Sasikran wins against Kamsky; moves to joint 2nd at Mtel

Sofia, (Bulgaria), May 13 (UNI) After drawing two successive games, Indian Grandmaster Krishnan Sasikiran scored his first victory against American Grandmaster Gata Kamsky that pushed him to joint second spot in the Mtel Super Grandmasters Chess Championship here.

Starting at a disadvantage with black pieces, Sasikaran matched the American rival move by move until after the middle game.

The decisive moment came when under time pressure, Kamsky committed a tactical error which the Indian prodigy exploited to win the third round game.

''I am very happy to win this game against Gata Kamsky, though it was marred by mistakes. But it was a good victory. There are still seven more rounds to go and I have to be prepared for difficult matches,'' Sasikiran told UNI after his victory.

In the other matches, it took current world junior champion Shakhriyar Mamedyarov just 30 moves to thrash defending champion Veselin Topalov.

Topalov, who played with black pieces, said ''I played a very bad game, my openings were horrible and I missed many chances to defend the game. I am very disappointed.'' It was the second loss in three games for the former world chess champion.

In the third game of the championship between Michael Adams and Nisipeanu which was played on the lines of French Tarrasch variation, Adams capitalized on Nisipeanu's mistakes on the 12th move and made a brilliant sacrifice which tilted the game in his favour. Nisipeanu was totally lost in the endgame and surrendered on the 39th move.

Sasikaran will now play Bulgarian Veselin Topalov in the fourth round.

Standing after Round 3 : 1. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2.5 points) 2. Krishnan Sasikiran and Michael Adams (2.0 points) 3. Liviu Dieter Nisipeanu (1.5 points) 4. Gata Kamsky (0.5 point) 5. Veselin Topalov (0.5 point) Round 4 Pairing : Shakhriyar Mamedyarov vs Liviu Dieter Nisipeanu Gata Kamsky vs Michael Adams Sasikiran vs Veselin Topalov UNI