The second Grandmaster of Bangladesh, Ziaur Rahman moved to joint first at the Masters event at the 89th Hasting International Chess Congress after beating Fide Master Neil Stewart of Germany in the 4th round on Tuesday.
Zia shared the top spot with GM Mikheil Mchedlishvili of Georgia and GM Daniel Gormally of England with 3.5 points at the end of the 4th round at Horntye Park, Hastings, East Sussex in England.
Zia played with black pieces against Stewart’s English Opening. The game continued in unusual fashion before Zia won in 30 move. Zia was scheduled to play against Georgian Grandmaster Mikheil Mchedlishvili in the 5th round yesterday (Wednesday) night.
Earlier on Monday, Zia defeated Prosviriakov Vladimir of USA in the 3rd round. He drew with International Master Foisor Ovidiu-Doru of Romania in the 2nd round and beat Repplinger Marc of Germany in the 1st round.
A total of 94 players, including 12 GMs and 12 International Masters, from 23 countries are participating at the event.