Former World Junior Champion Pendyala Harikrishna registered a smashing victory over defending champion and Grandmaster Zoltan Almasi of Hungary in the third round to jump into sole lead at Marx Gyorgy Memorial International chess tournament in Paks, Hungary.
This was the second victory for Harikrishna in the event and the fact that it came over arch-rival and second seed Almasi made it all the more satisfying for the Indian, who beat another Hungarian Peter Acs in the opening round.
The victory enabled top seed Harikrishna to move to 2.5 points from three games played so far and he now stands a half point clear of his nearest rival Wang Yue of China, who scored his first victory in the event accounting for Acs.
Another game of six-player double round-robin event ended in a draw between Ferenc Berkes of Hungary and Ukrainian Zahar Efimenko.
With seven rounds still remaining, the third spot was jointly held by Almasi and Efimenko, both having 1.5 points apiece, and Berkes was fifth on one point while Peter Acs was in the cellar on just a half point from his three games.
In the fourth round, Harikrishna will have white pieces against Berkes and the Indian is expected to go all out for a victory in this game too.
After a rather forgettable show in his last event, the Aerosvit tournament where he finished on the last spot, Harikrishna had been raring to have a go once again and this event has given him just the kind of beginning he needed to prove himself as a force to reckon with.