Halsagar in joint lead

Playing the e4 pawn for which Varma replied with French unusual defence, Chincholimath got advantage with Rd6 move when Shabdik made a weak move in the 17th. The Belgaum lad later easily converted his strong position into a win after the 34th move.

Sameer Ghotane, Augustin A, Ganesh Kumar and Santosh Kashyap are tied with Chinicholimath at the top with two points each.

Results (Round II): Chincholimath Halsagar (2) bt Shabdhik Varma (1); Praveen Kamath (1) lt to Santosh Kashyap HG (2); Augustin A (2) bt Eulalia A J Pereira (1); Nikhilesh M Holla (1) lt to Sameer Ghotane (2); Ganesh Kumar (2) bt Pavan P Bhat (1); Alwyn Roy Miranda (1) lt to Shalon Joanne Pais (1.5); Seema Melita Crasta (1.5) bt Damesh (0); Girish Reddy (0.5) drew Ranjan Kotian (0.5); Swati Shetty (0) lt to Hermon Dain Saldanha (1); Naresh B (0) lt to Srinivasan T S (1); Vishwanath SN (1) bt Prajwal B V (0); Praveen Kumar M (0) lt to Ullas P J (1).