Harikrishna settles for a draw

Former World Junior champion P Harikrishna played out a hard-fought draw with Bulgarian Grandmaster Ivan Cheparinov and remained in joint lead after the conclusion of the third round of the 15th Ciudad De Pamplona International Chess tournament in Pamplona, Spain.

Harikrishna's second draw in three games also came with white pieces after he had drawn the first round game against Jan Timman of Holland. The Indian had scored a fine victory as black against tail-ender Oscar De La Riva Aguado of Andorra in the second round.

Like in the first round, the third round also provided just one decisive game with Jan Timman bowing to HB Global champion Izoria Zviad of Georgia. Former World Champion Ruslan Ponomariov was held to a draw by Russian turned Dutchman Sergei Tiviakov while Aguado opened his account after drawing with Laurent Fressinet of France.

With the drawn results in the games of overnight leaders, nothing changed at the top of the tables and Harikrishna remained in the company of Ponomariov, Fressinet and Cheparinov -- all having 2 points each with four rounds to go in this category-16 round robin event between eight players.

Backed by his victory, Zviad moved to joint fifth spot along with Tiviakov on 1.5 points while Timman and Aguado are at the bottom of the tables having just half a point each.

Results (Round 3): P Harirkishna (Ind, 2) drew with Ivan Cheparinov (Bul, 2); Sergei Tiviakov (Ned, 1.5) drew with Ruslan Ponomariov (Ukr, 2); Laurent Fressinet (FRa, 2) drew with Oscar De La Riva Aguado (And, 0.5); Izoria Zviad (Geo, 1.5) beat Jan Timman (Ned, 0.5).

The moves: P Harikrishna v/s Ivan Cheparinov 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 e6 4. Nc3 exd5 5. cxd5 d6 6. Nf3 g6 7. e4 a6 8. Qe2 Bg7 9. e5 dxe5 10. Qxe5+ Kf8 11. d6 Nbd7 12. Qe3 b5 13. a4 b4 14. Ne4 Bb7 15. Nxc5 Nxc5 16. Qxc5 Nd5 17. Be2 Qd7 18. O-O Rc8 19. Qa7 Ra8 20. Qc5 Rc8 21. Qa5 Qxd6 22. Rd1 h6 23. Be3 Bf6 24. Bxa6 Qxa6 25. Qxa6 Bxa6 26. Rxd5 Bxb2 27. Rb1 Bc3 28. h3 Bc4 29. Rc5 Ke7 30. Rc1 Ba2 31. Rb5 Kf6 32. Rxc3 bxc3 33. Bd4+ Ke7 34. Bxh8 Rxh8 35. Rc5 Ra8 36. a5 c2 37. Rxc2 Rxa5 draw agreed.