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Chanda stays half-a-point ahead
Overnight leader GM Sandipan Chanda squandered a chance to extend his lead to a full point after a draw with GM Le Quang Liem of Vietnam in the fifth round of the Kolkata Open chess competition on Saturday.
Overnight leader GM Sandipan Chanda squandered a chance to extend his lead to a full point after a draw with GM Le Quang Liem of Vietnam in the fifth round of the Kolkata Open chess competition on Saturday. He stays half-a-point ahead of second-placed lot at 4.5 following draws on the second and third boards.
Second-seed Nigel Short and nine others on four points including four Indians - P Magesh Chandran, Parimarjan Negi, B Adhiban and RR Laxman. Barring Negi, the other three inflicted defeats on GMs with superior ratings.
Top-seed GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov of Azerbaijan drew with IM Himanshu Sharma following a defeat in the previous round to fall way behind the leader on three points.
Chanda let his opponent off the hook on the top board. He had a clear advantage in a Reti opening but made a few errors midway into the game, which meant he had to battle for a draw in the endgame.
Chanda faces Short in the sixth round with white pieces. He has played against the Englishman twice and drawn both games.
Short had white pieces against GM Evgeny Postny of Israel on the third board and tried hard to penetrate his Caro-Kann defence but could not make any headway and the point was split after 55 moves.
