Caruana takes sole lead in AAI Chess

New Delhi: Indian national champion Parimarjan Negi drew with Filipino Wesley So while top seed Fabiano Caruana of Italy registered his third successive win, beating Hou Yifan of China, in the third round of the AAI Grandmasters Chess Championships on Friday.

So and Negi, who have had three draws before, played out a fourth one in a Sicilian. "It was a very normal game. It did look at time black (Negi) was better, but there was no clear advantage for me. We decided to draw after 30 moves when there was nothing in it," said Negi. This win gave Caruana a perfect three out of three with seven rounds to go in the Category 17 tournament, the highest-ever in India.Despite his loss yesterday, Laznicka, with two points, is second. Negi and So have 1.5 points with a win and a draw each. The soft-spoken Caruana was pleased with his win and said he was beginning to feel comfortable. "It is a new country and I always worry before a tournament and it is a strong tournament," said Caruana, the world junior No. 1. "But with three wins, it has been a great start."He won comfortably in 37 moves. On his game, the US-born Italian said, "It was a normal game. We played a Spanish opening and this variation was played long ago, I think by Shirov. I equalised and had no problems. Till a certain point it was equal and she had chances to draw. But she got over-ambitious at some point and I saw that I was much better." PTI