Grandmaster Pendyala Harikrishna settled for a draw with compatriot GM R B Ramesh in the sixth round of the Master's section in the 14th Abu Dhabi Chess festival on Saturday.
The draw put both Harikrishna and Ramesh in joint sixth spot while Grandmaster Ghaem Maghami Ehsan of Iran emerged the sole leader on five points in the US$ 16,000 prize-money tournament.
Half a point adrift of Maghami are the Armenian duo of Ashot Anastasian and Artashes Minasian, Russians Evgeny Gleizerov and Mikhail Kobalia and Pavel Kotsur of Kazakhstan who all have 4.5 points apiece.
Harikrishna, Ramesh and GM Tejas Bakre are amongst the next set of players with four points along with top seed Evgeny Vladimirov of Kazakhstan, Dmitry Bocharov of Russia and Mahjoob Morteja of Iran.
Three rounds remain to be played in the tournament being played under FIDE's Swiss rules.
While draws ruled the roost on most of the top boards yet again former Asian Junior Girls' champion Tania Sachdev inched closer to her second Women Grandmaster norm after beating compatriot International Master Neelotpal Das in a keenly-contested game.
Up against the Neo-Grunfeld, Tania gave ample demonstration of her growing positional sense and capitalized on an inferior plan by Das to get the much-needed victory.
Now the Delhi-based player is placed on quite respectable 3.5 points and needs just one point more from the next three games to get the coveted norm.
Harikrishna and Ramesh fought hard to no avail. It was the Brayer variation of the Ruy Lopez in the opening and after the dust subsided Ramesh emerged with a tiny advantage that was not sufficient for a victory in the end.
The peace was signed after 51 moves when Harikrishna exchanged quickly to get perpetual checks.
Bakre could not get anything desirable against Vladimirov, who has trained the Indian team for many years now. Playing the exchange variation of the Ruy Lopez, the Indian could only wait and watch as Vladimirov liquidated the position easily and a draw was a just result in 28 moves when the players reached a level rook and minor piece ending.
Amongst other Indians in the fray, Nisha Mohota scored over Eesha Karvade to take her tally to three points while Arthie Ramaswamy's form continued to desert her as she drew with Amer Mohamed of Egypt.
In other important games of the day, Maghami decided to have a go at Dzhumaev after the top two boards lasted just 13 and 18 moves respectively.
The Dutch defence by the Uzbek only yielded a vulnerable pawn structure after the opening and slowly Maghami exploited that to win the Queen for two rooks. Swapping queenside pawns thereafter, the Iranian had little troubles in converting his extra material in to a full point.
Complete results round 6 (Indians unless specified):
Mikhail Kobalia (4.5, Rus) drew with Evgeny Gleizerov (4.5, Rus); Pavel Kotsur (4.5, Kaz) drew with Ashot Anastasian (4.5, Arm); Ghaem Maghami Ehsan (5, Iri) beat Marat Dzhumaev (3.5, Uzb); Tejas Bakre (4) drew with Evgeny Vladimirov (4, Kaz); R B Ramesh (4) drew with P Harikrishna (4); Artashes M inasian (4.5, Arm) beat Imad Hakki (3.5, Syr); Mahjoob Morteza (4, Iri) beat Konstantin Chernyshov (3, Rus); Yannick Gozzoli (3, Fra) lost to Dmitry Bocharov (4, Rus); Sergey Kayumov (3.5, Uzb) drew with Ramil Hasangatin (3.5, Rus); Artyom Timofeev (3.5, Rus) beat Alexander Raetsky (2.5, Rus); Mikh ail Ulibin (2.5, Rus) lost to Zeinab Mamediarova (3.5, Aze); Kivanc Haznedaroglu (3.5, Tur) lost to Saidali Iuldachev (2.5, Uzb); Abdullah Hassan (3, Uae) drew with Tahir Vakhidov (3, Uzb); Tissir Mohamed (3.5, Mar) beat Faruk Bistric (2.5, Bih); Firuza Velikhanli (2.5, Aze) lost to Safin Shukhrat (3.5, Uzb); Taleb Moussa (3.5, Uae) beat Jasim A R Saleh (2.5, Uae); Jasper Lauridsen (3.5, Den) beat S Kidambi (2.5); Tania Sachdev (3.5) beat Neelotpal Das (2.5); Julia Mashinskaya (3, Rus) drew with Elshan Moradiabadi (3, Iri); Nisha Mohota (3) beat Eesha Karavade (2); Nezad Husein Aziz (3, Qat) beat Atousa Pourkashiyan (2, Iri); Shadi Paridar (3, Iri) beat James Coleman (2, Eng); Saleh Nabil (2, Uae) drew with Tayeb Suhail (2, Uae); Amer Mohamed (2, Egy) drew with Aarthie Ramaswamy (2); Adina-Maria Bogza (1.5, Rom) lost to Mohamed Hossein (2.5, Uae); Al-Tamimi Hamad (2.5, Qat) beat Yahya Mohamed Saleh (1, Uae); Saleh Najueb (1, Uae) lost to Illijin Neboisa (2, Rom).
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