Grandmaster Surya Shekhar Ganguly of India beat top seed Yuriy Kryvoruchko of Ukraine to widen his lead with 6.5 points out of 7 rounds in the homestretch of the Dubai Open Chess Championship at the Dubai Chess Club in Dubai, UAE.
Ganguly, 35, essayed the English opening against Kryvoruchko, 31 and outmaneuvered the former Ukrainian champion in an opposite-colored Bishop endgame. Kryvoruchko resigned after a marathon 84 moves facing an unstoppable pawn promotion.
Ganguly, former Asian Continental champion in 2009, hails from Kolkata. He was gold medalist in the 2007 Asian Indoor Games and gold medalist at the 2010 World Chess Team Championship.
Seven Grandmasters are a full point behind with 5.5 points each, namely S.P. Sethuraman of India, Alexander Zubov of Ukraine, Eduardo Iturrizaga Bonelli of Venezuela, Ahmed Adly of Egypt, Diego Flores of Argentina, Emre Can of Turkey and Parhgam Maghsodloo of Iran.
Kryvoruchko and eight others follow with 5 points each in the race for $50,000 in cash prizes. The tournament is held under the Patronage of Sheikh Rashid Bin Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum.
A record 164 players from 33 countries are seeing action in the strong tournament including 36 Grandmasters, 24 International Masters, 5 Woman Grandmasters, 7 Woman International Masters, 16 FIDE Masters and 4 Woman FIDE Masters.
Visit official site www.dubaichess.ae or find full results and standings in chess-results.com.
