Reigning national champion Sharmin Sultana Shirin and runner-up Shamima Akter Liza of maintain their joint lead in the points table with 9.5 points each after the tenth round of the Arlin Developer 31st National Women Chess Championship at the Narayangonj Club Auditorium yesterday.

WIM Rani Hamid of Titas Club, Masuda Begum of Barisal and Nazrana Khan Eva of Manikgonj share second position with 6.5 points each. In the tenth round: Shirin beat Dilara Jahan Nupur of Kustia, Liza beat Aeon Sarker of Kasparov School of Chess, Rani Hamid beat Masuda Begum, Eva drew with Mahmuda Haque Chowdhury Moly of Chittagong, Protiva Talukdder of Rajshahi beat Jahanara Haque Runu, WFM Zakia Sultana of Metropolitan Chess Club drew with Rokshana Titli of Pabna. Eleventh or last round games will be held today at the same venue.