Spate of upsets continue

Thu, May 15 01:15 AM

Georgian Grandmaster (GM) Merab Gagunashvili, the fifth-seed in the fray, became the latest victim of an upset at the Mumbai Mayor's Cup International Open Chess Tournament on Tuesday. Indian veteran B.T. Murali Krishnan handed him a comprehensive defeat in the fourth round at the Goregaon Sports Club as the spate of upsets continued on the third day.

Gagunashvili joined Spaniard Elizbar Ubilava, who was stunned in the third round on Monday, while four other GMs- ninth seeded Anton Filippov (ELO rated 2509) of Uzbekistan, compatriot Saidali Iuldachev (ELO rated 2501) and Indian duo R.B. Ramesh and Tejas Bakre - were held to draw by lower rated opponents. Veteran Sekhar Sahu (ELO rated 2256) held Filippov, Iuldachev was forced to split point with Prasanna Rao (ELO rated 2230) while Ramesh and Bakre signed peace with compatriots M.R. Lalith Babu and Ram S Krishnan, respectively.

While some GMs continued to struggle, second-seed Koneru Humpy and IM M.R. Venkatesh, Deep Sengupta, B Adhiban and R.R Laxman maintained a clean slate.

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