FIDE Master Sheikh Nasir Ahmed is just half a point away from achieving his first International Master norm after he beat Span's IM Lorenzo del la Riva in the penultimate round of the 40th Open International Barbara Dell Villis Category A Chess in Barcelona yesterday.

Nasir played with white pieces and beat Lorenzo in 59 moves.

With six points from eight matches the Bangladesh Navy's player now shares the third position along with six others.  He will need at least a draw against Morocco's IM Tlshir Mohammad in the ninth and final round, which was scheduled to start at 9:00pm (BST) last night, to earn the IM norm, a Bangladesh Chess Federation press release said yesterday.