Top seed Grandmaster Krishnan Sasikiran had to settle for a draw against Oliver Barbosa of Philippines as the lower rated players ruled the roost on the top boards of the third Kolkata Open Grandmaster Chess tournament on Tuesday.

In second round action, three super grandmasters had tough outings. Sasikiran faced the Slav defence of Oliver Barbosa of the Philippines.

He attacked on the queenside and was in a better position throughout, but lost his way towards the end and had to split the point.

GM Smbat Lputian of Armenia faced a few anxious moments against local GM Nisha Mohota before pocketing the point. He played the Nimzo Indian defence and in the endgame pushed his pawns to register the victory in 50 moves.

GM Humpy also faced resistance from IM S Satyapragyan and eventually settled for the draw in 57 moves. IM Saptarshi Roy playing with the white pieces lost to GM Viktor Laznicka of the Czech Republic in 42 moves of a Sicilian defence. He put up strong resistance but eventually resigned in a losing position.

Arghyadip Das, a highly rated local player, held GM Sandipan Chanda with the black pieces. Das played the Sicilian defence and forced the draw in 26 moves by repetition of moves.

IM Akshayraj Kore played well to split the point with current World junior champ GM Adly Ahmed of Egypt. Indian Grandmasters Neelotpal Das, Tejas Bakre and Dibyendu Barua managed wins on their boards.

Important results (Indians unless mentioned): Krishnan Sasikiran (1.5) drew with Oliver Barbosa (Phi, 1.5); Nisha Mohota (1) lt to Smbat Lputian (Arm, 2); Koneru Humpy (1.5) drew with S Satyapragyan (1.5); Sandipan Chanda (1.5) drew with Arghyadip Das (1.5).