Top-seed R Praggnanandhaa moved into joint lead with five others after his third consecutive win in the Open section of the Asian Continental Chess Championship here on Saturday. The 17-year Chennai player defeated compatriot Pranav Anand in 44 moves to join fellow teenager Leon Luke Mendonca, Koustav Chatterjee, Karthikeyan Murali, Harsha Bharathakoti and Turkmenistan`s Maksat Atabayev at the top spot with 3.5 points after the fourth round.
Mendonca, who was in sole lead after the third round, settled for a draw with fellow Indian S L Narayanan in 49 moves. Chatterjee posted an impressive win over eighth-seed Rinat Jumabayev (Kazakhstan). Karthikeyan, on the other hand, won against Indian Aditya Mittal while GM Harsha Bharathakoti downed Sandeepan Chanda in an all-Indian contest. Atabayev, who started as the 32nd seed, shared honours with Indian GM M Shyam Sundar in a 31-move game to take his tally to 3.5 points.
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A bunch of 11 players are on three points, including experienced Indian GMs B Adhiban, S P Sethuraman, former national champion Aravindh Chithambaram and S L Narayanan. In the women`s event, young Indian Woman Grandmaster Priyanka Nuttaki shocked top-seed Tania Sachdev to move into joint lead with compatriot Soumya Swaminathan, P V Nandhidhaa and Thi Kim Phung Vo (Vietnam). Little-known Saina Salonika, who had upset second-seeded Devaademberel Nomin-Erdene of Mongolia in the third round, continued her good form by beating the experienced Bhakti Kulkarni in fourth round on Saturday. Woman International Master Rakshitta Ravi secured a draw against Nilufar Yakubbaeva (Uzbekistan) to take her tally to three points along with Salonika.
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