Delhi International GM Chess: Yashita Rout holds Mitrabha Guha; Arjun Erigaisi, Lalith Babu among early leaders

Arjun Erigaisi and Lalith Babu MR emerged with a seven-way lead at the top in the 19th Delhi International Grandmaster Chess tournament in New Delhi on Thursday.

Top seed Grandmaster Arjun Erigaisi, former national title holder GM Lalith Babu MR and five others shared the lead after the end of the fourth round at Tivoli Grand Resort.

National champion Arjun got the better of Kushagra Jain without much struggle to register his fourth victory on the trot. Lalith defeated Padmesh in a one-sided affair to find himself in the leading pack. Arjun, Lalith, Visakh NR, Iniyan P, Shahil Dey, Azer Mirzoev of Azerbaijan and Seyed Kian Poormosavi of Iran all have four points to their credit.

Arjun gets the better of Kushagra Jain in the fourth round

Top seed GM Arjun Erigaisi beat Kushagra Jain in the fourth round on Thursday. (Pic credit: AICF)

18-year-old Arjun established control from the beginning to put his opponent under pressure. Telangana’s Arjun notched up his fourth win to maintain his unbeaten run in the tournament.

With seven players on the front, as many as sixteen players occupy the joint eighth spot with a drift of half a point from the table leaders.

The 13-year-old unheralded Yashita Rout of Odisha stole the show when she held Grandmaster Mitrabha Guha, who rated more than 1100 rating points to a creditable draw on Thursday.

Earlier in the third round, third seed and five-time Commonwealth champion Abhijeet Gupta suffered a shock defeat at the hands of Rohith Krishna. Shahil Dey outwitted Iranian Grandmaster Masoud Mosadeghpour to cause a big upset.

Important Results (Round 4)

GM Arjun Erigaisi (4) beat Kushagra Jain (3)

GM Lalith Babu MR (4) beat Padmaesh MK (3)

Aritrya Pal (3) lost to GM Visakh NR (4)

Gyaneshwar B (3) lost to GM Iniyan P (4)

Yashita Rout (3.5) drew with GM Mitrabha Guha (3.5)

GM Azer Mirzoev of Azerbaijan (4) beat Ajay Santhosh Parvathareddy (3)

Mayukh Majumder (3) lost to IM Shahil Dey (4)

Oishik Kundu (3) lost to FM Kian Seyed Poormosavi of Iran (4)

GM Sethuraman SP (3.5) beat Shawn Pravin (3)

Arshpreet Singh (2.5) lost to GM Pavel Ponkratov of Russia (3.5)

Sadbhav Rautela (2.5) lost to GM Neuris Delgado Ramirez of Paraguay (3.5)

GM Arjun Kalyan (3.5) beat FM Rohith Krishna S (2.5)

Sushrutha Reddy (2.5) lost to GM Harsha Bharathakoti (3.5)

Thirunarayanan Sampath Kumar (2.5) lost to GM Karthik Venkataraman (3.5)

IM Sayantan Das (3.5) beat WIM Michelle Catherina (2.5)

IM Neelash Saha (3.5) beat Dhruva Thota (2.5)

Anshul Mehta (2.5) lost to IM Shyaamnikhil P (3.5)

Vihaan Dumir (2.5) lost to Gholami Orimi Mahadi of Iran (3.5)

IM Harshvardhan GB (3.5) beat Vakcheri Mohitha (2.5)

IM Srihari LR (3.5) beat Darshan Sasthaa M (2.5)

IM Anuj Shrivatri (3.5) beat Kian Dishank Shah (2.5)

FM Liyanage Ranindu Dilshan (3.5) drew with Parth Belwal (2.5).