Chennai Open: Srihari, Nitin among leaders

By Express News Service

CHENNAI:  International Masters Srihari LR, Nitin S, Srijit Paul with 4 points rubbed shoulders with top seeds as they won their fourth round games in the 13th Chennai Open international Grandmaster chess tournament for Sakthi Group Dr Mahalingam trophy here on Tuesday.

Leading at 4/4 were GMs Savchenko Boris (Russia), Stupak Kirill (Belarus), Baghdasaryan Vahe (Armenia) along with IMs Nitin (India), Srihari (India), Srijit (India), FM Jubin (India) and Abdyjapar Asyl (Kyrgyzstan). Joint leaders Srihari, Nitin and Srijit defeated Tiwari Arjun (India), Luong Phuong Hanh, Nguyen Thanh THuy Tien (both Vietnam), respectively.

In the upset of the day, Chennai lad Vignesh B brought down Grandmaster Nguyen Van Huy of Vietnam. In a quiet middle game, the Vietnamese GM overlooked an intervening check when his position collapsed in 33 moves. On Monday, Vignesh had held experienced Grandmaster Fedorov Alexei (Belarus) to a draw in a Giuoco Piano game that lasted 50 moves.

Results: Round 4 (Indians unless specified):  Savchenko Boris (Russia) 4.0 bt Hirthickkesh P R 3.0, Ziatdinov Raset (USA) 3.0 lost to Stupak Kirill (Belarus) 4.0, Ajay Karthikeyan 3.5 drew with Murali Krishnan B T 3.5, Luong Phuong Hanh (Vietnam) 3.0 lost to Nitin S 4.0, Srihari L R 4.0 bt Tiwari Arjun 3.0, Srijit Paul 4.0 bt Nguyen Thanh THuy Tien (Vietnam) 3.0, Ravichandran Siddharth 3.5 drew with Pawar Harshit 3.5, Abdyjapar Asyl (Kyrgyzstan) 4.0 bt Daksh Goyal 3.0, Vijay Anand M 3.0 lost to Baghdasaryan Vahe (Armenia) 4.0, Jubin Jimmy 4.0 bt Majumder Shrayan 3.0, Vignesh B 3.5 bt Nguye Van Huy (Vietnam) 2.5.

Coaching for strikers
With a goal to refine the finishing skills of young footballers, International Strikers Academy (Football Plus) in the city is conducting a training programme for players (age 13 & above). Former Athletic Bilbao player Gaizka Toquero will be training the players. The first session is scheduled to be held from August 15 to 21. The total cost of the course will be Rs 1 lakh for a week and players will be accommodated in a 3-star hotel and the food and local transfer will be taken care of. David Anand, coach & founder of Football Plus, is expecting at least 100 strikers from all over India. Two best players from the programme will be handed 100% scholarship for one month of training in Spain. They will be training with a second division La Liga club.