Continuing his outstanding form, Grandmaster Abhijit Kunte defeated overnight leader GM Ziaur Rahman of Bangladesh to move to the joint top position after the eighth round in the Smith and Williamson British chess championship in Scotland.
Grandmaster Pendyala Harikrishna joined Kunte at the top of the table with a hard-earned victory over compatriot and Commonwealth women's champion S Vijayalakshmi.
Both Kunte and Harikrishna have 6.5 points each to their credit and will now meet in the next round.
Half a point behind the two leaders are GM Peter Wells of England, double GM norm holder Tejas Bakre and Rahman while a pack of nine players including GM Surya Shekhar Ganguly and Vijayalakshmi are on their toes with 5.5 points apiece.
Three more rounds remain to be played in this prestigious event which carries the winner's purse of 10,000 pounds.
The fact that this is the last British championship for the Indians apparently has pumped the players on the top boards as Bakre also registered an important victory over WGM Arakhamia-Grant Ketevan of Georgia and remained in contention for his final GM norm.
After a disastrous loss against Vijayalakshmi in the previous round, Surya Shekhar Ganguly also came up with a fine performance to beat Robert Gwaze of Zimbabwe.
The other winners among the Indian men were GM Dibyendu Barua, who got in to the groove and had a smooth sailing over Gerald Moore of England and Neelotpal Das, who defeated another British Bret Addison.
However, Swati Ghate's dream run was finally halted as she went down to England's Lawrence Webb. Nevertheless, the Pune player is almost certain to get her second Women Grandmaster norm after her ninth round game.
Kunte displayed steely nerves to cruise past Rahman, whose determined attack in a level position failed against precise play. The opening was Catalan where Rahman got a semblance of advantage in the middle game with greater board control.
Kunte was composed right through the end and warded off the threats one by one. The central pawn mass of Rahman might have given some jitters to the Indian but their vulnerability remained a cause for concern for the Bangladeshi too.
In the decisive phase of the game, Kunte gobbled a couple of pawns on offer and defended in copybook fashion. Rahman resigned when there was no counterplay left for the lost material.
In another Catalan game of the day, Harikrishna had to work a lot harder against Vijayalakshmi. Playing white, Harikrishna maintained pressure right from the word go but Vijayalakshmi's defence appeared quite difficult to break.
Searching for chances, Harikrishna did not mind trading most of the pieces and manoeuvred his queen and Bishop excellently in the ensuing endgame to pocket as many as three pawns. Vijayalakshmi resigned after 54 moves.
National women's champion WGM Aarthie Ramaswamy defeated Matthew Dignam of Ireland while Eesha Karvade achieved the same desirable result against Englishman Clive Walters.
In other important games involving Indians, Sunderrajan Kidambi's hopes of a GM norm diminished after he drew with Pert Nicholas of England.
Important results (Indians unless specified)
Round 8: Ziaur Rahman (6, Ban) lost to Abhijit Kunte (6.5); P Harikrishna (6.5) beat S Vijayalaskshmi (5.5); Peter Wells (6, Eng) drew Paul Motwani (5.5, Sco); Matthew Turner (5.5, Eng) drew Joseph Gallagher (5.5, Sui); Tejas Bakre (6) beat Arakhamia-Grant Ketevan (5, Geo); Aaron Summerscale (5, Eng) lost to Reefat Bin Sattar (5.5, Ban); Adam Hunt (4.5,Eng) lost to Vassilios Kotronias (5.5, Cyp); Sam Collins (4.5, Sco) lost to Jonathan Rowson (5.5, Sco); Surya Shekhar Ganguly (5.5) beat Robert Gwaze (4.5, Zim); Sunderrajan Kidambi (5) drew Pert Nicholas (5, Eng); Gurpreet Pal Singh (4.5) lost to Daniel Gormally (5.5, Eng); Laurence Webb (5, Eng) beat Swati Ghate (4.5); David Howell (4, Eng) lost to Stuart Conquest (5, Eng); Neelotpal Das (4.5) beat Bret Addison (3.5, Eng); Martin Mitchell (4, Sco) drew S Meenakshi (4); Dibyendu Barua (4) beat Gerald Moore (3, Eng); Nisha Mohota (3.5) drew Adrian Jackson (3, Sco); Aarthie Ramsawamy (4) beat Matthew Dignam (3, Irl); Eesha Karavade (3.5) beat Clive Waters (3.5, Eng).
