2011 Sydney International Open - Day 4

At the end of the 4th day of the 2011 Sydney International Open, FM Akshat Khamparia still holds on to the outright lead, with 6.5/8. However there is a large pack of players in hot pursuit, with GM Zong Yuan Zhao, GM David Arutinian, GM Andrei Deviatkin, IM Kevin Goh and IM Stephen Solomon all on 6 points. Tomorrows final round sees Khamparia have the black pieces with against Zhao, while Goh plays Arutinian and Deviatkin playes Solomon.

Today saw more upsets of the top seeds with GM Sune Berg Hansen losing his round 7 game to FM Greg Canfell. This win by Canfell, plus his round 8 draw against FM Junta Ikeda, means that Canfell can earn an IM norm tomorrow, if he beats New Zealand FM Michael Steadman. IM Stephen Solomon also pulled of an upset win over GM Dejan Bojkov in round 8, wining an ending a pawn down, in typical Solomon style.

In the Challengers event, the joint leaders are Harry Press and Tony Davis, on 6.5/8. Curiously they played each other in the first round of the tournament, with the game ending in a draw. In the final round Davis is paired against Richard Voon, while Press plays Patrick Behan.

The final round for both events starts tomorrow at 9:30 am at the Parramatta Town Hall. Live coverage of the top 8 games from the Open can be found at the Parramatta Chess Club website.