IMs P. Konguvel and Audi Ameya, both from India, shared the lead with 4.5 points with GMs Amonatov Farrukh of Tajikistan, Stupak Kirill of Belarus and IM Asyl Abdyjapar of Kazakhstan at the end of fifth round of the GITAM University Grandmasters chess tournament in VIsakhapatnam on Monday.
On the top board, Amanatov Farrukh and Stupak Kirill agreed for an early draw after 13 moves in a three-fold position repetition.
Konguvel and GM Mirzoev Azer of Azerbaijan played the Przepiorka variation in Indian defence on the second board and the game went into an unclear position in the middle-game. Both exchanged pieces to lead to a two knights and king ending with six pawns each. After 47 moves, the game ended in a tame draw.
Local boy G. Varun Aditya suffered a setback against IM Audi Ameya in the Bishop Opening and soon played some dubious moves to lose the queen and the game after 35 moves.
The results:
Fifth round: Stupak Kirill (4.5) drew with Farrukh Amonatov (Tjk) 4.5; Mirzoev Azer (Aze) 4 drew with P. Konguvel (Ind) 4.5; Asyl Abdyjapar (Kzg) 4.5 bt Mihail Nikitenko (Blr) 3.5; S. Nitin (Ind) 4 drew with Nguyen Van Huy (Vie) 4; G. Varun Aditya (Ind) 3.5 lost to Audi Ameya (Ind) 4.5; Luka Paichadze (Geo) 4 bt P. Bharat Kumar Reddy (Ind) 3.5; Varshney Aaryan (Ind) 3 lost to Harsha Bharathkoti (Ind) 4; Boris Savchenko (Rus) 3.5 drew with Aradhya Garg (Ind) 3.5; Mitrabha Guha (Ind) 4 bt P. Saravana Krishnan (Ind) 3; Ortik Nigmatov (Uzb) 3.5 drew with Ritvik Krishnan (Ind) 3.5.