Second-seeded Mushini Ajay (Elo 1977) went down to Gokulraj K (Elo 1648) in the seventh round category B clash of the Mumbai Mayor's Cup International Open Chess Tournament here Tuesday.
Andhra Pradesh's Ajay went down to Tamil Nadu rival Gokulraj in a marathon duel lasting 60 moves.
Playing against the Pelikan variation of the Sicilian Defense, Ajay obtained a comfortable winning position early on in the middle game, but lost his way later on in the top board clash.
On the second board, in an all-Kerala encounter, Mansoor CM (Elo 1777), playing the white side of a French Exchange, surprisingly split the point against 12th-seeded Sooraj MR (Elo 1923) in 22 moves.
At the end of he eighth roun five players - Mansoor C M (Ker), Koustav Chakraborthy (WB), Gokulraj (TN), Patil Harshal (Mah), Sooraj M R (Ker) - were fighting hard on top boards to clinch the title.
Local favourite Nubairshah Shaikh was leading with 10 foreign Grand Masters and International Masters in Category A.
On the top board in round four, Vasquez Schroeder Rodrigo (CHI) and Pantsulaia Levan (GEO) drew their game in 30 moves.
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