Gopal in the lead

Indian International Master (IM) GN Gopal took solo lead in the Asian Zonal Chess Championship at the end of the fifth round at the National Sports Council (NSC) conference-room yesterday.
Gopal beat compatriot IM Suvrajit Saha in the round to raise his collection to four points while Grand Master Surya Shekhar Ganguly and G Rohit, both Indians, followed the leader with 3.5 points each.
Ganguly won his fifth round board against IM Abdullah Al Rakib and Rohit beat Tanveer Gillani of Pakistan.
In the women's section, WGM D Harika and WGM Swathi Ghate of India secured four points each after the sixth round to jointly lead the table. Harika beat compatriot WGM Tania Sachdev and Swathi beat Sharmin Sultana Shirin.