Short, Lu Shanglei, Ganguly ahead in chess tourney

Overnight leaders Nigel Short, Lu Shanglei and Surya Sekhar Ganguly retained their places at the top by drawing their respectively games even as seven others trailed by half a point in the International Grandmasters Chess Tournament here today.
Playing on the top board against world junior champion Shanglei, Ganguly survived a scare before squeezing out a draw after the exchange of bishops in a rook ending.
On the second board, top seed Short and Chanda were more intense with the Indian looking to go for the kill but the experienced British GM actively utilised his rook to force a draw by repetition of moves.

IM K Ratnakaran stunned GM Pavel Kotsur of Kazakhstan with black in a Maroczy bind of the Sicilian defence.
In other games GM R R Laxman drew against GM Quesada Perez Yuniesky of Cuba while GM Ortiz Suarez Isan Reynaldo, also from Cuba, beat Indian grandmaster Ankit Rajpara.