Sanjeev Mishra (ELO 1689) defeated the reigning National Amateur Chess Champion and overnight leader, Amardeep Bartakke (ELO 1961) in round 5 to move to the pole position in the 360 Wealth Grand Prix Series, organised by Indian Chess School.
On board 1, their encounter showcased a theoretical duel in the Ruy Lopez opening, and as the game progressed, it seemed destined for a draw, with the exchange of most pieces completed by move 35. However, a critical blunder by Amardeep on move 40 handed Sanjeev the advantage of two pawns. From there, it was a matter of technique for Sanjeev to secure a full point and surge into the lead.
On board two, the unbeaten 14-year-old Arnav Koli extended his impressive streak by defeating Yash Kapadi, thus joining Sanjeev at the top of the leaderboard.
Top-seeded Vikramaditya Kulkarni and Arnav Kherdekar are closely trailing Sanjeev and Arnav with an impressive score of 4.5/5.
A sizable group of 11 players currently holds the 3rd position with a score of 4/5. Among them are notable names such as Amardeep Bartakke, Sunil Vaidya, Deepak Soni & Yash Kapadi.
Key Results of Round 5:
Bartakke A (4) lost to (5) Mishra Sanjeev
Arnav Koli (5) beat (4) Kapadi Yash
Raghav S (3½) lost to (4½) IM Kulkarni V
Kherdekar Arnav (4½) beat (3½) Kush Agarwal
Joglekar Abhijit (3½) lost to (3) Soni Deepak
Ishaan Tendolkar (3½) drew (3½) Arnav Thatte
Pawar Sohum (4) beat (3) Palaash Mapara
Shreyas Kaushik (3) lost to (4) Muthe Dhruv
Gogri Vedaant (3) lost to (4) Sunil Vaidya
Sathiesh Kumaar (3) lost to (4) Dodhiya Punit
Iyer Vivek (4) beat (3) Patel Shubh
Miranka Trishad (4) beat (3) Shaurya Shah
Kadkade Ameya (3) lost to (4) Shravan Balram
Gala Vansh (3) lost to (4) Jain Bharggav
