Maharashtra Open chess: Paichadze beats Venkatesh to jump to top spot

GM Boris Savchenko and eight Indians, including No.3 seed MR Lalith Babu are among the 11 players trailing the Georgian on 3 points each.Top seed Farrukh Amonatov of Tajikistan, who began with two wins, has been pegged back after draws against lower-rated Indians Samant Aditya and Anup Deshmukh in subsequent rounds to move to three points.Lalith Babu was made to work hard for a win in 60 moves by compatriot Himal Gusain in a Caro-Kann Exchange Variation game. He faces Paichadze in the fifth round on Friday.

Georgian Grandmaster Luka Paichadze defeated Indian GM MR Venkatesh to jump to the top spot with four points after the fourth round of the first Maharashtra International Open GM chess tournament here on Thursday.

The 43-move win for the second seed Paichadze put him half a point ahead of the field. GM Boris Savchenko and eight Indians, including No.3 seed MR Lalith Babu are among the 11 players trailing the Georgian on 3 points each.

Top seed Farrukh Amonatov of Tajikistan, who began with two wins, has been pegged back after draws against lower-rated Indians Samant Aditya and Anup Deshmukh in subsequent rounds to move to three points.

Lalith Babu was made to work hard for a win in 60 moves by compatriot Himal Gusain in a Caro-Kann Exchange Variation game. He faces Paichadze in the fifth round on Friday. Important Results: Fourth round: Luka Paichadze (4) beat M R Venkatesh (3); M R Lalith Babu (3.5) beat Himal Gusain (2.5); Boris Savchenko (3.5) drew with Arjun Kalyan (3.5); Karthik Venkataraman (3.5) drew Aleksej Aleksandrov (3.5); Anup Deshmukh (3.5) drew with Farrukh Amonatov (3); Deep Sengupta (3.5 beat V S Raahul (2.5); Aditya Mittal (3) drew with Audi Ameya (3).

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