Grandmaster B Adhiban registered his third straight win while overnight joint leader Nihal Sarin played out a quick draw as both the Indians stayed on course for the title after six rounds in the Rejkjavik Open 2018 – Bobby Fischer Memorial chess tournament in Iceland on Sunday.
With three rounds to play in this 9-round Swiss system, Adhiban and Sarin have five points from a possible six and share the lead spot with Turkey’s Mustafa Yilaz, Hungary’s Richard Rapport, USA’s Aleksandr Lenderman and France’s Maxime Lagarde.
Adhiban, playing white, was always in control in the Benko Gambit opening as he tightened the noose around Alejandro Ramirez early in the game and though the US GM tried to delay the inevitable he resigned after just 27 moves.
The 25-year-old, who has so far registered four wins and two draws, will now face Lagarde in the next round.
On one of the top boards, 13-year-old Sarin was pitted against the experienced Gata Kamsky and his choice of Kings Indian Defence gave him early advantage. However, Kamsky was solid defensively and with time running out for the Indians with his pawns mostly locked, Sarin opted for a draw by repetition in 30 moves to not just maintain his unbeaten record but also stay on course to earn his second GM norm.
Among other Indians in fray, R Praggnanandhaa defeated FM Vignir Vatnar Stefansson of Iceland with black pieces to jump to joint second spot with 15 others including GM Vaibhav Suri and IM Haria Ravi from India.