Uzbekistan’s Jahongir Vakhidov continued his dream run with successive wins on the second day of competition at the DYTM Raja Dr. Nazrin Shah Invitational Masters to remain perfect and the sole leader after four rounds of play.
In the third round the still provisional International Master took advantage of some sloppy play by the normally accurate Vietnamese International Master Nguyen Van Huy and the fourth he survived a tense battle with Malaysia’s hope, International Master Mas Hafizulhelmi where for a long time he was starring at his first loss but still ultimately won in a time scramble!
IM Jahongir Vakhidov - IM Mas Hafizulhelmi
So the young Uzbekistan player remains the tournament leader but top seeded Filipino International Master Oliver Barbosa just half a point behind with 3.5 points after beating Singaporean Grandmaster Wong Meng Kong in the fourth round after a short draw taken in the third with Grandmaster Tahir Vakhidov.
Half a point behind on three points is another Filipino, International Master Richard Bitoon who after losing to Singaporean International Master Goh Wei Ming in the third, had a very determined win over Vietnamese International Master Nguyen Van Huy who with just 1.5 points as does Singaporean International Master Goh Wei Ming, now have to do something special to get himself back into contention.
GM Wong Meng Kong - IM Oliver Barbosa
Following is the only other unbeaten player, Grandmaster Tahir Vakhidov who has won one and drawn three of his four games and the Indian International Master Arghyadip Das, who joins him on 2.5/4 and so remains very much in contention for the Grandmaster norm.
Vietnamese Grandmaster Nguyen Anh Dung and Singaporean Grandmaster Wong Meng Kong are clearly out of form as is Malaysian International Master Mas Hafizulhelmi as they remain rooted at the bottom of the table on just half a point.
Report by Peter Long
Video by Vijay Kumar presents round 3 and round 4 highlights as well as numerous interviews, including with the leaders Jahongir Vakhidov and Oliver Barbosa.
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