Candidate Master (CM) Sachin Pitamber and defending champion Kyle Couchman maintained their perfect records with victories in the fifth round of the National Junior Chess Championship on Wednesday morning at Olympic House, Liliendaal.
Pitamber defeated Aiden Tinnie, while Couchman overcame Jeremy Cole to move to five points from as many matches. Pitamber remains at the top of the standings on a tiebreak, with Couchman in second place.
Woman Candidate Master (WCM) Aditi Joshi rebounded from her fourth-round loss to Pitamber by defeating Javier Davenand. The result moved Joshi to four points and kept her in third place, one point behind the joint leaders.
Alexander Zhang also recorded a victory in the fifth round, defeating Matthew Singh to improve to 3.5 points. He remains fourth in the standings.
Kataleya Sam claimed her first victory of the championship by getting past Nicholas Zhang. Sam moved to two points and is fifth on tiebreak, ahead of Cole, who also has two points.
Nicholas and Singh are seventh and eighth, respectively, with 1.5 points each. Davenand is ninth with half of a point, while Tinnie remains without a point after five rounds.
Pitamber entered Wednesday’s play level with Couchman after both players recorded victories in rounds three and four on Tuesday.
Pitamber defeated Sam in the third round before overcoming the previously unbeaten Joshi in the afternoon session. Couchman continued his title defence by defeating Singh and Nicholas during Tuesday’s two rounds.
Joshi had beaten Alexander in the third round before losing to Pitamber, while Alexander recovered by defeating Tinnie in round four.
Cole defeated Tinnie in round three and drew with Singh in the fourth round. Nicholas earned his only victory against Davenand before losing to Couchman, while Sam drew with Davenand after her loss to Pitamber.
The nine-round championship continues at Olympic House, with four rounds remaining.
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