Draw pushes Humpy to joint second spot

Sandipan Chanda, who was among 11 overnight leaders including Humpy, also drew his match against third seed Francisco Vallejo Pons of Spain for a share of the second spot.

Grandmaster Jan Gustafsson of Germany shot into the sole lead on 6.5 points after beating Natalia Zhukov of Ukraine in the only decisive game amongst overnight joint leaders. On six points each, Humpy and Sandipan shared the second spot with top seed Etienne Bacrot of France, Michael Adams of England, Gata Kamsky of United States and eight others.

It turned out to be the toughest day for the Indians as for the first time only two, out of eight, won today. D Harika scored a victory over Antonio Molina of Philippines while Eesha Karavade beat Marc Lacrosse of Belgium.

Grandmaster G N Gopal failed to make headway and had to settle for a draw with Swedish GM Pontus Carlsson. Also settling for a draw on a lower board was Kruttika Nadig with Norwegian Kyrre Indrebo.Tania Sachdev misplayed a complicated position and was on the receiving end against her friend Nana Dzagnidze of Georgia.