Prasanna Rao draws with top seed Aleksandrov

Local youngster Prasanna Rao, an International Master, surprisingly held top seed Aleksandrov Aleksey of Belarus to a draw in the fourth round of the 4th Mayor's Cup International Chess Tournament on Sunday.

Playing with white pieces on the top table, Prasanna chose the Spanish opening, but opted for closed variation. He then maintained a slight edge throughout the game.

The two players signed the peace treaty on the 39th move, after GM Aleksey felt he could not outwit his younger rival.

After round 4 in the event, organised by Venus Chess Academy and co-sponsored by LIC, six players - including five Indians -- were in the lead bunch with 4 points apiece.

The top 10 results:

IM Prasanna Raghuram Rao (2418, Ind) 3.5 points drew GM Aleksandrov Aleksej (Bel, 2618) 3.5; IM Satyapragyan Swayangsu (2415, Ind) 4 beat GM Chadaev Nikolai (2564, Rus) 3; GM S P Sethuraman (2529, Ind) 3 lost to IM P Shyam Nikil (2418, Ind) 4; IM Anwesh Upadhyaya (2408, Ind) 3.5 drew GM Abhijit Kunte (2528, Ind) 3.5. GM Ziaur Rahman (2528, Ban) 3 lost to IM K Rathnakaran (2386, Ind) 4; IM Akshayraj Kore (2384, Ind) 3 lost to GM Enamul Hossain (2481, Ban) 4; IM M Shyam Sundar (2457, Ind) 3.5 drew IM G B Prakash (2332, Ind) 3.5; IM K Priyadharshan (2376, Ind) 4 beat IM M S Thejkumar (2450, Ind) 3; Rakesh Kulkarni (2233, Ind) 3 lost to IM Himanshu Sharma (2421, Ind) 4; GM Martyn Kravtsiv (2583, Ukr) 3.5 beat IM Debashis Das (2375, Ind) 2.5.