Despite suffering his first loss in the fifth round against top seeded International Master Oliver Barbosa, Jahongir Vakhidov took advantage of a draw between the two Filipino bets in the sixth round to regain a share of the lead on remain on track for a Grandmaster norm with a win over the clearly out of sorts Singapore International Master Goh Wei Ming.
Uzbekistan’s Vakhidov and Barbosa are now on 5/6 with Philippines International Master Richard Bitoon half a points behind on 4.5/6.
In the meantime, after a short draw with Grandmaster Tahor Vakhidov in the fifth round, India’s International Master Arghyadip Das kept his hopes alive with a determined effort over Singapore Grandmaster Wong Meng Kong and is now on 4 points.
IM Oliver Barbosa
Still unbeaten is Grandmaster Tahir Vakhidov with 3.5 points after a draw with Vietnam Grandmaster Nguyen Anh Dung who now has 1.5 points while his colleague International Master Nguyen Van Huy is on 2.5 points after being held by Malaysia’s International Master Mas Hafizulhelmi.
Goh remains on 2.5 points, Mas has improved to 1 point while Wong is on 0.5 point.
Thursday 8 September is a rest day with Rounds 7 and 8 to be played on Friday 9 September. The final round will be played on Saturday 10 September to be followed by the closing ceremony in the late afternoon.
Raja Nazrin Shah Invitational Masters report by Peter Long
Video by Vijay Kumar presents round 5 and round 6 highlights as well as numerous interviews.
