Harsh suresh

WIM Oshini Gunawardhana Devindya: International Master (IM) Harsh Suresh held leader, GM Iniyan Pa to a draw in the 8th round but this may be just a temporary setback, as the National champion still leads the rest of the field by a point and needs only a draw in the final round to emerge champion in the Master's Section of the Global Chess Festival, being played at the World Trade Centre in Mumbai.

The favourites fumbled and stumbled in the other two categories too. Overnight sole leader Viresh Sharnarthi, who was on a roll in the Challengers Category, was shocked by a lower-rated player, Ashirwad Swain of Orissa, and dropped down to third place with 6 others, all having scored 6.5 points. Nithin Babu also stunned higher-rated FM Arun Kataria, with both jointly leading this Category with 7 points each.

Iniyan, with 7, holds on to a full-point lead over next-placed Boris Savchenko. Harsh Suresh, Aakash Sharadchandra Dalvi, Apoorv Kamble, and Ajay Santosh Parvathareddy are bunched behind with 5.5 points each.