JOIN USGrandmaster B Adhiban ran out of steam and went down to Ni Hua of China in the seventh round of Asian continental chess championship to slip to joint fifth position in rankings from the pole position here today.
Having done quite well so far, Adhiban was out-of-sort against former Asian champion Ni Hua and the loss proved costly.
Former world champion Rustam Kasimdzhanov of Uzbekistan and Chinese trio of Ni Hua, Bu Xiangzhi and Yu Yangyi emerged as joint leaders on 5.5 points in the championship, which is a part of the next world championship cycle.
Despite the loss, Adhiban remains the best performing Indian on five points and shares the fourth spot with Ehsam Ghaem Maghami of Iran and Rinat Jumabayem of Kazakhstan.
The Indian will, however, have to win one of the last two games to be in with a chance to qualify for the world chess cup.
With just two rounds to go, Parimarjan Negi, Abhijeet Gupta, Deep Sengupta and S P Sethuraman are the other Indians still in contention on 4.5 points each and sharing the eighth spot. The top five from the championship will qualify to the world cup to be held in Baku, Azerbaijan in 2015.
The seventh round was generally tough for the Indians as Krishnan Sasikiran lost to Xiangzhi, while Negi had to sign peace with A R Salem Saleh of UAE.
Abhijeet and Deep provided the silver lining on the dull day by coming back in to reckoning defeating Chinese Wang Yungup and Jahongir Vakhidov of Uzbekistan respectively. S P Sethuraman played out a draw with Wen Yang of China.
In the women's championship being organised simultaneously, International Master Tania Sachdev almost bowed out of contention for a podium finish following a draw with Hoang Thi Nhu Y of Vietnam.
Irine Kharisma Sukandar of Indonesia continued with her winning ways in this section and made short work of Hoang Thi Bao Tram of Vietnam to take her tally to a whopping 6.5 points out of a possible seven.
India's Eesha Karavade shares the third spot in this section on 4.5 points but needs to do well in remaining rounds to be in with a chance.
Important and Indian results, Round 7 open (Indians unless specified): Rustam Kasimdzhanov (Uzb, 5.5) drew with Yu Yangyi (Chn, 5.5); B Adhiban (5) lost to Ni Hua (Chn, 5.5); Bu Xiangzhi (Chn, 5.5) beat Krishnan Sasikiran (4); AR Salem Saleh (Uae, 4.5) drew with Parimarjan Negi (4.5); Ehsan Ghaem Maghami (Iri, 5) beat Wei Yi (Chn, 4); Wen Yang (Chn, 4.5) drew with S P Sethuraman (4.5); Ziaur Rahman (Ban, 4) lost to Rinat Jumabayev (Kaz, 5); Gundavaa Bayarsaikhan (Mgl, 4) drew with Surya Shekhar Ganguly (4); Abhijeet Gupta (4.5) beat Wan Yunguo (Chn, 3.5); Abhijit Kunte (4) drew with Vidit Gujrathi (4); G N Gopal (4) drew with Dao Thien Hai (Vie, 4); Deep Sengupta (4.5) beat Jahongir Vakhidov (Uzb, 3.5); V Vishnu Prasanna (3.5) lost to Vaibhav Suri (4.5); Amirreza Pourramezanali (Iri, 3.5) drew with M R Lalith Babu (3.5); Debashis Das (3.5) drew with Wang Yiye (Chn, 3.5); Khader Sami (Jor, 2.5) lost to M Shyam Sundar (3.5); Akshat Khamparia (3) beat Al-Takrori Husam (Ple, 2).
Women: Irine Kharisma Sukandar (Ina, 6.5) beat Hoang Thi Bao Tram (Vie, 4.5); Atousa Pourkashiyan (Iri, 5.5) beat Gong Qianyun (Chn, 4.5); Munguntuul Batkhuyag (Mgl, 4) drew with Sarasadat Khademalsharieh (Iri, 4.5); Ni Shiqun (Chn, 4) drew with Tan Zhongyi (Chn, 4); Hoang Thi Nhu Y (Vie, 4) drew with Tania Sachdev (4); Eesha Karavade (4.5) beat Soumya Swaminathan (3.5); Natalie Fuad Kamel Jamaliah (Jor, 2.5) lost to Mary Ann Gomes (3.5); Swathi Ghate (3.5) beat Bibissara Assaubayeva (Kaz, 2.5).