Second seeded Grandmaster Krishnan Sasikiran slid to joint second place after being held to a quick draw by Grandmaster Vugar Gashimov of Azerbaijan in the third round of Dubai International Chess championship on Thursday.

Top seed Grandmaster Liviu-Dieter Nisipenau of Romania, Tamaz Gelashvili of Georgia, World junior champion Shakhriyaz Mamedyarov of Azerbaijan and International Master Nelson Mariano of The Philippines share the lead with three points each from as many rounds.

A pack of 22 players, including National champion Grandmaster Surya Shekhar Ganguly, Pendyala Harikrishna, Sasikiran and International Master S Satyapragyan share the second spot a half point behind the leaders in this US$ 41000 prize-money tournament.

After two good days in office, the Indian Grandmasters failed to keep the momentum ticking as Ganguly and Harikrishna were also held to draws by lower-rated Nadera Barlo of The Philippines and Elshan Moradiabadi of Iran respectively and R B Ramesh went down against Pavel Eljanov of Ukraine.

On the brighter side, S Satyapragyan continued with his good form and drew with Grandmaster Izoria Zviad of Georgia. This was another good performance by the Indian following his fine victory over Russian Grandmaster Evgeny Sveshnikov in the previous round game.

Also chipping in with a good result was National Under-11 champion Parimarjan Negi who drew with IM El Arousy Abdul Hameed of Egypt.

Parimarjan, who is India's youngest IM norm holder, took his tally to a respectable 1.5 points from his three games.

Amongst other Indians in the fray, Abhijeet Gupta moved ahead after beating compatriot Manthan Chokshi as did IM Deepan Chakravarthy, who put it across Cristine Rose Mariano of The Philippines.

IM D V Prasad was held to a draw by Shihab Khaled of Libya while Women Grandmaster Aarthie Ramaswamy and IM Rahul Shetty suffered defeats at the hands of Nidjat Mamedov of Azerbaijan and GM Mikhail Ulibin of Russia respectively.

Sasikiran could not do much as his opponent went for a safer route against the Sicilian defence and employed the quiet Alapin variation. After a few quick exchanges the truce was signed in just 16 moves.

Harikrishna tried hard to make inroads against the solid defences of Moradiabadi but the later kept his cool in the endgame to earn the half point.

Employing the Classical set against the King's Indian defence as white, Harikrishna seized the initiative after his opponent was left with a bad bishop in the endgame but missed out on his chances and signed the truce after 67 moves.

Also mishandling a better position was Ganguly, who overlooked a tactical move against Barlo arising out of an English opening where the former played white. Upon realising the dangers that now faced him, Ganguly proposed a draw that was immediately accepted.

Eljanov gradually outplayed Ramesh in a queen's Indian defence game. The middle game gave Eljanov a position with immense potential to build a kingside attack and he did that with precision, keeping in check Ramesh's counter attack on the other wing and romped home in 53 moves.

Nisipeanu defeated GM Goloshchapov Alexander of Ukraine in a prolonged battle lasting 78 moves. In the Sicilian defence, Nisipeanu played well to attain pressure on weak

pawns in centre. Showing his class in critical middle game, the Romanian won a pawn and exchanged the queens on the 32nd move to reach a winning rook and minor piece endgame.

Important results round 3 (Indians unless specified):

Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu (3, Rom) bt Alexander Goloshchapov (2, Ukr); Vugar Gashimov (2.5, Aze) drew with Krishnan Sasikiran (2.5); Shakhriyaz Mamedyarov (3, Aze) bt Merab Gagunashvili (2, Geo); Tamaz Gelashvili (3, Geo) bt Viorel Iordachesvu (2, Mda); Yuri Kruppa (2.5, Ukr) drew with Alexei Fedorov (2.5, Blr); Jobava Baadur (2.5, Geo) drew Zurab Sturua (2.5, Geo); P Harikrishna (2.5) drew with Elshan Moradiabadi (2.5, Iri); Goran Dizdar (2.5, Cro) drew with Evgenij Miroshnichenko (2.5, Ukr); Ashot Anastasian (2, Arm) lost to Nelson Mariano (3, Phi); A Barlo Nadera (2.5, Phi) drew with Surya Shekhar Ganguly (2.5); S Satyapragyan (2.5) drew Izoria Zviad (2.5, Geo); Evgeny Vladimirov (2.5, Kaz) bt Normunds Miezis (1.5, Lat); Pavel Eljanov (2.5, Ukr) bt R B Ramesh (1.5); Mikhail Ulibin (2, Rus) bt Rahul Shetty (1.5); Nidjat Mamedov (2, Aze) bt Aarthie Ramaswamy (1); Abhijeet Gupta (2) bt Manthan Chokshi (1); Shihab Khaled (1.5, Lib) drew with D V Prasad (1.5); El Arousy Abdul Hameed (1.5, Egy) drew with Parimarjan Negi (1.5); Deepan Chakkravarthy (1.5) bt Cristine Rose Mariano (0.5, Phi).