Three lower-ranked Kerala players held Grandmasters to draws in an exciting penultimate round of KCA's 1st GM International at Kanjikuzhy in Kottayam disrict on Tuesday.

Abhishek T M (Elo rating: 2044) drew with Uzbek GM Marat Dzhumaev (2352), Sanjay S Pillai (1997) drew with Belarusian GM Vitaly Teterev (2266), while Ahaz E U (2191) split a point with seasoned Indian GM R R Laxman (2290).

Ahaz has 6.5 points from a possible 9, while Abhishek and Sanjay have 6 points each. None of the Kerala players have a chance of winning the title, but Ahaz could finish on an impressive 7.5 points if he manages to beat GM Deepan Chakravarthy with white in the final round on Wednesday.

Georgian GM Levan Pantsulaia (8 points) has one hand on the trophy as he heads into the final round with half-a-point lead over IM Rajesh V A V, IM Semetei Tologon Tegin and GM Karen Grigoryan. Georgian Pantsulaia (2532) has white against IM Rajesh on the top board.

Grigoryan will take on Armenian GM Manuel Petrosyan and Semetei has black on the third board opposite Belarusian GM Alexei Fedorov.

Rajesh, 30, has been in fine form in the event, having beaten two GMs, the latest being Georgian Tornike Sanikidze (2448). Kerala's Abhishek will face Vietnamese GM Nguyen Van Huy (2363) in the final round.

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