Indian Grandmaster Nihal Sarin notched up eight wins to go with three draws and as many defeats to be placed joint second after the rapid, blitz and four rounds of Classical section at the Biel Grandmaster Triathlon here on Saturday.
The 17-year-old Sarin defeated tournament leader Gata Kamsky in round nine of the Blitz event in an impressive manner and drew the other game.
He also posted wins over veteran Boris Gelfand, Noel Studer (twice), Maxime Lagarde, Alan Pichot (Argentina) and Vincent Keymer.
Top-seed Kirill Alekseenko (Russia) was the only player against whom Sarin could not force a win. The Russian beat the Indian once and drew the other match.
READ: Biel Chess festival: Sarin draws with Studer
Veteran American Kamsky is ahead of the pack with 25 points, while Alekseenko is joint second with 24 points along with Sarin.
In the blitz event, each player takes all the others in the field twice, once with white and black.
Eight players are taking part in the Biel Grandmaster Triathlon which features Classical, Rapid and Blitz events and is part of the Biel Chess Festival.
The GM Triathlon will resume on Monday after a day's rest on Sunday.
Meanwhile, in the Master Tournament being held as part of the Biel Chess Festival, Indian GM Karthikeyan Murali is in the lead with 4.5 points after five rounds.
Fellow Indian GMs Surya Shekhar Ganguly and R Praggnanandhaa are among a bunch of five players in second place with four points. The duo had played out a draw in the fifth round late on Friday.
The Master Tournament resumes on Sunday after a rest day on Saturday.
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