Grandmaster R B Ramesh kept alive the chances of defending his title by registering a convincing victory over International Master N K Mishra in the eighth round of the Parsvanath International Chess tournament in New Delhi on Monday.
Ramesh, with 6.5 points, is now in joint second position along with GM Serik Temirbaev of Kazakhstan, GM Safin Shukhrat of Uzbekistan, IM R R Laxman, IM R Balasubramanium, IM D V Prasad and C S Gokhale with three more rounds to go in the tournament.
The seven-player group now trail the overnight leaders -- GM Pavel Kotsur of Kazakhstan and Saidali Iuldachev of Uzbekistan -- by half a point.
Kostur and Iuldachev opted to play safe and settled for quick draws against Temirbaev and Balasubramanium respectively to remain in joint lead.
Ramesh had won the first edition of the tournament last year in October which helped him complete his third and final GM norm.
The Indian Oil player had a smooth sailing over Mishra whose opening mistakes from the black side of a Sicilian Taimanov cost him dearly. Ramesh seized the initiative in the middle game and a direct assault on the black king proved decisive.
National Champion GM Surya Shekhar Ganguly, GM Koneru Humpy, GM Dibyendu Barua, GM Sandipan Chanda and IM Tejas Bakre were joint third with eight others.
Iuldachev decided to fight it out against Balasubramanian but could not make any headway as the latter played solidly with white pieces.
Employing the Reti opening, Balasubramanian maintained the dynamic equilibrium for a long time and drew the game after an intense struggle.
National junior champion M R Venkatesh deviated from the obvious moves played in the Berlin defence opening and reached a position that was not advantageous for the white and signed a peace pact in 23 moves.
Important Results (Round 8):
Serik Temirbaev (6, Kaz) drew Pavel Kotsur (6, Kaz); R Balasubranium (6.5) drew Saidali Iuldachev (7, Uzb); D V Prasad (6.5) drew C S Gohkale (6.5); M R Venkatesh (6) drew S S Ganguly (6); Safin Sukhrat (6.5, Uzb) bt Saptarshi Roy Chowdhury (5.5); R B Ramesh (6.5) beat N K Mishra (5.5); S Satyapragyan (6) drew Sriram Jha (6); Tejas Bakre drew Aminul Islam (6); Nurlan Ibraev (5.5, Kaz) lost to R R Laxman (6.5); Dibyendu Barua (6) bt Atanu Lahiri (5); Laisram Imocha (5) lost to Sandipan Chanda (6); Koneru Humpy (6) bt K Visweswaran (5).