Teen Indian grandmaster Raunak Sadhwani was ranked ninth in the Open event with 8.5 points after 12 rounds in the FIDE World Blitz Championship.
In the women’s, GM D Harika was the top-seeded Indian, in sixth place with 6.5 points after nine rounds.
Fifteen-year-old Indian WIM B Savitha Shri, who won bronze at the World Rapid Championship on Wednesday, languished in 69th place after the ninth round.
Meanwhile, Sadhwani recorded seven wins and three draws in the Open section. He suffered two defeats against lower-rated players – Evgeniy Najer and Denik Lazavik.
Nihal Sarin, another teenage GM, was the next best Indian, in 19th place with 8 points, while Arjun Erigaisi (7.5 points) was 35th. In the women’s, Indian ace Koneru Humpy (5 points) was a distant 44th, while Tania Sachdev shrugged off an underperformance in the Rapid tournament to score 6 points to be seeded 10th. Padmini Rout, also with six points, occupies 19th place.
American Hikaru Nakamura leads the Open event, with 10 points, while world No. 1 Magnus Carlsen is tied with four others on 9 points. Nakamura is undefeated in 12 rounds so far while Carlsen has not lost a single match either. Carlsen has been forced to draw in his last five games.
In the ladies, the Russian players Valentina Gunina and Polina Shuvalova are in the lead with 7.5 points after nine rounds. On Friday, there are nine rounds to play in the open section, while eight rounds remain in the women’s event.