Nigel Short and Jan Gustafsson, the top two seeds at the 2019 Bangkok Chess Club Open, are tied for the lead with just three rounds to play.
The two top seeds, who have won four BCC Open titles between them, survived a crucial day which saw two Grandmasters lose their games to non-Grandmaster opponents.
Short once again thrilled the crowd at the Centara Grand Hotel with a slashing attack against the king of his Indonesian opponent Andrean Susilodinata. The 53-year-old, who was awarded the title of Member of the British Empire six years after finishing second in a World Championship match, has been the tournament’s greatest showman.
Short will have a chance to again demonstrate his attacking magic in the next round against Gustafsson, who kept a share of the lead after drawing a solid game against Indian Grandmaster Babu Lalith.
The sixth round saw two big upsets, with Italian Grandmaster losing to Vietnamese rising star The Anh Duong, while Indian Grandmaster Dibyendu Barua lost to his much younger compatriot Khherdekar Sauravh..
Two local players moved to within just a point and a half of the lead. Our hero of the tournament, Poompong Wiwatanadate, as well as Saphong Hansing, both won to reach four points.
Round 7 of the Bangkok Chess Club Open, featuring a game between the two top seeds, will begin on Thursday at 2.00pm and will be broadcast live on Chess24.com.
All material in the press release may be used and photos credited to Bangkok Chess Club.
Our Twitter account is @bangkokchess
For results and games, please visit http://chess-results.com/tnr429651.aspx?lan=1&art=2&rd=1
