Hyderabad: Grandmaster Sethuraman S.P. maintained his sole lead with 6.5 points after drawing with Mikhail Mozharov in the eighth round of second Hyderabad International Grandmasters chess tournament here at the Kotla Vijaya Bhaskara Reddy Indoor Stadium at Yousufguda on Sunday .
Playing safe with white pieces in a Symmetrical English opening game, Sethu settled for half-apoint with his Russian rival by a repetition of moves before the completion of the mandatory twenty five moves.
Mozharov, along with Grandmasters Ivan Popov of Russia, Levan Pantsulaia of Georgia, Samvel TerSahakyan of Armenia and the Indian duo of Vidit Santosh Gujrathi and M.R.
Lalith Babu, is now at the number two spot with a drift of half-a-point from the leader.
In the eighth round, Popov and Vidit signed the peace
treaty in 34 moves while Pantsulaia defeated GM Azer Mirzoev of Azerbaijan. Keeping his title hopes intact, Lalith defeated GM Vasily Papin of Russia in 34 moves arrived out of a classical variation of the NimzoIndian Defence.
TerSahakyan joined them after stopping dark the horse of the tournament, AP youngster Dhulipala Bala
Chandra Prasad. However, Prasad and Delhi’s Prince Bajaj secured their maiden International Master norms after completing the requirements for the nine game norm.
