Experienced junior Saeed Ali took a 0.5 point lead in the Sasha Cells National Junior Chess Championship 2016 after the completion of three rounds.
After taking a break from chess for his studies, Saeed returned to chess with some impressive games. In the second round, he played with the black pieces in a highly anticipated showdown against Roberto Neto. Neto once more turned to the Queens Gambit, and Saeed choose the Semi Slav variation as his defense. Neto was first to blunder, pushing for space advantage with c5 only to lose a pawn at the end of the variation. However, he managed a draw to salvage the half point.