Mangalore : J Malleswara Rao of A.P. has emerged into sole lead with 5.5 points after 6 rounds in the CAI South Zone Chess Tournament being organized by King’s Academy, Mangalore on behalf of Karnataka State Chess Association at Srinivasa Kalyana Mantap, VT Road, Mangalore.

Rohan Shandilya who originally hails from Jharkhand but has recently shifted to Bangalore is in joint second position along with Abdul Majid (Kerala), Satyanarayana (AP), Praveen Kamath (Karnataka) and Arjun Adappa (Karnataka) with 5 points each.

In 6th round, playing in top board, Malleswara Rao and Satyanarayana played a quick draw. In second board, Vanessa D’souza’s brave fight could not match the seasoned Abdul Majid who has a fame of beating Grandmaster Pravin Thipsay in Mangalore FIDE rating Tournament. Rohan Shandilya scored an easy victory against Chandramohan (Kerala) in 3rd board. Praveen Kamath’s game against Venu Empees (Kerala) and Arjun Adapp’s game against Rejah (Kerala) were long battles finally Karnataka talents scored victories.

7th Round is in progress. 8th & Final round will be played on Friday.

Winner will be awarded ‘PANAMA’ Trophy and Rs.25,000/- cash prize. Total 2 lakh prize money will be distributed to performers.

Prize distribution ceremony will be held at 3.30p.m. on Friday. Smt. Geetha N Nayak, Deputy Mayor, Mangalore City corporation; Sri Deric Pinto, President, Karnataka State Chess Association; Sri Anand G, President, BVSSS Bank; Sri Prasanna Rao, Joint Secretary, Chess Association of India will distribute prizes to the winners.