MANILA, Sept. 26 (Xinhua) -- Chinese player Zhang Pengxiang emerged as the new leader after the seventh round matches of the Sixth Asian Individual Chess Championship held on Tuesday night in the Philippines, local newspaper reported Wednesday.

Zhang handed previous pacesetter Susanto Megaranto of Indonesiah is first loss in 40 moves of a Slav and vaulted to the top of the rank with 5.5 points, the Philippine Daily Inquirer said.

Megaranto stayed at 5.0 points, the second place also joined by Chinese players Zhou Jianchao and Wang Hao, Neelotapal of India, and E. Hossain of Bangladesh, the report said.

The Sixth Asian Individual Chess Championship was held at the Cebu International Convention Center in Mandaue city of the central Philippines.