Gupta, Negi in joint lead in Dubai Open chess

DUBAI, Apr 21:
Grandmaster and defending champion Abhijeet Gupta showcased his positional acumen to outwit Gm Amin Bassem of Egypt in the sixth round of 14th Dubai International Open chess tournament here.
With the victory, Gupta took his tally to five points and jumped into joint lead along with compatriots Parimarjan Negi, Sandipan Chanda, Ni Hua of China, Vladimir Akopian of Armenia Evgenij Miroshnichenko of Ukraine and Normunds Miezis of Latvia.
In another exceptional effort, Negi beat Levan Pantsulaia of Georgia while Chanda scored over compatriot Surya Shekhar Ganguly to remain in contention for a podium finish.
With just three rounds to go in one of the strongest open tournaments held in Asia, Vishnu Prasanna came within striking distance of his GM norm after beating Russian GM Alexander Evdokimov. Prasanna, S Nitin, M R Lalith Babu and P Shyam Nikil are amongst those on 4.5 points sharing the eighth spot.(PTI)