Grand Prix Chess Series: Sanjeev Mishra claims sole lead after sixth round

Mumbai, Feb 11: The seventh seed Sanjeev Mishra defeated overnight co-leader Arnav Kohli for his sixth consecutive victory, propelling him to the top of the standings in the All India Grand Prix Chess Series, organised by Indian Chess School, in Mumbai on Sunday.

In the top board encounter, Mishra employed the London system but the young Arnav proved adept at effectively neutralizing Mishra’s initial advantage and even gaining the upper hand in the middlegame stage.

However, a critical error on move 26 proved to be decisive as it allowed Mishra to open up the lines for his major pieces, ultimately leading to his victory on move 37.

Following closely behind Sanjeev Mishra is the top-seeded International Master, Vikramaditya Kulkarni, who secured his fourth consecutive win by defeating sixth-seeded Arnav Kherdekar. Kulkarni’s victory sets the stage for a summit clash with Sanjeev Mishra in the final round tomorrow.

Following Vikramaditya Kulkarni in third place is a group of six players, comprising Amardeep Bartakke, Arnav Koli, Yash Kapadi, Sohum Pawar, Deepak Soni, and Dhruv Muthe.

Key Results of Round 6:

Mishra Sanjeev (6) beat (5) Arnav Koli; IM Kulkarni V (5½) beat (4½) Kherdekar Arnav; Dodhiya Punit (4) lost to (5) Bartakke Amardeep; Kapadi Yash (5) beat (4) Miranka Trishad; Soni Deepak (5) beat (4) Iyer Vivek; Jain Bharggav (4) lost to (5) Pawar Sohum; Sunil Vaidya (4) lost to (5) Muthe Dhruv; Shravan Balram (4) lost to (4½) Raghav Srivathsav; Reyaansh Venkat (4½) beat (3½) Joglekar Abhijit; Kush Agarwal (4½) beat (3½) Agraval Shravana; Mukul Rane (3½) lost to (4½) Ishaan Tendolkar; Arnav Thatte (4½) beat (3½) Tanmay More; Vihaan Rao (4) drew (4) Devesh Ambre.