Abu Dhabi: Ukranian Grand Master (GM) Martyn Kravtsiv overcame the challenge of compatriot Yuriy Kuzubov to share the lead with overnight table-topper Nils Grandelius on 4.5 points each after the fifth round of the 22nd Abu Dhabi Masters Chess Championship at the Sofitel Abu Dhabi Corniche.
Kravitsiv, with an ELO rating of 2599, needed 29 moves to brush aside Kubuzov (2638), who is ranked 11th in this tournament.
On the top board, Swedish GM Grandelius played it safe to draw with Georgian GM Baadur Jobova in 40 moves.
Baadur shares second spot with ten other players, including Emirati Salem A.R. Saleh, who was leading the pack for the first two days.
Asian champion Saleh drew with Eduardo Iturrizaga Bonelli of Venezuela in 50 moves. With that result, the duo remain tied on four points.
India’s Abhijeet Gupta and Suri Vaibhav, Alexander Areshchenko of Ukraine, Kaido Kulaots of Estonia, Evgeny Romanov of Russia, Richard Rapport of Hungary, Dariusz Swiercz of Poland and International Master Haridas Pascua of the Philippines also have four points each.
Areshchenko turned back the English opening of GM Hovhannes Gabuzyan of Armenia in 44 moves, while Kulaots beat GM Yuri Vovk of Ukraine in 58 moves.
Romanov smashed the defence of GM Aleksandr Rakhmanov of Russia in 39 moves and Swiercz outmanoeuvred GM Jahongir Vakhidov of Uzbekistan in a marathon 73 moves.
Vaibhav, who became one of the youngest Indian GMs at the age of 15 three years ago, upset American GM and eighth-ranked player Samuel Shankland in 37 moves.
It was a bad day for other Emirati players as Nabil Saleh and Zayed Ali Al Hamed lost to GM Alexander Raetsky (Russia) and WGM Swati Ghate (India), respectively.
