Harikrishna emerges as sole leader

Grandmaster Abhjit Kunte returned to the battlefield with a resounding win over a senior GM Dibyendu Barua in the third round game of the ongoing National ‘A’ Chess Championship, here at Hotel Tulip Star, on Sunday. The gain of a full point means a lot to the Pune GM after his consecutive draws in the first and second round yesterday.

Even as most of his counterparts settled for draws, GM Pentlya Harikrishna outclassed IM S Satyapragyan to emerges as the sole leader with three points to his credit. GMs Krishnan Sasikiran and two GM norm holder Tejas Bakre were at the second place with 2.5 points each to their credit.

A delighted Kunte, who played Catalan opening, credited his win to the opponent. ‘‘He (Barua) made a mistake and capitalised on it. That’s all.’’ Barua’s King side too had been very weak to offer Kunte an opportunity to penetrate through. The game ended in 50 moves.