GIBRALTAR : Woman Grandmaster Padmini Rout continued her dream run as she secured a Grandmaster norm after defeating Grandmaster Tamir Nabaty of Israel in the eighth round of the Masters section of Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival here.
With her third Grandmaster scalp in a row, Rout took her tally to six points out of a possible eight and this is the best ever performance from the Odisha girl, who is not yet an International Master.
A huge gain of over 50 points also means that Rout is ready to become the third highest rated Indian girl behind Koneru Humpy and D Harika, the only two Indian girls with Grandmaster title.
Having beaten Keydan Troff of United States and compatriot Sandipan Chanda in the last two rounds, Rout continued her demolition and downed Nabaty from the white side of a Caro Kann Advanced variation game.
The Indian capitalised on an optical error on move 12 to net a pawn and then produced some skilled technique to romp home in 47 moves.
With six points in her kitty now, Rout just needs to appear for the next round game against elite Grandmaster P Harikrishna, and even a loss will confirm her maiden Grandmaster norm.
Harikrishna was held to a draw by defending champion Ivan Cheparinov of Bulgaria and inched only up to six points with just two rounds remaining in the 175000 Pounds Sterling (About Rs. 1.7 Crores) Chess festival.
Meanwhile, at the top, Hikaru Nakamura of United States stretched his lead to a full point after outclassing Yangyi Yu of China. The American moved to an astounding 7.5 points out of a possible eight and now stands a full point clear of nearest rivals Axel Bachmann of Paraguay, David Howell of England and Daniel Naroditsky of United States — all of whom have 6.5 points apiece.
Harikrishna, Rout and B Adhiban are the three Indians still in contention for a podium finish but they all need a super effort in the last two rounds. With six points in all, they share the fifth spot with 15 others. (AGENCIES)
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