Arjun Erigaisi, Harsha Bharathakoti and Gukesh share lead at Delhi International Open GM Chess Tournament

With just two rounds remaining, the 19th edition of the Delhi International Open Grandmasters Chess tournament is heading for an exciting finish in New Delhi.

Top seed national champion Arjun Erigaisi, along with compatriots Harsha Bharathakoti and Gukesh D., are now leading the table with seven points each to their credit on Sunday.

The eighth round of the tournament witnessed fierce battles which produced decisive results on the top six boards.

Arjun Erigaisi outwits former national champion Lalith Babu

Arjun Erigaisi annihilated former national champion Lalith Babu MR in 28 moves in the Scotch game.

Harsha shocked second seed Grandmaster Pavel Ponkratov of Russia with light-colored pieces in a Semi-Slav game after 58 moves.

Meanwhile, the youngest Indian in history to secure the Grandmaster title, Gukesh D., joined the Telangana duo of Arjun and Harsha on the leaderboard. Gukesh outwitted Karthik Venkataraman with dark color pieces in a Queen’s Gambit Declined game that lasted just 29 moves.

Defending champion Abhijeet Gupta, along with fifth seed Sethuraman SP, international master Neelash Saha and Iranian FIDE master Kian Seyed Poormosavi are now occupying the joint fourth spot. All four of these players are half a point behind the leaders.

Abhijeet defeated CRG Krishna while Sethu got the better of Ortik Nigmatov of Uzbekistan. Neelash stunned fourth seed Neuris Delgado Ramirez of Paraguay and Poormosavi beat Deepan Chakkaravarthy in the eighth-round encounter.

In the all-important penultimate round on Monday, Arjun will be pitted against Gukesh on the top board while Harsha will fight it out against Neelash Saha.

Important Results (Round 8) (Indians otherwise stated)

GM Arjun Erigaisi (7) beat GM Lalith Babu MR (6)

GM Harsha Bharathakoti (7) beat GM Pavel Ponkratov of Russia (6)

GM Karthik Venkataraman (6) lost to Gukesh D (7)

GM Sethuraman SP (6.5) beat Ortik Nigamatov of Uzbekistan (6)

GM Abhijeet Gupta (6.5) beat IM Krishna CRG (5.5)

IM Neelash Saha (6.5) beat GM Neuris Delgado Ramirez of Paraguay (5.5)

IM Vignesh NR (6) drew with GM Visakh NR (6)

GM Deepan Chakkravarthy (5.5) lost to FM Poormosavi Seyed Kian (6.5)

IM Himal Gusain (6) drew with GM Iniyan P (6)

IM Abdisalimov Abdimalik (6) drew with GM Azer Mirzoev of Azerbaijan (6)

GM Mitrabha Guha (5.5) drew with GM Karthikeyan P (6)

GM Arjun Kalyan (5.5) drew with Bharat Kumar Reddy Poluri (5.5)

GM Adham Fawzy (5) lost to FM Aardhya Garg (6)

IM Arash Tahbaz of Iran (6) beat Manigandan SS (5)

WGM Divya Deshmukh (6) beat Syaamnikhil P (5)

FM Aaryan Varshney (5.5) drew with Gholami Orimi Mahdi (5.5)

WIM Arpita Mukherjee (5) lost to GM Saptarshi Roy (6)

WGM Srija Seshadri (5.5) drew with IM Shahil Dey (5.5)

IM Viani Antonio Dcunha (6) beat FM Siddhant Gaikwad (5)

Shiva Pavan Teja Sharma U (5.5) drew with Utsab Chatterjee (5.5)

Akshay Borgaonkar (6) beat IM Ratnakaran K (5)

Kian Dishank Shah (5) lost to FM Rohith Krishna S (6)

GM Masoud Mosadeghpour of Iran (5.5) beat Pravin Shawn (5)

IM Sayantan Das (5.5) beat Vinayak Kulkarani (5.5)

GM Rios Christian Camilo (5.5) beat WIM Michelle Catherina P (5.5).