IM Garcia seizes share of lead in Asian Youth Chess
International Master (IM) Jan Emmanuel Garcia outclassed untitled Javanbakht Nima of Iran to gain a piece of the lead after round seven in the boys’ 18-under of the 2013 Asian Youth Chess Championship being held in Sari, Iran.
Garcia raised his output to six points, the same score of Chinese Ma Zhonghan, who defeated Javidfard Amirsalar of Iran in their own seventh-round match.
FIDE Master (FM) Paulo Ber-samina is also on track in the boys’ 16-under category. He split the point with Tran Tuan Minh of Vietnam in the eighth round to improve his score to six points for solo second. Koushik Girish Arun of India remained on top with 6.5 points. He also drew his eighth-round game with his compatriot Mosadeghpoor Masoud.
In the boys’ 8-under class, FM Alekhine Nouri outplayed Sindarov Javokhir of Uzbekistan to stay in contention with five points and shared the fourth position with Pourmousavi Seyed Kian of Iran and Nguen Duc Sang of Vietnam.
Ramesh Babu Praggnanandhaa of India grabbed the solo lead with 7.5 points by virtue of his eighth-round win over teammate Dey Mahitosh.
Mongolia’s Amartuvshin Gan-zorig and Tugstumur Esuntumur are occupying the second place with 6.5 points each.
Woman FIDE Master Marie Antoinette San Diego dropped to ninth place with 3.5 points after seven rounds in the girls’ 18-under while Jerlyn Mae San Diego has 4.5 points to share the third with two other players in the girls’ 8-under.