Post News Network
Bhubaneswar, May 25: Orissa’s top bid GM Debashis Das slipped to the third position with a single point in his kitty after losing to M Kunal of Tamil Nadu in a keenly contested second round match in the Elite category of the VIIIth KIIT International Chess Festival here Monday.
FM Rakesh Kumar Jena was also outwitted by GM Nguyen Duc Hoa. But Swayams Mishra, Sidhant Mohapatra, Rajesh Nayak, WGM Kiran Manisha Mohanty and Rakesh Kumar Nayak salvaged some pride for the hosts by winning their respective matches. Swayams prevailed over WFM M Mahalakshmi, while Sidhant got the better of Pr Hirthickkesh. Rajesh checkmated Kumar Gourav and Kiran Manisha overcame Aurangabadkar Prasad. Rakesh registered a convincing victory over Goura Hari Mohapatra. Ahirwad Swain and Rajendra Kumar Sahoo were beaten by MV Laxmi Narayan and WFM Korniyuk Mariya.
In the Platinum category, Aparajita Gochhikar (5) of Orissa is sharing the joint third position along with nine others after the end of the sixth round. Aparajita beat Tarun V Kanth comprehensively.
