The two Indian players faced each other and Nihal Sarin, the young underdog, defended well as black against the tournament leader Pentala Harikrishna. A seemingly drawish endgame was reached, but Pentala managed to squeeze out every drop of play – winning through a beautiful bishop sacrifice in an opposite-coloured bishop position.
“The luckiest day of my life!” stated Parham Maghsoodloo after his game with Nils Grandelius. The Swede missed several opportunities to gain a big advantage in the middlegame and had to settle for a draw in the end.
Dieter Nisipeanu equalized quickly as black against Tiger Hillarp Persson. As it looked like Dieter would get the definite upper hand Tiger whipped up some kingside activity mixed with time trouble. A bunch of exchanges followed and a draw was agreed after an easy rook endgame was reached.
Gawain Jones and Ivan Saric played a very sharp game despite an early queen exchange. The Croatian struggled to maintain equality and lost a piece (and the game) as the time control approached.
As it stands Pentala Harikrishna and Gawain Jones has opened up a small lead at the top. Can anybody catch them?