Keymer stays forward after splitting the purpose with Arjun

German Vincent Keymer continued his unbeaten streak as he settled for a draw with the highest seed Arjun Erigaisi within the sixth spherical of the Masters part within the Quantbox Chennai Grandmasters chess event right here on Tuesday.

The outcome meant the 21-year-old Keymer, who has three wins and an equal variety of attracts, stays on high of the standings with 4.5 factors with a one-point lead over the remainder of the sector. Arjun has 3.5 factors in his kitty.

The 42-move stalemate between the highest two gamers means the race for the highest prize might get fascinating because the event enters the enterprise finish.

American Awonder Liang joined Arjun within the second spot, getting the higher of the World junior champion V. Pranav in long-drawn encounter.

There was heartbreak for Nihal Sarin as he crashed to a defeat by the hands of Dutchman Jorden van Foreest a day after he had upset Arjun.

Dutch GM Anish Giri’s quest for a primary win continued as he drew his sixth match on the trot, in opposition to good buddy Vidit Gujrathi in 109 strikes.

Indian GM Karthikeyan Murali cut up the purpose with American Ray Robson within the longest sport of the championship up to now. The match which lasted practically 5 hours and 123 strikes noticed the native participant defend beautifully to earn half a degree.

In the Challengers part, GM Abhimanyu Puranik’s unbeaten run got here to a halt with native lad M. Pranesh pulling off an upset within the sixth spherical. The two share the highest spot with 4.5 factors together with Leon Luke Mendonca, who put it throughout Aryan Chopra.

The outcomes (sixth spherical): Masters: Karthikeyan Murali (2.5) drew with Ray Robson (USA, 2), Nihal Sarin (2) misplaced to Jorden van Foreest (Ned, 3), V. Pranav (2) misplaced to Awonder Liang (USA, 3.5), Vincent Keymer (Ger, 4.5) drew with Arjun Erigaisi (3.5), Anish Giri (Ned, 3 ) drew with Vidit Gujrathi (3)

Challengers: G. B. Harshavardhan (2) drew with Pa. Iniyan (3.5), B. Adhiban (3.5) bt Diptayan Ghosh (3.5), Leon Luke Mendonca (4.5) bt Aryan Chopra (1.5), Abhimanyu Puranik (4.5) misplaced to M. Pranesh (4.5), R. Vaishali (1) misplaced to D. Harika (1.5).

Seventh spherical pairings: Masters: Vidit vs. Karthikeyan, Arjun vs. Anish, Liang vs. Keymer, van Foreest vs. Pranav, Robson vs. Nihal. Challengers: Harika vs. Harshavardhan, Pranesh vs. Vaishali, Aryan vs. Abhimanyu, Diptayan vs. Mendonca, Iniyan vs. Adhiban.