A cautious Krishnan Sasikiran played it safe and split the point with former European champion Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu to hang on to his joint third place after the fifth round of the Mtel Masters international chess tournament here.
At the half-way stage, twice world junior champion Shakhriyar Mamedyarov of Azerbaijan is in sole lead with 3.5 points after drawing with Michael Adams of England who remained in sole second spot on three points. Sasikiran and Nisipeanu maintained their overnight status on 2.5 points, while Topalov, who drew with tailender Gata Kamsky of United States, remained in fifth position on two points.
With five rounds still to come, Topalov is in the fifth spot on two points while Kamsky, who is yet to win a game, is languishing at the bottom on 1.5 points.
Nisipeanu’s attempts to confuse Sasikiran by going for an irregular opening came a cropper as the Indian equalised with his black pieces in quick time and in copybook style.
The Romanian decided to go for a balanced position in the middlegame itself with some regulation exchanges and Sasikiran complied to get an easy half point with the slightly unfavourable colour in the game. For the record, the game was drawn vide repetition on move 27.
Results (fifth round): Nisipeanu (Rom, 2.5) drew with Sasikiran (Ind, 2.5); Topalov (Bul, 2) drew with Kamsky (USA, 1.5); Adams (Eng, 3) drew with Mamedyarov (Aze, 3.5).