Grand Master Abdullah Al-Rakib maintained his solo lead in the Walton International Rating Chess at the close of the seventh round at the Bangladesh Chess Federation hall room yesterday.

Rakib beat CM Mahtabuddin Ahmed Robin to earn the maximum of seven points from as many matches.

Four players -- FM Mehdi Hasan Pagar, FM Mohammad Javed, Golam Mostafa Bhuiyan and Mohammed Enayet Hossain -- were joint second with six points while Faisal Hossain was in the third position with 5.5 points.