P. Iniyan’s four wins on the trot saw him catch up with D. Gukesh in the lead after a dramatic third day of the AICF World Cup qualifier on Friday.
Iniyan, trained by Chennai-based K. Visweswaran, accounted for fellow-GMs S. L. Narayanan, Vishnu Prasanna besides International Master Soumya Swaminathan and FIDE Master Vatsal Singhania.
In-form Gukesh started by holding second seed S. P. Sethuraman, then pulled off wins against top seed B. Adhiban, M. Vinay Kumar and Rahul Srivatshav.
If Adhiban could add only 2.5 points from four rounds, much like Sethuraman, Surya Shekhar Ganguly had a forgettable day.
Ganguly suffered three stunning defeats to Adhiban, M. Vinay Kumar and Rahul Srivatshav before signing off with a consolation win over S. Nitin.
As a result, Ganguly kept Adhiban company at the sixth spot with six points.
Saravana Krishnan, Narayanan, Deep and Soumya were given a bye.
The standings (after Day Three): 1-2. D. Gukesh, P. Iniyan (8.5 points each); 3-4. Rithvik Raja, S.P. Sethuraman (7.5 each); 5. S.L. Narayanan (6.5); 6-7. B. Adhiban, Surya Shekhar Ganguly (6 each), 8-9. Rahul Srivatshav, S. Nitin (5.5 each); 10. Deep Sengupta (5); 11. Aditya Mittal (4.5); 12. C. R. G. Krishna (4); 13. Vishnu Prasanna (3.5); 14-15. M. Vinay Kumar, Krishnan Saravana (3 each); 16. Soumya Swaminathan (2.5); 17. Vatsal Singhania (1).
