Chess: Arjun Erigaisi held by Sarana in Sharjah Masters, Aravindh loses to Volodar

Grandmaster Arjun Erigaisi was held to a draw by Alexey Sarana of Serbia and a second straight loss for Aravindh Chithambaram almost ended the Indian hope in the Sharjah Masters chess tournament here on Wednesday.

Bardiya Daneshvar of Iran, Sam Shankland of the USA and Volodar Mulzin of Russia emerged as the co-leaders on six points with just one round remaining in the USD 52000 prize money tournament.

Arjun shares the fourth spot on 5.5 points and his tie-break is not that good to guarantee a podium finish even if he wins the final round game.

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Young Volodar Mulzin got the better of Chithambaram in a keenly contested game with white pieces. It was a Sicilian defence wherein Chithambaram missed the tactics in the Queenless middle game and was soon punished as Mulzin first won a pawn and finally a piece to force matters.

Arjun could not do much against a solid Alexey Sarana. It was a Queen’s gambit declined by Arjun that equalized easily and players decided not to test each other’s skills in a completely equal endgame.