New Zealand-born Grandmaster Murray Chandler defeated fellow Kiwi Igor Bjelobrk today to take the sole lead at the Queenstown Chess Classic on Monday. With only one round to play Chandler, is sure of at least tying for his first New Zealand Championship title since 1976 - the year Chandler turned professional and began playing in Europe.

However Chandler will still need a win in the final round to take first place in the Queenstown Classic and capture the $7,000 first prize. Chandler leads top seed Grandmaster Ian Rogers of Australia by only half a point and will be playing against Slovenian Grandmaster Drazen Sermek in the final round.

A large crowd watched Chandler outmanoeuvre Bjelobrk in a game which took five hours and 72 moves. A disappointed Bjelobrk will have the consolation of earning his first International Master should he draw his final round game. Three players, including one other New Zealander, are in the running for an International Master result, a performance level set by the World Chess Federation for outstanding achievements against strong opposition. Three International Master results plus a high world ranking are needed for a player to earn the International Master title.

The final round of the richest tournament ever to be held in New Zealand will begin at 3pm at the Millennium Hotel in Queenstown.

Leading Results Round 9:

 
M Chandler      (ENG)   1 - 0    I Bjelobrk   (NZL)
I Rogers        (AUS)   1 - 0    S Solomon    (AUS)
D Sermek        (SLO)    1/2     H-J Hecht    (GER)
T Karolyu       (HUN)   0 - 1    ZY Zhao      (AUS)
P Froehlich     (GER)   1 - 0    G Lane       (AUS)
D Smerdon       (AUS)   1 - 0    T Reilly     (AUS)
M Wojnar        (NZL)   0 - 1    T Civin      (CZE)
A Wohl          (AUS)   0 - 1    H Tabatt     (GER)
H Van Riemsdijk (BRA)   1 - 0    M Steadman   (NZL)
P Wang          (NZL)   0 - 1    G West       (AUS)
R Wade          (NZL)    1/2     N Goodhue    (NZL)

Leading Scores:
M Chandler (ENG) 8/9
I Rogers (AUS) 7.5
D Sermek (SLO), ZY Zhao, D Smerdon (both AUS),
H-J Hecht (GER), P Froehlich (GER), I Bjelobrk (NZL) 7
S Solomon, G West (both AUS), H Tabatt (GER),
H Van Riemsdijk (BRA), M Dougherty (CAN), A Ker, R Nokes,
S Lukey, R Smith (all NZL), T Civin (CZE) 6.5