Sandipan Chanda finds form

A miscalculation of sorts on the part of previous-round winner Ramesh (2467) allowed IM Mateo Ramon (2372) to escape with a draw. In the Sicilian Taimanov Ramesh had obtained a huge advantage, pushing Ramon to the wall right from the opening. After failing to capitalise on innovative ideas, Ramesh went for a long combination to miss a crucial defence from his opponent to land in an opposite coloured bishop ending. The draw was agreed on the 43rd move.

Sandipan Chanda joined Ramesh on five points with an easy win over IM Agopov (2354) from Finland. Chanda played a rare variation with black in a Scheveningen variation of Sicilian. Unable to withstand the pressure on the Queenside, Agopov lost two pawns to subsequently resign on the 32nd move.Dinesh Kumar Sharma (2353) drew with WGM Almira Skripchenko (2450) of Moldova. IWM Aarthie Ramaswamy (2250) escaped from an adverse position to earn a draw against unrated Spaniard Ramos Martin.

Chandrasekhar Gokhale (2326) held higher seeded Armenian IM Kharatorosian (2405) to a creditable draw. Sriram Jha (2412) was also involved in a draw with lowly rated Sanchez from Philippines.

Rahul Shetty (2331) enjoyed a slight advantage right from the beginning against Shevelev’s Caro-Kann defence. Due to time constraint Shetty had to agree to a draw. Visweswaran (2289) failed to find the right plan in the Sicilian Alapin against young IM Khamrakulov of Uzbekistan and allowed a dangerous attack on his king. In time pressure, Visweswaran lost a piece and the game.

Important results: Bacrot (7) bt Motylev (6); Z Zong (6) bt Epishin (6); RB Ramesh (5) drew with Ramon Mateo (5); Almira (4.5) drew with DK Sharma (4.5); Agopov (4) lost to Sandipan Chanda (5); Khamrakulov (5) bt Visweswaran (4); CS Gokhale (4) drew with Karatorosian (4); Rahul Shetty (4) drew with A Shevelev (4); Sriram Jha (3.5) drew with Sanchez (3.5); San Martin Ramos (3.5) drew with Aarthie Ramaswamy (3.5).