<p>Negi and Hammer lead the pack with six points each. Having beaten top-seeded K Sasikiran in the previous round in a game of nerves, Negi was clinical with black pieces against Kazhgaleyev and drew without much ado in 41 moves.<br /><br />Hammer joined Negi defeating Amin Baseem of Egypt and a pack of seven players including former World Junior Champion Abhijeet Gupta and Sasikiran are jointly second half a point behind the leaders.<br /><br />M Shyam Sundar remained on course for a Grandmaster norm after settling for a draw with Merab Gagunashvili of Georgia. Sundar has been in excellent form against good opposition and should make the norm with positive results in the last two rounds. <br /><br />Sasikiran showed his mettle in a one-sided affair against Guseinov. In a middle game akin to the King’s Indian defense, Sasikiran went for forceful exchanges leading to a slightly better endgame. Guseinov lost a pawn and the rest was child’s play.<br /><br />Parimarjan faced the Queen pawn opening and equalised easily against Kazhgaleyev. It was a standard middle game wherein both had one weakness and after fighting it out for sometime, Kazhgakeyev decided against any undue risk and signed peace through repetition.<br /><br />Important results (round VII, Indians unless specified): Murtas Kazhgaleyev (Kaz, 5.5) drew Parimarjan Negi (6); Krishnan Sasikiran (5.5) bt Gadir Guseinov (5); Surya Shekhar Ganguly (5) drew Emanuel Berg (Swe, 5); Nidjat Mamedov (Aze, 4) lt to Abhijeet Gupta (5.5); M Shyam Sundar (4.5) drew Merab Gagunashvili (Geo, 4.5); David Arutinian (Arm, 5) bt RR Laxman (4); Ashwin Jayaram (4) lt to Ter-Sahakyan Samvel (Arm, 5).</p>
<p>Negi and Hammer lead the pack with six points each. Having beaten top-seeded K Sasikiran in the previous round in a game of nerves, Negi was clinical with black pieces against Kazhgaleyev and drew without much ado in 41 moves.<br /><br />Hammer joined Negi defeating Amin Baseem of Egypt and a pack of seven players including former World Junior Champion Abhijeet Gupta and Sasikiran are jointly second half a point behind the leaders.<br /><br />M Shyam Sundar remained on course for a Grandmaster norm after settling for a draw with Merab Gagunashvili of Georgia. Sundar has been in excellent form against good opposition and should make the norm with positive results in the last two rounds. <br /><br />Sasikiran showed his mettle in a one-sided affair against Guseinov. In a middle game akin to the King’s Indian defense, Sasikiran went for forceful exchanges leading to a slightly better endgame. Guseinov lost a pawn and the rest was child’s play.<br /><br />Parimarjan faced the Queen pawn opening and equalised easily against Kazhgaleyev. It was a standard middle game wherein both had one weakness and after fighting it out for sometime, Kazhgakeyev decided against any undue risk and signed peace through repetition.<br /><br />Important results (round VII, Indians unless specified): Murtas Kazhgaleyev (Kaz, 5.5) drew Parimarjan Negi (6); Krishnan Sasikiran (5.5) bt Gadir Guseinov (5); Surya Shekhar Ganguly (5) drew Emanuel Berg (Swe, 5); Nidjat Mamedov (Aze, 4) lt to Abhijeet Gupta (5.5); M Shyam Sundar (4.5) drew Merab Gagunashvili (Geo, 4.5); David Arutinian (Arm, 5) bt RR Laxman (4); Ashwin Jayaram (4) lt to Ter-Sahakyan Samvel (Arm, 5).</p>