Krishnan Sasikiran missed winning chances in his double edged ninth round game against Sergey Karjakin and had to be content with a draw in the Aerosvit Open chess tournament in Yalta, Ukraine, on Wednesday.
Sasikiran once again featured in the most thrilling game of the round but could not convert his advantage due to severe time trouble.
Karjakin shared the lead with fellow-Ukrainian Vassily Ivanchuk, who drew his game with Lenier Dominguez after a protracted fight.
Spaniard Alexei Shirov crept up upon the leaders with a win over Dmitry Jakovenko. He was on 5.5 points, half a point behind Karjakin and Ivanchuk.
With just two rounds to go, it is clear that the race for the championship will be between these three Grandmasters.
Shirov was a full point ahead of Grandmasters Lenier Dominguez, Alexander Onischuk, Peter Svidler and Loek van Wely, who were tied for the fourth to seventh places on 4.5 points.
Things did not look rosy for Sasikiran in the early part of the game.
Karjakin played the Semi-Slav defense and sacrificed a pawn on the 16th move when Sasikiran opted for an unusual variation in the opening.
Karjakin obtained excellent compensation for the pawn and was in a superior position by move 20.
Sasikiran reacted energetically and sacrificed an exchange to put an end to his opponent's initiative.
Karjakin weakened his queenside pawns in the middle game and allowed Sasikiran to make inroads.
A fierce battle developed with both players fighting for the initiative. Sasikiran appeared to have gained a winning advantage but by then both players were short of time and the quality of play was far from satisfactory.
Sasikiran missed some winning chances and allowed Karjakin to bring about a drawn endgame.
The marathon battle ended in a draw after 93 moves with neither having the slightest chances to win.
The game between Ivanchuk and Dominguez lasted even longer. Ivanchuk tested his opponent for a long time in a drawish endgame before conceding a draw after an incredible 136 moves.
Results, round 9: Krishnan Sasikiran (Ind, 3.5,) drew Sergey Karjakin (Ukr, 6.0); Vassily Ivanchuk (Ukr, 6.0) drew Lenier Dominguez (Cub, 4.5); Dmitry Jakovenko (Rus, 4.0) lost to Alexei Shirov (Esp, 5.5); Alexander Onischuk (USA, 4.5) drew Peter Svidler (Rus, 4.5); Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu (Rom, 3.5) drew Loek Van Wely (Ned, 4.5) Pavel Eljanov (Ukr, 3.5) drew Sergei Rublevsky (Rus, 4.0).
The moves - Krishnan Sasikiran vs Sergey Karjakin:
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bxf6 Qxf6 7.e3 Nd7 8.Qc2 g6 9.cxd5 exd5 10.Bd3 Bg7 11.h4 00 12.h5 g5 13.Ne2 Qe7 14.Ng3 Nf6 15.Bf5 Ne4 16.Bxe4 dxe4 17.Nxe4 Bf5 18.Nfd2 Rae8 19.f3 Bh7 20.g4 f5 21.gxf5 Bxf5 22.Rg1 g4 23.Rxg4 Bxg4 24.fxg4 Qh4+ 25.Ke2 Qxg4+ 26.Kd3 Re7 27.Qd1 Qf5 28.a4 Kh8 29.Rc1 Rfe8 30.Qh1 Qd5 31.Qg2 b6 32.Qg6 Rf8 33.Rxc6 Ref7 34.Rc1 Qd7 35.b3 Re7 36.Rc6 Qh3 37.Rd6 Rg8 38.Rf6 Rd8 39.Rf3 Qh4 40.Qf5 Re5 41.Rh3 Qe7 42.Qg4 b5 43.axb5 Rxb5 44.Rg3 Rf8 45.Qg6 Rb6 46.Qg4 Rd8 47.Ke2 Ra6 48.Nc4 Ra2+ 49.Kd3 Qf7 50.Rf3 Qe7 51.Qg6 Qb7 52.Ned2 Ra6 53.Qe4 Qd7 54.Rf4 Ra1 55.Qf5 Qb7 56.Qg6 Ra6 57.Qe4 Qb5 58.Rf5 Qd7 59.Nf3 Rb8 60.Nfe5 Ra2 61.Kc3 Qe8 62.Ng6+ Kg8 63.Ne7+ Kh8 64.Ng6+ Kg8 65.Qxe8+ Rxe8 66.Rf3 a5 67.Nge5 Rh2 68.Rf5 Ra2 69.Nd3 Ra8 70.Nc5 Rh2 71.Na4 Bf8 72.Kd3 Bb4 73.Nc5 Rh1 74.Nb6 Rd1+ 75.Kc4 Rd8 76.Nbd7 Bxc5 77.Nxc5 Rc1+ 78.Kb5 Rb8+ 79.Ka6 Rc3 80.Re5 Kf7 81.Rf5+ Ke7 82.Re5+ Kf7 83.Re4 Rc1 84.Rf4+ Ke7 85.Rg4 Kf7 86.Rf4+ Ke7 87.Rg4 Kf7 88.Rg6 Rc3 89.Rxh6 Rxe3 90.Rb6 Rd8 91.Rb7+ Re7 92.Rxe7+ Kxe7 93.Kxa5 Rxd4 Draw Agreed.