Moscow: Grandmaster Krishnan Sasikiran remained on course for a top-place finish after settling for a draw with GMVladimir Akopian of Armenia in round VII (A1) of the Aeroflot International Open chess tournament here.

GM Sandipan Chanda also raised visions of a podium finish in one of the strongest open events with a scintillating victory over Russian-turned-American Alexander Shabalov.

The lead position in the A1 section remained unchanged as Pavel Eljanov of Ukraine quickly signed peace with former World Junior Champion Kiril Georgiev of Bulgaria on the top board and inched up to 5.5 points in this section.

With just two rounds remaining in the $25000 first-prize tournament, Sasikiran is in joint second spot with five points, while Chanda has four points in his kitty.

In A2 section, IM Neelotpal Das remained in contention for his third and final GM norm after splitting point with GM Lev Psakhis of Israel. Das needs to meet at least one GM in the next two rounds to fulfil his requirements. In the next round, the Indian is pitted against IM David Arutinian of Armenia, and will have to win in order to face a GM in the final round game.

Six players share the top spot in this section while Das is on five points.

The other GM-norm prospects from India suffered decisive setbacks in their quest as Parimarjan Negi was beaten by Dmitry Frolyanov of Russia. Playing the white side of a Petroff defence, Negi fell under acute time pressure and blundered away a level position in the middle game.

Deep Sengupta’s GM norm prospects also evaporated after he drew a tense game with Alexander A Evdokimov of Russia. (PTI)