Abhijit, Sandipan shine in Dubai chess

Grandmaster Abhijit Kunte has kept Indian hopes high in the Dubai International Open chess tournament but it is Sandipan Chanda who will attract the maximum attention when the seventh round resumes on Monday after a rest day.

After six gruelling rounds of play, Grandmaster Jaan Ehlvest of Estonia and Grandmaster Karen Asrian of Armenia share the lead with five points each in the US$ 30,000 prize-money tournament, with the winner's purse being US$ 5,000.

Eight players including Kunte trail the leaders closely on 4.5 points followed by a pack of 17 players including Sandipan on four points each.

Double GM norm holder Sandipan, who shocked second seed Valerij Filippov of Russia in the previous round, has looked in a fine form after a slow start and has a very good chance of getting his final GM norm.

After scalping the second seed Valerij Filippov of Russia in the previous round Sandipan will take on Grandmaster Mikhail Kobalija in the 7th round.

Victory over Filippov has given Sandipan, who plays GM Mikhail Kobalija in the seventh round later on Monday night, the much needed boost after a subdued start in the tournament. From the white side of a Sicilian Rossolimo attack Sandipan outclassed his famous opponent in all departments of the game.

The spearhead of the Indian challenge, Abhijit has lived up to expectations. With three victories and three draws Abhijit shares the joint third position on 4.5 points.

His last round victory over Grandmaster Al Modiahki of Qatar was particularly impressive as he systematically outplayed the Arabian numero uno from the black side of a Ruy Lopez Brayer variation.

Abhijit has a very deceptive playing style and he tricks and outplays strong opposition from seemingly harmless positions. Modiahki thought he was exerting pressure on the Queenside in the middlegame but found his queen trapped in the centre of the board.

Abhijit plays GM Safin Shukrat of Uzbekistan in the next round.

International Master in waiting Dinesh Kumar Sharma has had good results given his rating performance. Dinesh needs to touch the magical figure of 2400 ELO rating points before being formally awarded the IM title by FIDE, the World Chess federation.

In the previous game Dinesh put up a spirited show to hold legendary GM Evgeny Sveshnikov of Russia from a pawn down endgame arising out of an Ivans Gambit.

Dinesh has thus far tallied 3.5 points and plays GM Veleri Neverov in the next game.

IMs R B Ramesh and Neelotpal Das are the two Indians who seem to be struggling with their form. Both of them have 2.5 points and will have to work hard in the remaining rounds to maintain their ratings.

C S Gokhale had a dismal 0.5/3 start but victories in the next three rounds have helped him tally a respectable score. Unfortunately, he played with two unrated players and that means he would not be able to get the coveted IM norm.