Harika maintains lead

Continuing her impressive run, India's Dronavalli Harika defeated Irina Gevorgyan of Uzbekistan in the sixth round in the Under-12 girls' section in the Asian Youth chess championships in Tehran on Tuesday.

The convincing victory moved the top-seeded Harika to 5.5 points and helped stretch her lead to a full point over nearest rival and compatriot V K Sindhu.

Other Indian players also made most of the opportunities offered in this round, with little-known L S Pinnamaneni moving in to sole lead in the girls' under-10 section after beating S V Sathyapriya.

Pinnamanni is on five points out of a possible six. She is followed by another Indian, Gondala Madanasri, who is on 4.5 points.

Parimarjan Negi beat Mars Ulu Dan of Kyrgistan to remain in joint lead in the under-10 boys' section along with Saeed Ishaq of UAE. Both have five points each from six games.

In the under-12 boys' section, second seed Sai Dasari of India played a fine game to beat overnight leader N N Troung Son of Vietnam to join the battle for top honours. Dasari is in joint lead now in his section alongside Troung Son and Ha Ngo Manh also of Vietnam.