw by Tajikistan’s IM Muhammad Khusenkhojaev (2424) in the sixth round. However, Ghosh also with five points remains with lead bunch.
Results - Round 6 (top-10 boards): GM Ghosh Diptayan (2569, IND) - 5 pts drew with IM Khusenkhojaev Muhammad (2424, TJK) - 5 pts; GM Babujian Levon (2438, ARM) - 5 drew with GM Tukhaev Adam (2567, UKR) - 5; IM Das Sayantan (2401, IND) - 5 drew with GM Mollah Abdullah Al Rakib (2484, BAN) - 5; GM Deepan Chakkravarthy J. (2480, IND) - 5 drew with GM Murshed Niaz (2423, BAN) - 5; IM Raghunandan Kaumandur Srihari (2410, IND) - 4 lost to GM Amonatov Farrukh (2635, TJK) - 5; GM Rahman Ziaur (2526, BAN) - 5 beat IM Rathnakaran K. (2378, IND) - 4; Saravana Krishnan P. (2353, IND) - 4.5 drew with IM Karthikeyan P.(2502, IND) - 4.5; GM Grover Sahaj (2485, IND) - 5 beat FM Karthik Venkataraman (2317, IND) - 4; GM Deviatkin Andrei (2481, RUS) - 5 beat Raahul V.S. (2282, IND) 4; Dileep Kumar R. (2094, IND) - 4 lost to GM Hossain Enamul (2464, BAN) - 5.