All India Fide Rating Chess: Surprise results set up chances of close finish

Young gun Ishaan Tendolkar's run of stunning results ended and the event looked headed for a close finish as topsy-turvy results were witnessed in Rounds 7 and 8 of the SBI Life All India FIDE Rating Chess Tournament in progress at the Cultural Center of Russia, here.

The day witnessed the end of young Ishaan Tendolkar's fine run (ELO 1238) in Round 7 as he was comprehensively beaten by Arnav Kherdekar (ELO 1722). This was followed by the shock defeat of top-seeded International Master Vikramaditya Kulkarni (ELO 2251) at the hands of Aayush Shirodkar (ELO 1533).

Thus, Kherdekar and Shirodkar once again shared the lead at the start of Round 8. However, Shanmukha Pulli (ELO 1545) defeated Aayush Shirodkar and Arnav Kherdekar was held to a draw by Darsh Shetty (ELO 1534).

Meanwhile, Ishaan lost his 2nd consecutive game to Guru Prakash (ELO 1691) to end his championship aspirations.

These results have thrown the championship wide open with Kherdekar and Shanmukha emerging as joint leaders with a score of 7/8. The leaders are followed by a pack of five players; Vikramaditya, Sauravh, Guru Prakash Darsh and Shirodkar with a score of 6.5/8. While a further group of five players are occupying the third spot with a score of 6/8.

Key results:

Round 8: Arnav Kherdekar (7) beat Darsh Shetty (6.5); Shanmukha Pulli (7) beat Aayush Shirodkar (6.5); Vikramaditya Kulkarni (6.5) beat Nirvaan Shah (5.5); Sauravh Khherdekar (6.5) beat Advay Arora (5.5); Guru Prakash (6.5) beat Ishaan Tendolkar (5.5); Samaiya Atharv (5) lost to Raghav Srivathsav (6); Arav Surve (5) lost to Yohan Boricha (6); Atharv Soni (6) beat Sriram (5); Karan Parikh lost to Parkar Mayuresh (6); Divyesh Bhattacharya (5.5) drew Kshaunish Jaiswal (5.5); Mysha Perwez (6) beat Aaradhay Kenjale (5).