The penultimate round of the Chennai International Open chess tournament witnessed a short draw on the top board between Israeli Alon Greenfeld and Tamir Nabaty while 14 adjacent boards threw up results, a fair few of them upsets.
The draw ensured Greenfeld (8.5) and Nabaty (8.5) of the lead, while top-seed Alexander Areshchenko and Martyn Kravtsiv joined the duo with wins in round 10.
As the dust from a convoluted Sicilian settled, Mikhailo Oleksienko (with black pieces) couldn't find the right squares to settle his pieces in, and a few oversights later, found himself an exchange down against Martyn Kravtsiv.
The advantage proved decisive in the end game as the over worked bishop couldn't defend black's pawns and Oleksienko resigned after 62 moves.
M.S. Thej Kumar, playing black, paid the price for an ill-advised opening up of his king side during the Caro-Kann, which Areshchenko exploited clinically.
After a few simplifications, Thej Kumar resigned when faced with the threat of an unimpeded pawn roll from white and very little time on his clock to come up with a rebuff.
Pressing for a win and taking their chances with draw-ish positions, Grand Masters Yaroslav Zherebukh (7.0) and Hannes Stefansson (6.5) went down against Pradeep Kumar (8.0) and Shyam Sundar (7.5) respectively. Pradeep Kumar's win also handed him an IM norm.
Another upset was effected when Ashwin Jayaram (7.5) floored Ziaur Rahman (6.5) with a queen sacrifice in 24 moves of the Sicilian.
Faced with the loss of a piece or a forced check mate, Rahman resigned.
The final round will see the top-four players in the lead go head on to lay a claim on the title. Nabaty will take on Areshchenko on the top board, while Kravtsiv will play Greenfeld on the second board.
Important results (Round 10, Indian unless stated):
Alon Greenfeld (Isr, 8.5) drew with Tamir Nabaty (Isr, 8.5), Martyn Kravtsiv (Ukr, 8.5) bt Mikhailo Oleksienko (Ukr, 7.5), Alexander Areshchenko (Ukr, 8.5) bt M.S. Thej Kumar (7.0), Ni Hua (Chi, 8.0) bt P. Shyam Nikil (7.0), B. Adhiban (8.0) bt Yuriy Kuzubov (Ukr, 7.0), S. Kidambi (8.0) bt Evgeny Postny (Isr, 7.0), R.A. Pradeep Kumar (8.0) bt Yaroslav Zherebukh (Ukr, 7.0), Abhijeet Gupta (7.5) bt Zeng Chongsheng (Chi, 7.0), Hannes Stefansson (Isl, 6.5) lost to M. Shyam Sundar (7.5), S.P. Sethuraman (6.5) lost to Niaz Murshed (Ban, 7.5), Ziaur Rahman (Ban, 6.5) lost to Ashwin Jayaram (7.5), J. Deepan Chakkravarthy (7.5) bt P.D.S. Girinath (6.5), Arjun Tiwari (6.5) lost to Sahaj Grover (7.5), G.V. Sai Krishna (6.5) lost to Saptarshi Roy Chowdhury (7.5), Marat Dzhumaev (Uzbekistan 6.5) drew with Mohammad Nubairshah Shaikh (7.0).
Board pairing for round eleven: Nabaty Tamir vs. Alexander Areshchenko, Martyn Kravtsiv vs. Alon Greenfeld, S. Kidambi vs. Ni Hua, R. Pradeep Kumar vs. B. Adhiban, Sahaj Grover vs. Abhijeet Gupta.
Standings (after round 10): 1 to 4. Tamir Nabaty (Isr, 8.5), Alexander Areshchenko (Ukr, 8.5), Alon Greenfeld (Isr, 8.5), Martyn Kravtsiv (Ukr, 8.5), 5 to 8. Ni Hua (Chn, 8.0), S. Kidambi (8.0), B. Adhiban (8.0), R.A. Pradeep Kumar (8.0), 9 to 10. Sahaj Grover (7.5), Abhijeet Gupta (7.5).
