Grandmaster Krishnan Sasikiran could be a good teacher in morale values. Despite escaping with a lucky draw against WGM Subbaraman Vijayalakshmi, he wondered how his opponent, after being in top gear, could have spared him with a truce. ‘‘She should have won the game,’’ he said about the most-talked about draw of the seventh round of the Commonwealth Chess Championship, here on Friday evening.Sasi (5 pts) admitted jokingly he outmanevoured himself by playing a pawn in Viji’s (5) hands. ‘‘Maybe she did not play the correct plan. Her’s was a clean winning position.’’ Viji was not available for comments. On the other celebrity boards, Uzbeki top seed super GM Rustom Kasimdzhanov (6) toppled the overnight sole leader from China, GM Zhang Peng Xiang to emerge as joint-leader with 14th seed GM Nguyen Anh Dung(Vietnam).Kasim’s surge to the top was marked by his balanced tactics against the Chinese whose knight remained out of way throught the game. He used the slight advantage to the fullest and walked away with a valuable triumph. GM Dibyendu Barua (5.5) stormed into the second position with a convincing mauling of Ukranian GM Ruslan Pogorelov, who misplayed his queen on the 14th move. The Kolkaka GM now shares the second spot along with Dzhumaev Marat and Xiang. Even as her Indian colleagues logged full points, Koneru Humpy suffered yet another loss — this time to Maharashtra’s Vikramaditya Kamble. But younger sibling Chandra Hawsa outwitted experienced Bhagyashree Thipsay to earn full points.
