Vietnamese Grandmaster Nguyen Anh Dung (8) scored a breathtaking victory over Asian champion Krishnan Sasikiran (6) to surge ahead at the end of ninth and penultimate round in the Commonwealth chess championship in Mumbai on Saturday.
Women Grandmater S Vijayalaxmi (6.5) scored a sensational win over Chinese Grandmaster Zhang Peng Xiag (5.5) in one of the major upsets of the championship.
Vijaylaxmi has almost assured herself of the women's title with one more round to spare as her closest competitor D Harika (5.5) squandered a promising position against Greek GM Vasilios Kotronios (6.5).
GM Dibyendu Barua (7) kept the Indian flag flying high when he outwitted Uzbek Marat Dzumaev (6) with white pieces.
Barua needs just a draw in the last round to claim the Commonwealth gold medal.
Thirteen-year-old Harika missed a golden opportunity to bag a gold when she went down fighting to Kotronios (6).
Harika had a comfortable position and she missed several promising continuations against Kotronios.
