Prasad sights GM norm

International Master D V Prasad kept the hopes of a Grandmaster norm alive, holding Slovenian GM Adrian Mikhailchisin to a draw in the seventh round of Dortmund Open chess, being held on the sidelines of the Sparkassen chess at the Stadt theatre in Dortmund on Thursday.

Zoltan Varga of Hungary is in sole lead with 6.0 points followed by Prasad, GM Vladimir Epishin, GM Adrian Mikhailchisin and IM Lobzhanidze at 5.5 points.

Prasad's game rose from a Petroff defence against veteran Mikhailchisin, who is also the captain of Viswanathan Anand's club team Agro Universal of Yugoslavia.

The queens were exchanged early and in the ensuing position, Mikhailchisin offered a draw on the 16th move which Prasad accepted.

Prasad needs two points from the next three rounds for a tally of 7.5 points in order to get the Grandmaster norm.

With five wins from seven rounds, the Bangalore-based Prasad looks in good nick and should be in a position to deliver the goods.

GM Abhijit Kunte drew his game against Koscielsk Janusch, taking his tally to 5.0 points.

In a Sicilian Paulsen game, Kunte pressed hard for the full point, but Koscielski hung on in an opposite colour bishop ending, snatching a precious half point from the Indian in a game that lasted just 22 moves.

The third in the fray, IM P Konguvel was the lone Indian victor for the day, scoring over Holger Lehmann in a Grunfeld game that lasted 28 moves.

Going with the traditional line, Lehmann allowed the pawn capture with 14 Bxa2, but could not capitalise on the initiative as Konguvel came with some compelling moves that put white's queenside under pressure.

After the queens were exchanged, Konguvel's a4 pawn took menacing proportions and Lehmann gave up when he could not stop black rook's inroads into his queenside.

The crisp 28-move victory took Konguvel to 5.0 points, with four rounds to go.

Main results (Round 7):
Vladimir Epishin (5.5) drew with Davit Lobzhanidze (5.5); D V Prasad (5.5) drew with A Mikhaichisin (5.5); Heinrichs Thomas (5.0) lost to Zoltan Varga (6.0); Koscielski Janusch (5.0) drew with Abhijit Kunte (5.0); Rigo Janos (4.5) lost to M Saltaev (5.5); Holger Lehmann (4.0) lost to P Konguvel(5.0).