Grandmaster G N Gopal continued with his fine form and put in a brave front to hold higher-ranked Yuriy Kuzubov of Ukraine to a draw in the fifth round of Al Ain Classic, here today.
On what turned out to be a tough day for the highest-ranked Indian Abhijeet Gupta here, Deep Sengupta also came up with an inspired performance to hold highly rated Seregi Zhigalko of Belarus to a draw in a keenly contested game.
The fortunes of defending champion Abhijeet Gupta suffered a setback as he lost from a position of strength against Gaioz Nigalidze of Georgia.
With four rounds still remaining in the 11000 USD first prize tournament, Gaioz Nigalidze emerged as the surprising sole leader on 4.5 points after winning his game against Gupta. The Indian trio of Sengupta, Gopal and Sandipan Chanda are in joint second spot now on four points each along with 12 others including top seed Yuriy Kryvoruchko of Ukraine.
It was a hard fifth round for the Indians in general at the half way mark in one of the strongest open in the continent. Having done well till now, former world junior girls' champion Soumya Swaminathan went haywire and lost rather tamely against Rauf Mamedov of Azwrbaijan while GM norm hopeful Sagar Shah lost to Parligras Mircea-Emilian of Romania after an intense battle.
Young Grandmaster Sahaj Grover was one bright spot in the day's proceedings as he accounted for talented Iranian Alireza Firouzja in a clean effort.
Things did not go as per plans for Gopal from the white side of a Rossolimo Sicilian against Kuzubov who tackled the opening well. The Indian was subjected to some pressure in the middle game as his king's position became a suspect but Gopal did not lose heart and fought bravely. The end result was a draw through perpetual checks as Kuzubov failed to find a fault with the Indian's plans.
The heartbreak for Gupta happened as he went for unwarranted complications after his opponent equalised from a worse position. Gaioz Nigalidze went for the Queen's gambit accepted and Abhijeet used up some time in the opening. The middle game saw the game swinging in to the favour of the Indian but for one mistake that allowed some easy exchanges.
Nigalidze was equal but Gupta was not satisfied. Pushing for more the Indian lost a pawn and subsequently the game after 70 moves.
