Pendalya Harikrishna regained the lead in the eighth Montreal international chess tournament after outplaying Canadian Grandmaster Mark Bluvshtein in an intense fifth round battle of wits.

The Indian Grandmaster bounced back from his fourth round loss with the hard-fought victory to join Vassily Ivanchuk, Sergei Tiviakov and Gata Kamsky in the lead with 3.5 points each.

Ivanchuk and Kamsky stayed in the lead by drawing their mutual encounter, Tiviakov displaced erstwhile leader Pavel Eljanov by beating him in a thrilling game.

Eljanov is in the fifth place with 3.0 points, half a point behind the leaders.

Meanwhile, British Grandmaster Nigel Short ended his nightmarish run in the tournament by drawing against GM Emil Sutovsky of Israel after four losses in the first four rounds.

Harikrishna was in his element during the game against Bluvshtein. Playing an innocuous queen pawn opening with white, Harikrishna gained a very slight advantage. In the middle game the play proceeded at a calm pace but Harikrishna kept increasing the pressure by using his control of the 'c' file.

Slowly, Bluvshtein began to drift into an inferior position and Harikrishna attained clear superiority by forcing a Queen and minor piece endgame.

Harikrishna's ploy culminated in a brilliant combination where he forced a winning queen endgame. Bluvshtein resigned the game after 72 moves as he was four pawns down with a hopeless position.

Dutch Grandmaster Sergei Tiviakov played a spectacular game to beat Pavel Eljanov. Tiviakov chose a variation of the Spanish opening which was favoured a century ago by world champion Wilhelm Steinitz. Eljanov was unable to cope with the tactical threats and tried a desperate counter-attack which was easily rebuffed by Tiviakov. Eljanov eventually resigned on the 39th move.

The game between Ivanchuk and Kamsky ended in a draw after an interesting battle. Kamsky played his favourite Marshall Gambit against the Spanish opening and obtained good compensation for the pawn by seizing the initiative. Ivanchuk defended skillfully and slowly gained the upper hand by depriving Kamsky of active play.

Kamsky saw his initiative vanishing and sought refuge in a rook and opposite colour bishop ending. Ivanchuk retained his extra pawn in the endgame but the presence of opposite colour bishops deprived him of winning chances.

In another match, Grandmaster Kamil Miton improved his standing with a victory against GM Pascal Charbonneau (Canada [Images]).

Results (Round 5):

Pentala Harikrishna (Ind, 3.5) beat Mark Bluvshtein (Can, 2.5); Vassily Ivanchuk (Ukr, 3.5) drew Gata Kamsky (USA, 3.5); Sergei Tiviakov (Ned, 3.5) beat Pavel Eljanov (Ukr, 3.0); Kamil Miton (Pol, 2.5) beat Pascal Charbonneau (Can, 0.5); Kamil Sutovsky (Isr, 1.5) drew Nigel Short (Eng, 0.5).

The moves: (Pendalya Harikrishna - Mark Bluvshtein):

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.Bg5 c5 4.e3 h6 5.Bh4 b6 6.Nbd2 Bb7 7.Bd3 Be7 8.c3 00 9.a3 cxd4 10.cxd4 d5 11.00 Ne4 12.Bxe7 Qxe7 13.Rc1 Nxd2 14.Qxd2 Nc6 15.Rc3 Rfc8 16.Rfc1 Qd6 17.Qc2 Ne7 18.Qa4 Rxc3 19.Rxc3 f6 20.Bb1 Kf7 21.h4 a6 22.Qc2 Rc8 23.h5 Rxc3 24.Qxc3 Qc6 25.Qd2 a5 26.Bd3 Nc8 27.Nh4 Nd6 28.Ng6 Ne4 29.Qd1 Qc8 30.Bxe4 dxe4 31.Nf4 Bd5 32.Qg4 Qc6 33.Kh2 b5 34.Qg3 b4 35.axb4 axb4 36.Ng6 Qb6 37.Qf4 Ke8 38.Qg3 Kf7 39.Kg1 b3 40.Kh2 Ba8 41.Nf4 Qc6 42.Qg6+ Kg8 43.Qg4 Kf7 44.Qd1 Qb6 45.Qc1 Bb7 46.Qc4 Ke7 47.Kg1 Kd7 48.Qa4+ Bc6 49.Qa3 Bd5 50.Qf8 Qa5 51.Qxg7+ Kc6 52.Kh2 Qd2 53.Qxh6 Qxb2 54.Kg3 Qd2 55.Qxf6 b2 56.h6 b1Q 57.h7 Qbe1 58.Nxd5 Kxd5 59.Qf4 e5 60.dxe5 Qh1 61.Qf6 Qxh7 62.Qd6+ Kc4 63.Qxd2 Qg7+ 64.Kf4 Qf7+ 65.Kxe4 Qb7+ 66.Kf4 Qf7+ 67.Kg3 Qg6+ 68.Kf3 Qh5+ 69.g4 Qh3+ 70.Kf4 Qh2+ 71.Kf5  Qh7+ 72.Kg5 10. Black resigns.

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