Overnight leader Grandmaster Krishnan Sasikiran of India held GM Peter Heine Nielsen of Denmark to a draw and set the stage for a close finish in the 18th edition of the North Sea Cup International Chess tournament in Esbjerg, Denmark.

With just two more rounds remaining in this 10-player tournament, GM Luke McShane of England joined Sasikiran at the top on 5.5 points after crashing through the defences of Danish GM Lars Schandorff.

Half a point adrift of the two leaders is top seed and tournament favourite Alexey Dreev of Russia, who outclassed  title contender Curt Hansen of Denmark to take his tally to five points.

In the last two rounds Dreev is slated to play Sasikiran and McShane.

Hansen holds the fourth place on 4 points despite the loss while GMs Michal Krasenkow of Poland, Lenier Dominiguez of Cuba and Nielsen are clubbed in a three-way tie for the fifth spot having 3 points apiece.

Jointly on eighth place are Cuban Bruzon Lazaro and Schandorff with 2.5 points each while Koneru Humpy, the other Indian in the fray, remained at the bottom of the table with just one point.

In the seventh round game, Humpy suffered yet another defeat when she lost to Dominiguez.

Results round 7: K Sasikiran (5.5) drew Peter Heine Nielsen (3); Luke McShane (5.5, Eng) beat Lars Schandorff (2.5, Den); Alexey Dreev (5, Rus) beat Curt Hansen (4, Den); Koneru Humpy (1) lost to Dominiguez Lenier (3, Cub); Michal Krasenkow (3, Pol) drew Bruzon Lazaro (2.5, Cub).

The moves:

K Sasikiran v/s Peter HeNielsen: 1. b3 e5 2. Bb2 Nc6 3. e3 Nf6 4. Bb5 Bd6 5. Ne2 O-O 6. O-O a6 7. Bxc6 dxc6 8. d3 Qe7 9. Nd2 Be6 10. h3 Rad8 11. Kh1 Nh5 12. Qe1 Rfe8 13. f4 exf4 14. Nxf4 Nxf4 15. exf4 Ba3 16. Bc3 Bb4 17. Bxb4 Qxb4 18. Ne4 Qxe1 19. Raxe1 b6 20. Kg1 f6 21. Kf2 Kf7 22. Re3 Bd5 23. Rfe1 c5 24. Ng3 Rxe3 25. Rxe3 Bc6 26. Nf5 Bd7 27. Ng3 Bc6 28. Ne2 a5 29. a4 h5 30. f5 h4 31. Nf4 Bd7 32. Ne6 Bxe6 33. Rxe6 Rd5 34. Rc6 Rxf5+ 35. Kg1 Re5 36. Rxc7+ Kg6 37. Kf2 Rf5+ 38. Kg1 Re5 39. Kf2 Rf5+ draw agreed

Koneru Humpy v/s Lenier Dominiguez: 1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. c4 c6 4. e3 Bg4 5. cxd5 Bxf3 6. Qxf3 cxd5 7. Nc3 e6 8. Bd3 Nc6 9. O-O Be7 10. Bd2 O-O 11. Rfc1 Rc8 12. Qd1 Nd7 13. Na4 a6 14. f4 Bb4 15. a3 Bxd2 16. Qxd2 Qa5 17. Qd1 Ne7 18. b4 Qd8 19. Nc5 Rb8 20. Qc2 g6 21. g4 Nf6 22. Qg2 Nc8 23. Kh1 Nd6 24. Rg1 Rc8 25. f5 b6 26. g5 Nfe4 27. Nxe4 dxe4 28. Bxa6 Ra8 29. Be2 exf5 30. Qg3 Qd7 31. Qh4 Rfc8 32. Rg3 Qe6 33. Rh3 h5 34. gxh6 Kh7 35. Qf4 b5 36. Rg3 Rc2 37. Rg2 Rc3 38. h4 Raxa3 39. Rxa3 Rxa3 40. h5 Ra1+ 41. Kh2 Qf6 42. Bf1 g5 43. Qe5 Qxh6 44. Rf2 Ra3 45. Kg1 g4 46. Rxf5 Qxe3+ 47. Kh1 Nxf5 48. Qxf5+ Kg8 49. Qxg4+ Kf8 50. Qc8+ Kg7 51. Qg4+ Kh6 52. Bg2 Ra1+ 53. Kh2 Qg1+ 54. Kg3 Ra3+ 55. Kf4 Qf2+ white resigned.