After seven rounds of the 19th Delhi International Chess Tournament, seven players have taken a joint lead in the competition and with this, the race to become the winner has become exciting. India's current national chess champion Arjun Erigasi, Karthik Venkataraman, Lalit Babu, Harsha Bharatkothi, D Gukesh and Russia's Pavel Ponkartov, Uzbekistan's Kogatov Ortic have managed to take a joint lead with 6 points.
Arjun Erigasi, who slipped to the second spot after playing out a draw in the last two matches, today made a good comeback by defeating compatriot Shyamnikhil in just 30 moves in the Italian opening with black pawns. Lalitbabu and Karthik Venkataraman, who are leading the first table, have given the other players an opportunity to take a joint lead by playing out a draw.
On the 3rd table, Pavel Ponkratov defeated Mishra's Favji Adham, on the 6th table, Gukesh defeated Iran's Arash Tahbaz, on the 8th table, Uzbekistan's Nigamtov Ortic defeated Arjun Kalyan of India and on the 9th table, Harsha Bharathakoti defeated compatriot Srija Seshadri. There are still 3 rounds left to be made in the 10-round tournament.
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