Nouri nears junior crown in beating Russian Savchenko

HOPE has sprung eternal for Filipino FIDE Master (FM) Alekhine Nouri after he downed Russian Matvey Savchenko in the eight and penultimate round of the Asian Junior Chess Championship in Sri Lanka on Wednesday night.

The win put the 19-year-old two-time national junior titlist in a six-player tie for third spot with six points each, or just half a point behind co-leaders FM Biswas Sourath of India and International Master (IM) Lokumannage Susal Thewjan De Silva of Sri Lanka.

While slim, it somehow left Mr. Nouri, named after former world champion Alexander Alekhine, a chance at snatching the crown and the Grandmaster norm that comes with it assuming he beats second seed IM Kashish Manoj Jain of India in the final round and the stars eventually align.

Interestingly, Mr. Nouri, whose campaign is backed by the Philippine Sports Commission, stunned the higher rated Mr. Jain in the seventh and final round of the rapid division a few days ago that sealed the former the gold.

And Mr. Nouri wishes the fates would be kind to him for the second time around. — Joey Villar