Himal Lama stunned three-time national champion Badri Lal Nepali to take sole lead in the Cooperative Cup Chess Tournament on Monday.

In the fifth round, Nepali surrendered the game to Lama in the 50th move that maintained the latter’s winning streak. Lama leads the table with five points from as many games. He had earlier shocked amateur champion Chhitij Bhandari in  fourth round. Suman Rai and Sumit Panta share the second spot with 4.5 points.

Rai registered a double victory, overcoming Janardan Shrestha in the fourth round and Kamal Shrestha in the fifth. Panta shocked former Nepal champions in both of his matches. He stunned Manish Hamal in the fourth round before beating Navin Tandukar. While bottom seeded players capped a successful day, the top seeds faltered.

Reigning Nepal champion Keshav Shrestha was held to draw by Tandukar and Suman Lama in the fourth and fifth round.  Meanwhile, Candidate Master Bhupendra Niraula crashed to a shock defeat to Bikash Kuluju in the fifth round. Nepali, Rijendra Raj Bhandari, Kuluju, Sajin Maharjan, Bhandari, Rabindra Shakya and Ashish Phuyal are joint third with four points. National champion Shrestha, Hamal, Tandukar, Milan Roka, Kamal Shrestha, Suman Lama, Bharat Dhimal are fourth with 3.5 points.