Mikhail Klenberg held Chanda in 43 moves

Pardubice: Grandmaster Sandipan Chanda was held to a draw by IM Mikhail Klenburg of Ukraine in the second round of the Czech international open chess meet here.

As many as 33 players, including GM Tejas Bakre, IMs S. Kidambi, M.R. Venkatesh an-d S. Poobesh Anand emerged as joint leaders with two points each from as many games in the 332-player competition.

Half-a-point behind the leaders, amongst others, were India’s Sandipan, IMs S. Satyapragyan, and D.V. Prasad.

It turned out to be a mixed day for the Indians with Bakre, Kidambi, Venkatesh and Poobesh Anand recording wins, while WGM-in-waiting Tania Sachdev, IM Saptarshi Roy Chowdhury, IM Rahul Shetty and Kruttika Nadig suffering losses.

Eesha Karavade and Prasad were amongst those who settled for draws in their second round games.

Generally it was in fact a draw-marred second round on the top boards as the first seven boards reached a deadlock. Satyapragyan was one of the gainers as he held GM Andrei Kovalev of Bulgaria to an easy draw in 20 moves.

For Sandipan, it turned out to be a rather tough day as Klenburg did not relent with his white pieces.

Starting with an irregular opening set-up, the Ukrainian was in for some early trouble in the middle game after Sandipan made steady prog-ress on the queenside to place himself in a better position. However, the Indian’s superiority did not last long once Klenburg made temporary exchange sacrifice leading to complications. Sandipan got two rooks for his queen, but Klenburg saw the vulnerability of the black king and launched an attack leading to perpetual checks and a draw in 43 moves.

Bakre had a fine game against compatriot Rahul Shetty who lost a keenly contested game, while Venkatesh and Kidambi remained on target for GM norms with wins over Piotr Brodowski and Poavel Nvak. (PTI)