Delhi boy Sahaj Grover drew with Jekhongir Vakhidov of Uzbekistan in the 11th and final round to win his maiden world title in the under-10 section of the World Youth Chess Championships in Belfort, France, on Thursday.
Sahaj, who had defeated Chiam Eng Yeap of Malaysia in the previous round, scored nine points out of possible 11 to edge out Ivan Bukashvin of Russia and emerge winner.
Earlier, in the tenth and penultimate round in the under-12 boys' section, N Srinath maintained sole lead after drawing with Ray Robson of the United States and moved closer to the gold medal.
Srinath also took his tally to 8.5 points and remained a half point adrift of second seed Sujgirov Sanan of Russia.
In the last round, the Indian is slated to play So Wesley of the Philippines and even a draw will be enough for Srinath to win the gold medal in his group.
S P Sethuraman and V A V Rajesh are other Indians in this section who are in with a chance of winning a medal though in all probability only one of them can make it as Sanan looks a certainty for the honour needing just a draw.
In the penultimate round game, Sanan was held to a draw by Sethuraman while Rajesh did well to beat Bahruz Rzayev of Azerbaijan.
Women Grandmaster D Harika came back into reckoning for medals in the under-16 girls' section after crashing through the defence of Nazerke Rysbayeva.
With 7.5 points to her credit Harika is set to play championship leader Anna Muzychuk of Slovenia in her next round game and will have to win to remain in contention for the medal.
Sahaj was simply outstanding in scoring over Yeap in a one-sided affair. Playing the white side of a Sicilian Sveshnikov, Sahaj took advantage of an early opening error by Yeap and showcased his positional sense by outplaying his opponent in all departments of the game.
First, Yeap was saddled with weaknesses all over the board, later he had a bad Bishop saddled with a daunting task of defending them all and, finally, Sahaj won an exchange through a fine manoeuvre to romp home in 53 moves.
Results:
Boys':
(Under-10): Sahaj Grover (8.5) beat Chiam Eng Yeap; Mark Lapidus (6) lost to Shiven Khosla (7); K. Harsh (4.5) lost to Aquino Inigo (5.5); Sheldon Jurrius (4) lost to Rishi Thariani (5); Alan Chikman (5) beat Vasanta Varman (4); Devic Jovan (4) beat Sudharshan Surya (3); Suboth Shirodkar (2.5) lost to Fahad Almazam (3.5).
Under-12: Ray Robson (7.5) drew with N. Srinath (8.5); S.P. Sethuraman (7.5) drew with
Sujgirov Sanan (8); V.A.V. Rajesh (7.5) beat Bahruz Rzayev (6.5); Parimarjan Negi (7) drew with Illya Nyzhnyk (7); Prasanna Rao (6) beat Flavien Sola Sithlja Piyuman (4) drew with Hari Hara Sudhan (4).
Under-14: Y. Sandeep (7.5) beat Arkadiusz Leniart (6.5); Anastasion Pavlidis (5.5) lost to Nikhil Shyam (6.5); Sankalp Modwal (6) beat Zia Anakidze (5); T. Pranav (1) lost to Elie Abi Raad (2). Under-16: G. Rohith (7.5) drew with Tomasz Warakomski (8); Monsieux Cyril Monsieux (7) beat D. Sai Srinivas (6); Jean Pierre Trang (4.5) lost to K. Vijay Keerthi (5.5).
Under-18: Deep Sengupta (6.5) drew with Joost Michielsen (6.5); Deepan Chakkravarthy (6) drew with Valeanu Eduard-Andrei (6).
Girls':
Under-10: K. Sai Nirupama (7.5) lost to Wang Jie (8).
Under-12: Deysi Cori (6.5) lost to P. Lakshmi Sahiti (7.5); Rucha Pujari (6.5) beat Cansu Soylemez (5.5); Anne Haast (6.5) beat G. Srisha (5).
Under-14: Pon. N. Krithika (6) lost to I. Ramya Krishna (7).
Under-16: Nazerke Rysbayeva (6.5) lost to D. Harika (7.5); Saheli Nath (7) beat Marija Rakic (6); Nune Darbinian (6.5) drew with Mary Ann Gomes (6.5).
Under-18: Zorigt Bayaraa (4.5) lost to N. Vinuthna (5.5) Soumya Swaminathan (5.5) lost to Gulmira Dauletova (6.5).
