Negi draws against Pearsson, placed joint sixth

Malmo, Sweden, Apr 25 (UNI) World's youngest Grandmaster Parimarjan Negi had to settle for a draw against Tiger Hillarp Persson of Sweden which saw him drop to sixth position in the points table after seven rounds at the Sigeman and Co Chess tournament here.

The draw against Pearsson added further salt to the wound of the 14-year-old Indian prodigy, who earlier had a disappointing sixth round match against Emanuel Berg of Sweden.

However, in the fifth round Negi came up with a surprise victory over local favourite and three time winner of the tournament Jan Tinman.

Negi now lies joint sixth with 3 points from three losses, two wins and two draws in the 10-player Category-13 nine-round tournament. He now takes on Bulgarian GM Ivan Cheparinov in the next round.

Meanwhile, despite Bulgarian GM Ivan Cheparinov's seveth round match ending in a draw against Dutch GM Erwin l'Ami, he continued to top the points table with 5.5.

Half-a-point behind the leader lies Pearson, while the defeat against Dutch GM Timman had no effect on Berg's third position (4) in the points table.

Round 7 result: Parimarjan Negi drew with GM Tiger Hillarp Persson, Erwin l'Ami drew with GM Ivan Cheparinov, Vassilios Kotronias def IM Emil Hermansson, IM Pontus Carlsson def Jonny Hector, Jan Timman def IM Emanuel Berg.

UNI