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 Chinese grandmaster Li Shilong wrested sole lead by beating Susanto Megaranto of Indonesia in the seventh round of the 5th Asian Chess Championship being played at the Yousufguda Indoor Stadium in Hyderabad on Thursday (Oct 13).
Li, 28, moves to six points from seven games and has taken a slender half point lead. The other Chinese joint leader Zhang Zhong drew Pavel Kotsur of Kazakhstan after he was unable to increase his tiny advantage in the middlegame. Tied for the second to fourth places on 5.5 points are Darmen Sadvakasov (Kaz), Zhang Zhong (Chn) and Murtas Kazhgaleyev
(Kaz).
Li Shilong played the Sicilian defence with the black pieces and opened his king knight pawn in a bizarre plan to perplex his Indonesian opponent and win in 28 moves.
Neelotpal Das suffered his first defeat when he gave up two active rooks for a queen and a pawn to lose his first game against Murtas Kazhgaleyev of Kazakhstan. Neelotpal Das had won his first three games and drawn the next three before this defeat.
Indians had an overall mediocre day at the top though Ganguly and Sasikiran made some of their lost ground. Chinese dominance has been clear. As of now, now Humpy is in the top ten in the standings.
I Came For Aggression, Li Shilong
 Li
Shilong, 28 year old grandmaster from Guang Zhou, China cane for aggression and succeeded in it with a quick aggressive victory with the black pieces on the top board. The 28-year old bachelor is all excited on his India trip. "Hyderabad is a beautiful city" and it is his first visit to India.
Li Shilong is a chess professional and he became a grandmaster in 2002. His favourite player is Garry Kasparov. "I am also inspired by the books of Mark Dvoretsky," said Li Shilong. He was coached by Chen Yide when he took to chess at the age of eight. Then Huang Mong Yu and Chen De coached him later. On an average he trains chess about six to seven hours a day.
Here, he carries his laptop and says "it is a necessity today". He felt surprised that it was one of the questions before him. About the organisation he said it is nice. While a few other visitors are finding the food spicy, Li Shilong says he liked the fish here and it is just a bit spicy and nice.
Li Shilong is not hoping to win all his games but find a qualifying place for the World Cup in Russia starting next month.
Expect My Sponsor Announcement Soon, Humpy
 Koneru Humpy, the world's leading women player said she will break the news of her sponsor in the next 10-15 days as talks are in progress. Talking after the game, she said she did not expect to win her seventh round so easily. She beat Orazly Annageldyev (Tkm) in 34 moves after white came up with an unexpected knight sacrifice and lost rather tamely.
"My main ambition here is to qualify for the World Cup," the 1987-born said. She does not mind the rating changes. Humpy is a known fighter and rarely finishes her games quickly. Thursday (Oct 13) was one of those rare days.
Humpy has not made any plans to play other events in the next few months. All eyes are on the World Women's Championship in Russia next year she said. "I have to prepare lots of different openings. In a knock out, surprise in the opening helps a lot," Humpy said.
Humpy's entire family is here in Hyderabad. Her younger sister Chandra Hawsa is playing in the Open Tournament which starts at 8 a.m. and her own game starts at 2 p.m. "For this reason, my mother has also come," said Humpy. They all live in Vijayawada, about seven hours by train from
Hyderabad.
"I do not get this kind of opposition in women's chess. In Germany I had played an event with 20 GMs against 29 here. It is good to be playing here. I have no pressure and I am looking for qualifying.
About playing before the local fans, Humpy said the newspapers and media are expecting a lot from chess players like her since there are lot of success stories in chess these days.
Andhra Talent: J.Ramakrishna
"They Fought For Me"
J.Ramakrishna is one of the local talents who made a name for himself in the chess field. Employed with the South Central Railway at Kachiguda in Hyderabad he recently won the All India Inter-Railway championship at
Patiala.
Asked about the relatively new Andhra Pradesh Chess Association headed by Gangadhara Rao and Kanna Reddy, he said though I am not fully qualified to play in this championship they fought for my inclusion. "They care for the players," he said.
Ramakrishna sports a unique smile and hails from Guntur and is born in a chessplaying family. He is 28 and likes to play open tournaments and also win them. His big success was winning the Global Trust Bank Open Tournament title in 1998 ahead of several well known names.
Ramakrishna is looking for an International Master norms. He has not played at his expected levels and cites "tiredness" as a reason for the same. He hopes he will be included in the Indian Railway team for the World Inter-Railway Championship in 2005. Indian Railways had won the World Railway Championships in 2004 and he was not selected then.
Unlike most players in this meet, he does not carry a laptop. He works on a desktop PC at home and also inputs his games and uses the latest preparatory tools. His favourite player in Viswanathan
Anand.
For someone not having a national title under his belt, the All India Railway title itself should be considered a huge achievement. Railways employs about 80 FIDE-rated players and is one of the broadbased employers comparing the PSU Oil Companies which has the elite group of players.
For complete results http://www.asianchess2005.com/hyd/r7.htm
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