TN’s Sailesh secures sole lead in Raisoni chess

Nagpur: Tamil Nadu’s second-seeded Sailesh R won all the games he played to take sole lead in the 19th GH Raisoni Chess festival underway at Shraddha Park, Wadi Hingna Link Road, on Tuesday.

In the sixth round, the 21-year-old Sailesh utilised his opening advantage with the white pieces well to get the better of Kerala’s Salil Kumar on the top board. With full six points, Sailesh is leading the chart in the classical format of the tournament. He is followed by five others, including Nagpur’s Nilay Kulkarni, at the second spot with 5.5 points each. In the sixth round, Kulkarni defended well with his black pieces and outclassed Yodharth Narule on the fifth board.

RESULTS (Round 6)

Sailesh R (6) bt Salil Kumar (5), Rupam Mukherjee (5.5) drew with Shaon Chowdhury (5.5), Kishan Kumar (5.5) bt Pratham Gupta (4.5), Pradeep Tiwari (5.5) bt Aashi Upadhyay (4.5), Yodharth Narule (4.5) lost to Nilay Kulkarni (5.5), Ameya Godbole (5) drew with Ajay Kumar Rai (4.5), Vishwaditya Awasthi (5) bt Arihant Rangari (4), Raunak Godbole (4.5) drew with Suhan Deshpande (4.5), Prerak Darvekar (5) bt Heramb Nirvan (4).