Indian Grandmaster Krishnan Sasikiran drew his sixth round encounter against Grandmaster Lenier Dominguez of Cuba in the most exciting game of the Aerosvit International Grandmasters Chess tournament.
It was a day of draws as all the six games ended with the players splitting the point. The tournament standings thus remain unchanged with Ukrainian Grandmaster Sergei Karjakin leading the field, closely followed by his compatriot Vassily Ivanchuk.
Despite the lack of decisive encounters, the day provided a lot of excitement as most of the games were sharp and hard fought encounters.
Sasikiran played the Sicilian Najdorf and made his aggressive intentions clear from the opening phase itself. He threw caution to the winds and started a kingside attack by advancing his 'g' pawn.
Dominguez countered effectively by attacking on the queenside and seemed to be getting the upper hand. Sasikiran responded with a series of unsound but highly enterprising sacrifices.
He started off by sacrificing his rook and then gave up a knight. Finally, he even offered his queen. Dominguez could have won the game with precise tactical play but the Cuban grandmaster missed his way in the mind boggling complications.
When the dust had settled, Dominguez retained winning chances in an exchange up endgame but Sasikiran defended resourcefully to gain a draw.
Top seed Peter Svidler strived hard to dislodge Sergei Karjakin from his leading position but had to remain content with a draw.
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