Sachin, Nikesh lead chess tournament

LALITPUR, May 12: Sachin Maharjan (Lalitpur), Nikesh Duwal and Madan Krishna Kayastha (Bhaktapur) are jointly atop the standings with 3.5 points after the completion of the fourth round in the U-19 category in the first National U-19 and U-15 Chess Tournament held at the Staff College, Jawalakhel. [break]



Sachin stunned the title contender Prakash Nepal of Jhapa, rated 1947, in the fourth round after defeating Kishor Budhathoki in the third round. Both Nikesh and Madan were held to draws in the third round, while in the fourth round they beat Prajwalraj Rajpodhya and Saurav Pradhan, respectively.



Likewise, Dharmendra Chaudhary, Manishwor Thapa and Robin Sunwar are jointly in the second spot, with three points apiece.



In the U-17 section, Bijayman Thaiba (Rupendhai), Rupesh Jaiswal (Rautahat), Bijayraj Aryal (Kathmandu), Sri Krishna Prajapati, Anil Shilpakar and Deep Musyakho (Bhaktapur) jointly lead the chart with 3.5 points.



Bijayman defeated Nabin Jaiswal, rated 1729, in the third round and played to a draw against Sri Krishna Prajapati in the fourth round. Likewise, Rupesh, rated 1674, and Bijayman both won their matches of the day.



Similarly, Nabin Jaiswal, Aakash Subedi, Suraj Lohani and Krishnadev Chaudhary are in second place, with three points each.

Related story

Asian Zonal chess championship from March 18