Unfancied Umakant shocks IM Laxman; leads table with Neeraj Mishra

Mumbai, Apr 26 (UNI) Unfancied Jharkhand player Umakant Sharma (7) scored a shocking victory over overnight leader International Master R R Laxman (6.5) of Tamil Nadu in the eighth round of Thakur International Rating Chess Tournament here today.

Around 20 International Masters among the 240 participants are vying for the prestigious Thakur Trophy organised by Venus Chess Academy and Bombay Chess Association. The emergence of the unfancied Jharkhand player has opened the tournament wide with just three more rounds to go.

Umakant, seeded No 106, played like a champion and pulled down Laxman in Semi-Slav Defence. International Master Neeraj Kumar Mishra (7), another Jharkhand player, joined Umakant at the top with a smooth win over GM norm holder G B Prakash (6) in Dutch Defence.

In other games, twelve-year-old Gujarat player Ankit Rajpara held International Woman Master Bhagyashri Thipsay to a surprising draw, while in another game Chhattisgarh junior champion Shreyans Dhaklia accounted for upcoming Mumbai girl Siddhali Shetye in King's Indian Defence.

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