Bhubaneswar, Jan 29: As many as 13 players, including Odisha International Master Sambit Panda, shared the lead with two points each in Category A (Rating above 1900) after completion of second round in the 1st SOA International Grand Masters Chess Festival at the Siksha ‘O’ Anusandhan Deemed to be University in Bhubaneswar.
Local youth Panda, who started his campaign with a win against Roneet Das yesterday, beat Chhattisgarh Fide Master S Dhananjay today. But top seed and West Bengal Grand Master Diptayan Ghosh, suffered a setback as he was held to a draw by his State-mate GM Saptarshi Roy Chowdhury in Round-2.
Among other Odisha players, IM Sidhant Mohapatra (1.5) posted his first win, defeating Dhrupad Kashyap (Assam), while WIM Saina (1.5) settled for a draw against Punjab FM Namitbir Singh Walia.
Meanwhile, seven players, including two from Odisha shared the lead with four points each after the end of fourth round in Category B (Rating below 2000). The seven players are: Fakir Majhi, Lalit Ranjan Sahu (both Odisha), Alluri Bhaskara Ratna Shanmukha Reddy, Raman Siddhardh B, Sathwik DSSU (All Andhra Pradesh), Soumick Bandopadhyay (West Bengal) and Aarit Kapil (Delhi).
JOINT LEADERS (Category A): GM Fawzy Adham (Egypt, 2), IM Tahbaz Arash (Iran, 2), IM Sambit Panda (Odisha, 2), CM Soham Kamotra (Jammu-Kashmir, 2), WFM Ellen Fredericia Nilssen (Denmark, 2), Advaith Vemula Vignesh (Telangana, 2), GM Van Huy Nguyen (Vietnam, 2), FM Goutham Krishna H (Kerala, 2), IM Ameya Audi (Goa, 2), IM Manish Anto Cristiano F (Tamil Nadu, 2), GM RR Laxman (ICF, 2), Aakash Sharadchandra Dalvi (Maharashtra, 2), Nithin Babu (Kerala, 2).
