Top ranked participant Candidate Master (CM) Kumaresh A of Tamil Nadu and Ishmeet Singh (1853) of Punjab emerged leaders with five points at the end of fifth round in the ongoing International Rating Chess Fiesta Tournament at IDPS School campus, here today.

Kumaresh A (2242) defeated J&K champion and promising Sumit Grover (1919) on the top table while Ishmeet defeated his higher rated opponent, FIDE Master (FM) Ram Prakash of Punjab.

Both Kumaresh and Ram Parkash are the top ranked and only title holder participants in this tournament.

Akshat Negi of Delhi and Maxim Singh of J&K were close to the toppers with 4.5 points. Nine other players were placed at third place with four points each.

“The competition has entered exciting phase with tough matches at top boards. Interestingly, a blind player has also entered into fray displaying guts and courage,” informed president of All J&K Chess Association, Meenal Gupta.

A total of 120 participants are there in the competition representing nine states with highest participation from J&K. Among these participants, 50 players are fresh andare competing to break the rating while other 50 are rated. The remaining 20have already attempted at the rating.

The event is being played under FIDE Laws of Chess under Swiss system with a total cash prize of Rs two lakh.

Organized by Jammu DistrictChess Association, the event is being supported by Premier Chess Academy USAand IDPS School.

International Arbiter Varun Kumar is Chief Arbiter, who is being supported by a team of five Arbiters including Anand J S from Kerela, Arvindu, Nirmal Sharma, Ajit Kumar and Stuti Gupta.

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