Mumbai, Feb 10
Sanjeev Mishra (ELO 1689) defeated the reigning National Amateur Chess Champion and overnight leader, Amardeep Bartakke (ELO 1961) in round five to move to the pole position in the All India Grand Prix Series Chess Championship, organised by Indian Chess School, Mumbai.
Their encounter on the top board showcased a theoretical duel in the Ruy Lopez opening, and as the game progressed, it seemed destined for a draw, with the exchange of most pieces completed by move 35. However, a blunder by Amardeep on move 40 handed Sanjeev the advantage of two pawns. From there, it was a matter of technique for Sanjeev to secure a full point and surge into the lead.
On board two, the unbeaten 14-year-old Arnav Koli extended his impressive streak by defeating Yash Kapadi, thus joining Sanjeev at the top of the leaderboard.
Top-seeded Vikramaditya Kulkarni and Arnav Kherdekar are closely trailing Sanjeev and Arnav with an impressive score of 4.5/5.
A sizable group of 11 players currently holds the third position with a score of 4/5. Among them are notable names such as Amardeep Bartakke, Sunil Vaidya, Deepak Soni & Yash Kapadi.
Key Results of Round 5:
Bartakke A (4) lost to (5) Mishra Sanjeev; Arnav Koli (5) beat (4) Kapadi Yash; Raghav S (3½) lost to (4½) IM Kulkarni V; Kherdekar Arnav (4½) beat (3½) Kush Agarwal; Joglekar Abhijit (3½) lost to (3) Soni Deepak; Ishaan Tendolkar (3½) drew (3½) Arnav Thatte; Pawar Sohum (4) beat (3) Palaash Mapara; Shreyas Kaushik (3) lost to (4) Muthe Dhruv; Gogri Vedaant (3) lost to (4) Sunil Vaidya; Sathiesh Kumaar (3) lost to (4) Dodhiya Punit; Iyer Vivek (4) beat (3) Patel Shubh; Miranka Trishad (4) beat (3) Shaurya Shah; Kadkade Ameya (3) lost to (4) Shravan Balram; Gala Vansh (3) lost to (4) Jain Bharggav