Sethuraman inches closer to title

Hyderabad: With just one round remaining, Grandmaster S.P. Sethuraman, with eight points, moved closer to winning the trophy after he defeated compatriot Vidit Santosh Gujarathi in the penultimate round of the ongoing second Hyderabad International Grandmasters chess tournament at the Kotla Vijaya Bhaskara Reddy Indoor Stadium in Yousufguda on Monday .

Playing the black side of the Scheveningen variation of Sicilian Defence, Vidit got into a slightly advantageous position in the middle game, but under extreme time pressure, overlooked the trap set by his rival to hand over a full point to Sethu after 32 moves. This crucial victory enables Sethu to enjoy a half--point lead over his nearest rivals — top seed Ivan Popov and second-seeded Levan Pantsulaia of Georgia before Tuesday’s final round.

Russian Grandmaster Popov split points with Armenian Grandmaster Samvel Ter-Sahakyan in the 10th round while Pantsulaia got the better of young Indian International Master Karthikeyan Murali in a hard fought game that lasted 61 moves.

Meanwhile three Indian youngsters — Aniruddha Deshpande of Maharashtra, Tamilnadu duo Kunal M. and Akash P.C. Iyer brought cheers to the home crowd as they achieved International Master Norms in the 10th round.

Earlier in the ninth round, Pantsulaia and Sethuraman agreed to sign the peace treaty.