Bakre remains in joint lead in Kavala International open

Kavala: Grandmaster Tejas Bakre remained in joint lead after a hard fought draw with higher

ranked Vladislav Borovikov of Ukraine in the fifth round of the Kavala International open chess tournament here. After four victories on the trot, the draw by Bakre came as a breather for the other contestants as the Indian was joined by former world junior champion Zaven Andriasian of Armenia and Andrey Rychagov of Russia at the top. Andrisian defeated Denis Khismatullin of Russia while Rychagov got the better of Armenian Hrant Melkumyan. With Bakre, Andriasian and Rychagov in the front, 2008 world junior champion Grandmaster Abhijeet Gupta moved within striking distance of the leaders at the expense of compatriot Vishnu Prasanna. Abhijeet and four others share the third spot on four points each with four rounds still remaining in this strong open event. The other Indians in the fray had a mixed day. The safety first approach by young International Master Sahaj Grover did not come good as he was grinded by GM Robert Hess of United States, while Tania Sachdev was subtly outplayed by veteran Grandmaster Slavoljub Marjanovic of Serbia. On the brighter side, D Harika won her second game on the trot outclassing Botsari Anna-Maria of Greece and Grandmaster Deepan Chakkravarthy was amongst those who drew in the fifth round. Continuing his exemplary run, Bakre denied Borovikov the full point from a position of strength. Playing the black side of a Queen pawn game, Bakre, for once, was under pressure in the middle game as well as the subsequent endgame that arose but came back strongly with some deft manoeuvres leading to a drawn endgame. "It was a tough game for me today as I was on the defensive quite early in the game, but in anycase it was a satisfying result as I had to find some difficult defensive resources," said Bakre in the post game chat. Abhijeet`s better preparation paid off against Vishnu Prasanna as on the 21st move he came up with a new idea in the Slav Botvinnik that he claimed to have analysed three years back wherein Vishnu did not get a chance to equalise. Abhijeet was all smiles when he confided, "Well I worked on it many years back but last year someone played it if I remember right, luckily Vishnu hadn`t seen it and for me it was as good as new too!" PTI