Grandmaster norm holder Lanka Ravi inched closer to his second norm after defeating GM Evgeny Pigusov of Russia in a fifth round match in Group 'A' in the Aeroflot International Open Chess tournament now underway in Moscow.
Grandmaster Krishnan Sasikiran also came up with an inspired performance after a rather uncharacteristic loss in the last round and put it across Grandmaster Aleksei Lugovoi of Russia.
However, it was yet another day of safety-first approach by the nine overnight leaders which saw eight of them taking draws while the other GM Kaido Kuloats of Estonia went down fighting to second seed local star Alexey Dreev.
With just four rounds to go, in this USD 25,000 first prize tournament, the lead positions are shared by as many as 18 Grandmasters who all have 4 points each while both Sasikiran and Lanka Ravi were among 24 players who are next in the list with 3.5 points each.
The day was otherwise okay for the other Indian contestants in the star-studded group with the remaining three - GM Praveen Thispay, GM Sandipan Chanda and International Master Neelotpal Das settling for draws against Russians Konstantin Landa, Artem Iljin and Sarhan Guliev of Azerbaijan respectively.
Though the chances for making it to the top appear very minimal for all three, their fighting abilities have really come to the fore here.
In Group 'B', it was a different story as Armenian Beniamin Galstian scored his sixth victory on the trot to maintain his sole lead with 6 points from as many rounds.
Galstian is followed by David Arutinian of Georgia who is half a point behind and the two will clash in the next round.
India's best hope in this group, that carries a winner's purse of USD 6000, Tejas Bakre was yet again held to a draw this time by Nikolay Ogloblin of Russia.
IM P Konguvel joined Bakre, on 4.5 points after recording his fourth consecutive victory. The other two Indians Dinesh Kumar Sharma and S Kidambi had contrasting results as the former lost to Alexei Gubajdullin while the latter defeated Viktor Sobyanin.
Sasikiran literally crushed Lugovoi, who played black, and employed the Tarrasch variation. Playing his favourite system against the opening, Sasikiran obtained a substantial advantage in the middle game and slowly squeezed the defensive resources of his opponent.
In the endgame, Sasikiran could boast of an extra pawn that proved decisive though Lugovoi was successful in trading all pieces except a pair of rooks. The game lasted 41 moves.
Important and Indian results round 5:
Group 'A': Valerij Filippov (Rus, 4) drew with Etienne Bacrot (Fra, 4); Alexander Graf (Ger, 4) drew with Vasilios Kotronias (Cyp, 4); Alexander Rustemov (Rus, 4) drew with Pavel Tregubov (Rus, 4); Karen Asrian (Arm, 4) drew with Loek Van Wely (Ned, 4); Alexey Dreev (Rus, 4) beat Kaido Kulaots (Est, 3.5); Vladimir Malakhov (Rus, 3) lost to Semen Dvoirys (Rus, 4); Joel Lautier (Fra, 4) beat Artashes Minasian (Arm, 3); Konstantine Sakaev (Rus, 3.5) drew with Dmitry Jakovenko (Rus, 3.5); Andrei Volokitin (Ukr, 3) Sergei Rublevsky (Rus, 4); Shakhriyaz Mamedyarov (Aze, 4) beat Artyom Timofeev (Rus, 3); Alexander Motylev (Rus, 4) beat Robert Kempinski (Pol, 3); Alexander Lastin (Rus, 4) beat Kevin Spraggett (Can, 3); Kamil Miton (Pol, 3) lost to Darmen Sadvakasov (Kaz, 4); Yakov Meister (Rus, 4) beat Ernesto Inarkiev (Rus, 3); Ferenc Berkes (Hun, 4) beat Magnus Carlsen (Nor, 3); Krishnan Sasikiran (Ind, 3.5) beat Aleksei Lugovoi (Rus, 2.5); Evgeny Pigusov (Rus, 2.5) lost to Lanka Ravi (Ind, 3.5); Neelotpal Das (Ind, 2.5) drew with Sarhan Guliev (2.5); Praveen Thipsay (Ind, 2) drew with Konstantin Landa (Rus, 2); Sandipan Chanda (Ind, 2)drew with Artem Iljin (Rus, 2).
Group 'B' : Beniamin Galstian (Arm, 6) beat Artur Janturin (Rus, 4.5); Giorgi Bagaturov (Geo, 5) drew with Iokhan Doukhine (Rus, 5); David Arutinian (Geo, 5.5) beat Tigran Kotanjian (Arm, 4); Tejas Bakre (Ind, 4.5) drew with Nikolay Ogloblin (Rus, 4.5); Dzhakaev Dzhakay (Rus, 5) beat Xu Yuanyuan (Chn, 4); Levon Babujian (Arm, 5) beat Michail Panarin (Rus, 4); P Konguvel (Ind, 4.5) beat Yohann Benitah (Fra, 3.5); Dinesh Kumar Sharma (Ind, 3) lost to Alexei Gubajdullin (Rus, 4); S Kidambi (Ind, 3) beat Viktor Sobyanin (Rus, 2).
