John Richards and Timothy Vella lead the way after Preliminaries third round

After 3 rounds, John Richards and Timothy Vella lead with full points having won all their games in the third round of the Chess Preliminaries.

Richards beat Alex Farrugia while Vella beat Jamie Farrugia. Ian Refalo follows half a point behind in third place after getting the better of Jacob Leigh Micallef with black.

The surprise of the round came from 11-year old Hayley Thornton who although still unrated, beat rated Kyle Bonnici. Thornton has so far won both of her games and is currently in joint fourth place.

The longest game of the round was that between newcomers Matthew Attard and Andy Wadge. Both players played a very exciting game that went all way to the endgame after three hours of play.

Attard managed utilise his piece advantage by winning the game.

Third round results

J. Richards vs A. Farrugia 1-0; T. Vella vs J. Farrugia 1-0; J. Micallef vs I. Refalo 0-1; M. Haber vs B. Vella 0-1; C. Demanuele vs J. Gatt J. 0-1; H. Thornton vs K. Bonnici 0-1; M. Attard vs A. Wadge 1-0; A. Buckle vs D. Gauci 1-0; C. Sciberras vs A. Abela 0-1; J. Callus vs G. Grech 0-1.

Round 4 pairings for Monday

T. Vella vs J. Richards; I. Refalo vs J. Gatt; A. Farrugia vs M. Attard; B. Vella vs A. Cachia; J. Farrugia vs H. Thornton; J. Micallef vs A. Buckle; K. Bonnici vs M. Haber; A. Abela vs K. Pullicino; A. Wadge vs C. Demanuele; G. Grech vs C. Sciberras; D. Gauci vs J. Callus.