GM Hovhannes Gabuzyan of Armenia maintained solo lead despite being held to a draw by top seed GM Vladimir Fedoseev of Russia in the 6th round of the FISU World University Chess Championship at the Khalidiya Palace Raihaan by Rotana in Abu Dhabi.
The 21-year-old Armenian has 5.5 points in the 9-round Swiss System tournament. Fedoseev is alone in second slot with 5 points. Trailing in third slot with 4.5 points each are GM Pouya Idani of Iran, GM Samvel Ter-Sahakyan of Armenia, IM Stefan Mazur of Slovakia, GM Martin Petr of Czech Republic and IM Marko Nenezic of Serbia.
Five players follow with 4 points each, namely IM Tigran Petrosyan of Armenia, GM Pavel Ponkratov of Russia, untitled Piotr Brodowski of Poland, IM Amirrera Pourramenzanali of Iran and IM Lou Yiping of China.
Ni Shiqun (CHN)
In the women’s division WGM Ni Shiqun of China and WIM Ghazal Hakimifard of Iran share the lead with 5 points each. Ni beat erstwhile leader WIM Maria Gevorgyan of Armenia while Hakimifard beat compatriot Atousa Pourkashiyan, the tournament top seed.
Gevorgyan dropped to third slot with 4.5 points followed by 7 players with 4 points each, namely defending champion Klaudia Kulon and WIM Anna Warakomska of Poland, WIM Alina Bivol of Russia, WFM Mengjie Qiu of China, WGM Mitra Hejazipoour of Iran, WIM Sayumi Terao Juliana of Brazil and Jovana Eric of Serbia.
The FISU World University Chess Championship is being played in two competitions with 48 men from 17 countries and 34 women from 15 countries. The strong field includes six Grandmasters, 15 International Masters and 9 FIDE Masters, 5 WGMs and 10 WIMs and 10 WFMs.
Ghazal Hakimifard (IRA)
FIDE Technnical Delegate Luxman Wijesuriya, vice president of the Sri Lanka University Sports Association (SUSA), explained that results of the three best scores per country will be combined for team awards. Only countries with three competitors or more, of whom there are at least one man and one woman, shall be taken into account for team classification.
The Organizing Committee of the World University Chess Championship 2016 in Abu Dhabi is staging the event under the patronage of His Excellency Sheikh Nahayan Mabarak Al Nahayan, Minister of Culture, Youth and Community Development and the President of the Arab University Sports Federation and under the auspices of the University Sports Federation (FISU) and World Chess Federation (FIDE).
The official web site is www.wucchess2016.com with results and standings in www.chess-results.com.