Sarin slips to joint second spot in RTU Open classical chess

Mumbai, Aug 12 India's Grandmaster Nihal Sarin was held to a draw by compatriot Arjun Erigaisi in the fourth round of the Riga Technical University (RTU) Open Chess Championships in Riga, Latvia, as the strong Indian contingent continued to do well in the classical chess event.

Sarin the second highest-ranked player in the Open Grandmaster section of this chess festival which is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, had started with three wins in three-game. But his progress was halted by Erigaisi, who played with white pieces.

Both Sarin and Erigaisi are sharing the second spot at 3.5 points with 13 others behind sole leader Aram Hakobyan of Armenia, who has won all his four games so far.

Among the 15 sharing the second spot are six Indian players. They include Sarin and Eragaisi, Grandmasters SL Narayanan, D Gukesh, NR Visakh, and r Praggnanandhaa =- all of whom have three wins and a draw.

Abhimanyu Puranik, who won the Rapid Open event ahead in Riga last week, was sharing the 17th spot with another large group that includes compatriots Aravindh Chithambaram, Pranav Anand, Arjun Kalyan, Murali Karthikeyan, and Aditya Mittal.