Grandmaster and former world junior champion Abhijeet Gupta recorded his second straight win at the expense of GM Keith Arkell of England in the sixth round of Poker Masters Isle of Man International chess tournament here.
It was a tough day for Gupta as Arkell apparently had the upper hand but the Indian posed consistent troubles posed in the path of the English lad to register a fine victory in the end.
With four points in his kitty and three rounds still to go in the 18000 pounds sterling tournament, Gupta is now just one point behind the leaders.
The other Indian in the fray -- GM D Harika also made most of her chances to put it across Nitzan Steinberg of Israel to also reach four points.
At the top of the tables, Maxime Vachier Lagrave of France conceded his second draw against Sergei Tiviakov of Holland and now shares the lead with Gabriel Sargissian of Armenia and Gawain Jones of England with five points each.
It’s a pack of six following the three leaders on 4.5 points led by Laurent Fressinet of France and Gupta and Harika are now joint tenth with four points apiece.
Of the three leaders Gabriel Sargissian played an excellent game with white pieces to beat highly acclaimed chess author Mihail Marin while veteran Grandmaster Anatoly Vaisser of France fell prey to some finely disguised manoeuvres by Gawain Jones.
Gupta took himself to within striking distance of the leading pack but had to work hard. The Indian chose the King’s Indian defence for the first time ever and was faced with the Fianchetto variation.
It was a tense middle game when Gupta sacrificed a pawn for active play but seasoned Arkell was up to the task in reducing black’s counter play.
However, the nature of the position remained tactical for the major part of the game and this worked in Gupta’s favour as Arkell missed a trick when he allowed black queen to enter the seventh rank. The Pandora’s box was now open and what followed were a series of tactical strokes which Gupta capped with an exquisite queen sacrifice in the end. The game lasted 38 moves.
Harika faced a topical variation in the Semi Slav defence with white and got a good bind on the queen side after a few pieces changed hands. Steinberg was on the defensive when the queens got traded on the 29th move and showing precision the Indian won a piece for just one pawn.
The technicalities thereafter were child’s play and Harika wrapped the full points in 51 moves.
Important results after Round 6: Sergei Tiviakov (NED, 4) drew with Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (FRA, 5); Gabriel Sargissian (ARM, 5) beat Mihail Marin (ROU, 4); Anatoly Vaisser (FRA, 4) lost to Gawain Jones (ENG, 5); Jonathan Hawkins (ENG, 4) drew with Daniel Fridman (GER, 4.5); David Howell (ENG, 4.5) beat Michael Adams (ENG, 3.5); Laurent Fressinet (FRA, 4.5) beat Ori Kobo (ISR, 3.5); Avital Boruchovsky (ISR, 3.5) drew with Nigel Short (ENG, 4.5); Jorden Van Foreest (NED, 3.5) lost to Gil Popilski (ISR, 4.5); Keith Arkell (ENG, 3) lost to Abhijeet Gupta (IND, 4); Alon Greenfeld (ISR, 4) beat Alina L’Ami (ROU, 3); D Harika (IND, 4) beat Nitzan Steinberg (ISR, 3).
