Hamedo, Jawad and Sulati share lead

With three players on level points, the under-12 section of the Nido Arab Junior Chess Championship tussle is heading towards an exciting finish at the Grand Continental Hotel here.

Mahdi Ayat Hamedo, Walid Aziz Jawad and Ganem Ali Sulati are on 5.5 points each and go into the final stages as leaders. All three won their respective matches on Sunday night and if they repeat that feat then the tie-break system will be applied.

The chief arbiter, Abdullah, said "We have a tie breaking system and if the technical scores are level there will be a rematch between the players to decide the eventual winner."

Marwan Abdul Wahab of the UAE is in second place with four points.

One of the three overnight leaders, Ganem scored an impressive victory over Ahmed Saeed of Tunisia in 33 moves from a king pawn opening.

Ganem gave up the bishop pair in a closed middle game and his advanced cavalry enabled him to whip out a decisive attack. Ganem checkmated his opponent by doubling on the 7th rank.

Saeed Ishaq and Salem A.R.Saleh of UAE increased their lead to 2.5 points at the end of the 7th round in the under-10 section. Both juniors share the top spot with 6.5 points and the battle for honours will be between them.

Saeed Ishaq defeated Samer Monzer of Iraq in 38 moves while Salem scored a stunning 17-move victory over Abdul Aziz Ibrahim. Saeed won with a steady approach in a classic closed position.

The irregular opening adopted by Saeed confused Monzer who was unable to attack and had a passive position. Saeed picked up a pawn in the 22nd move and gradually outplayed the Iraqi champion complete his win in the 38th move Salem defeated Abdul Aziz Ibrahim in an ultra sharp attacking game.

Salem had better development and crashed into black's camp with a central pawn thrust. A well-coordinated attack caught the stranded king in a mating attack.

Results of Round 7:

Under-10: Mahmoud Sakr (4) drew Raouf Abdo (4); Saeed Ishaq (6.5) bt Samer Monzer (3.5); Abdul Aziz Yousef (2) bt Ahmed Al Ghasra (0); Salem A.R.Saleh (6.5) bt Abdul Aziz Ibrahim (3); Hosam Tarboush (2.5) bt Abdul Aziz Karmostaji (3).

Under-12: Osama Al Ghasra (0) lost to Walid Aziz Jawad (5.5); Karam Bannawi (3.5) bt Kanan Sabri (1); Ahmed Abbas Khouri (3) drew Ahmed Mohsen (3.5); Mahdi Ayat Hamido (5.5) bt Marwan Abdul Wahab (4); Ghanem Al Sulaity (5.5) bt Ahmed Bin Saeed (3.5).