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Sasikaran leads the field in Biel

National champion Krishnan Shashikiran continued his campaign in style with a smooth victory over team-mate V Saravanan in the second round of the International Chess Festival being played at the Congress House in Biel, Switzerland.

Shashi employed the classical variation with white against Sarvanan's King's Indian Defence. After a complicated opening battle, Sarvanan was left with a bad bishop against Shashi's dominating knight. The young national champion steered the game into an winning endgame forcing Saravanan, who stood to lose all queen-side pawns, to resign.

International master D V Prasad employed the Ritcher-Rauzer attack with white pieces against grandmaster Greenfeld's (2) Sicilian Defence. Both the players castled on opposite wings and attacked each others kings with pawn storms. The seventh seeded grandmaster from Israel was first to strike, and won the game with a nice combination on the 35th move.

Abhijit Kunte's bid for the final grandmaster norm suffered a big blow as he was held to a draw by the lowly rated Wipperman of Germany. Abhijit employed the Alapin Variation while playing the white side of a Sicilian Defence.

The young Indian IM went for a king-side attack but was unlucky to miss the winning move. Wipperman defended well to split the point.

In an all-Indian affair, Grandmaster Praveen Thipsay was held to a draw by national junior champion S Kidambi in a King's Indian Defence. In a game of fluctuating fortunes, Kidambi reached an endgame with a powerful white-squared bishop against Thipsay's less active pieces. Thipsay, however, used all his experience to draw the game after a long struggle.

International Women's Master Anupama Gokhale opened her account with a draw against N Saleh of the UAE, employing the King's Indian Defence against Saleh's irregular setup. As both the players approached the time control, Saleh exchanged a pair of rooks in an equal position to offer a draw which was immediately accepted.

UNI