Abhilash Reddy beats Akash; four share lead
Playing white side of Yugoslav attack, Akash made a crucial mistake on 29th move to give the material edge to his rival. Snatching the chance, Reddy exerted pressure to his opponent territory to garner full points after 73 moves.
This result threw the championship wide open as four players, including Akash and Reddy now share pole position with eight and half points.
Diptayan Ghosh defeated fourth seed International Master P Karthikeyan of PSPB to give company to the leaders along with third seed Debashis Das of Odisha, who settled for half point against second seed S Satyapragyan of Air India.
A pack of 29 players are in second spot with seven and half points. The top 30 from this event will qualify for the National Premier Chess Championship. (MORE)