Negi slips to second spot, Areshchenko takes sole lead

New Delhi, Jan 14 (PTI) India''s sixth seed GrandmasterParimarjan Negi slipped to second spot after settling for adraw against third seed Yuriy Kuzubov of Ukrainein the ninthround of the ninth Parsvnath International Chess tournament atLudlow Castle Sports Complex here today.

Top seed Ukrainian Grandmaster Alexander Areshchenkodefeated Grandmaster Mikhailo Oleksienko to emerge as soleleader.

Apart from Negi the other overnight joint leaderslovenian Grandmaster Lenic Luka settled for half point againstGrandmaster S Kidambi.

Now Negi, Kuzubov, Lenic and Kidambi along withGrandmaster Henrik Danielsen of Iceland are in joint secondspot with adrift of half point from the leader.

Two more round remaining in this Rs. 1.35 million prizemoney tournament.

Playing with white pieces in Sicilian Defence,Areshchenko maneuvered his pieces to good effect in the middlegame to fetch full point against his country mate Grandmasterrival in 72 moves while Negi and Kuzubov agreed to split thepoint after 40 moves arrived out of Reti opening.

In other important ninth round encounters, city basedInternational Master Sahaj Grover held Grandmaster EvgenyPostny of Israel while former world junior champion AbhijeetGupta satisfied with half point against fellow Grandmaster R RLaxman.

International Master Shyam Nikil held GrandmasterKonstantin Chernyshov of Russia to a creditable draw. More PTIAT