Indians Lalit Babu, Neelotpal lead in three-way tie

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], June 24 (ANI): Indian Grandmasters Lalit Babu and Neelotpal Das scored impressive victories in the 8th round to jump into a joint three-player lead, along with GM Gharibyan Mamikon, in the AurionPro Mumbai International Grandmaster Chess Tournament at the World Trade Centre, here in Mumbai.

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While Lalit Babu defeated GM Alexei Fedorov with White pieces in 39 moves, Neelotpal got the better of IM Arsen Davtyan.

Gharibyan Mamikon delivered a major upset, defeating tournament leader GM Aleksej Aleksandrov with the Black pieces to stake his claim among the leaders, with seven points from eight matches.

Nine players -- including GM Aleksandrov, GM Levan Pantsulaia, GM Manuel Petrosyan, GM Deepan Chakkravarthy, and GM Nguyen Duc Hoa -- are right behind with 6.5/8.

In the Junior Section, FM Aansh Nerurkar bounced back with a powerful win over CM Madhvendra Sharma, while CM Madhesh Kumar was held to a draw by Advik Agrawal. Both Aansh and Madhesh now lead jointly with 7/8 points. Hot on their heels are CM Vyom Malhotra, Advik Agrawal, and Shaunak Badole, all tied with 6.5/8. (ANI)

(The story has come from a syndicated feed and has not been edited by the Tribune Staff.)