Akash among leaders in All India Open chess

Mangalore, April 29 (IANS) Top seed Akash Thakur of Railways defeated Andhra Pradesh's C.H.Meghana to shared the lead with 3.0 points after the third round of the 1st UKCA Cup All India Open FIDE Rated chess tournament here Sunday.

Akash overcame Meghna (ELO 1762) in a gritty battle while Singapore's Arjuan Vairavan (ELO 1760) bounced back from Saturday's defeat and scored over Aruna Dinakara (ELO 1316) of Karnataka.

Sharing the lead at 3.0 points with Akash were Ritviz Parab, Rohan Ahuja, Anurag Mhamal, Naik Rishub Naresh, Anirudh Bhat, Niraj Saripalli (all Goa), V. Raghavendra, L. Vivekananda, Vaibhav Bhat, K. Durgesh, Vivekraj (all Karnataka) and Pranav Vijay, A Akshaya (both Tamil Nadu).

Meanwhile, local star Sharan Rao (ELO 1726) of St. Theresa's High School, extended veteran Woman International Master Bhagyashree Thipsay (ELO2164) of Maharashtra in a game that lasted four hours.

The queen and minor piece ending battle between youth and experience had the spectators on their toes. With fortunes swinging either way, the Mumbai star accepted Sharan's draw offer as she found herself precariously short of time.

In another upset, Karnataka lad from Dharmastala, Varma Shabdhik (ELO 1759), studying at SDM English Medium School, Ujire, held third seeded M Kunal of Tamil Nadu to a draw.

The opposite colored bishop ending with an extra pawn offered little chances for Kunal, as Varma Shabdhik defended accurately and snatched half a point after 60 moves.

Important Results (Round 3): C H Meghna (AP) 2 lost to Akash Thakur (Rlys) 3, Anurag Mhamal (Goa) 3 bt Andria D'souza (Kar) 2, Varma Shabdhik (Kar) 2.5 drew M Kunal (TN) 2.5, Bagyashree Thipsay (Mah) 2.5 drew Sharan Rao (Kar) 2.5, Nisha N Patkar (Kar) 2 lost to Pranav Vijay (TN) 3, V Raghavendra (Kar) 3 bt Pangal Gopalkrishna Nayak (Kar) 2, A Akshaya (TN) 3 bt Akshay V Halagannavar (Kar) 2, Maanas O T (Ker) lost to Vaibhav Bhat (Kar) 3, Niraj Saripalli (Goa) 3 bt Hermon Dain Saldhana (Kar) 2, Shalon Joanne Pais (Kar) 2 lost to Rohan Ahuja (Goa) 3.