Round 3 - S L NARAYANAN HOLDS SECOND SEED TO DRAW WHILE VIDIT AND PADMINI HELD TO DRAWS BY FELLOW INDIANS SAHEJ GROVER AND MARIA IVANA FURTADO RESPECTIVELY

Lesser fancied Indians continued to impress, while the fancied ones struggled to score even as overseas Grandmasters took charge in the third round of the World Junior Chess Championships being played at Hotel Hyatt. S L Narayanan was one of the early finishers holding second seed and super GM Robin Van Kampen(2641) to a draw while 10-year-old Nihal Sarin's impressive display once again won him many admirers as he held Balazs CSonka (2409) to a draw and he remained unbeaten after three encounters against opponents rated higher than 2400.

In an all Indian tussle, India's main contender for the title, Vidit Santosh Gujrathi had to settle for a draw against Sahej Grover. In the Girls section too, India's strong contender for the title, Padmini Rout was held to a draw by Maria Ivana Furtado.

Wei Yi and Lu Shanglei of China , Jorge Cori Of Peru , Vladislav Kovalev of Belarus, and Pouya Idani of Iran had emerged joint leaders with 3 points at the time of going to press. Ankit Rajpara was trying to press for a win with an extra pawn against Arat Ufuk and would be the only Indian amongst the leaders in case he manages to win the game.

The tournament sponsored by LIC, Government of Maharashtra and co sponsored by Amanora, ONGC, Jain Irrigation and Everstone once again has showcased that Indian playing strength is higher than what their rating indicates.

Vidit opted for the Sicilian defence against Sahej who made his aggressive intentions clear form the starting by rolling down his King-side pawns and later castled on the Queen-side. By the 24th turn, Vidit appeared better placed with an extra pawn and good placement of pieces. On the 28th turn, there was a possibility for Vidit to improve on his position by continuing to attack but he chose to exchange queens and Sahej was back in the game with drawing possibilities. The players signed the draw on the 39th turn when most pieces had been exchanged and each had a bishop and 4 pawns .

S L playing with the Whites pieces appeared to adopt a pre-determined strategy of exchanging pieces at the slightest opportunity and forced Van Kampen to split the point after 31 moves.

The Maria versus Padmini game was a rather sedate and solid affair which fizzled into a draw after 33 moves.